The Challenge of Teaching English

California welcomed Kristin with a sweet surprise of diversity and multicultural phenomenon. In the Fall of 2001, when she applied for a teaching position in Compton, the principal who was interviewing her at that time asked if she had experiences in teaching diverse, multicultural groups of students. The reply was short and sweet – yes! Surprised at the immediate response, the principal repeated the question as if the teacher did not totally comprehend what she said. Right in front of the administrator was a young, Asian-looking, petite individual who had an Asian-sounding surname. Perhaps the teacher’s physical appearance already suggested that she taught in an exclusive Asian educational setting somewhere outside the United States. Before the teacher could even assimilate what was taking place in the principal’s mind, she composed herself and patiently waited for the principal to utter something. Was this African American principal warning her of the challenges a newbie would face in the hood? Alas, seeing that the teacher was uncomfortable with burrowing questions, she then explained the current condition in the community. Hispanics overwhelmingly increased and is still increasing to this day, in the neighborhood that was once predominantly African-American. A rapid influx of Mexicans, Peruvians, Spanish, Salvadorians, Guatemalans, Puertoricans and Colombians was prevalent, creating a massive Hispanic-American domain on the Compton map and surrounding cities. Particularly in Compton, being bilingual was a plus factor. Speaking and understanding Spanish guaranteed a teaching job. A smile followed as a bright light of ideas filled the room. The teacher knew three languages other than English. She was comfortable around people of color. On a positive note, she was more than willing and ready to teach English Learners. As the teacher breathed a sigh of relief, she thought, “This is where I belong.”

Similar experiences could be seen in other cities, and even states, across the country, where there are eager and not-so-eager English Learners filling up almost every language minority seat in American classrooms. Since the dawn of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – a nationwide law that drew much controversy, numerous accounts of administrators labeled teachers as highly qualified or incompetent; students were sorted out as English Only, English Proficient, or Limited English Learners. In this mix were communities embracing multicultural disparities and socio-economic barriers – all these occur equivocally, seemingly ambiguous to the basic principles of the teaching-and-learning process. Perhaps this is a paradigm shift that law-makers and education administrators have imbibed unto their compatriots’ mindset ever since the Great Immigration came into being, thus creating a ripple effect toward either educational advancement or chaos. Depending on whatever direction it leads to, the known occurrence passes a bleak tunnel to more law-making tasks as lawsuits are made as an attempt to extinguish an existing law, e.g. anti-bilingual education Proposition 227. As seen in most known legal cases, the more diversified denominations of people are involved in the gamut of absurdities, the more invitations of doubts and challenging tasks remain in the minds and hands of everyone in the teaching-learning web. Typically, English Language Acquisition Programs are immediately considered, assessed, applied, tried-and-tested-like-iron and then recycled. Such an atrocious cycle indeed! In a span of a decade, it is almost impossible to stick with one method or style of teaching, for it seems that no one has found the perfect combination yet especially now that technological advancement and virtual social hubs are insisting its way in the education realm. Teaching and learning is a never-ending, bottomless process which is new every morning. Oftentimes, teachers wound up frustrated and confused even when graced with a buffet of outstanding teaching skills or endowed with knowledge of best teaching practices within multicultural dimensions. Unpacking and delivering the state’s content standards become cumbersome in a classroom where teachers choose between pacing the district’s curriculum versus genuinely involving themselves in the lives of their students. Incidentally, bringing these elements into one cohesive entity keeps educators and law-makers on their tipsy toes.

One absolute lesson learned is this: When a teacher genuinely commits to teach Standard American English to immigrants, almost often, one’s teaching expertise or the-lack-of-it are set aside while altruism is welcomed. A great heap of understanding is required, especially in knowing the emotional, academic and linguistic issues of non-native speakers of English. To witness successful learning environments, teachers of English Learners must be able to 1) prepare these environments with a variety of manipulatives and print-rich walls; 2) use structured academic instruction; 3) encroach differentiated instruction while exposing students to the state standards; 4) connect with parents and the community and the most important factor is to 5) keep tabs with the student – by paying close attention to their learning habits or characteristics, family backgrounds, socio-economic status, legal immigration status, parents’ capacity to work and coping mechanisms, learning styles and modalities, living conditions, and previous schooling experience. This list may go on and on but the challenge of teaching in Bilingual and ESL classrooms in America will never go away. English Language Development is here to stay.