A couple of weeks ago, one student told me that for the first time he felt comfortable speaking in an ESL class. I was pleased. This was a conversation class and of course one big part of such a class is to facilitate communication and empower the students to speak freely. But I also noticed that other students felt shortchanged because they were not able to see tangible, measurable results. And I think that is one of the inherent scenarios of a conversation/speech class as opposed to a conventional grammar class: the student has more difficulty measuring how much he… >>>

It was encouraging to read in this course the line "Instructors should also connect lessons to students' backgrounds and develop activities in which students can use their native languages." For too long it has been one of the sacred commandments in ESL classrooms not to allow the students to use their native language at any time and under any circumstance in our well intentioned efforts to replicate at all costs a natural learning environment. So ingrained is this view that students have come to demand this practice and thus complain every time the instructor allows it or even makes some… >>>