Brief dissertation on English language teaching

Brief Dissertations on English Language Teaching

March 2007

The Language Impact on English students

I am going to begin this series of little dissertations on English Language Teaching by telling you a little about my own experience as a learner of English. So let’s move far back to 1988 when I first went to an English speaking country. The idea was to practice my English language in a natural environment, so I made arrangements to spend two weeks in California. At that time I had studied English in different schools achieving the highest grades in my groups and finishing all the levels they offered. I had even taken the first months of a Teacher’s diploma course. So my expectations, regarding my English proficiency, when getting to L.A. were very high.

However, since my crossing the USA border to my arrival at my aunt’s house I realized that I, undoubtedly, knew English, that is I knew how to ask questions, how to explain things, that I knew how to read (signs, documents, and so on), and that a I knew English grammar, but I did not understand spoken English. My first hours in USA proved that my listening skills were somehow nonexistent. I didn’t understand anybody speaking English. I remember very vividly when I entered a McDonald’s restaurant and the clerk on the other side of the counter asked me something that sounded like Me a hep a sa? It took him four repetitions and a smile to make me realize he was saying May I help you, sir? And asking a Greyhound bus driver the best way to get to my aunt’s house, where to get off the bus and what direction to walk was an awful experience. I just watched his lips whistling words and then when he finished I muttered a thank you and got to my seat to check on my city map to find myself the best route.

I was terrified, either for realizing that people in America did not speak English but a different language or that my English teachers had cheated on me for the past five years.

So, in that moment, I made two crucial decisions in my life: spend the rest of the year in California and enroll at a public high school to have full exposure to the language.

The first two weeks were very difficult: I didn’t understand my teachers and I didn’t understand my classmates insults (remember I was a hispanic –how I hated that word at that time- at an almost all white high school). But I didn’t give up: at the third week I understood every single insult from my classmates and eventually, I got to understand my teachers and became a very good student.

To be continued…