Professional Development

Mathematics: the Universal Language?

                Sharon Hoffert discusses important issues when it comes to working with students whose primary language is not English.  Many American teachers have very little training in teaching English Language Learners (ELL) and do not know what to do when they have these students in their classrooms.  Recently, the No Child Left Behind act required that non-native English speakers have to pass the same standardized exams as native English speakers. This means that teachers will have to find innovative ways to teach ELLs because there is essentially, all teachers will have to work with these students at some point in their careers.

                The realities of ELLs is that learning academic English can take up to 4-7 years, even if they can communicate socially in English. So, some methods of teaching ELLs are listed in this article, and from Hoffert’s experience, these methods have greatly helped her students succeed in her classes and on the standardized tests. 

                Whenever possible, assess your students’ current academic level by testing them with adapted exams and letting them use methods of translation. This way, students won’t be put in a remedial math class just because they couldn’t understand the prompts on the exams. This will help instill confidence in the students and give them opportunities to learn and build upon what they already have an understanding of.

                Make sure prompts are written in very concise, clear form, where key vocabulary words are highlighted. Also include diagrams and pictures so that students can visualize concepts and match up words to the visuals.  Put students into cooperative learning groups so that they can practice speaking mathematical language which will help their understanding of the concepts. Also do discovery based lessons so that they can gain confidence in knowing that they discovered a concept on their own.

                Lastly, Hoffert encourages teachers to have faith in their students and understand that these students are very capable and can succeed.