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ESL Also Needs Improvement

March 6, 1998

As the Unz Initiative comes under attack, I suggest that there is an additional point to be made in this debate. As an ESL Phoenix H.S. teacher who has also taught in the German and Japanese public school systems, I can tell you that ESL instruction needs an over-haul. ESL teachers are encouraged all over the country to teach according to the "naturalistic"methods of Stephen Krashen, an education prof at the Univer. of So. California. His methodology lacks structure and intensity, the two most important elements of any language program. Whereas students are not corrected for grammatical, spelling, and punctuation mistakes, they become fluent in broken English. After a time those errors become so engrained ("fossilized"is the term linguists use) that it is quite a difficult task to teach those students the correct forms. According to Krashen, the correctness evolves "naturally". HA-HA. This is my thirtieth year of teaching language (German to Americans and ESL to foreign students),and I have yet to see correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation develop naturally in a single student. However, I have about ten students in my classes at present who have been in our schools for five or more years who keep spelling "with" as "whit". It isn't because they are not intelligent, but because I am probably the first teacher to correct that error! I suggest that the word get out that the one year of ESL instruction will be intense and structured, similar to what is offered at the language school is Monterrey.

Johanna Haver