Almost all the older ESL students who start at Frankfurt International School have had at least a few lessons of English before joining the school. They come, therefore, with some expectations of how English should be taught, and they may be surprised to find that the methods used here are different from those they are familiar with. And their surprise may be shared by their parents!
Of course, there are many different reasons for learning English and many different situations in which English can be learned, so it should not be surprising that there is a large variety of methods. We cannot expect that one teaching method will be appropriate for all learners in all situations. Despite the large number of different learning situations, however, it is possible to separate out two main categories: learning English as a second language (ESL), and learning English as a foreign language (EFL).
In an ESL situation, the learner is learning English within an English environment and needs to understand and speak English outside of the classroom too. In an EFL situation, the learner learns English inside a classroom, but continues to speak her own language when she leaves the classroom. An example of an ESL situation is a Vietnamese child who emigrates with his family to America; he speaks Vietnamese at home with his parents, but during the rest of the day and at school, he must speak English. Until he learns enough English, he will find it very difficult to keep up with his school work. He might even find it difficult to make friends.
On the other hand, a Korean girl learning English in a Korean school must understand and speak English only during her English lessons - perhaps 3 times a week. The rest of her day in school and at home she will speak her own language. It doesn't matter if she doesn't know much English or if she learns slowly; this will not affect her day-to-day life in and out of school as it would for the Vietnamese boy.
[The situation at FIS is a little complicated because a third language is involved: German, the language of the host country. But we choose to call our program ESL, because students have to understand, speak and learn in English for the whole of the school day.]
The teaching situation, ESL or EFL, influences the content and methods of the English language teaching. At FIS, for example, students are helped to learn the general English they need to feel comfortable in school, to make and communicate with new friends and so be able to play a full part in the school's artistic, sporting and social life. Most importantly, they are also taught the kind of English language and skills that will help them to be successful in their other classes, history, mathematics etc. which are all in English. This is typical of most programs in ESL situations
In many EFL situations on the other hand, English may be taught in a traditional way; i.e. based on the learning, step-by-step, of a number of grammtical items in supposed order of difficulty. A more modern EFL teaching philosophy has students learning how to communicate in a number of different situations, like Buying a ticket at the railway station, Complaining about a poor service in a restaurant etc. If ESL students who come to FIS (or their parents) have experienced these kinds of English lessons, it is little wonder that they are surprised by the different way they are taught English in this school!