On May 17, I was able to observe Jason Brown’s two-hour ESAL 0350/0450 Advanced Oral Communication class. Although the class was longer in time, I thought that Jason paced the class well and kept it interesting so that the time seemed to pass quickly. I was also able to participate in some of the group breakout room activities, which provided me with a lot of interesting observations.
One thing I had not anticipated in my prior TESL classes about teaching a group of students from various cultures and backgrounds was having the students work together on a project. I had been more focused on how I would interact with these students and teach them that I had not taken into account that they would also be interacting with each other. The breakout room conversation when having to choose a topic for the group presentation allowed me to have some significant insight into the process of students working together and trying to communicate with each other using a shared language that is not the first language for any of them. English was their only connection, but that connection was sometimes weak depending on the advancement of the student’s language level and how assertive each was in communicating their thoughts.
It was interesting to see the influence cultural societal norms have in the role that students take, and I felt like this was true in the breakout room that I was able to be part of. Some students appeared more reserved or not as willing to share, and I wondered if the cultural norms from the Asian countries they were from, for example, China, played a role in the amount that they verbally contributed to the discussions.
This lesson was engaging and had the students working together. I appreciated being able to see how the conversations unfolded and the students worked together to complete their task. Becoming more aware of the dynamics in the group and seeing how the students interact with each other will help me to be more aware going forward and witnessing the challenges and successes that non native English speakers have in negotiating the English language together.