Teaching a newcomer student (child who has recently arrived in Canada) who has minimal learning experience in an English-speaking learning environment may seem like a daunting task. Teachers may believe that teaching ELL students how to speak, read, and write English is the first and most important area of support; however, this might not be always true. Before teaching the language, a teacher’s priority should be understanding how their ELL students learn and what kinds of cultural beliefs and values they bring to our classroom. Furthermore, they should know the strategies that benefit their learning.
Recognize and Overcome Your Unconscious Biases
Most importantly, after understanding the cultural diversity of these students and sensing how they feel about being in the classroom, teachers should recognize their own biases against different cultures and overcome what might be either positively or negatively stereotypical.
For immigrant parents, preserving their first language (L1) could come before anything else. If the parents inform you their family prefers to speak their L1 at home, the tendency among teachers is that this child may not progress as fast as other students who speak English both at home and school. These students might talk to their teachers in their L1, or remain silent until someone who speaks their L1 approaches them. In the worst case scenario, these students could refuse to go to their classrooms if they feel their identity is being ignored. To prevent situations like these, what should mainstream teachers do?
Guo (2012) points out teaching and preserving L1 at home is “an important means of staying connected to relationships, cultural values, and identities forged in their home countries.” Some of the interviewees (parents) in her research paper understood competency in the L1 as “an important learning tool for transferring the concepts from first to second language education” (Guo, 2012). Reflecting on these transcriptions, teachers need to recognize students’ first language as a resource rather than a challenge in their classrooms. We do not intend to scare teachers or make them feel overwhelmed, but we feel the need to make emphasis on including cultural aspects in the mainstream classroom. Often times, teachers are not provided with appropriate information about different cultures of their ELL students. Walker, Shafer, and Iiams (2004) note, “While general multicultural education approaches can work well to help teachers explore their own cultural biases and negative attitudes, specific cultural training is needed to help teachers address specific cultural issues.”
Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment by Activating Prior Knowledge and Valuing Previous Experiences
There are times when an ELL student demonstrates less of what they can actually perform, and this can throw the teachers into total confusion. For example, the student might be able to grasp the meaning of a word within the passage of a reading but shows difficulty apprehending it. So what went wrong? Nothing; it’s just that the kind of background knowledge and experience this student has differs from the content of the reading. According to Anderson (1999), “Background knowledge includes all experiences that a reader brings to a text: life experiences, educational experiences, knowledge of how texts can be organized rhetorically, knowledge of how one’s first language works, knowledge of how the second language works, and cultural background and knowledge, to name a few areas.”
Therefore, teachers should be mindful about varied and diverse knowledge and experiences that ELL students would bring to their classrooms. Some might have more experience in sea fishing, so they could easily apprehend a book about sea fishing than others with no experience. Some ELL students might have never hiked hence it is more challenging for them to understand a story of a world famous hiker, even if there are illustrations that directly explain the plot line. Anderson (1999) asserts prior knowledge can influence reading comprehension. In fact, there could be ELL students with no prior knowledge to activate, like the student who has never hiked before. In such a case, teachers should establish a new set of knowledge to these students through meaningful learning experiences.
Most importantly, after understanding the cultural diversity of these students and sensing how they feel about being in the classroom, teachers should recognize their own biases against different cultures and overcome what might be either positively or negatively stereotypical.
For immigrant parents, preserving their first language (L1) could come before anything else. If the parents inform you their family prefers to speak their L1 at home, the tendency among teachers is that this child may not progress as fast as other students who speak English both at home and school. These students might talk to their teachers in their L1, or remain silent until someone who speaks their L1 approaches them. In the worst case scenario, these students could refuse to go to their classrooms if they feel their identity is being ignored. To prevent situations like these, what should mainstream teachers do?
Guo (2012) points out teaching and preserving L1 at home is “an important means of staying connected to relationships, cultural values, and identities forged in their home countries.” Some of the interviewees (parents) in her research paper understood competency in the L1 as “an important learning tool for transferring the concepts from first to second language education” (Guo, 2012). Reflecting on these transcriptions, teachers need to recognize students’ first language as a resource rather than a challenge in their classrooms. We do not intend to scare teachers or make them feel overwhelmed, but we feel the need to make emphasis on including cultural aspects in the mainstream classroom. Often times, teachers are not provided with appropriate information about different cultures of their ELL students. Walker, Shafer, and Iiams (2004) note, “While general multicultural education approaches can work well to help teachers explore their own cultural biases and negative attitudes, specific cultural training is needed to help teachers address specific cultural issues.”
Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment by Activating Prior Knowledge and Valuing Previous Experiences
There are times when an ELL student demonstrates less of what they can actually perform, and this can throw the teachers into total confusion. For example, the student might be able to grasp the meaning of a word within the passage of a reading but shows difficulty apprehending it. So what went wrong? Nothing; it’s just that the kind of background knowledge and experience this student has differs from the content of the reading. According to Anderson (1999), “Background knowledge includes all experiences that a reader brings to a text: life experiences, educational experiences, knowledge of how texts can be organized rhetorically, knowledge of how one’s first language works, knowledge of how the second language works, and cultural background and knowledge, to name a few areas.”
Therefore, teachers should be mindful about varied and diverse knowledge and experiences that ELL students would bring to their classrooms. Some might have more experience in sea fishing, so they could easily apprehend a book about sea fishing than others with no experience. Some ELL students might have never hiked hence it is more challenging for them to understand a story of a world famous hiker, even if there are illustrations that directly explain the plot line. Anderson (1999) asserts prior knowledge can influence reading comprehension. In fact, there could be ELL students with no prior knowledge to activate, like the student who has never hiked before. In such a case, teachers should establish a new set of knowledge to these students through meaningful learning experiences.
References
Anderson, N. (1999). Activate prior knowledge. In Exploring second language reading: Issues and strategies (pp. 9-19). Boston: Heinle and Heinle.
Guo, Y. (2012). Exploring linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity in Canadian schools: Pre-service teachers’ learning from immigrant parents. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 7(1), 4–23.
Walker, A., Shafer, J., & Iiams, M. (2004). “Not in my classroom”: Teacher attitudes towards English language learners in the mainstream classroom. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2(1), 130–160.
Anderson, N. (1999). Activate prior knowledge. In Exploring second language reading: Issues and strategies (pp. 9-19). Boston: Heinle and Heinle.
Guo, Y. (2012). Exploring linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity in Canadian schools: Pre-service teachers’ learning from immigrant parents. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 7(1), 4–23.
Walker, A., Shafer, J., & Iiams, M. (2004). “Not in my classroom”: Teacher attitudes towards English language learners in the mainstream classroom. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2(1), 130–160.