This page was prepared for mainstream teachers at Frankfurt International School in summary of the most relevant information and advice gleaned from the ECIS-ESL conference in Rome 2005.

Among the speakers at this conference were Professor J. Cummins and Professor S. Krashen, probably the two most important and influential researchers in second language acquisition. Below is a brief summary of the information that emerged from their sessions which is of relevance for mainstream (non-ESL) teachers.

[Visit the conference website and download conference handouts.]

Krashen

• Language learning: Krashen's theory of second language acquisition is simple and convincing: We learn language when we understand that language. In other words, if we are hearing or reading something in the new language that is comprehensible to us then we are learning that language. An important precondition, however, is that we have no psychological barrier to the input. If we are poorly motivated or highly anxious, or we are not interested in what we are hearing or reading, then we will not be receptive to the input and little or no language learning will take place.
  Implications for the mainstream teacher: It is essential that what the ESL student hears and reads in the mainstream class is (or is made) comprehensible. Furthermore, subject teachers should aim to reduce the ESL student's barriers to language (and subject matter) input. It is essential that the ESL student is not made to feel anxious or not wanted in the mainstream classroom.
  
  
• Reading: Krashen's research is convincing evidence of the strong correlation between reading for pleasure and school success. By reading for pleasure, he means reading what you, the student, have chosen to read. This can include comics and magazines or internet articles. As Krashen said at the conference: "If you read for pleasure while you are at school, you will be ok. If you don't read for pleasure, you probably will not be."  
  Implications for the mainstream teacher: Encourage your students to read in your subject. Give them booklists of suggested reading. Have magazines on display in the classroom and available for borrowing.  Consider devoting part of a lesson on a regular basis for silent, self-selected reading of materials in your subject.
  
  

Teachers interested in reading more about Krashen's research, including his involvement in Proposition 227, can visit Krashen's website. There is more detailed information about classroom strategies concerning ESL students in many other places on this Teachers website.

Cummins

• Esteem and second language learners: Cummins' work has been enormously influential in the field of second language education, and is summarized in my webpage entitled What mainstream teachers need to know about language acquisition. In this conference Cummins spoke about the impressive improvements in language that can be made when English learners are engaged in work that allows them to demonstrate their intelligence, their imagination and creativity, their linguistic knowledge (of their own language) and their personality. Such tasks are important in maintaining and enhancing the ow about language acquisition Cummins writes

  ".. when students' language, culture and experience are ignored or excluded in classroom interactions, students are immediately starting from a disadvantage. Everything they have learned about life and the world up to this point is dismissed as irrelevant to school learning; there are few points of connection to curriculum materials or instruction and so the students are expected to learn in an experiential vacuum. Students' silence and non-participation under these conditions have frequently been interpreted as lack of academic ability or effort, and teachers' interactions with students have reflected a pattern of low expectations which have become self-fulfilling."

  Cummins J (1996) Negotiating Identities: Education for Empowerment in a Diverse Society Ontario CA California Association for Bilingual Education

   
  Implications for the mainstream teacher: The experiences and background knowledge of the ESL students in your classes can be utilized for the benefit of all students.  Show interest in the ESL students, their culture and language, and give them opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do. This will enhance their self-esteem and promote their learning both of your subject and of English.
  

Teachers interested in reading more about Cummins' research and publications can visit his website.

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Following is a random list of suggestions for mainstream teachers, culled from the other Rome conference sessions. Most of it is widely-known as good practice for the teaching of all students, not only of ESL students. However the list serves as a useful reminder:

• activate background/prior knowledge at the beginning of a unit
• pre-teach essential vocabulary items
• preview and review the lesson
• allow thinking time before getting answers to questions
• provide model answers
• make expectations explicit
• teach learning strategies appropriate to the subject
• incorporate cooperative learning activities
• make connections to other subjects
• be explicit what task is to follow a reading or listening text
• alert students to cognates or helpful mother-tongue equivalents [more]