English as a second language is significantly different from other content areas in K-12 and higher education. The focus in the ESL classroom is the learning and application of skills rather than the learning of actual content. English language learners (ELLs) acquire skills to aid them in reading, writing, listening, and speaking which will help them succeed in actual content areas such as the natural and social sciences. Digital technology that supports learners in acquiring these basic skills can play a major role in the enhancement of English language instruction. ESL instructors can use technology designed specifically for ESL instruction as well as technology developed for content areas to engage ELLs, facilitate learner autonomy, and provide academic content in which learners can practice newly learned language skills.
Robyler (2015) explains that instructors can leverage new English language instructional technology to help them differentiate instruction and present learners with opportunities for individualized practice in all language skills. Technology geared toward the needs of ELLs has traditionally focused on tutorials and a seemingly unlimited amount of multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank type practice exercises for grammar and vocabulary. However, developments in computer assisted language learning have resulted in more advanced programs such as Quill, which provides learners with editing practice to support writing instruction, Otterwave, which rates a learner’s pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation, and Voice of America, which provides learners with graded news articles and listening practice. Programs such as these, both old and new, allow instructors to focus and individualize practice for each student, a previously gargantuan task.
Content-based ESL instruction, a commonly practiced pedagogical method in ESL, can also benefit from educational technology created for content areas seemingly unrelated to the skills learned in ESL courses. Content-based ESL pedagogy is based on the notion that language should be taught through authentic contexts and materials rather than the often arbitrary, disconnected contexts provided in traditional language textbooks. In a content-based ESL course, grammar, writing, reading, speaking, and listening would all be taught through academic content such as psychology, sociology, literature, biology, or business. The idea behind this is that sustained content allows the student to focus on one theme or topic and learn linguistic features that naturally arise from those topics. For example, a student might learn to identify and use unreal conditionals (grammar) in writing and speaking (language skills) after reading Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” (content). Or, a student might learn about the past time frame (discourse grammar) while studying American Indian history (content). This pedagogical framework easily allows for ESL instructors to draw from the pool of technology resources available for specific content areas.
An ESL instructor could supplement a unit on recent American History with authentic material in the form of primary source materials, documents, and interviews from online sources such as the National Archives or various museum archives. These materials could be used to teach the past tenses, discourse markers used for writing in the past time frame, reported speech (using interviews), and academic vocabulary that naturally arises from the written material in the field of history. Having these authentic materials would help to “set a scene” for language use and application, and allows ELLs to focus on the linguistic aspects of English rather than trying to connect random grammar points, lexical items, and writing skills that they have learned through arbitrary, contextually unrelated themes.
References
Robyler, M. D. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
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