Education - Teaching Methods Educational

Education - Teaching Methods Educational Methods in Teaching ESL Reading and Writing The purpose of this work is to interview a teacher who specializes in teaching English as a second language and to ask the teacher about the effect of students' cultural and prior educational backgrounds on their school performance.

The questions will be asked of "What accommodations does the teacher make to help students adjust"? What kinds of materials or activities has the teacher used with success with English learners and what kind of programs does the teacher consider best for English learners and why?" Interviewee: Kregg C.

Strehorn, ESL Educator What are the effects of students' cultural and prior educational backgrounds on their school performance? Answer: Culturally speaking the student from a family that is supportive and interested in their educational attainment is the student that is much more likely to be successful in school and the student who is more likely to "like" school and thrive educationally.

If the student is from a family who does not value educational achievement then it is likely the lack of encouragement or disinterest from the aspect of the students' cultural environment will stifle the student in learning as well as educational achievement. Question Two: What accommodations does the ESL teacher make to assist the student adjustment? Answer: It is very important is the clear expression of what is expected from the student in terms of classwork.

The major elements needed in teaching the ESL student effectively are Provide adequate feedback; 2) Clarify goals; 3) Have consistency in Teaching Style; 4) Lessons need routine or framework; and 5) Have Cultural awareness.

Stated is that: "By explicitly stressing this kind of seemingly trivial information, the teacher can save a lot of valuable class time and create a much more productive atmosphere." Question Three: What type of program does the teacher consider best for English learners and why? Answer: Universal Instructional Design (Silver, Bourke, & Strehorn) is stated by teacher to be a process that started when, according to Kregg C.

Strehorn: began to open the classroom and attempt to make it more accessible to all students." Strehorn believes this program is the best design in use for the educator in teaching the ESL learner. Strehorn states that: To begin, I try to design a syllabus/course outline that is not only readable, but something that will be utilized more than once per semester (the first day!).

This document, aside from basic course information (names and dates), emphasizes my expectation that all students must accept responsibility for their own learning as well as my flexibility in teaching style.

I try to make the course syllabus available on disk, and it is always useful to have a clear, legible copy that can be blown-up, or scanned if needed." Question Four: What kinds of materials or activities has the teacher used with success with English learners? Answer: Strehorn states that materials used are: Dictionaries and thesauruses, audio tapes of each class period, books on tape, additional reading/reference sources, study guides, support information, sample problems however, it is not so much the fact in the type of the materials that Streehorn uses but in the fact that he uses them in a manner that is obviously one of much thought and is in the nature of critical thinking as the choice of the materials are made and for what purpose they are chosen.

Strehorn states that: Accessibility of classroom.