Things to consider when teaching ESOL students on mainstream courses. Includes tips for simplifying assignment briefs etc. Aimed primarily at those in the UK education system but with some wider application to other courses where English is the medium of instruction.

1. Teaching Second-Language
Learners on Mainstream
Kieran McGovern
mcgovernk@citybathcoll.ac.uk

2. Alphabet Soup
• EFL: English as a Foreign Language
• ESL: English as a Second Language
• (T)ESOL: English for speakers of other languages
• L1 – Learners using first or native language
• L2 – Learners using an additional language
• IELTS - International English language testing system
• EAP – English for academic purposes
• FCE – Cambridge First Certificate in English

3. Typical profiles of L2
Settled in UK post Yr 8 International
• Strong speaking & • Strong academic
listening background
• Weak written language • Strong motivation
• Disrupted education • Good technical
• Limited formal knowledge
vocabulary • Weaker spoken English
• Gaps in technical • Limited informal
knowledge vocabulary
• Under-performs in • Unfamiliar cultural
unsuitable written context

4. Questions to ask L2 learners.
• How long have you lived in the UK?
• In which school year did you arrive?
• When did you start learning English in your home
country?
• Which language do you speak at home?
• Which language do you prefer to read/write in?
• Did you have language classes at school?
• What do find hardest about English?
• Put these in order from your best to worst
Reading * Writing * Speaking* Listening

5. Common problems: L2 student
• Forced to take unsuitable courses: e.g. GCSE
English Language
• Labelled as ‘struggling’
• Confused by disruption in education
• Confused by different register (formal/informal)
• Low academic expectations amongst peers
• High family expectations
• Linguistically & socially insecure
• Under confident
• May have motivation problems

6. The English Language
How many words? Typical vocabulary
• OED defines 615,100 words • German: 180,000 words
• 41,700 are obsolete. • Russian: 160,000 words
• 240 ‘ghost words’ • French 150,000
• 430 uses of ‘set’
Why English?
Use of English
Most languages have limited
• Lederer: Average English capacity to import words.
speaker has access to 10,0000
words English has no academy
vocabulary evolves through
• Pinker: 60,000 words average use.
by secondary school
• English sometimes considered English is the ‘most democratic
easy because of ‘relative

7. What L2 learners find
Irregular Verbs Other common problems
• Articles: use of a/the/an
• 180 irregular verbs • Past present/agreement
• Thousands of regular ones • Phrasal verbs
• 70 % of all verbs used
• Pinker: irregular verbs are fossils
• New verbs are all regular
• Children & L2 learners make similar
mistakes
• ‘writed’ ‘speaked’ etc
10 most used verbs :
- be, make, do, take, go, come see, get,
come, say

8. What is IELTS?
What is IELTS?
International English Language Testing System
• Tests English proficiency across the globe.
• Most popular English testing system.
Which organisations accept IELTS?
• IELTS is accepted by more than 6000 organisations worldwide.
• universities, immigration departments, government agencies, professional bodies
and multinational companies.
IELTS has two versions – Academic and General Training.
• Academic test is for those who want to study in an English-speaking country.
• General Training test for those migrating to or living in an English-speaking
country.
• All candidates take the same Listening and Speaking tests but different Reading
and Writing tests.

9. What do universities ask for?
Kingston: Minimum IELTS Warwick: Minimum IELTS
– Arts and Social Sciences; Faculty of Arts: 6.5
Pharmacy: 6.5
Faculty of Science 6.0
– Business and Law: 6.0
– Architecture; Art and Psychology 6.5
Design; Science; Social Studies 7.0
Engineering;
Computing, Information Business School 7.0
Systems and
Mathematics; and
Surveying: 6.0

10. Resources
Websites Books
All L2 learners need:
- an English-English
http://iteslj.org//
dictionary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
worldservice/learningenglish/ - A grammar reference
http://www.eslreading.org book (e.g Murphy
‘English Grammar in
Use’)
- Regular graded readers

11. Readibility Stats
Ideally you should have low numbers for: passive voice, words
per sentence, characters per word and Flesch Reading Grade
level

12. Typical Assignment
brief
How easy to read
Sentences per paragraph: 1 (low)
Words per sentence: 12 (high)
Characters per word: 5.3 (low)
Passive: 9% (very high)
Flesch Reading Ease: (30.4 ) (very
high)
Flsch Kikaid: 12.1 (very high)
Conclusion
Text difficult to read. Biggest
problems are: use of passive voice,
number of long sentences.
Vocabulary score slightly misleading
because of amount of repetition.
Solution: shorter sentences using
active rather than passive verbs.

13. How can you help?
1. Make sure L2 learners are aware of ESOL
provision.
2. Be aware of his/her specific linguistic
background.
3. Take into account common technical errors.
4. Adapt your assignments to improve
readibility.
5. Encourage L2 learners to read graded
reading materials/listen to podcasts etc.

14. Author/Contact Details
Kieran McGovern teaches in Bath, UK and is the author of graded reading
materials for English language learners. His publications include original
stories and adaptations for most of the major publishers in the field,
including Heinemann, Oxford University Press, Longman and Penguin.
Three of his titles were singled out for 'their particular excellence' in
Bamford and Day's Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom
(Cambridge, 1998) where he was described as being 'amongst the best
writers of language learner materials in English.’ He has also written articles
and reviews for magazines and journals including Seven Days and IATEFL
Voices.
He edits one of the most popular ESOL websites, www.eslreading.org
Kieran was the BBC World Service Teacher Blogger in August 2009 and part of
the open group blog in December 09
Contact: mcgovernk@citybathcoll
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