Flickr for low-level EFL students

Aaron Campbell has an excellent 6-paragraph article on using "Flickr for low level EFL students". Flickr is an online photo sharing tool. Aaron points out that setting up a gallery and profile is an authentic language activity that can, unlike in a closed traditional classroom, lead to conversations across the world.

15-year-old bilingual author

Maria Vilchis, an ESL 8th grader in New Jersey, plans on becoming an author in both Spanish and English (Miguel Juarez in Tri-Town News).

ESL student earns title of "world's best speaker"

An Israeli student earned the title of the 'world's best speaker' while competing in her second language of English.

Jan. 09 - A University of Haifa philosophy student, Anat Gelber, has earned the crown of the "world's best speaker" in her case, in English as a Second Language (ESL). She gained the title at the world rhetorical championships held in Dublin last week Gelber, 25, had previously twice gained the designation of "best ESL speaker in Europe," in 2003 and 2005. A graduate student, she had honed her oratorical skills as a member of the University of Haifa Rhetorical Society for the past five years. This debating club, set up only eight years ago, is considered one of the most successful in Israel. On the way to the title, Gelber was forced to deliver fiery speeches in English - not her native language - on such topics as the situation in Pakistan, atomic energy, the right to fertility treatments, animal rights, and illegal immigration. "In order to succeed in a competition like this," she explained, "you need not only speaking ability but also extensive knowledge and a mastery of everything that is happening in the world today."

NCLB vs. ESL

Michael Winerip of the NY Times reports on the problems Somali children are having learning English in Massachusetts schools, which have only English immersion classes. The children sit in class lost without translators, and no help seems to be forthcoming. Because there are only two translators, and they spend much of their time traveling from school to school by bus, one proposed solution was to cluster Somali children to ease the translation problem; however

Springfield officials have given a variety of reasons for not doing so. Last spring, according to Mrs. Caldwell, school officials said that clustering too many Somalis at one school would bring down its scores on state tests and the school could be labeled failing under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Mrs. Caldwell, a retiree who does volunteer work for several Somalian families, has filed a complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights.

First-time ESL teacher's diary

For a glimpse into a first-time ESL teacher's experience in another country, read Dan Hinkley's "Talkin' Proper: Diary of a First-time ESL Teacher."

God vs. composition class

Two postings earlier (Oct 2), I noted how Ed Madden "disenfranchised religion from the process of democratic deliberation" with one word. In a non-ESL, university composition course at Victor Valley Community College, Bethany Haulf received a grade of F on a paper for using the word God 41 times (Leroy Standish, Daily Press). Michael Shefchik, her teacher, had approved the paper's topic, Religion and its Place within the Government, but forbade the use of "God."

Shefchik claims teacher prerogative to design class assignments, and Hauf claims freedom of speech. Putting a positive spin on both sides, I can imagine that Shefchik, like many teachers, avoids topics or content (e.g., abortion) that leads to regurgitation of concepts instead of critical examination of those concepts. I can also imagine that Hauf has a different worldview that Shefchik's, a worldview that is excluded from the privileged perspective of academia.

Question: In what ways is (ex/in)cluding cultural backgrounds of students in our schools different/similar to (ex/in)cluding religious worldviews? Is there room in diversity and multiculturalism perspectives to include strong religious positions?

ESL students multiplying in Hawaii

Hawaii's student ESL population is more than 18,000, an increase of 42% over 4 years, but the schools are not receiving the funds to educate them (Associated Press, Hawaii News).

"Thwarting great expectations" in Canada

Rick Johnson, Charles Pascal, and Marilies Rettig (Toronto Star) report that one-third of all students in Toronto schools are immigrants and annual immigration levels are expected to increase. The problem, they note, is that ESL students drop out of high school two to three times more than other students.

It is often said that our future depends on the life chances we provide for our children. It is time we treated our new immigrants as a resource to be supported and developed, and to focus with urgency, and as a matter of national priority, on the needs of their children. Their lives and futures are at stake.

ESL and language diversity in New Jersey

Citing Joan Lenard, a teacher at Monmouth Regional High School and Ocean Community College, in an article on diversity, Layli White of The Hub writes that more than 151 languages are spoken in New Jersey, USA, and that "it can take five to six years of ESL classes before a student is able to compete with the general population of the school."

The power of a word

Ed Madden (The State) writes about the difficulty of moving first-year composition students (non-ESL) from "I have a right to my opinion!" to a process of evaluating arguments, reasons, and evidence.

So we have to move on to the necessary and sometimes difficult work of deliberation. And we have to talk about how to look for common ground, how to value and maintain community and civility, even in the face of deep disagreement, and how to work together in the context of disagreement. That’s how secular democracy — from the freshman classroom to the nonprofit board to the State House — works.

What's interesting is the word "secular" in "secular democracy." With a single word, Madden has disenfranchised religion from the process of democratic deliberation. I once overheard another composition instructor telling a student that the word "myth" did not mean something was not true, only that it was an academic word referring to ancient stories. Yet, this word always carries the nuance of "fiction." Thus, by a rhetorical sleight-of-hand, the instructor effectively nullified the student's world view.

Questions: How does one maintain "separation of church and state" and simultaneously respect religious perspectives? What sorts of words might ESL teachers unwittingly use that denigrate, or at least do not respect, the cultural heritages of their students?

Koreans learning English in the U.S.

In The Korea Times, Semoon Chang, professor of econcomics and Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of South Alabama, writes about the many Korean students who go to the U.S. to learn English in ESL programs, stating that many obstacles hinder that learning process, all centering around seeking out other Koreans and thus speaking Korean much of their time in the U.S. instead of English:

Sorry about discouraging you a little bit, but it is true that in order to learn how to speak English properly, you have to live in it, sleep in it, dream in it, and learn to love the culture of the place the language is spoken in. Remember that nothing worthy is easy. There is no such thing as free lunch.

New TOEFL, new obstacles

A new TOEFL will greet students this Saturday (AP via CNN). It will include a speaking component that may disadvantage Asian applicants who have focused on reading and grammar rather than communication.

Now that test has undergone a major makeover, aimed at better evaluating how well applicants can communicate in English. As the test debuts Saturday, some students, particularly Asians, are worried they'll be disadvantaged because of how they were taught English in school.

Lack of ESL support

Noreen Navin reports that more than 40,000 ESL students cannot receive ESL support in Australia.

Outsourcing of tutors

In USA Today, tutoring services are being outsourced online. Although no mention was made of ESL outsourcing, it is more than just a possibility. Imagine having an online tutor knowing both one's native language and English, plus charging much less than tutors in western countries.

ESL students increasing in Arkansas

The number of ESL students in the U.S. is constantly increasing, as noted in Fayretteville, Arkansas and elsewhere.

Smackdown learning

Although not related to ESL or technology, Kathy Sierra (via Learning Circuits) discusses the smackdown learning model, presenting different perspectives that forces students to make a choice.

First-year composition and ESL students

From DeAnn, aka Flash!topian, a teacher of first year college composition:

You don't do anyone any favors when you pass an incompetent student. You make everyone's lives miserable, especially the student's. This is doubly the case for ESL students, who will show up in an advanced class, having been shoved through the preliminaries, without the basic knowledge required to understand the material. You're the teacher. Teach them. If they don't learn, send them to a tutor. If they still don't learn, gently inform them that another semester at that level will help them.

ESL students and mentors

Heather Kays of the Herald News (via NorthJersey.com) reports on the The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey Health Literacy Program, in which teens mentor young ESL students.

Preschool helps ESL students

From Medical News Today:

Preschoolers whose first language isn't English adjust better to kindergarten if they attend a school-based readiness program with their parents, say early education researchers at the University of Toronto.

Podcasters will be forgotten

On CNET news, billionaire founder of Broadcast.com and owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban says podcasters will be forgotten.

Podcasting is right where streaming was about 10 years ago. Before you dive into podcasting as “the next big thing”, you would be wise to do some homework on how the streaming industry evolved.

Try to find any of the many that created original content for PSEUDO.com, TSN, EYADA.com, Broadcast.com and others that I have long forgotten.

There is a good chance that their history is your future.

He's talking about making money at it. Still, podcasting has great potential for ESL/EFL purposes.

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