Faculty Support for Instruction of International and English Language Acquisition Students: Classroom Tips

This page contains classroom tips on:

• Instructor Lectures
• Student Group Work
• Student Lab Work
• Students Struggling with Specialized Vocabulary
• Student Presentations
• Students' Writing
• Students' Grammar Errors in Writing

The tips were prepared by Christine Kobayashi - Dean, International Education Division.

If you have questions and/or comments, please contact Christine at christine.kobayashi@edmonds.edu 

Lectures

1. After using vocabulary that is challenging but critical to the lecture, rephrase the vocabulary lecture (e.g., …).
    
2. Try to avoid using too many idiomatic phrases, and if you do use them, please briefly rephrase them.
    
3. Writing key words (especially those that are both challenging and critical) on the board as cues to process what you are saying.
    
4. At the end of the lecture, give everyone a scrap of paper or index card.  Ask them to write a question about something that needs clarification from the lecture (low-threat).  You can address anything that pops up in the next day’s class.
    
5. Make the lectures and other aspects of class time somewhat predictable routines for students so that non-native speakers don’t feel left behind when every day is completely different from the previous one.

Eliciting oral responses from students during lectures

1. After posing a question, repeat it so students have time to process and respond.
    
2. Extend wait time when asking for responses or questions from the class.
    
3. After posing a question, allow students to respond to the question with a partner in the class (briefly) then ask for a student’s personal response.
    
4. Vary how you ask questions:  ask for volunteers, call on specific people, etc. 

1. Give students the discussion questions the day before for some advanced thinking and preparation.
    
2. Put the discussion questions under the document camera so that students can see the questions projected on the classroom screen.
    
3. While discussions are in progress, take “live” notes on things that can be heard around the classroom.  Vocabulary that non-native speakers may be hearing can be matched with vocabulary they may be more familiar with on paper.  (In order to truly acquired a new word, a student must read, write, hear, and say it on a number of occasions).
    
4. Encourage students to sit next to people who don’t speak their first language.
    
5. Create group activities that require participation from each member (jigsaw, or assign rotating roles like discussion leader, notetaker, speaker, etc.)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrcuQmxF5oM (link about jigwaw).
    
6. Create activities that encourage students to have some degree of cross-cultural exchange.
    
7. If the groups are tackling an activity that they haven’t done together before, the instructor models it, does it with the class, and then lets the students try it on their own.

1. Encourage students to sit next to people who don’t speak their first language.
    
2. Create a video where students and instructor role play a successful and unsuccessful lab session . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TADfGsai3Ro
   
   
3. Consider making a brief pronunciation video (for Canvas) of key words that are needed to be successful in the course.

Students who need advice about finding errors in their own writing

1. On an initial writing sample, show students where the language falls apart and model correct language so that they can go back and analyze their mistakes.  Tell them to keep your feedback as something to go back to when they are preparing future writing assignments.
    
2. Suggest that students try to read some of their writing out loud.  It is surprising how many errors/how much can be cleaned up from simply reading it out loud.
    
3. Many of our non-native English speaking students have a lot of grammar training and grammar knowledge.  They are accustomed to looking at sentences individually to find mistakes.  To focus students' attention on writing errors rather than on content, suggest they look at one sentence at a time out of context (e.g., start with the last sentence and go backwards from there).

1. (submitted by Rachel Wade)  On a quiz/test give students the chance to ask you about vocabulary they don’t know, especially if the word isn’t tied directly to a concept you are testing (ex: The barge is cruising at a rate of 8 knots/hr.  What is the cruising rate of the barge in miles?  Barge and cruising are not words that students need to know to be successful in math problems; they are arbitrary words that give the math some real world context.)
    
2. Give at least one example of a word within the specialized vocabulary a subject that could have multiple meanings--establish a conversation about studying the correct meaning/usage (ex: solution in chemistry versus solution in math).
    
3. Give students a list of important course vocabulary words (and their meanings) that may have more than one meaning (especially for textbooks that don’t have a glossary).
    
4. Suggest students track their individual vocabulary learning in a log to capture:  grammar, context, meanings.
    
5. There are excellent (and free) websites for students to prepare their own vocabulary exercises too.
   (Ex: http://worksheets.theteacherscorner.net/make-your-own/fill-in-the-blank/)
    
6. If the vocabulary words are used in lectures or lab instructions, please consider making a brief pronunciation video (for Canvas) of key words that are needed to be successful in the course.
    
7. Allow students to use paper English-English dictionaries during quizzes/tests.
    
8. Repetition of specialized vocabulary is critical for students to recognize and finally know the meaning of a word as well.  

1. Present a timeline and built-in “check points” to make sure that the student is progressing with assignment as it leads up to the actual presentation.
    
2. Allow the students to have low-threat “dress rehearsals.”  This is particularly useful for students who have a lot of anxiety about speaking in front of the class.
    
3. Allow the students who have less English-speaking confidence to practice in front of you first so that the student can get some encouragement about how he/she is doing.
    
4. Encourage students to make some eye contact with the audience.

• Present a timeline and built-in “check points” to make sure that the student is progressing with an assignment as it leads up to the actual deadline.

• Show students what a “4.0” “3.0” and “2.0” assignment looks like.  Use student papers from native and non-native speakers of English.  Models are so helpful for students!  

• OR actively engage students in using your rubric to assess a past student paper.  Ask them (in pairs, small groups) to generate a grade using your rubric, then tell the class what score the assignment actually got.  This makes your expectations transparent.

• Address plagiarism before it happens.   Show examples.  Discuss it as a cross-cultural topic.

• Encourage students to use outlines (formal and informal), pre-writing strategies (aka brainstorming), etc.  

For Instructors
 

1. Glossary of math terms--What are some terms and phrases that are used frequently during the quarter?--include terms that may have more than one meaning (ex:  value, round, mean, and so on)--include terms that have multiple synonyms (ex:  add, combine, sum, etc.)
    

2. Practice tests and quizzes--Give students more exposure (repetition really aids in vocabulary acquisition for students) to the language of a particular math class’s tests and quizzes with very low stakes before taking the high stakes tests and quizzes.
    

3. Norming sessions on practice tests and quizzes--In advance of a first major test or quiz, allow students to practice scoring a few past student quizzes (or answers to just one or two questions on a quiz). The teacher can reveal how the students actually did after students are allowed to “think like the teacher.”
    

4. Multiple ways to generate student questions--on a card at the end of class, on Canvas in a separate Discussion, compare/talk to a partner in class before asking.
    

5. 3-minute sound bite videos on Canvas reviewing concepts that were discussed in class--students appreciate the ability to be able to watch and re-watch a lecture until they grasp the content and vocabulary.
    

6. Think-alouds with word problems--modeling think-aloud first as an instructor, but then inviting students to do this in pairs.  Hearing what students are thinking as they examine word problems may shed light on hang ups non-native speaking students (or even native speaking students) are having about a particular word problem.    
   (https://www.teachervision.com/skill-builder/problem-solving/48546.html) (http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/think_alouds)

For Students

1. Tracking/Logging math vocabulary on an individual basis--Students can keep a personal glossary of terms that they have learned over the quarter.  They can hold on to this for future math classes as well.
    

2. Learning Support Center--According to Jeremiah, tutors can quickly see if a student is struggling with language or a math concept.  If students are personally recommended to go to the LSC, perhaps there could be a bit of a follow up process between the tutor and the math instructor (a prepared form, an email message, etc.)