Culture Shock Essay

Teaching ELL's can be a very challenging aspect of a teaching job. Not only are teachers working with children who are scared, nervous and perhaps confused, but educators are working with students who may be encountering a great deal of culture shock. I believe that for me, this would be difficult. Honestly, I grew up a typical "white American girl" living the typical "white American life." I have not been exposed to many people who were not like me. Nevertheless, I am genuinely, looking forward to expanding my horizons and challenging myself to learn about other cultures and ways of life. Through the reading of chapter one, in Not for ESOL Teachers: What Every Classroom Teacher Needs to Know About the Linguistically, Culturally, and Ethnically

In many schools throughout the country, there are populations of students that have been pushed to the side, with their education thought of as just their specialized teachers’ responsibility. While this situation is changing for some students, such as those with disabilities and students who are lucky enough to have dual language immersion programs in their school, many students who are learning English are still struggling to access the same curriculum that everyone else in the school has a chance to learn. Guadalupe Valdés (2001) looked at the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at a school which she called Garden Middle School. Although Valdés completed this study over fifteen years ago, the experience that her focal students had

Furthermore, Vonderlack-Navarro suggest another beneficial way to support English language learners is to involve parents in the students’ education. Because of the language barriers, education levels, and culture, this goal will not be a stress-free assignment; however, once the parents have “buy-in” and trust the school systems, the goal would be accomplished (Stover,

Despite having researched the educational challenges ESOL students face, it was only by actively engaging with students that I came to understand the disjunction between the resources available and the requirements for progress in the educational system. ESOL students, lacking familial support and economic resources, are deterred from advancing in their efforts to learn English, thus leading them to become discouraged and

One way to address challenges that come with educating ELL students requires that culturally responsive educators “expose themselves and their students to each other’s cultural worldviews” (Banks & Banks, 2013, p.17). As described in the article, the study videotaped three different classrooms when learning was taking place. Then later analyzed by interviewing separately, participating teachers, newly arrived immigrant students and their parents, and cultural bridge persons. Even though all participants expressed the

It has been estimated that by the year 2025, approximately one out of every public school student will be identified as an ESL/ELL student in the United States. ESL stands for English as a Second Language and ELL stands for English Language Learner. An ESL/ELL student can be defined as a student whose predominant language or languages at home, is other than English, and would require additional English language support to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. The difference between an ESL student and ELL student is minor; An ESL student participates in programs that are customarily specialized while an ELL student partakes in a traditional educational classroom. English Language Learners have surpassed other subgroups in becoming the fastest growing of the public school population. Despite the common misjudgement of some people towards the ESL/ELL population, 76% of the ESL/ELL students in elementary schools and 56% of the ESL/ELL students in secondary schools are native-born. The highest percentages of ELL/ESL students in public schools are found in the west of the United States. Taking the average of both bigger and smaller cities, ELL students make an average of 14% of the total public school enrollment and in suburban areas, ELL students make up an average of 8.5% of public school enrollment. The ESL/ELL population has more than doubled over the past 15 years and more than half of those students struggle with their academic performance. An ESL/ELL

When these non-English-speaking children arrive at their local school for the first time, they will unfairly be expected to perform at the same level academically as their English-speaking peers, and this will be a big challenge for them because they will have a hard time understanding what their teachers are teaching and what their textbooks are saying. In addition, learning the English language is especially important for young English language learners who have recently immigrated to the United States because they have an additional and serious responsibility beyond just adding a new language; once they do begin to pick up the language, they will more than likely have to take on the role of translator for their parents and will become the sole line of communication between their non-English speaking parents and the school’s teachers, guidance counselors and administrators.

With the immigration population increase comes a language barrier increase. Therefore, English as a Second Language (ESL) tools in the classroom is essential. ESL was established in the 1970s when children of many mother tongues, crowded classrooms due to the immigration increase (Tomkins, G., 1981, p.

English language learners are students whose first language is not English. Consequently, ELLs have lower reading ability levels compared to non-English learners (Begeny, Ross, Green, Mitchell, & Whitehouse, 2012; Ross & Begeny, 2011). In addition, different ELL categories exist: long-term ELLs, migrant ELLs, and transnational ELLs. Long-term ELLs are United States citizens who have been enrolled in American schools since kindergarten; however, these students are classified as limited English proficient because they have not successfully acquired English during their elementary years. Furthermore, transnational ELLs move back and forth from their native country to the United States; therefore, the constant move between countries inhibit

In 2010, as my sisters-in-law and their families prepared to immigrate to the United States (U.S.), my husband and I did all we can to advise and assist them in getting ready for their long journey from Nigeria to the U.S. To our surprise, contrary to every advice we gave them, in preparation for life in the US, they started out with trying American fast foods of different kinds. Culture shock is expected for anyone who immigrates to the US, regardless of where they come from. The type(s) of help the person(s) gets on how to overcome it and their adherence, most often, determines the future outcome of life in their new country of residence.

Culture Shock has played a tremendous role in the growth of cultural ecology because it is an issue that is constantly growing all over the world. In the United States, it may not seem like things are changing involving culture shock, but it is not any different then the changes in places like Africa and China for example. It is developing equally across the world because there are now more ways to travel. So, what exactly is culture shock anyways? Well, it is known as going to a foreign or unfamiliar territory that one is not used to, so they may feel symptoms of anxiety such as nervousness or shock because the customs, actions, beliefs, etc of those people may not seem familiar to them, so one may feel ill-prepared for the changing environment. Also, for example, if one was to go to school in the U.S. but came from China, they would feel culture shock because the rules in China are not the same as rules in the U.S. and so it may make one feel uneasy about the situation because they are not use to change and maybe the move was to quick for them to adjust properly. The United States is very different from foreign areas because the culture is very different. Where have people of Africa seen movie productions, music, sports, universities, iPhones, computers, etc? The answer is not where they live but in the United States if they traveled there before. This is exactly the issue with culture shock in ecology. Culture is what people behave like, feel, and do. Shock is a symptom

Reflecting back on my field experience, I was able to gain quality insight as well as a better understanding of the teaching and the learning process of ESOL in a mainstream classroom. My experience in Mrs. Little’s classroom has shown that the role of the ESOL teacher is to educate students in functional language skills, offer content that is academically challenging, and helps students acculturate to the new language and culture.

Up until the first day of kindergarten, my whole life had been in Spanish. I did not know a single ounce of English prior to then. Of course, the school did make accommodations for students like myself by placing us in ESOL classes. However, these classes, in which we were taught only basic English such as greetings, were no match for what would seem like an advanced concept for students with a very limited English vocabulary. And so, the nightmare commenced.

Bilingual” (qtd in Shi, Steen 63). The objective of the ESL students is to learn how to speak, read, and write in English and know about the system of the school too. That learning will help them with other courses in school. ESL students have come from all over the world in America to study. Statistically, the number of immigrants in the USA is growing quickly. This quote shows us that

Culture shock is generally describes the uneasiness, stress as well as anxiety an individual feels when they encounter an unfamiliar cultural background, as a result of loosing familiar cues along with meanings associated with behavior and communication. Culture shock is thus an experience that happens to a person in every sphere of life when they face different lifestyles and world perceptions whether with regards to education, health or jobs among others. While residents or natives may take for granted their familiar world, strangers find the situation new and as a result experience certain crisis. This situation requires the individual to adapt or adjust. This paper discusses culture shock and cultural adaption alongside its impact on