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Tips on Teaching Non-Native English Speakers |
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 Identifying NNES students:
Encouraging NNES students to participate in class:
Helping NNES students elaborate on responses:
Understanding NNES students' speech:
Ensuring that NNES students participate in group work:
Helping NNES students with in-class presentations:
Making sure NNES students understand assignments:
Helping students follow your lectures:
Checking if students understand your lectures:
Helping students take effective notes:
Helping students understand the textbook:
Recognizing non-English rhetorical structures:
Assessing assignments full of grammar errors:
Helping students avoid plagiarism:
Making sure students are prepared for the final exam:
Keeping students informed of their progress:
Identifying NNES students:
How can I identify non-native English speaking students in my class?
Answer: It is not always easy to distinguish non-native English speakers (NNES) from native ones. This is because accent, the characteristic we normally associate with non-native status, might be missing in students who started to learn English at a young age. However, native-like fluency in spoken English doesn't necessarily mean the student is a native speaker. The student's writing might still show signs of interference from another language. To identify the non-native English speakers in your class:
- Try getting a writing sample from your students as early in the semester as possible. It can be a short, informal writing assignment where you can ask students for example about their expectations from your class or about their previous experiences with your discipline etc. The writing samples will reveal the students who might need extra help because their native language is not English.
- To learn more about writing features of non-native English speakers, click here to see annotated samples of their writing.
Encouraging NNES students to participate in class:
In my class, NNES students rarely participate. What can I do to encourage their involvement in class discussion?
Answer: NNES students may not participate because they need extra time to formulate a comment or lack the linguistic confidence to speak up. Also, expressing their opinion in front of an authority figure (i.e., professor) might not be culturally acceptable for students of some nationalities. To encourage these studentsœ involvement in class discussion:
- Ask questions targeting studentsœ personal experiences. Also, students who are new to the United States are more likely to be familiar with an event that made headlines recently than with one that did ten years ago.
- Let students know the topic of discussion in advance. This will give NNES students time to organize their thoughts and prepare their ideas. If they feel prepared, they will be more likely to participate.
- Allow for some wait time between asking a question and requesting an answer. To make the wait time effective, try to prevent outspoken students from blurting out the answer.
- Call on the NNES student if you notice such behavioral clues as half-raising the hand or making brief eye contact. This behavior may indicate that the student would like to answer but is hesitant.
- Have NNES students initially answer questions that require brief responses. This will boost their confidence and encourage their further participation.
- Divide the class into small groups. NNES students will be more likely to voice their ideas in a smaller, less threatening setting. Click here for more tips on how to conduct group-work successfully.
Helping NNES students elaborate on responses:
Even when I ask questions that require longer answers, some NNES students give only one- or two-word responses. What can I do to help them elaborate on their answers?
Answer: Two reasons that may prevent NNES students from
formulating a longer response are lack of cultural knowledge relevant to the topic and insufficient
language skills to discuss it in detail. To help them discuss a topic in more detail:
- Address the cultural gap relevant to the topic in discussion through explanations or
hand-outs beforehand. Once NNES students have built background mental schemas on the topic,
they can form opinions and give answers more easily.
- Make sure they have a clear understanding of the question; sometimes it is necessary
that you clarify key terms or phrases. If, for instance, you ask your class to give examples
of "civil liberties," you may need to explain the word "civil" since
some NNES students may misunderstand "civil" as meaning "civilian."
- Prompt students by using leading questions and partial answers, repeating key words,
or paraphrasing the student's words. Prompting is especially effective in situations where
the student gives an incomplete answer or possesses the knowledge to handle the question
but his low language proficiency makes it difficult to express it.
Understanding NNES students' speech:
When some of my NNES students speak, I have difficulty understanding what they mean to say. What can I do to facilitate communication?
Answer: Often nervousness and anxiety affect our ability to communicate effectively. Sometimes we stutter, speak fast or have a slow word recall. The ability to communicate suffers even more when students need to speak in a second or foreign language. They might speak too fast in a thickened accent and jumble everything up, or they might use the wrong words or mispronounce them. To help NNES students overcome anxiety and communicate intelligibly:
- Instead of asking the student to repeat what you did not understand, ask her to paraphrase it using different words. Since NNES often have trouble pronouncing certain sounds or sound combinations, asking the student to repeat can create an embarrassing moment for the student. You can model the correct pronunciation for the student after she has been given the chance to express her thoughts in different words.
- Echo or paraphrase the studentœs words as a way of modeling for the student.
- Schedule an office visit to get familiar with the student and his speech patterns over the course of a casual conversation. Next time, the student will feel less anxious speaking up, and you will know better what kind of support to offer to improve his ability to communicate.
- Refer the student to the Center for English Language Support if he needs to prepare and practice a speech or presentation.
Ensuring that NNES students participate in group work:
When I assign students to work in groups, NNES students tend to behave as passive observers. What can I do to turn these students into active participants?
Answer: There are several reasons why NNES students might behave passively during group activities. They might not be used to group work; might not see the merit of a discussion with their peers; or might feel overshadowed by their more assertive native English speaking peers. To ensure that the NNES students participate in group work:
- Allow for a few classes to pass before introducing group activities. The students will thus have the chance to get more comfortable with each other.
- Create group activities that require cooperation. For example, if you want a group to summarize a text for the rest of the class, you can assign a different part of the text to each student in the group and tell them that one person will be called on to summarize the information. Since they don't know who will be called on, they must share their information with each other.
- Assign group roles in a way that makes each studentœs participation indispensable. For example, the most outspoken student in a group may be assigned the role of turn-monitor, who is responsible for ensuring that everyone talks, preventing him from monopolizing the conversation.
- Walk among the groups as they are meeting and engage students who seem passive in the discussion. Getting started is sometimes all students need to become active participants. Click here for more tips on how to conduct group-work successfully.
Helping NNES students with in-class presentations:
When I assign in-class presentations, some of my students who find this assignment challenging are NNES. What can I do to help them deliver successful presentations?
Answer: The NNES students find in-class presentations a difficult, anxiety- producing task because they fear exposing their low language proficiency. Speaking for 15 or 20 minutes about a loosely defined topic can be daunting even for native English speakers. To help the NNES students feel more at ease when they deliver a presentation:
- Encourage NNES students to start preparing and practicing for the presentation well ahead the deadline. For professional assistance, you can refer them to the Center for English Language Support.
- Try to meet with each NNES student to go over the topic he has chosen to present. In this way, you can make sure the student selects an appropriate topic and has a clear understanding of the assignment.
- Limit the presentation time to ten minutes or less. NNES students will be more likely to sustain a qualitative presentation and keep the audience interested if the presentation time is short.
- Decompress the atmosphere if awkward moments arise during a presentation (e.g., student pauses longer than usual) by making an encouraging or casual comment.
- Request that NNES students hand out outlines before they present. An outline makes it easier for the others to follow even if the speech is flawed.
- Recommend the use of visual aids, such as charts and graphs, photographs, Power Point slides. Visual aids are an effective way of making the information more digestible, memorable and enjoyable while diverting the spotlight from the student.
Making sure NNES students understand assignments:
Even though I give clear instructions for homework, some NNES students hand in assignments that do not follow my instructions. How can I make sure that all my students understand instructions for assignments?
Answer: Some NNES students have not developed the listening ability necessary to understand instructions communicated verbally and are often unfamiliar with certain types of assignments and the academic jargon (e.g., 'analyze and integrate'). If students do not have a clear understanding of the type of assignment and the meaning of certain academic terms, misinterpretation can easily occur. To make sure your assignment instructions are properly followed:
- Write the instructions for assignments on the board for students to copy, instead of just verbally stating them. NNES students may need to go over the assignment multiple times to look up unfamiliar words, clarify concepts and form an accurate understanding.
- Hand out typed instructions that spell out the steps involved in the completion of the assignment. The hand-out can serve as a reference tool for students as well as for the tutors that may assist them with the assignment. Click here to see an example of scaffolded instructions for NNES students.
- Have students paraphrase what they are expected to do instead of just asking them whether they have any questions. You will have the chance to clarify any misunderstanding.
Helping students follow your lectures:
Some NNES students have difficulty following my lectures. How can I enhance their understanding while keeping them engaged?
Answer: Passively listening for a long period of time while simultaneously trying to understand language and content can be very challenging for NNES students. They may grow frustrated with the never-ending effort to catch up and thus give up. To make your lecture engaging and comprehensible to these students:
- You can hand out lecture notes in advance. This will give students an idea about content before the lecture and will allow them to focus more on language during the lecture.
- Try to start with a short recap of the previous lecture and tie it to the current lecture.
- After the overview, you can write on the blackboard the main points to be discussed to which you can refer as you develop your lecture. In this way, the students can pick up the thread of discussion if their attention fades out.
- Or you may want to frame your lecture as a series of questions for the students to answer as they listen. This will motivate students to focus their listening and pay attention.
- If you have notes on the lecture, you can turn them into a gapped outline for students to complete as you develop your lecture. Click here for an example.
- Speak clearly and make sure you explain academic terminology and idiomatic expressions. NNES students may not be familiar with such vocabulary.
- Divide the lecture into smaller sections, each followed by activities that help reinforce students' learning. Such activities may be (1) assigning five-minute writing tasks where students have to summarize a certain point, react to a certain situation, predict what might happen next based on what has been discussed, etc.; (2) asking students to apply a concept you have been discussing, (e.g., assimilation) to a specific situation (e.g., the Civil Rights Movement); (3) asking students to argue an issue brought up in the lecture (e.g., affirmative action).
- Use slides, videos and other visual aids during your lectures. Besides providing variety to your lecture, visual imagery engages the visual sense and reinforces understanding and recall.
Checking if students understand your lectures:
When I ask students if they have questions about the material covered, some NNES students rarely do. What can I do to encourage my students to ask for clarifications when they find parts of the lecture confusing?
Answer: Students avoid asking for clarifications because they might fear saying the wrong thing or admitting their lack of understanding. In addition, NNES students may be apprehensive about exposing their low language proficiency or may feel that challenging your views is impolite or indicative of poor understanding. To find out whether your students have difficulties understanding your lectures:
- Assure students of different cultural backgrounds that questioning somebody's views is valued in U.S. and considered to be a sign of curiosity and engagement. Once they know you welcome their questions, they are more likely to raise them.
- Stop occasionally to take questions during the lecture, not only at the end. This will take care of those students who may lose track of the questions they have by the end of the lecture or may feel that asking questions at the end of the lecture about a topic discussed in the beginning is out of place.
- Assign an anonymous "minute paper" at the end of each lecture where you ask students to write which parts of the lecture they have found the most helpful and which ones the most difficult. You can address their responses at the beginning of the next lecture.
- Set up a question box for students to drop their questions at the end of the lecture. This will give shy students the chance to communicate anonymously any question they might have.
Helping students take effective notes:
I have NNES students whose class notes fall short even though I repeatedly emphasized the importance of taking good notes. What can I do to help these students improve their note-taking skills?
Answer: Taking notes is a very difficult task for NNES students because it involves multiple skills. Students must first comprehend what is being discussed; they must then be able to distinguish main points from less significant details; lastly they need to struggle to write down what they think is important while listening to the rest of the lecture. To help these students with their note-taking skills:
- Provide an outline of the main points you will discuss in class. In this way students can follow your lecture easier and organize their notes around these main points.
- Speak clearly and avoid heavy use of idiomatic expressions or slang, such as "read between the lines," "the eleventh hour," and "in a nutshell." NNES students might not be familiar with idioms, which they tend to translate literally. If you use any of these phrases, make sure you explain what they mean.
- Place vocal emphasis on important ideas or information to help students identify what should be written down.
- Direct students' attention to important information. You can inform them that what you are about to say is important, and they should take notes. You should then repeat the information slowly to give students a chance to write it down.
- Write key ideas and concepts on the board as you lecture. You will find that students will quickly copy what you write because they know that if you write it, it must be important.
- Reinforce good note-taking habits by explaining how note-taking helps them and how to do it. To motivate students, tell them that you might discuss information not included in the book.
- To help them feel more comfortable taking notes, you can share some note-taking strategies with them. You can also direct students to our note-taking exercises to learn more about how to take effective notes.
Helping students understand the textbook:
Some of my NNES students struggle completing the assigned reading and find the textbook difficult to understand. What can I do to help them?
Answer: Textbooks can be dense with information. Handling this much information can be a daunting for NNES students for several reasons. They often not be familiar with the layout of the textbook in order to be able to use it effectively. They have difficulty distinguishing important from non-important information and so often do not know on which parts to focus their learning. To assist these students:
- Introduce the book at the beginning of the semester pointing out the different parts of the text, such as table of content, index, glossary and how each of these can help them. You may want to explain how each chapter is organized and how knowing this can help them study more effectively. You can also direct students to our Reading Your Textbook exercises on study skills and effective strategies of using a textbook.
- Highlight the important parts students should focus on when assigning a chapter for reading. This is especially important if the chapter is long and conceptually challenging. You can, for example, provide students with a gapped outline to fill in or a list of questions to answer as they read, thereby focusing their reading.
- Start the class with a five to ten-minute activity related to the reading to find out what students have understood. You can thus clarify any questions they might have, and find out what they have considered important. You can ask them open or multiple-choice questions, give them true/false statements, have them give you examples that illustrate a concept, etc. You can also identify the main points in the reading and have students explain them, adding or clarifying information they might have missed or misunderstood. If the reading is concept-laden, use examples to clarify concepts.
- Use the book in class; for example, you can have them analyze and explain a chart.
Recognizing non-English rhetorical structures:
I have a hard time following the organization of NNES studentsœ writing, even after I have corrected the errors.
Answer: A possible explanation is that your NNES students use rhetorical strategies valued in their own cultures. While English writing favors a linear structure where the essay starts with a central idea, continue with supporting evidence and ends with a summarizing conclusion, in other cultures the English style may be considered incorrect. For example, writers trained in the Japanese style prefer to supply examples and details in the beginning and middle sections of an essay and to wait until the last paragraph to introduce the central idea. Likewise French writers are taught that explicitly stating the main idea is insulting to the reader, who is supposed to be able to read between lines. To communicate awareness of these rhetorical differences:
- Have your students involved in a discussion on rhetorical strategies early in the semester. You will gain awareness of the writing patterns your NNES students are trained to utilize while they will learn how the English style compares or contrasts with their native one.
- Give explicit instructions on what rhetorical style you expect your students to follow.
- You can also ask them to hand in an outline before they start writing their paper to make sure that they follow your instructions and to clarify any misunderstanding.
Assessing assignments full of grammar errors:
Some of my NNES students hand in papers replete with grammar errors. How should I respond to these papers?
Answer: Making errors is part of the learning process. NNES students make two types of grammar errors. Global errors such as wrong word choices or incorrect word order can impede meaning. Such errors should be addressed first since they make the students' writing difficult to comprehend. Unlike global errors, surface errors such as missing endings or incorrect prepositions do not disturb meaning and tend to stay with NNES students for a longer time. To deal with studentsœ grammar errors in a constructive way:
- Try to give feedback on content before grammar. It is important for NNES students to know that you are interested in their ideas as much as in grammar correctness.
- Prioritize comments on grammar errors. First focus your feedback on the global errors that create the most potential for miscommunication and then point out only a few frequently occurring local errors.
- Try to limit your corrections to the most salient errors and correct only an instance of each error. Once you model the correction, the student can do the same for similar errors. A paper full of red markings can be overwhelming and discouraging.
- Encourage NNES students to keep a grammar log and to create an editing checklist based on the log.
- Hand out self-instructional grammar material if possible. You can also refer them to the tutorial services offered by the Center for English Language Support where they can receive individualized assistance.
Helping students avoid plagiarism:
I have some NNES students who plagiarize even when I tell them that it is unacceptable. How can I help my students avoid plagiarism?
Answer: NNES students plagiarize for a variety of reasons.
They may come from cultural and educational backgrounds that have a competing view on using
other peopleœs ideas. Some students may have started the assignment late and see plagiarism
as a quick way out and others may not know how to summarize and paraphrase. To help students
avoid plagiarism:
- Explain the American view on plagiarism while acknowledging differing views in other
cultures. You can tell students that while you know that in other countries (e.g., China)
using othersœ ideas without giving credit is allowed, in America copying someone else's
work is not acceptable and is likely to end in expulsion. You can also tell them that
questioning and criticizing authority are not regarded as disrespectful in America but
as desirable academic skills.
- Ask students to hand in work at different stages of the writing process. For example,
you can ask them to hand in their narrowed topic along with the sources they will use
one month before the paper is due. The following week ask them to submit a detailed outline.
Finally, ask them to hand in the final paper together with at least one of the drafts
they may have written. The students will thus have enough time to complete the assignment
and will be less likely to resort to plagiarism.
- Show students examples of text plagiarized and text paraphrased. This will help students
understand how to use someone else's ideas without plagiarizing. If you wish to see such
examples, go to our research
writing web page.
- Stress the importance of mastering paraphrasing and summarizing skills to avoid plagiarism.
For instruction and practice exercises on paraphrasing and summarizing, you can direct
students to our research writing
web page.
- If you feel you need a plagiarism deterrent, let the students know that you will submit
their work to Turnitin.com site
to be checked for plagiarism.
Making sure students are prepared for the final exam:
I have NNES students who complain that they are overwhelmed by the material they need to review for the final exam. What can I do to ease their workload?
Answer: Too much reading in too short a time can challenge NNES studentsœ reading skills. They often have difficulty distinguishing significant from less significant information and they might end up focusing on every little detail. This is enough to leave anyone anxious and frustrated. To help NNES students overcome difficulties with studying for the final exam:
- Start giving regular quizzes that cover material from one lecture to the next as early in the semester as possible. This will make students space out their learning instead of cramming it all in the last minute.
- Avoid giving students reading assignments by chapter or page numbers for the final exam. Instead try to hand out review or study questions. This will help them focus on key ideas and concepts and synthesize the material. Click here to see examples of such questions.
- Hold a review session before the final exam. You can go over samples of answers to the kind of questions that will be on the exam; or you can have students take a mock exam and then discuss their answers. NNES students will feel less anxious if they form an idea about what kind of examination to expect and what qualifies as good answers.
- Encourage students to form small study groups and have them answer exam-like questions. Study groups have been proved effective with NNES students who are more likely to address their difficulties with the material in a small-group setting.
Keeping students informed of their progress:
Even though I inform students about my expectations, I still have NNES students who are disappointed by their final grade. What can I do to help these students appraise their course performance accurately?
Answer: It may take a while for NNES students to get accustomed to the American grading system and to realize how their performance is evaluated. This problem may be exacerbated if there is no opportunity for the student to talk to you in a private setting. To help these students:
- Describe in detail your grading method in the syllabus and review it in class. You can also give them the formula and examples to calculate their own grade.
- Encourage students to come and discuss their performance during your office hours.
- Give a diagnostic assignment early in the semester to identify NNES students who need additional help.
- Schedule regular conference sessions with NNES students at risk. During these sessions, you may want to give them feedback on their performance and what it means in terms of your grading criteria. Give them specific advice on what they should do to improve their performance in your class. You can refer them to the Center for English Language Support to seek tutorial help.
- Allow students to hand in extra-credit work geared toward their specific weaknesses. For example, if the student needs to improve his summarizing and paraphrasing skills, you may want to give him assignments where he can practice these skills.
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