Recently, I had the opportunity to interview two ELLs about their experiences assimilating to United States culture and schools and their advice for both teachers and other ELLs. One of the interviews is with a fourteen-year-old male (Tony) whose family is from El Salvador. The other interview is with a twenty-year-old female college student (Noelia) from Ecuador. Since both of the interviewees have been in the United States for most of their lives and both have similar Latin American cultural influences, I anticipated that their responses to my questions would be similar. To my surprise, many of the answers were markedly different and the conversations took quite different paths.
Both Tony and Noelia said that assimilation was easy for them. Tony added that since he was born in the United States, he has always considered himself an American. Tony and Noelia were both young when they began learning English: around six or seven years old. While both show fluency in English (and Spanish), Tony says he often struggles to pronounce unfamiliar words. Noelia similarly added that silent letters in English words often confuse her. When asked about their Latin American cultures, Tony remarked that he enjoys Salvadorian food; he added, “That’s my favorite part of visiting, besides seeing family.” Noelia also emphasized the importance of family in her Ecuadorian culture, noting the closeness she feels with her immediate family.
Tony and Noelia are both excellent students. Tony says his greatest struggle has been history. His family rarely talks of current events at home, so he pays little attention to the government. Tony likes math, mainly because his parents have always been able to help him. He also added that he likes the step-by-step process that he can understand without having to form many opinions. Interestingly, Noelia says that math was the most difficult subject to learn. While people often think of math as “the universal language,” learning how to do math requires that the student can understand the teacher. Noelia says that her favorite class, music, is the true universal language. Reading and playing music are the same everywhere in the world, she added, so music let her be part of two cultures at once. Even in the subjects where Tony and Noelia excel, they added that they are often reluctant to participate. They feel it takes them more time to process what the teacher wants, and they fear they will misinterpret if they respond too quickly.
Even though Tony and Noelia are often reticent in class, they both prefer to speak with friends in English rather than Spanish. Tony lives in an area where most people speak English and Spanish. He says that his friends all speak English to each other because “it just feels more natural.” Noelia, on the other hand, did not/ does not normally have a choice. Noelia grew up in an area with very few Spanish speakers. In fact, Noelia’s older sister was the first ELL in their local school district. Therefore, Noelia speaks only English with her peers. Even though both speak English clearly, I have found it less-obvious that English is Noelia’s second language than with Tony.
Learning English takes a lot of practice; Tony says he relied heavily on TV shows, adding that this was an “accident;” Tony said he did not purposefully watch TV shows in English, but inadvertently learned a great deal from them. Noelia accredits her learning of English to conversing with friends. She said that being so immersed in an English-speaking culture forced her to learn English quickly. Tony thinks that he will always be an ELL; he added that he still thinks in Spanish often and speaks mainly Spanish at home. Noelia does not consider herself an ELL anymore; she thinks that learning English is highly personal, so there is no threshold point where a person must reach to no longer be considered an ELL.
As far as classroom education, Tony and Noelia both emphasized the importance of patience with English Language Learners. Tony said that while most of his teachers were highly experienced in working with ELLs, some pushed him too hard and made him feel like speaking Spanish was “wrong.” Noelia said that most teachers were very patient with her. She points out that it is important for teachers to remember that an ELLs may struggle with English, not content material, though it can be hard for teachers to tell the difference. As a teacher, I will work to identify specific barriers that my ELLs face in their English speaking, reading, writing, or listening abilities. Once identified, I will be better equipped to assist students in overcoming their struggles so they can work to master both English and science.
Teaching English Language Learners 