How can we assist, teach, and model reading (skills and strategies) and create a classroom environment in which our ESL students can become more successful and proficient readers of English? How can we create a classroom that provides L2 students with effective experiences and opportunities to acquire and learn English (listening, speaking, reading, and writing)?

Both of the essential questions ask, essentially, how as teachers we can create a classroom that encourages our ESL students to be the best students possible. The place to begin with regard to this question is for the teacher to inspect what is available for aiding in the instruction of these students. There are many such items, from textbooks to films to supplemental readers to the students themselves to the local community to the technology of the school, etc. So the first question the teacher must answer, is "How do I make the best of what I’ve got?"

This question can begin to be answered even before the students arrive in the classroom, because in general the teacher will know the room in which classes will be held, and textbooks, supplemental readers, and technology available. These elements will help the teacher know whether there will be immediate support within the school for supplemental materials and technological approaches to teaching. The teacher can also configure the classroom at this point based on his/her own beliefs about classroom environment. In my case, I am a believer in a good balance between individual effort and group work where individual effort is associated with positive group outcomes. Therefore, I will probably steer away from the more traditional classroom with rows of desks, opting perhaps for a double-row semicircle or clusters of four. At any rate, even before students arrive, it is the responsibility of the instructor to establish an environment that welcomes a diverse array of students.

Once students arrive, there should be unit and lesson plans that reflect the teacher’s acknowledgment of diverse student learners, and in the case of the ESL classroom, diverse language ability. This means that the teacher constructs plans that constantly engage learners on varying cognitive levels and engage all four language modes. I will be teaching adolescents, and for me that means that students need to know that they are valued (I value my students at any level, but here it is especially important). In my classroom that may translate into my allowing students to consider how THEY may best learn a particular skill or subject matter. Most students, by the time they are 16, know how they learn best, and the teacher should activate the student’s metacognitive knowledge to maximize acquisition. If younger students are in the classroom, it is incumbent on the teacher in activate metacognitive awareness in the students. Once students see that they are aware of their own learning, they are empowered by a certain mastery of a certain self-awareness.

As for the material itself, it starts with the classroom setup. I believe that any ESL teacher with their own classroom should have a variety of texts available to students. These texts are at many different reading and interest levels. What if the student needs an ESL version of Huck Finn (egads!) and has a report in social studies on slavery? The teacher with a personal library that continues to grow may be able to meet the needs of students with immediate needs, or at least point them in the right direction.

Just having books in a classroom doesn’t cut the mustard, however. In addition to a raft of reading texts, which often can look dull just sitting there, there should be at least one computer with almost any software that requires the operator to read directions or prompts in order to "dink." Posters on the wall help when the lecture or discussion is, well, dull. Posters on certain topics should have references for where students can find follow up information. Perhaps in magazines, on the net, or in particular books.

As for subject matter, if the ESL classroom is a place where content courses can be supplemented, then pulling in contextual materials is of utmost importance. What if the unit in history IS slavery, and Huck Finn is the current text in English? Then the teacher may bring in a series of articles about conditions that mirror conditions of slavery. Sweat shops in the far east, confinement of immigrants in the U.S., etc. These stories are contemporary, consistently in the news, and relate to the topics of the content classes. It should be the job of the teacher to create meaningful connections between content courses and contemporary events in the ESL students’ lives.

As for presentation of the material, teachers need to present ideas to students in a variety of modes – lecture, large and small group discussion, jigsaw, think-pair-share, etc. This aids students by touching on different modes of input, hopefully reaching each student’s zone of proximal development somewhere along the way.

In addition to input, students must be given many opportunities to demonstrate their learning through a variety of assignments. This could be the formal paper, a speech, a structured debate, role playing, creating artwork, etc. The teacher must encourage students to demonstrate their learning through engaging classroom activities and always be able to relate such activities and lessons to "the real world" and academic achievement, which may be in the form of meeting certain learning objectives or standards.

In sum, it is the teacher’s responsibility to recognize that a learning environment can greatly effect a student’s desire to learn; therefore, the learning environment should be constructed to encourage a student’s participation in his/her own learning. Lessons and activities should do the same, presenting a variety of approaches to presentation of meaningful information as well as student demonstration of learning. Ultimately, the teacher should model and encourage metacognitive thinking, because when it comes down to it, a student that can think efficiently and effectively for him/herself is better prepared to be a positively contributing member of society.