Alexis Teitelbaum

December 3, 2018

Professor Olalde

Teaching English Language Learners

Grace Reflection

My experience with speaking to students from Grace ES proved to be very valuable and

interesting, and illuminated the concepts that were discussed in class. Prior to my first session, I

was extremely nervous about contacting Grace. The only experience I have had speaking at

length with someone who does not speak English as their first language is my aunt, who is

Japanese but speaks very fluent English, so I was not sure if I was prepared to hold full

conversations with someone who would potentially not understand what I was trying to

communicate. I was concerned that I would not be able to understand the students I was speaking

to, that they would not be able to understand me, and that our conversations would be filled with

awkward, long pauses. Despite my initial anxieties, I was also excited for such a new experience.

My main goal was to maintain conversations that felt as natural as possible, and to learn how to

rephrase and get my thoughts across despite possible language barriers.

Over the course of my four sessions with Grace ES, I found that my concerns were

mostly unfounded. Though only one of my two connecting students was fluent in English, they

were both able to understand me fairly well, and after an initial period of awkward laughter on

both ends, we were able to fall into a pretty casual conversation. My goal of conversing as

naturally as possible remained consistent throughout my sessions, and I achieved it mainly

through ensuring that I was prepared each time with a list of conversation topics, and that I asked

as many open-ended questions as possible that could easily lead to further discussion.
 The first item that stands out to me about this is how English language learners at

different stages are interested in and excited by different experiences. Charlie, who was likely in

the Bridging stage, conversed with me very naturally, but was very excited whenever I was able

to teach him an English word, such as pizza toppings, that he had not known before. On the other

hand, Noemi, who was not nearly as fluent, was much more excited whenever I confirmed that I

could understand what she had said, or that a statement she used was grammatically correct. This

was interesting for me because it really showed how much of a gap there can be between

language acquisition stages. Charlie was fluent to the point that he was barely even thinking

about what was so exciting to Noemi, whereas she was not yet at a level where she was worrying

about more specific word meanings the way that he was.

A second item of interest was how, despite our cultural differences, we bonded during

our conversations over such specific things. For example, Noemi and I discovered that she

watches the exact television shows that I loved as a child, and we spent nearly half an hour

discussing them. So many of our conversations revolved around describing differences between

America and Guatemala, so it was interesting for me to note how, in spite of that, we could find

such specific common ground. When I began this experience, I never imagined that one of my

biggest bonding moments with my Grace connection would center around The Suite Life of Zack

and Cody, but it ended up being one of my favorite topics of conversation.

Finally, it was interesting to note the difference between active and receptive vocabulary,

especially when talking to Noemi. I found that she was able to understand what I was saying

much more easily than she could communicate in English herself. Some of our biggest

miscommunications took place when I was attempting to understand what she had asked or

answered. This was interesting for me to take notice of, because it related so directly to a concept
that we discussed in class, and illustrated how difficult it must be for ELL students, as many of

them have various ability levels in the different functions of English.

When it comes to the difference between teaching in theory and in practice, this

experience has taught me that theory can only get you so far in terms of understanding ELL

students. Theory can give general information about the various stages of language acquisition

and what students in those stages can be expected to do, but teaching in practice operates on a

much more individual basis. While teaching in theory can give you general strategies for how to

teach to students at various stages and ability levels, it cannot predict what teaching in practice

might bring, such as an individual student’s preferences and precise abilities that may deviate

slightly from what they should theoretically be able to accomplish. Overall, teaching in theory is

predictable and consistent, whereas teaching in practice contains hurdles and complications that

have to be dealt with on a much more individual basis. Learning strategies and ability levels in

theory can certainly prepare a teacher to some extent, but the best way to learn is to practice

directly with the students themselves, especially in dealing with the unpredictable.

One question for further inquiry is, since my conversations were held with students

around the same age as me, how could I have incorporated more direct lessons relating to

English instruction, such as reading or writing activities, into my sessions without feeling as

though I was treating my conversational partners as children?