“Hello”, “Hallo”, “Hola” “Olá.”
Spring-Ford teacher Cheryl Hoinowski knows how to communicate in many languages with a diverse array of students.
The English Language Learners (ELL) teacher is bilingual, fluently speaking Spanish, and English. For good measure, she’s also learning Portuguese due to the large number of students in her class who speak the language. She also can speak some German.
On average, Hoinowski has about 15 students in her class, all from different countries who speak different languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, and Chinese. Her students are from different areas around the world, including Brazil, Mexico, and India.
Despite the language barrier, it is a team effort as the students to grow more comfortable at Spring-Ford.
“Even though they all speak different languages, they all communicate with each other and help each other with work like geometry homework,” Hoinowski said.
According to the National Education Association’s website, “ELL students are the fastest growing group of students in grades K-12” and “by 2025, 1 out of 4 children in classrooms across the nation will be an English language learner.”
An increase in ELL students is evident nationally and locally as well. In the past few years, Spring-Ford has been experiencing an increasing number of “newcomers” – a term
Hoinowski explains refers to as “kids who are brand new to the country” who don’t speak English fluently.
Spring-Ford has 230 ELL students, nine of whom arrived here at Spring-Ford in the month of October alone. Of the nine ELL students mentioned, three came to the high school and are now Hoinowski’s students.
She explains that teaching English to these ELL students is “just like teaching French or Spanish.” They are provided textbooks in which they learn new vocabulary words and read English passages such as Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Raven.”
Overall, the goal for this program is to provide students with support so they can fully benefit from the academic opportunities the school provides.
“The goal of Spring-Ford’s language instruction educational program is to facilitate the development and attainment of English proficiency and academic achievement of students whose native or first language is not English,” Spring-Ford’s district website reads. “Without instruction in social and academic English and appropriate support for learning academic content, these students are at risk of losing the educational opportunities provided to non-ELL students.”
The ELL students are encouraged to speak as much English as possible in the classroom. To communicate with each other, the common language is English but they will also use Google Translate if they are unsure of how to say something. Hoinowski explained “they are visual learners,” so her agenda for teaching includes pictures and visual activities such as crosswords.
ELL students are integrated into the English-speaking classrooms like Science, Math, Social Studies, and electives. New ELL students are allotted two class periods a day for English, but being integrated into English-speaking classes can still be difficult.
“(It is) difficult, you feel lost,” junior ELL student Kilvya Santos said. “If you pay too much attention, you understand a little. When the teacher talks fast, it is hard to understand.”
In the classrooms with ELL students and students who speak English as their first language, there is a language barrier. To overcome the language barriers, ELL students will typically try to speak as much English as possible. Speaking English in these classrooms, however, can be uncomfortable at times.
“I feel shy to speak,” Santos said. “I’m scared to say something wrong. In some classes I have some friends I feel comfortable to speak (with), or I speak nothing.”
However, in the ELL classroom or with other ELL students, Santos feels more comfortable.
“(ELL classmates) are good because everyone is learning and we don’t care if anyone says anything wrong,” Santos explained.
The ELL classroom is set up to be a sort of “safe zone” for ELL students. They can comfortably talk to one another, and Hoinowski helps them with their school work, typically allotting a period a cycle where it is a study hall for them to seek help from her in all of the subjects. The ELL classroom is a place for students to learn English together.
Hoinowski also tries to present herself as an approachable and kind person, even offering one student a piece of chocolate for the walk back to her house. This creates a bond between Hoinowski and her students.
Santos described Hoinowski as, “a mom until you learn English.”
Hoinowski, as well as the entire ELL program at Spring-Ford, have helped the increasing number of students learn English and feel more comfortable in their new environment.
