Rooted in TESOL: Language, Culture, and Theories

Rooted in TESOL: Language, Culture, and Theories is a roadmap for general K-12 educators who have “nonmainstream” students. Teachers will learn the very least they need to know to teach students from other cultures and will learn to understand what they can expect from non-native English learners. By increasing critical knowledge of their own American cultural values, the reader will better understand the different cultural values of their students, especially as they relate to schooling and the classroom. By correctly interpreting the cultural cues and body language of their students, teachers will understand why students of other cultures might behave differently. Raising our cultural consciousness leads us to understand different behaviors and helps us to adapt classroom instruction according to the language acquisition process English learners undergo. Only after much exposure to the issues and language acquisition process of ELs will the teacher be able to correctly distinguish learning disabilities from problems in simple language acquisition. Finally, the reader will learn how to implement appropriate and effective strategies that ensure comprehensible instruction and assessment for the student who is not yet academically fluent in English.