Becoming Super Woman and Super Teacher: ESL Versus Mainstream Classes

In Linda Harklau’s article, “ESL Versus Mainstream Classes: Contrasting L2 Learning Environments” she discusses advantages and disadvantages of mainstreaming ESL (English as a Second Language, or L2) learners and content–area or “sheltered classes" designed for L2 students. Using experience, qualitative research, and ethnographic research, she develops some imperative questions and some appealing suggestions to improve and develop a more meaningful mode of ESL instruction involving both of these models.

The foundation of Harklau’s conclusion comes about because of her experience as a participant observer at a San Francisco Bay Area high school. There, she closely followed the experiences of 4 Chinese ethnic immigrant students who participated in both mainstream and content-area instruction during the course of 3 ½ years. Her main observations focused on instruction and language use of mainstream and ESL teachers, spoken language use in ESL and mainstream classrooms, written language usage, goals of instruction, and the socializing function of school and how it relates to L2 students.

Very early on in this article, Harlau explains that the ESL program at the high school was seen as a necessary nuisance in that they had to have an ESL program but the focus was on mainstreaming students as soon as possible because of costs and a set of priorities (which did not include a focus on L2 students). Because these students were at the secondary level, focus on bilingual education was difficult, and it was often assumed that students already had some literacy background already in place.

Some of the bigger issues discussed were the instructional practices of mainstream teachers. For example, sudden departures from instructional topics (such as asides or tangents) became confusing to L2 learners. There is also the issue of an emphasis on initiation-response-evaluation (IRE) sequences in these classes, in which it becomes difficult to gauge comprehension with one word or one phrase responses. Often, these responses only include the students most eager to answer. Also, this type of instruction left very little chance to focus on grammar issues, a big part of an ELL students foundation.

While input in these situations was positive because of the immersion, students often found it difficult to understand instructors and were not comfortable interacting with native language students. The situations in which L2 students seemed to benefit most from were in written exercises where teachers could focus responses directly. These, too, had their downfalls in that mainstream teachers are not often experienced in linguistics and are ill-prepared to deal with the level of grammatical errors and varied sentence structures found in the written works of L2 learners.

The ESL class seemed to create a better environment for language comprehension and focus, but often lacked in content growth and could feel “easy” or “repetitive” to students. As far as a social function, the ESL class observed served as a “retreat” for ESL students who found interaction with native speakers to be stressful and overwhelming.

In conclusion, Harklau determines that communication of goals and objectives between mainstream and ESL classes must be improved and curriculum should be differentiated in order to address the difficulties of L2 learners.

In reviewing this article, I found a few particular points of interest related to my own experience as a teacher, tutor, and student. When she discussed the issue of departure in instructional topics, I immediately recalled my knowledge of cognitive psychology which claims that deep processing occurs by tying knowledge to experience. While the example used in the article might not be the most beneficial ( a teacher relating instruction to his experience in the military), I can imagine myself trying to get students to understand a topic by giving a “real world” example, and before reading this article, not realizing how L2 learners might react to it. This dilemma could possibly be addressed by opening discussion for students to give their own examples related to readings and lessons. Another concern that came about from this reading is the discussion of vocabulary. It has been determined by Harklau that vocabulary is near impossible to gauge by level because it is often based on exposure, especially in the secondary schooling levels. A way to address this might be to offer individual vocabulary instruction, to encourage word look-ups, and give some responsibility to student to determine their own needs in this area. One of the main issues that I could relate to in my own experience, is a feeling of inadequacy when dealing with grammar and structure in L2 writing. I currently work at a University Writing Center in which we tutor many ESL students on a one-to-one basis. Despite having an English degree and some background in linguistics, I often struggle to communicate the various nuisances of the English language. This is especially true when dealing with prepositions and word choices, where the ESL students’ choices are not incorrect, but awkward. English grammar is something that clearly takes time and practice for educators to feel comfortable with explaining to their students.

In an integrated classroom, it can often seem impossible to meet the needs of every student. It would seem that one must take the role of Super Teacher in order to be constantly aware and prepared to deal with such varying classroom situations. When an administration or other variables enter the picture, it can become substantially more complicated. In reading this research, the ESL teacher, Maureen Carson, seemed like Super Woman to me. Her ability to balance needs and still relate the needs of the school to her instruction were impressive. She was able to flourish in a strictly L2 environment, but with certain support, she might be able to achieve even more success with L2 learners by creating an integrated classroom.All in all, I enjoy and agree with Harklau’s ideas of how to improve L2 learning situations. The heart of her suggestion is that communication and cooperation of goals between all parties involved, is necessary.

With proper communication between educators and administration, and with more ESL instructors like Carson, it would appear that L2 instruction in mainstream environments, could vastly improve in our educational system.