What do students do in ESL lessons?
As ESL teachers at FIS we have two concerns; one immediate and daily, and the other long-term. The immediate concern is to help students do assignments that will satisfy them and their subject teachers. The long-term concern is to help the students learn enough English that they can function successfully in the mainstream without ESL support. The amount of time that is devoted to each of these concerns depends on the particular group of students and the time of year. So, for example, more time is spent on other subject work with beginning students than with more advanced students. Students generally become more independent as the year progresses, so more time is devoted to general language and skills development towards the end of the year than at the beginning. Beginning ESL students tend to lose their voice and their personality when they enter the mainstream classroom in the first few months at FIS. They may believe themselves to be or even be made to feel stupid. For this reason we
