Getting a late start on language

Learning center helps teens with English, survival skills

IRVING—On a recent day, Irving teacher Barbara “Boo” Burton instructed her students to move from their desks to a semicircle on the floor for a lesson on the alphabet.

This seating arrangement is cozy, and she hopes it will help the students feel at ease. She wants them to take turns reciting the letters of the alphabet.

The lesson seems simple enough for a kindergartner or even a pre-schooler, but this isn’t a group of youngsters facing Mrs. Burton. Here are teen-agers who have come to the Irving school district’s Language Development and Testing Center to learn English and basic academic skills – practically from scratch.

The center opened this year as the district reached out to junior high- and high school-age students who had been falling through cracks in the education system.

State law requires that bilingual education, instruction in a language other than English, be offered in elementary schools if at least 20 students in a grade level need the instruction. But only English-as-a-second language instruction, taught strictly in English by specially trained teachers, is required in the junior highs and high schools.

“This center is for young people who are new arrivals to this country who don’t speak English and have had little or no schooling in their native countries,” said Jeannette Dolman, coordinator of the Irving school district’s English-as-a-second language, bilingual and foreign languages program.

“Until this year, we put these young people in ESL classes in the junior highs and high schools,” she said. “They couldn’t keep up, so after a while, many of them would get frustrated and drop out.”

School officials say there is an increasing need for the center because more and more newcomers to the United States are settling in Irving. All non-English-speaking students who enter the district are tested for language and academic skills, and some are referred to the center for extra attention.

The center, located at the district’s administrative annex in south Irving, has an enrollment of about 60 students, and officials predict the total could reach 90 by the end of the school year.

“New arrivals come all the time,” Ms. Dolman said. “We have been getting at least two or three new students a week.”

The majority of students at the center speak Spanish and come from Mexico or Central America. A few are from Asian countries such as Laos and South Korea.

The center is modeled on similar programs in the Dallas and Fort Worth school districts. Irving is the first suburban district to begin such a program, officials say.

“The Richardson, Grand Prairie and Arlington districts are looking at what we’re doing,” said Barbara Neale, another coordinator of the program. “They also have a lot of newcomers and are interested in starting programs, too.”

The instruction at the center is patterned after the ESL classes taught at four of the district’s junior high campuses and all three high school campuses. The teachers speak only English, but Spanish-speaking aides help with translation.

The pace is much slower than in regular classrooms, and there’s more opportunity for one-on-one attention from the instructors.

“We’re basically teaching them survival skills,” Mrs. Neale said. “We want them to know how to converse in English and have some basic math and reading skills.”

The students enrolled at the center are classified as “pre-literate,” meaning they can barely read or write in their native language. Some never attended school, while others may have attended through the first or second grade with an interruption of five years or more.

“We have some who come to us and can’t write their names or add two and two,” Ms. Dolman said.

Students are bused from the junior highs and high schools to spend three hours a day at the center. The students are grouped into classes by age, high school or junior high.

Students spend the rest of the day at their home campuses, taking elective classes such as art, music and physical education – nothing that requires a command of English.

At the center, the atmosphere is relaxed and students are gently encouraged but never forced to participate in the lessons.

“Our goal is to make them feel comfortable,” said Lisa Ward, one of the two high school teachers at the center. “Studies have shown that students who are relaxed and comfortable learn a language faster.”

Officials considered offering these classes at various campuses but opted instead to create the center. Separating the students is another way of removing the stress of peer pressure, Mrs. Ward said.

Although it is still too early to determine the success of the center, officials are encouraged by hearing students mixing sentences in their native languages with English.

They are also encouraged by the good attendance at the center.

“Students seem to want to come,” Ms. Dolman said. “Just recently, two girls missed the bus at Nimitz (High School) and they decided to walk over here rather than stay there. We think that’s a good indication that they like being here.”

Because these students are so far behind in their education, many – especially those of high school age – won’t catch up enough to graduate, officials said. But then, graduation isn’t the real goal of this program.

“Our main goal is to give them the skills to be literate and function in the world,” Ms. Dolman said. “We want them to be able to go out and get a job and become productive citizens.”



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