Teach English in Chengxiang Zhen - Chengdu Shi

Due to the two years I was a student at a Korean language institute in Seoul, I have first-hand experience in the possible stressful situations that ESL students can have in the classroom. In this brief essay, I will discuss some possible stressful situations for ESL students that future and current teachers should always keep in mind. Being in a multilingual class has benefits in terms of having students with diverse background that allows there to be a multitude of culture and ideas that can make interacting with peers interesting. Another benefit is that multilingual classes are usually in an English speaking country so even outside the classroom the students have constant exposure to English and many opportunities to use it. Despite these benefits, being in a multilingual class has its drawbacks. Having a multilingual class with students from different countries typically means that students have no common language except for English. Although this might seem great for increasing English use in the classroom, it can lead to a plethora of issues for the students and can make being in the classroom stressful rather than fruitful for them. For example, if there have a question they want to ask but do not think they can express it in English and there is no one in the class that can speak their native language, a student can feel helpless, frustrated, and confused. This could lead to them shutting down and being reluctant to participate in class or have an adherence to interacting with other students if they don’t feel like they can express themselves properly in English. However if there does happen to be another peer that speaks their native language, they might revert to using their native language rather than English to express themselves and not be as enthusiastic about interacting with students that don’t speak their native language because they won’t have the chance to revert back to their native language if an issue arises they feel like they cannot fix using English. Another possible stressful situation EFL students can face is if the teacher talks too much because regardless if they completely understand everything being said by the teacher or not, increased teacher talking time leads to an obvious decrease in student talking time so students might not feel confident with their English productive skills. As important as receptive skills are, productive skills are equally important and must be encouraged in the classroom. If a student does not feel comfortable in the classroom for various reasons like lack of rapport building from the teacher and other students, then this can also lead to them feeling frustrated, uncomfortable, and possibly isolated in the classroom. Teachers that don’t make a point to establish rapport and find out about the students needs and aspirations with English can stress students out due to the classroom not feeling like the most healthy and encouraging environment for them to be learning something that is potentially difficult for them because they might not have help, exposure, or opportunities to use English with outside of the teacher and other students. If teachers over-correct students, it can stress them out because it can make them feel like no matter what they do, they are usually wrong, which can make them feel quite insecure in their English skills. Teachers must be sensitive to their students and their needs, making sure to praise and encourage their students so that they can create an atmosphere in the classroom that is relaxed and supportive in order to have the best learning environment for everyone. If they fail to do so then students may find themselves more stressed out in the classroom rather comfortable, relaxed, and eager to continue learning.