Chapter Eight: Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English

"In P.E. class one boy put his hands on my body and I started to cry. I went everywhere trying to find someone, a teacher, who could understand what I was saying. (Finally I) explained everything to my Spanish teacher, and I asked her to talk to my counselor. She translated, and they showed me pictures (until I could identify the boy) and then they called him in and talked to the boy. I talked it out with him- I said, "Don't do it again." He said, "The other girls don't mind," and I said, "Just know you have all different people here," -Elaine (page 159).

I can't even imagine having something like that happen to me, or any other student, and having difficulty trying to find an authority figure who could understand and help. That situation must have been so scary for the girl, and she definitely should not have to scrounge for help. The help should have been easy to receive from her teachers, but because they could not understand her, she had to desperately find a resource that she could rely on.

Teachers should most definitely recognize the fact that the school institutions are changing everyday and with those changes, the students are changing. School populations are not 100 percent English-speaking students. Schools educate a vast variety of cultures and students who speak another language. It is sad to think that students who are struggling with learning a new language also have to struggle with people who do not understand them. Educators need to be more sensitive to the fact that English learners have to deal with many difficult tasks: learning a new language, communicating with a majority of English speaking people, sitting through classes trying to understand and pick up words, trying to not lose their own culture, trying to make connections from their culture to that of the school's curriculum, etc. If teachers are able to emphasize and connect with struggling English learners, then situations similar to that of Elaine's will improve. The English learner will know that they have the proper resources and responsible authority figures who will put effort into understanding and communicating with them. Knowing this, the English learner will feel more comfortable in the learning environment.