ESL students’ academic challenges: A review The process of learning the English language can be extremely challenging for all ESL learners individuals for a variety of reasons. The learning of a language may suffer if the aforementioned criteria are ignored. Based on the state of the study on the subject, this research paper will concentrate on the academic challenges faced by ESL students and offer feasible solutions. Lack of learning environments, teachers’ understanding of the process of language acquisition, students’ comprehension of language processes, students’ dependence on professors, inappropriate material for the level of proficiency, and the issue of cultural identity are some of the most important factors to affect ESL students. The main challenges ESL students typically face in the process of language acquisition are caused by the combination of various social and psychological factors.
METHODOLOGY The research will focus on information that has been published in secondary sources in order to undertake in-depth research regarding the problem of academic barriers for ESL students. As a result of the topic’s extensive research, the question is currently being examined at a fundamental level. There is now no study available to give the examination of the subject from several angles, despite the fact that numerous academic articles discuss different parts of the problem. This research paper will examine the problem at a deeper level since it will use data from various earlier studies that it will analyze, incorporate, and present. The paper will summarize the results of earlier research and present findings that result from the analysis of the subject from many angles in order to suggest viable solutions to the problem of academic barriers for ESL students. In this way, the research will outline the root causes and likely outcomes of the problems with ESL teaching and learning from many angles and will offer prospective fixes that will take into account various socioeconomic groupings.
IMPROPER LEARNING SETUPS The absence of learning environments is without a doubt one of the most significant variables that has a detrimental impact on the English language acquisition process among ESL students. Naturally, the social milieu in which a learner lives and with whom he or she interacts shapes the language acquisition process (Sayeh, 2015). Despite being required to speak English in their classrooms, ESL students frequently struggle to do so at home. More than that, these language learners frequently experience social pressure from both their native community and native English speakers during the language learning process. The rate at which such children are able to advance in their language proficiency is constrained since they do not have enough opportunity to practice their language outside of the usual learning environment, which is a classroom. In this way, kids are compelled by native English speakers to study the language while receiving insufficient academic opportunity. This problem can frequently lead to psychological conflict between the student and both his or her native community and the native speakers around them.
Such a problem should be addressed and changed as a whole in order to improve the current condition because it is intimately tied to society. By considering the problem from the standpoint of a lack of learning contexts, one potential solution is to give the students opportunity to use the English language outside of the confines of the classroom. In areas where there are a sizable number of non-native English speakers, it would make sense to set up speaking groups, book readings, or movie nights. Additionally, schools that offer students the chance to learn English as a second or foreign language ought to be driven to educate them about these opportunities. Additionally, such initiatives might be set up inside of schools so that the students are familiar with and at ease in their surroundings. Given that this problem is connected to children who don’t use English in their homes, one might also advocate public programs to raise adult English proficiency levels so that pupils can use language in everyday communication. If the aforementioned recommendations were to be put into practice in non-native English speaking populations, one could argue that the problem of ESL students struggling to learn the language because there aren’t enough conducive learning situations should be resolved.
IDENTITY CULTURALE Since society is a factor in the lack of learning environments, this important issue is also linked to another. The issue of cultural and personal identification may plague many ESL students (Bell andamp; Bogan, 2013). This phenomenon can be explained if we consider the typical circumstance that ESL students face whenever they begin to advance in their language skills. Students may be perceived as lacking the ability to completely express themselves in English while learning in a classroom, yet when speaking with non-native English speakers in their home contexts, they may be perceived as having abandoned their cultural identity (Bell andamp; Bogan, 2013). As a result, the social environment of ESL students is clearly under social pressure from both sides, which has a significant impact on their desire and readiness to learn the language. The topic is crucial and needs to be addressed by ESL teachers as well as society at large because language learning is directly tied to the phenomenon of culture and a person’s sense of self.
Through their analysis of the problem, knowledge of its implications, and emphasis on its prevention, instructors have the opportunity to have a beneficial impact on the cultural aspect of language acquisition. They should be able to help kids who struggle with the difficulty during the learning process in a school by preserving their identity outside of academic achievement and language acquisition (Bell andamp; Bogan, 2013). Despite the fact that culture and language are typically intertwined on a number of levels, a student’s background should not be disregarded when studying a second or foreign language. One could argue that a person can increase their knowledge and proficiency without weakening their native tongue through the process of language acquisition. In this approach, the ESL teachers must consider the likelihood that such a problem would arise among their pupils and deal with the matter in advance by emphasizing the stated skills to improve one’s cultures without devaluing them.
STUDENTS’ RELATIONSHIP TO TEACHERS Teachers can generate a lot of problems with relation to the learners’ challenges and barriers because they are the ones who have a big say in how well students pick up second languages. One of these problems stems from the fact that professors frequently provide direct answers to students’ questions during the academic process, which can lead to pupils becoming overly dependent on them. If one considers that teachers are the ones who influence how ESL students perceive the process of learning a language as well as how they view themselves from the perspectives of culture, academics, and success, one might suggest that such a method of teaching may adversely affect the students’ proficiency. Because of this, ESL students might be unable to expand their knowledge and communicate outside of the classroom.
ESL teachers must first identify the likelihood that the issue may arise as a result of their approach to teaching in order to prevent it from developing and adversely affecting the students’ ongoing learning process. If a student struggles with the material, the teacher should put more effort into providing a detailed and thorough explanation of the subject than just providing the solution. By doing this, a student can examine the subject, make connections to his or her first language, and hone their communication abilities outside of the classroom. Overall, when teaching English as a second language, teachers need to pay attention, have patience, and explain linguistic processes in detail.
MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION When preparing and leading lessons for ESL students, teachers must keep in mind that the process of learning a second language differs from that of raising one’s level of proficiency on many sociolinguistic levels. The bulk of ESL teachers, in general, are not well-versed in and undoubtedly unprepared for the nuances of teaching English to pupils who are not native speakers. The necessity to teach English to these pupils is unusual in general, which is at the heart of the problem; yet, there are some subjects in which a professor’s proficiency in the language is essential. The fact that teachers frequently have high expectations for pupils who are just starting out in American schools is one of the factors contributing to the problem of their lack of familiarity with the details of the procedure (Bostad, Cwikla, andamp; Kienzle, 2015). The teachers are typically unable to design the academics according to the kids’ learning ability since they are not trained in the specifics of the language acquisition process. As a result, the problem of teachers not being able to understand the fundamentals of the process may negatively impact the interactions between teachers and students, the latter’s willingness to participate in class discussions and academics as a whole, as well as disrupt the potentially beneficial outcomes of a well-planned and organized curriculum that is tailored to the abilities of the students.
The steps that need to be made at the level of school boards are to avert such a problem. Schools should concentrate on organizing the professors’ education about the process since their lack of relevant training is the biggest contributor to the issue of teachers not knowing the fundamentals of the process of second language acquisition. This approach might be developed through discussions between ESL professors and specialists in the sociolinguistics of the process, as well as by recommending to them academic works on the subject. In this way, ESL teachers will have the chance to learn more about the most precise methods of preparing the curriculum in light of the wide range of variables that define the process of the students learning a language and successfully address the problem and its possibly detrimental effects.
UNSUITABLE LEARNING MATERIAL Another issue closely related to the one discussed above is that ESL teachers who are not particularly adept at tailoring the curriculum to the needs and abilities of the students may frequently ask the students to complete assignments that are overly challenging and do not reflect their level of language proficiency. If the activities that the students may be expected to complete are overwhelming at the time, they may have a variety of obstacles during the learning process. The students may be unable to complete the assignment owing to their lack of understanding, which will result in a general decline in academic performance, if the teachers do not use the potentially effective techniques of explaining the linguistic process to the students. Naturally, students may struggle with maintaining constant enthusiasm to continue their education as a result of miscommunication from teachers, peers, and their primary cultural milieu. The absence of formal education among non-native English speakers and the emergence of social and psychological issues within their group and with others may be one of the most visible effects of such a situation.
The teachers should consider the strategies described above in order to improve the situation and resolve the problem raised. Implementing specialized training in the technique of preparing teachers for the curriculum will play a significant part in its successful outcomes since the learning process is a complex of communication, explanations, and understanding between a learner and a teacher. Another strategy for addressing the problem is to group the students according to their degree of ability; doing so will help the ESL course’s outcomes be effective (Bell andamp; Bogan, 2013). The learning process should be organized according to the students’ knowledge level and language learning skills, and teachers should be given the chance to expand their subject-matter expertise. The ESL teachers will be able to avoid the potential negative effects of their students’ inability to finish assignments correctly by using this method to determine which tasks would be most appropriate for a certain set of pupils.
TROUBLES WITH COMPREHENSION Since teachers are only one factor in the process of language learning, it is important to consider the fact that different pupils may have varying degrees of language ability and comprehension. Although it approaches the preceding point from a different angle, this one is connected to it. The ability of a student to understand different linguistic conventions and learn the right applications for them in daily activities including interpersonal communication, topic study, and professional and personal development heavily influences the language learning process. The learning process will have advantageous effects if a teacher and student can work together effectively. However, if one of the parties disregards the importance of coordination, the latter may experience negative results such a failure to improve communication and language abilities.
All of the aforementioned recommendations should be combined in order to solve the problem. The chance to divide the class into skill-based groups and tailor the curriculum to each student’s abilities should be considered by teachers and school boards. In addition, regular knowledge control activities like tests, quizzes, and spoken improvisation exercises should be held. More than that, kids ought to be encouraged and given the chance to advance their language skills outside of the confines of the classroom. They will be able to maintain and advance the abilities they have already picked up over the course of an academic year in this way. In order to attain shared academic objectives, teachers and students should, overall, concentrate on effective and mutually beneficial collaboration.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The research report has studied the challenges that ESL teachers and students could encounter during the educational process, covered their potentially negative effects, and offered solutions. The problem was examined from the viewpoints of ESL teachers and students, society at large, and the native communities of the ESL students in the article. In doing so, the report includes the results of earlier studies that have already been published and suggests a thorough degree of analysis of the subject. The process of learning a second language involves a number of people working together, including a teacher and a student as well as schools, the students’ families, and society at large. These days, a wide range of social and psychological variables are to blame for the numerous problems that ESL teachers and students are currently dealing with. The most obvious issues are a lack of appropriate learning environments, how students’ cultural and personal identities are reflected in the process of learning a second language, their reliance on the teachers, and the latter’s inability to properly plan the curriculum in accordance with the students’ skills, knowledge, and level of proficiency. The market for academic writing is stimulated by all of these causes. More and more ESL students are willing to hire writers for help, and eventually, it will be the only acceptable approach to complete projects. Any essay writing crisis justifies asking for an I need someone to write my paper . Students are not encouraged to study less by writing services. They exclusively discuss the effects of the negative elements listed. To lessen the aforementioned problems and any potential bad effects they might have, certain steps should be done. The majority of responsibility rests with the ESL teachers, despite the fact that the problems highlighted in the study affect numerous people and social groups. Teachers should be able to concentrate on the peculiarities of the second language acquisition process, approach their students according to their language proficiency levels and communication skills, acknowledge the potential for the development of cultural identity issues, and support those students who may be having difficulties. Instead, ESL students should be able to see that while though identity is a phenomenon that is intimately tied to language learning, learning a second language does not mean losing touch with one’s culture. More than that, they ought to acknowledge the necessity of working with the professors and society at large. In general, second language learning problems are complicated and need for an individual response in each and every situation. The research article offers some recommendations for structuring the learning process for non-native English speakers.
References
Bogan, B. L., and Bell, D. (2013). English language learners: issues and solutions discovered in early childhood general practitioners’ research. Balanced Reading Instruction E-Journal, 1 (2).
Bostad, B., Kienzle, J. L., and S. A. Cwikla (2015). English Language Learners’ Success: Challenges and Solutions. obtained from Sophia.StKate.Edu/MaED/134.
A. Sayeh (2015). English as a Second Language Teaching Challenges and Solutions. 3(6), 371-373, International Journal of Humanities and Management Sciences.
