By Mariama Fofana & Sharif Hodges
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
The Problem
As a teacher, it is difficult under normal circumstances to make meaningful connections with students. But when face- to- face interactions are taken away, as they were over the last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, forming virtual connections is even more difficult.
Online learning poses a particular challenge to students learning English as a second language with little help at home to navigate the system. Students are no longer in an environment where they are expected to speak and practice the English language with others every day. This can cause students to be unmotivated, and it can be hard for teachers to know if they are fully comprehending the material being taught.
Students identified as English language learners (ELLs) who are enrolled in public school English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs make up a big portion of students nationwide. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, there were about 5 million English learners in U.S. public schools in fall 2016, up from 2000, when there were 3.8 million.
It is often said that English is one of the hardest languages to learn. One of the reasons why: the language is full of contradictions. There are many rules in English that have exceptions, which can take quite a lot of practice to understand.
“Learning language is a dynamic process,” Amaya Garcia, deputy director for English learner education at New America, told USA Today. “You need to be able to hear it. You need to speak it back. That speaking and listening part is being left out of the equation.”
Ewa Żabka, an international ESOL teacher, finds that it can be difficult for students to communicate what it is they are having trouble with — especially in an online classroom. In normal classroom environments students can see her body language and use of gestures. With classes being online, students cannot notice those cues that are just as important to learning the English language.
The Solution
Żabka, a native of Warsaw, Poland, who teaches English to adults and children, has found numerous methods of teaching that very well could be the solution teachers are looking to adopt for their students in America. These solutions rely on interpersonal communication and finding ways to appeal to all her students in sometimes unconventional ways.
Wideboard, an app that allows teachers to connect with students, is one of the ways Żabka keeps students engaged during class. Żabka shares her screen and allows her students to do the same. This way, any work they are going over, whether it is vocabulary or grammar, can be fixed if need be, in that exact moment. This is also a means of communication for the student, to allow them to clarify lesson topics with their her, and show what they have learned.
“They share with me projects, presentations and sometimes pictures on Wideboard. I also like to share audio like YouTube videos and MP3 files that we listen to together while teaching,” Żabka said.
In order to make sure the lesson resonated with students, and guarantee they retain the information learned, Żabka sends individualized notes she’s prepared for her students after the lesson and emails them to their parents. This way, students can work on issues specific to their needs outside of class.
Keeping communication lines open and personalizing feedback aren’t the only things Żabka does. She also tries to be creative with the material she uses. She likes to start off her classes with memes, or funny pictures with a caption, in English.
“Memes are fantastic,” Zabka said. “It makes a great and friendly atmosphere at the beginning. Of course, they’re in English, and sometimes they make children laugh and allow me to introduce the topic.”
These memes allow for tension to be released and results in a more comfortable learning environment for her students.
Żabka likes to bring in examples — and media, when possible — that are of interest to her students. She’s extremely comfortable with using forms of entertainment like video games, or even animals and incorporates them into her lesson to make the material easier to understand.
Insights
Teachers who want to implement Żabka’s way of teaching should try to create a bond with their students. Zabka regularly checks up on her students and tries to create relationships with them to help ensure a smooth connection.
“I try to have messaging groups with students, and if I encounter some funny or amusing meme, I send it to them. I try to write in English, and keep in touch in English,” Zabka said.
Building these personal connections encourages students to stay motivated and gives them an extra opportunity to practice their English. This reassures her that the techniques are working and that her students are fully comprehending the material being taught.
Żabka now understands that students are more willing to learn when there is content that they are interested in, so she makes it a point to include different forms of media (videos, memes, games) to keep students entertained.
Her unique way of teaching is feasible in a small group setting and can be more difficult to implicate in a larger classroom. If teachers stick to the same old methods without building personal connections, their students may continue struggling to learn the English language online.
“This type of teaching really is best in person,” Lisa Sterling, an English language development teacher in Idaho, told a newspaper there. “It is all about learning language, and there is so much of it that is lost when you are online.”
Many are sharing their concerns on students potentially falling behind due to this state of online learning.
“I think teachers are stepping up, and we are having to learn so many new things and teachers are trying so hard, but not having that face-to-face time, it is going to cause them to fall further behind. We are going to probably see the effects of this for years to come,” Sterling told the newspaper.
Evidence of Effectiveness
Żabka checks on the progress of her students using a website called Wordwall. With it, she prepares different exercises and assignments with the words she taught her students in class to test them on what they have learned. This also allows her to test the effectiveness of her unique teaching strategies.
“There are interactive quizzes, some matching exercises, some fill in the blank exercises, and it is all very colorful,” Żabka said.
Żabka has found success in using these methods to see how well her students are retaining information through her lessons. Implementing students’ interests in her lesson plans has made it much easier for them to do well on their assignments.
Żabka does not use numbers to track the students, but anecdotally, with her strategies, she has seen major improvements in their abilities to learn English, and she said they are having a wonderful time learning the language as well.
Limitations
There are some limitations to this style of teaching for full classrooms of students. Since Żabka has one-on-one meetings with her students, she can spend more time of specific issues that they have and centralize the content towards them.
Discipline can also be an issue. When dealing with more than one student, Żabka prefers in-person lessons because it’s a lot easier to deal with students when their attention wavers or they start talking over one another.
“I have a group that I meet with once a week that I prefer to visit at home,” Zabka said. “I do English puzzles with them, which are much easier to do in-person since I can make sure one person is talking instead of two at the same time.”