From my three weeks of observation, I discovered that most ESL and bilingual students had problems reading English content. The challenge is acceptable since they are learning English to improve their literacy. Encouragingly, most of the students showed interest to learn the language in terms of reading and writing. I discovered some students repeating the pronunciation of most English words in an attempt to improve their language. While they were trying to repeat the pronunciation of several words, I discovered that most of them tried to get their accents right. This was a major challenge to most of the ESL and bilingual students. From my point of view, the issues with accent should not be a concern to any ESL or bilingual teacher since the essence of the classes is to ensure that the students are competent in reading and writing ( Peregoy & Boyle, 2017) . In that regard, there is the need to expose the learners to many challenges in terms of oral and written language.
The three weeks observations induced the need for using more visual teaching of the English language. Visuals have been proven to be an effective method of teaching language. For instance, I noticed that the students were left perplexed whenever I mentioned a word that they had not heard before. However, when I used visuals through my presentation, they seemed to show relaxation implying that the word sunk well in their minds. Then again, I realized that group work enhances quicker understanding of English language. The diversity in the groups makes it easier for the learners to be more perceptive of their differences in terms or reading English language content. This way, the students develop curiosity that urges them to explore further ( Ovando & Combs, 2018) . What is more, I noted excitement in the group works that made the lessons more interesting yet educative. The groups made it easier for the students to correct one another.
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The first week was very challenging since some students did not clearly understand spoken English. For this reason, it was difficult to bring them on board through the involvement of other students who spoke the same language but had a better background in the English language. As a teacher, I also found it challenging when some students used some words from their native languages when trying to express themselves. In this case, I also involved their compatriots who had a better understanding of English language to enhance communication. As time passed, the students improved gradually, and by week three, the major challenge was mostly too much of broken English. There was also the challenged of learners who were too afraid to talk. These students were probably panicking because they felt as outsiders ( Peregoy & Boyle, 2017) . In these situations, I had to make the class less informal and minimize seriousness.
The Can Do Descriptor Name chart is important in accommodation and modification of learners’ proficiency levels. Thusly, it enables the teacher to classify students so that they can develop a personalized approach of assisting students master the English language effectively and quickly. Moreover, it aids the teacher to monitor the progress of each and every student. Can Do Descriptors provide the basic overview of a student’s English language proficiency based on highly-structured metrics of assessing literacy. The tool is also crucial in understanding the specific strengths and weaknesses in a student’s English literacy. This way, the teacher will iron out the weaknesses instead on using a generalized approach to teach students. Above all, the tool is vital in enabling teachers to make follow-ups on students’ activities and hence further evaluate the progress of the students.
References
Ovando, C. J., & Combs, M. C. (2018). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts . Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
Peregoy, S. F., & Boyle, O. (2017). Reading, writing, and learning in ESL: A resource book for teaching K-12 English learners . Boston: Pearson Education.
