al. explain “teacher language awareness (TLA)” is a necessary component for an effective ESL teacher. To have TLA, one must have an understanding of the “systems and structures” of a language and one must have a level of empathy for the language learner. Many teachers have trouble slowing down for ELLs because they so badly want to communicate the knowledge they have of their preferred area of study. The empathy is just not there all the time. Realistically, it is hard to imagine a school district having the funding to hire ESL-trained teachers for every subject; however, at the university level, it is possible. A composition course for international students, such as the one I observed, would be an example of such a
al. explain “teacher language awareness (TLA)” is a necessary component for an effective ESL teacher. To have TLA, one must have an understanding of the “systems and structures” of a language and one must have a level of empathy for the language learner. Many teachers have trouble slowing down for ELLs because they so badly want to communicate the knowledge they have of their preferred area of study. The empathy is just not there all the time. Realistically, it is hard to imagine a school district having the funding to hire ESL-trained teachers for every subject; however, at the university level, it is possible. A composition course for international students, such as the one I observed, would be an example of such a