Advanced ESL Teaching: Assisting College-Bound Students

It can be challenging to start any teaching job, but the world of teaching ESL presents its own unique challenges. Cultural considerations and communication barriers can combine to create major difficulties in the classroom. Add to this the pressure of students who need to increase their English skills in order to enter an American college classroom, often in a very limited amount of time. Students can be impatient to leave behind the ESL world and get into their "real" classes. Without improvements, these students risk losing assistantships, scholarships, financial support from parents, and even their permission to be in the country! Keeping these factors in mind, how can an instructor best serve these students?

First, it's important to educate yourself on the requirements for these students. Do they need to attain a certain TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score? Will their program accept any of the credits earned in ESL classes? Do the ESL courses affect their graduating G.P.A? Students who have to make TOEFL or other standardized test scores often put themselves under tremendous pressure to memorize vocabulary and grammar rules, and forget the need to improve their production (writing and speaking) skills.

It is also important to know if your students will study at the undergraduate or graduate levels. A student who has never taken a college class will likely need more assistance in learning note-taking skills, reading strategies, and learning how to put together a simple research paper or essay. Graduate students need to know how to conquer the large amount of reading present in most graduate programs, how to write papers that adhere to specific styles for publication, and how to give longer oral presentations. A simple needs analysis in the form of a survey or a short interview with incoming students can help you plan the direction of your courses to better prepare the students for future success.