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Communicating with Second-Language–Learning Children

By collecting the kind of information that is requested in the sample questionnaire, teachers will have a better idea of the backgrounds of the children who are coming into or are already in their classrooms. But this information will be only a starting point when it comes to actually communicating with a child who knows little or no English. This section discusses ideas about how to communicate with second-language–learning children in ways that will help them understand and begin to use English.

Starting with What the Children Know

A common practice for the teachers I interviewed was for them to ask parents of children whose home language was not English to provide a few important words in their home language, so that the teachers could do some low-level communicating with the children in the first few weeks in the classroom. Words for listen, bathroom, and eat were very useful in this early period in the classrooms and helped the teachers and children feel connected. At the same time, by asking the parents to provide these phrases, teachers also deliver the message that they value the home language and are open to finding out more about how the home language sounds and is used. A handy technique for collecting these words is to have parents tape-record them so that teachers can listen to them and practice them by playing them over and over.

Starting Slowly

One of the features of the English-language classroom that I observed was that the teachers did not make immediate efforts to communicate with the second-language learners beyond a welcoming smile and greeting. In fact, they gave the second-language learners a lot of time to become familiar with the classroom situation before approaching them with questions or directives in English. Several times in the first few weeks of school, Marion even referred to Byong-sun in the third person (e.g., "Let’s give Byong-sun a chance," "Let’s show Byong-sun how to pick this up"), including him by using his name without actually directing her speech to him. This approach established the fact that Byong-sun was being considered part of the group but that specific responses would not be required of him.

Buttressing Communication

When the teachers in the study classroom started the process of communicating with the second-language learners in their classroom, they frequently "doubled the message" by using words along with some type of gesture, action, or directed gaze. For example, one morning two Japanese sisters, Kumiko and Kaori, arrived with a paper bag full of vegetables. They approached Rosa, who pointed to the bag and asked, "What’s in there?" Kumiko opened the bag and showed Rosa what was inside.

Talking About the Here and Now

One major feature of successful communication with second-language learners is that it is grounded in the here and now. Talking about what is right there gives the second-language learner a chance to narrow the field of what the conversation is about and focus on a more restricted number of options for response as well. For example, one day, outside on the playground, I was sitting on a large rubber tire when Poram came to sit down next to me. Quickly, Poram discovered that the tire had writing all around it (Firestone and so forth). She and I started to name the letters and numbers. Noticing that there was a problem, Poram gestured to me that the letters were in a strange position.

Upping the Ante

One of the difficult judgment calls that teachers have to make when communicating with second-language learners is when to be more insistent that the children get beyond the nonverbal techniques that they have developed and actually use language to get their point across. This was demonstrated one day when Miguel approached Marion with a suspender that had come loose. The following interaction occurred.

Fine-Tuning

Fortunately, most communicative situations allow for a process of fine-tuning in which it is possible to reiterate a message in a form that might be more understandable. Not surprisingly, successful communication with second-language learners requires a lot of fine-tuning on the part of teachers. For example, after lunch one day in early November, I found Leandro alone in the block area looking at a book. He had a pair of plastic glasses with him that he had been wearing off and on all day. I picked them up and said, "I like your glasses. Are they yours or do they belong here at school?"

Combining Techniques for Communicating with Second-Language Learners

Although these techniques for communicating with second-language learners have been presented individually, they rarely appear separately from each other. In any attempt to communicate with second-language learners, teachers combine techniques and keep trying until they find out what works in any given situation.