This webpage is a summary of a presentation entitled ESL in the Classroom at the Association of German International Schools (AGIS) conference in Hannover on 25 January 2003. The webpage contains links to the ohp slides shown during the presentation.
The presenter is Upper School ESL coordinator at Frankfurt International School.
Slide 1
There are 4 major areas of influence on the academic development of the ESL student in an international school. These are: the ESL program; the mainstream program; mother-tongue instruction (if it is available), and the student's parents.
Slide 2
The ESL department in an international school has responsibilities in each of the areas of influence. For example, assisting with the setting up of a mother-tongue program, training mainstream teachers in ways to get the best of ESL students, advising parents what they can do at home. The primary responsibility of the ESL department is clearly the ESL program itself. This is where it has the most direct influence. In rough terms the ESL program can be divided into support and language instruction. Support is the help given to students in order to keep up with their work in their mainstream subjects. Language instruction covers those ESL lessons where the intention is to develop the student's English language proficiency.
Slide 3
There are many methodologies/philosophies of language teaching. The one used at Frankfurt International School can be described as TTB (topic-task-based). This has the topic as its major organizational feature. In the course of a topic students are engaged in the language activities themselves (speaking, writing etc.) but also trained the acquisition of language learning skills, study skills and IT skills.
Slide 4
An example of a topic taught at grade 8 level is ecology. All of the language aspects and some each of the 3 skills areas are covered in the course of this topic.
Slide 5 / Slide
6
The day-to-day ESL instruction is task-based. Students engage in a number of activities that facilitate the acquistion of language or the other skills; for example: reporting back on information found on the internet, or analysing the features of good and bad presentations.
Slide 7
The ESL department at FIS has a large bank of topics that can be used with the various ESL classes.
This methodology widens the focus, and thereby increases the value, of ESL instruction. Instead of concentrating solely on language itself, as many methodologies do, students are using and developing language as a vehicle for acquiring other knowledge and skills. Of course, ESL instruction has never been content-free, but typical English language teaching coursebooks tend deal superficially with a multitude of topics. The topic is often simply the excuse to practise a particular aspect of language.
In TTB at Frankfurt International School the focus is on the increase in knowledge about the world and on the development of important academic skills - with language used as the essential medium to acquire and convey that knowledge and develop those skills. This is exactly the role that language has outside of the ESL classroom, too!
Recent validation of the Frankfurt International School ESL program model is supplied in an article in TESOL Quarterly. The authors report on the investigation of a task-based course in an academic institution and conclude:
"The findings indicate that .. the course encouraged learners to become more independent and addressed their real-world academic needs."
McDonough, K. & Chaitikmongkol, W. (2007) Teachers' and Learners' Reactions to a Task-Based EFL course in Thailand. TESOL Quarterly 41/1.