There are many myths and misconceptions about the English as a Second Language teaching program. Since it is usually a class that people take outside of their formal studies, particular notions of how people learn English and what for that they enroll themselves in it rise.
However, misconceptions are wild claims about the program, which are detrimental to its image but unnecessarily called out in reality. Knowing these myths and misconceptions is one way to decide better whether taking an ESL program would work for your benefit.
- “People who enroll in an ESL class cannot use their native language whenever in class.”
While English-speaking only zones exist even in typical schools, it is an outdated notion that you suddenly lose your first language when you step into an ESL class because you are prohibited from saying it. Many students who have a solid inclination to both their native and second language tend to code-switch or use both languages in one statement almost all the time.
Moreover, prohibiting them from using their own language is a waste of time. Students will use their native language in more informal settings, like social gatherings with peers who speak the same vocabulary.
ESL teaches the English language in more formal settings, like understanding an instruction given by your boss or providing a report using the English language. This method teaches them to concentrate even in a language they treat second to their native one.
- “Students must absorb all North American culture to learn English.”
This myth has probably the one that gave the most backlash to esl classes. Obviously, this is false because there is a different process between recognizing and being familiar with a culture and knowing a specific language extensively. That means that students can and will learn the language independent from learning the practices and customary actions of North Americans.
In fact, considering that many non-native English speaking students come from strong cultural practices, they usually celebrate it within the connections they have made in class. The instructors understand this phenomenon as something inevitable, and what they do is teach them to express those cultures clearly using the English language, which makes it an easier job for the students.
- “Students get corrected when they speak in English.”
While virtually anyone gets this urge to correct someone when they make a grammatical mistake, instructors and fellow students do not interfere insofar as to police the grammar of the students. Studies show that correcting does more harm than good, seeing as how self-confidence is put in like and how oral communication is better done than said. In an ESL class, teachers are actually supportive of any progress that their students make, which starts from asking questions using the language.
- “All ESL students are immigrants.”
The biggest correction here would be that while many students go to ESL classes because they need to reintegrate, not everyone enters these classes with the same motive. It costs no dime to be empathetic towards’ others subjective experience.