English Learners: A Case Study

While completing our service learning with the Master of Science in English Education program by meeting with our conversation partners throughout the semester we have each come across some difficulties our partners face. It is often difficult for them to pronounce certain words and syllables, using pronouns correctly, understanding our "slang" and social norms, learning to speak less formally, writing (sentence structure), and English words not having a similar meaning in Chinese. Often when meeting with our partners they use a translator on their cell phones to be able to find the English or Chinese word they are having difficulty thinking of or coming up with. Aside from all the difficulties, we have learned a lot from our conversation
Garrett and Holcomb (2005) note that one of the struggles they face results from their peers in schools. Because they often have a hard time hiding their language’s backgrounds, they can face mocking and discrimination in schools. This can result in ELLs choosing to not speak to prevent further embarrassment. Garrett and Holcomb give an example by talking about Amy, a Chinese immigrant student who would be laughed at by her fellow students whenever her mother spoke her native language. Garrett and Holcomb also talk about Alejandro, a Mexican American student who faced isolation and discrimination from his teachers despite being in a Latino dominated school. This is a common social struggle among
Here alone at UW-Platteville, students have this same opportunity. We have two different types of conversation partner programs. One is the Chinese conversation partners and the other is for English Language Learners. A major difference in the two groups here on campus is that the Chinese program is for graduate students from China who are here as part of their master’s degree in English. In order for them to make it over to the United States, and join part in our Confucius Program, they had to be top of their class and have a great understanding of the language. This really aided in conversation as we did not struggle with as strong of social barrier. Originally, I was partnered with two Saudi Arabian English learners as part of the other conversation partner program on campus; however, due to their lack of commitment, I was exchanged to the Chinese program. I quickly became thankful for the transition as I ended up with two cool guys with great