How to: Feminist ESL Teaching Methods

By: Natasha

Sadly, all too often Christian groups travel to other countries under the guise of teaching English and have ulterior motives of spreading Christianity. I am a Christian, and don't mind Christian values. However, it is not right to draw people into your religion as they unwittingly seek an education. I feel they are so successful because they often succeed in teaching English, their purported goal.

So, to combat this, I think we should all adopt aggressively feminist methods to teach English. We should be successful at teaching English, using what we linguists call the "communicative" approach. As we teach, we should also be successful in creating gender equality. I have been teaching English as a volunteer at a non-profit literacy center for awhile now, refining feminist teaching methods. Here are some ideas of what a feminist teaching method consists of. I welcome you to add some! I hope to write up one of these ideas for on of the newsletters that talk about how to teach. The rest of this post gives ideas on what to teach, and methods (or ‘how to’) teach it.

Teach gender neutral language. ESL students love gender neutral language because learning one word is easier than learning two. For example, it is easier for a student to learn “server” for all servers than to learn the word “waiter” for male waiters and the word “waitress” for female waiters. The wonderful purpose of gender neutral language is that it helps us see people as capable of fulfilling their own desires instead of simply measuring up to what is expected of them based on their gender. For example, we might not automatically assume that all fire fighters are male if we use the term “fire fighters” instead of the term “fire men.” This might lead to an increase in the numbers of females who become fire fighters. Likewise, the term “police officers” should be taught instead of “police men.”

Method! A lesson for an ESL class should not overtly mention: “Today we will learn gender neutral language!” Instead, it should be structured around some situation that the students encounter. I listened to one of my friends present a wonderful lesson this summer teaching students how to use 911, an emergency service that might be new to some. My colleagues and I pretended to be her students. We learned when to call, and when not to call. We worked with different cards that pictured different situations, and were asked to choose which ones required us to call 911. For example, a card with a fire on it requires you to call! And then, fire FIGHTERS come to put out the fire.

Teach survival skills, the tasks that people have to be able to perform to get through the day. A lot of females depend on their husbands to do survival tasks for them, such as go grocery shopping, write letters for them, write checks, and fill out applications. I’ve taught a lot of letter writing skills and a lot of vocabulary that they will encounter on applications. Students face all kinds of confusing forms/applications, such as in the doctor’s office. They also face them in any test taking office, such as when registering to take the TOEFL, SAT, or driver's license test. They also face them when applying for a credit card or a job. Basically, teach them how to independent of others who enable their lack of knowledge.

Method! The easiest way to decide what survivor skills are needed is to get students talking to each other in un-moderated conversation on the topic, and listen in. For example, one day I taught a class on networking. I gave them students time to network with each other. I learned the jobs that they had performed and the obstacles they faced in finding new jobs. Another way is to issue a survey, or ask them to write what they need in a journal (these written ways should only be used with students who know lots of English).

Methd! Once you decide what survivor skills they need, teach them. Use conversational dialogues (in which you create pretend conversations) if the students say they need help on the telephone. Bring in boxes of food and pretend to shop if they need help navigating grocery stores. Bring in forms from doctor's offices to work on learning these. Also, bring in job application forms when working on teaching others how to apply for a job.

Enlist your students to gather all these materials! For example, I wanted to work on job applications, but I did not have time to gather a lot of them. I gave my students homework: to request at least one job application from anywhere they wanted. In class we practiced dialogue that is necessary to get an application. They were successful in using it outside of class! Then, in class, we shared the applications they collected and talked about how to fill them out. Requiring them to bring in their own materials gives them practice in conversation. (For more information on using ‘real world’ materials in the classroom, search online for ‘realia’ and ‘ESL.’ )

Teach citizenship. Teach civics and history in order to prepare students to pass the US Citizenship exam. If students are at an advanced proficiency level of English, they will be able to understand the questions and answers on the test. If they pass this test, they will be able to become U.S. citizens and be able to vote. When more immigrants and minorities are enfranchised, they will have more rights.

Method! To teach citizenship, go to this website and print out questions and answers that will be on the test: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=bb93667706f7d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=bb93667706f7d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD
From this link, you can print out the test questions and answers in English, or in any language! It also has flash cards.

Method! To teach citizenship, I simply go question by question. One of the staff workers who passed the citizenship test taught me this method. We take turns reading the questions and answers out loud from the test. Some students are not interested in citizenship, and some are. I tell the ones who don’t plan on taking the citizenship test that they will still benefit; they will be able to hone their listening, reading and speaking skills. It is so gratifying when one who hadn’t planned on gaining citizenship changes her mind and decides to apply for it! The test also consists of an interview, so make sure students are comfortable talking about themselves.

Teach self esteem. The part of feminist methodology that I enjoy the most is boosting women’s confidence.

Method! For a short while this summer, for no reason, I constantly heard my female students voice the same insecurities. I knew I had to do something. So, we started writing and repeating affirmations. An affirmation is a short positive thought. This is the list: “I read excellent English. I write excellent English. I have excellent reading skills. I have excellent listening skills.” I chose those after researching one website that said that four short sentences are the best affirmations. Interestingly, we often get into complex questions about grammar based on the affirmations. Students ask: “why do we say ‘have’ in the last two ones?" You should make up affirmations based on the doubts students have about themselves, and their English.

Method! In my class, we created name placards that both told their names and promoted confidence. We each folded a sheet of construction paper in half, so it is long. Then, on one side, we wrote our names. On the other, we wrote the affirmations. The students folded their papers like triangles and put the papers in front of them. The side facing the student has the affirmations. The side facing the rest of the class has the student’s name. (If any of you have had Dr. Fellman, then you know that I took the idea of using name placards from her! I think that in feminist interactions, everyone knows everyone else’s name. In her class we used markers and paper to write our names so that we could always easily converse with each other.)

Method! I use affirmations at both the beginning and ending of class, to warm up and cool down. I use affirmations different ways, so students don’t get bored. At the beginning (a few months ago), I would read the affirmation, then they as a class would repeat it. Or, one day we took turns calling out our favorite ones, a bit chaotic! Most often, now I call on one student to read them, and the others and I repeat after that one in unison. Another idea (for an advanced class) is to have each student take turns reading one line. The most fun part of affirmations is when we all clap together afterwards! It is like a theater production coming to a close. My goal is to help women gain the confidence to try to use their English with strangers.

A feminist approach doesn’t leave out males. Instead, it helps them help create gender equality. Often, the males in my classes have female family members who do not attend class. It is as if the male goes first to “scout out” a situation, then brings his wife if it was a good class. I try to talk a lot about my family, to get the students comfortable talking about theirs and to encourage them to bring their enire families.

Method! Teach them how to communicate with family members. For example, husbands write to wives thanking them for cooking, appreciating women’s over-loaded share of the housework. Maybe considering it will encourage them to join. Tomorrow I am going to teach how to address a letter, and how to identify the blue mail boxes that accept out-going mail. Most families communicate by e-mail or telephone, but it is always extra fun to write (and receive!) a real letter!

Where!

In case you really would like to try teaching English, here is the name and address of a local Tidewater literacy center that would welcome volunteers to teach English!
Ingleside Language Center
925 Ingleside Rd.
Norfolk VA, 23502
Phone: 757.270.9807

Additionally, the English Language Center at ODU offers a conversation partners program. Through it, you can connect with an international student who wants to learn more English. Send an email to elc@odu.edu with 'conversation partner' in the subject line or call 683-4424 for more information.

Also, there is a "spouses class" that meets in ODU’s library. It is usually composed of immigrant females married to students and employees at ODU. Usually a linguist in the Applied Linguistics M.A. program teaches it, but there may be a few weeks of every semester when no one is teaching it. For more information on teaching this class, contact Dr. Janet Bing, at jbing@odu.edu .