Asking Everyday Life Questions
as a Successful Adult ESL Classroom Activity
by Dr. Clarena Larrotta
Texas State University - San Marcos
This paper draws on data collected through a qualitative study designed as a curricular intervention implementing negotiation practices in an adult ESL (English as a second language) literacy classroom (Larrotta, 2005). Implementing inquiry cycles (Short, Harste, & Burke, 1996) was one of the main activities in this curricular intervention. The goal was to invite the students to participate in the decision making process of what they wanted to learn and study in their English class. As a result, they formulated and investigated questions relevant to them as adult learners and transferred their classroom learning to their daily lives. More than a literacy exercise this activity highlighted students’ higher order thinking skills.
Setting and participants: The study was conducted in a free of cost Adult Literacy Program in Central Texas. Class met twice a week for two hours over 16 weeks. Seventeen Hispanic adults were registered in this intermediate ESL literacy class. They were between the ages of 21 and 43 and had lived in the U.S. from three to seven years.
The inquiry cycle: The students formulated questions related to their daily life experiences outside the classroom. A good question had to fulfill three requirements: 1) be connected to the student’s life, 2) be interesting enough for the student to be willing to invest time researching the answer(s) and 3) allow for English language learning to happen.
The process: In order to implement the inquiry cycle activity we followed five steps: formulating the question, identifying sources of information, doing a preliminary report of progress, performing an oral presentation with a poster, and coming up with the next inquiry question to start a new cycle.
The implementation: The process of implementing inquiry cycles revealed the students’ higher order thinking skills capability. By asking everyday life questions the students’ motivation and investment in learning English increased. The following paragraphs describe the type of questions they asked. All names are pseudonyms.
What is cancer? Federico’s sister was diagnosed with cancer. Through investigating this question, he learned about the symptoms, treatment, and how to help his sister cope with this illness. He learned specialized vocabulary and delivered a concise and clear poster presentation for his classmates to also learn about cancer.
How can I provide good nutrition for my children? Carlos was worried about his children not eating well. He investigated balanced nutrition, created a set of menus for home, and made a list of healthy snacks for his children to take to school. Carlos prepared a handout for his classmates to also follow a balanced nutrition system.
Why is there racism in America? Arturo was starting to feel discrimination at work. At the beginning of the term he did not like reading; “it was boring.” However, through investigating the topic of racism, he came across with Martin Luther King Jr. and became fascinated with his life story and the civil rights movement. Arturo read a lot for his project and told us in class that: “Reading can be interesting; before, I was just not making the right choices for what to read.”
What is the origin of terrorism between the U.S. and Iraq? Flora was a cook at a hotel restaurant. This question did not seem to be related to her daily life. However, she explained that her coworkers were frequently talking about this topic and she felt left out of the conversation. She colleted articles about September 11th to gain a better understanding of the event. Flora was the quietest student in the group and this activity helped her to start participating more often in class.
The success behind inquiry cycles: Implementing the inquiry cycle activity encouraged the students to use English for communication purposes outside the classroom. They gained new understandings of their world. The questions posed by the students in our class depict them as sophisticated literacy users with personal curiosities and real life problems to solve. Literacy development emerged as a necessity and
served to improve the students’ life conditions. The implementation of the inquiry cycle activity provided the students with the opportunity to:
- Integrate and practice speaking, listening, reading, writing, and culture while doing one assignment
- Expand their English vocabulary by learning to use, spell, and pronounce new words related to their inquiry topic
- Make decisions selecting relevant information for answering their questions
- Become independent learners and become experts in at least one topic
- Develop new academic habits by consulting and using different types of literacy such as the Internet, newspapers, specialized books, popular magazines, and verbal exchanges with experts
As an experienced adult ESL literacy educator, I believe that a successful instructional activity allows the students to transfer what they learn in the lessons to their life outside the classroom. A successful instructional activity serves as a bridge to connect these two worlds and motivates students to invest in their learning.
References
Short, K. G.; Harste, J. C. & Burke, C. (1996). Creating classrooms for authors. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Larrotta, C. (2005). Using a negotiated, holistic, inquiry-based curriculum with Hispanic adults developing English literacy. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas, Austin, 2005). Dissertation Abstracts International (UMI order no. 3174962).
About the Author
Clarena Larrotta is Assistant Professor at Texas State University-San Marcos in the Adult, Professional, and Community Education Ph.D. Program.
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