Methods for Presenting Knowledge in the ESL Classroom

Depending on the method that a teacher adheres to, the way of presenting knowledge in an ESL classroom varies greatly. Here are some of the most common methods used today:

In the Grammar Translation Method, knowledge is presented primarily through famous works of literature. Students are asked to read, to discuss (in their native language), and to translate famous works by English and American authors. They are not taught to speak the language but rather to read and translate it. While this method is not typically used in the United States, it is still very popular in other countries (like Japan, where I want to one day teach).

In the Direct Method and the Audio-Lingual Method, the emphasis is on teaching students to speak the target language (in this case, English). The other aspects of literacy are addressed under these two methods as well, but speaking is considered to be the most important. With these two methods knowledge is presented in the target language (again, English) only, and it is distributed to the students in the form of either vocabulary items or grammar drills. (Grammatical rules are not supposed to be directly given to students using these two methods, but some teachers give them anyway). In high school and in college, my teachers taught me Spanish using (what I believe to be) a combination of the Direct Method and the Audio-Lingual Method. (My teachers “cheated” a little, however, because they spoke to us in English as well.) The school I am observing in Clifton right now also seems to teach ESL using a combination of these two methods. (These teachers don’t “cheat” by the way, so imagine yourself being in another country and being taught the language in that language – scary, huh?). Thus, it appears that this is currently the main way that second language knowledge is being presented to students in the United States.

In the future (and to some extent currently), ESL teachers in the United States are being expected to adopt programs like the SIOP Model or CALLA. Under programs like these, academic content (i.e., math, science, social studies, literature, etc.) is presented to students through modified instruction in English. This way students develop reading, writing, and speaking skills both in BICS (i.e., conversational language) and in CALP (i.e., academic language). In the past, many ESL learners in the states had BICS but were not familiar enough with CALP to succeed in the mainstream school system. Thus, this is why we (as ESL teachers) are trying to implement methods that distribute knowledge in ways that better accommodate our students and their needs.

Alright, well, I hope that wasn’t too boring to read! As teachers who might have ESL students in your classrooms, I think it's important for you to be familiar with how these students are learning English. If you are, perhaps you will have a better understanding of where they are coming from and what additional help they might need.