Level One in the Morning, Level Five at Night

Spring 2007 MATESOL ConferenceMonica Berini

San FranciscoStateUniversity

Level one in the morning, level five at night:

Exploring the differences between teaching credit and non-credit ESL

Premise:

Many new and part-time ESL instructorsteach multiple levels and in multiple contexts (academic/credit, non-academic/credit, literacy, citizenship, and vocational). Teachersalso regularly substitute for other instructors to get extra hours, and might be assigned to classes on an as needed basis—level one in the spring, level five in the fall.

Findings:

Who are our students?

CreditNon-credit

69 % Asian52% Asian

16% Latino/Hispanic32.5% Latino/Hispanic

59% Female51% Female

61% under 30; 14.5% over 4026% under 30; 49 % over 40

Goals

35% AA or BA goal78% Basic skills goal

(Mery 1999; Lucey, personal communication 2006 & 2007; Seymour, 2004)

What are the main distinctions with which to focus our teaching?

Credit

1. English as a vehicle to understand concepts

2. More abstract language learning

3. Paper-bound

4. More post-class work for instructors

Non-credit

1. Language as a means to an end, clear reasons.

2. Student commonalities

3. Frequent use of realia

4. ‘Survival English’

5. Minimal post-class work for instructors

(Moran & Aninao, 2006; Thompson, personal communication 2007)

What assumptions should we avoid?

Don’t assume non-credit students have no need for academic skills;

Don’t assume credit students have academic skills

Activity:

After hearing the differences between common needs and goals for different students, think about how you would approach guiding your students to write a paragraph in a credit and non-credit situation, assuming a low-intermediate level for each.

Credit/Academic Non-Credit/Non-Academic

References:

CityCollege of San Francisco. (2002). A users’ guide to diversity practices in California

community colleges. San Francisco, CA: Author.

CityCollege of San Francisco’s English as a Second Language program and course descriptions. Retrieved

April 2, 2007 from

Mery, P. (1995). CityCollege of San Francisco credit ESL course completion. Office of Institutional

Development, Research and Planning Report 956-01.

Mery, P. (1999). ESL profiles: English as a second language enrollments by campus, fall terms 1994-1998.

Office of Institutional Development, Research and Planning Report 956-01.

Moran, R. & Aninao, J. (2006, April). Teaching Academic Vs. Non-Academic Audiences. Presented at

CATESOL Annual Conference., San Francisco, CA.

Seymour, S. (2004, March). Presentation at MATESOL career night. San Francisco, CA.

Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages. (2003). Standards for adult

education ESL programs. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Special thanks to:

Martha Lucey, Dean, Department of Public Information, City College of San Francisco; Gene Thompson, ESL instructor, City College of San Francisco; the many CCSF instructors who allowed me to observe their classes and patiently answered my questions; my 891 classmates, instructors, and advisors for reviewing my work; members of the CATESOL Community College listerv.