English Learners and Higher Education

The number of English learners enrolled in community college and university programs has skyrocketed over the past ten years, a trend that will only increase.  Non-native English speaking college students face distinct challenges in succeeding in this environment.  College faculty can implement simple strategies and techniques to help ESL students bridge the comprehension gap.

In many cases, faculty in higher education may not have much training in working with non-native English speakers. They may lack the requisite knowledge and skills to support these students. They may not know there are simple strategies they can use.  
 
There are practical strategies & techniques any instructor can employ that can have profound effects on learning, retention, and success.

TESOL Trainers has been providing professional development to college instructors to help them develop the necessary knowledge and skills to help non-native English speakers succeed.  

Common myths about English language learners (ELLs) and the college class: 

  1. They speak English fine;  they're fine.  Because fluency in social language does not always equal academic language fluency, we can be 'fooled' into thinking the students are grasping the lecture while the opposite may be occurring.
  2. My international students don't really want to learn English; they spend a lot of class time speaking their native languages.  While we certainly want to encourage English language production as much as possible, it may be that students are using their native languages to comprehend the content or to feel a little 'safer'.
  3. I have no time to create all of these special lessons for a few students.  Thankfully, there are scores of strategies instructors can employ in class without any extra preparation.  We can provide your faculty with practical, research-based strategies that invite the ELLs into the class content.
  4. If I spend all of my class time making sure the ELLs are caught up, I'll only get through half of the syllabus.  Best Practices do not take away from instructional time but enhance all aspects of the learning process.  We can show you how to do more in the time you have. 

Strategies for Supporting all Students
TESOL Trainers  provides a wide range of professional development options for higher education faculty to give them the tools they need to work effectively with ELLs.  We can respond to all of these questions and more through practical strategies that instructors can use to support the learning of all students.

​TESOL Trainers provides remote professional development to higher education faculty that helps them develop critical skills.

Our courses, workshops, and seminars provide instructors with the necessary knowledge, attitude, skills, & awareness (KASA) to support their non-native English speaking students in all aspects of instruction.  Contact us for more information

For an overview of one component of Best Practices, Giving Clear Instructions, check out our blog.