Issues Teachers Encounter when teaching ESL
English is dominating foreign language learning in most countries, and many consider it as an international language. The increasing number of English language learners is creating numerous challenges for the teachers in general education settings. Traditionally, most preparation by teachers tends to miss a curriculum sorely focusing on second learning and teaching. The first language, the learner’s attitudes, and culture can all prove problematic for teachers teaching English as a second language (Bell, 2013). This paper highlights the challenges the teachers should anticipate when teaching English as a second language and how they can solve these challenges.
Body
Learning English is becoming an absolute necessity considering that it is the official language in the majority of worldwide meetings and events. Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is becoming very popular, and numerous foundations are getting laid in place for this discipline. Teachers will encounter different problems that make the process quite slow and gruesome. Reading is one of the essential skills that the success of it is influenced by the reading practice of the student (Gnawali, 2005). Reading is useful for language acquisition… the more they read, the better they get. Reading also has a positive effect on the student’s vocabulary knowledge on their spelling and their writing (Harmer, 2007). Teachers must, therefore, develop reading habits in students by motivating them to read. Reading stands as the pillar of the learners’ success in getting into grasp with the second language; therefore, it is the responsibility of the teacher to instill reading culture.
The following are the significant challenges related to teaching reading as a second language: Selecting the appropriate text, no reading cultures, designing a reading task, and lack of schema activation (Harmer, 2007). Insufficient lack of knowledge of the target culture is also very problematic. Teachers also encounter first world problems and culture shock. Most students know nothing about grammar. In other scenarios, the students will have different teachings relating to their first language. Some will continually use their first language in class, making it difficult to learn how to read in English.
It can be a struggle for teachers to identify individual problems with the English of their students. It is even harder to identify problems shared by all the students (Hudson, 2007). Practically almost all students will struggle with seemingly complex pronunciations in English, and getting them to do it the right way can be tiring. Making them pronounce words correctly in a profession that is time conscious is quite a task.
Conclusion
There are many challenges and issues with teaching English as a second language. That means overcoming all those challenges in the best way possible. Teachers need to develop a good understanding of their students and their backgrounds. That helps to overcome most of the problems teachers encounter in teaching students how to read in English as a second language.