I Want To Learn It All

Description of Learner:
Juan is a 45-year old Hispanic male from El Salvador who has been in this country since 1980. He completed the 6th grade in his home country, but did not attend school upon entering the U.S. He scored at the 2.3 reading grade level on the TABE, (Tests of Adult Basic Education: CTB/McGraw-Hill). Juan is friendly, personable, and has an engaging smile. He wants to learn to read and understand English better, so he can improve his job opportunities. Juan is a chef at a well-known hotel chain, and he claims, "I can create any recipe from scratch and it's GOOD." He reads and writes in Spanish and received his professional training at a Spanish culinary school in California and through personal job experiences. In addition to his creative cooking interests, he engages in electrical and carpentry repairs for himself and his friends. His wife attends the same class as Juan; she just completed her External Diploma Program (EDP) requirements, and is an inspiration for Juan.

Challenge Faced:
Juan feels he has much to learn, and he constantly notices that other students are ahead of him. He comments, "I don't know if I'll be able to catch up." Juan and I explored his talents and how to use them to build his English vocabulary and reading skills. We spend time talking about what he does well. Not only is he a chef who can create outstanding dishes through taste and smell, he also has individuals who come to him for help with electrical and carpentry repairs. He mentioned to me how people are always telling him he should be doing more than be a chef. He answers back, "I want to, but my English is poor and I don't have a high school diploma." My challenge is to identify ways to help him learn English pronunciations and develop reading skills.

What We Did:
After our exploration talks, I asked Juan to make a list of what he does well, and what words he finds useful in his daily job and living. He printed these words, said them aloud to me, and then wrote sentences with them. I reminded to him to begin sentences with a capital letter and end with a period or question mark. I then gave him various readings that incorporated these words or I made up paragraphs using the words. I read the paragraphs aloud to him while he followed along. Then he read them aloud to the class and me. I also suggested he tape record himself reading the passages to hear "what he sounds like." He moved on to working with fellow students in a buddy system. He and his buddy look through News for You for words they want to learn and for words they are practicing, so there is a continuous supply of words for vocabulary building.

Analysis:
Juan needs time to process the words, their meanings, and their use in a sentence. This approach enabled him to feel good about his work and gave him the needed time to "get it" all. The time initially spent with Juan to identify his talents and strengths was a key building block in moving forward with him and showing him he can learn English as well as he has learned other things.

What I Learned:
I learned two important lessons from working with Juan. First, it is important to take time to learn about students' strengths and talents, so they can serve as a canvas for vocabulary building from life experiences. Even more important, students can realize that they are capable of learning and developing new skills. Also, the power of presenting material in multiple ways (hearing, seeing, and doing) helped Juan continue to build academic skills and self confidence.

Juan, Group Discussion:

Was it worth spending all that time with Juan at the beginning?
The initial time with Juan helped both of us learn about each other. Juan came to realize what strengths and talents he has and how we would work on his goals together. The time exploring strengths was the first steps to building a trusting relationship between student and teacher.

I thought chefs made good money?  So why is he here at the Learning Center?
Many chefs do, but with Juan he believes his limited English skills are preventing him from achieving the recognition he deserves. Whether as a chef or in some other occupation, he wants to improve his language skills so he can get ahead, and building on his strengths was a good way of doing that.

What type of a learner do you think Juan is?
Juan definitely is a hands-on tactile learner. This is important for me to know as a teacher, so I can present the lessons in the most effective manner for him, and he can see results and feel good about learning.

How does working with a buddy make a difference?
It keeps Juan from relying totally on me. Also, he has come to realize that others have similar problems, and that buddies can work on skill development together. Finally, with his buddy they can have fun learning together.

Summary:

Director's Comments:

You are correct in using tape recordings of Juan reading so he has a record of his progress and can go back and listen to how much he has improved. He could also use the tape recorder to listen to books on tape, to follow along, replay portions for practice, and then read those portions on tape so he can listen to himself. This way, he will hear correct pronunciations while reading along. This allows him to obtain both the auditory and visual configuration of English words. You may want to encourage him to construct his own pocket sized Spanish/English dictionary in which he assigns a page or two to each letter of the alphabet-his choice if the Spanish or English alphabet is used. He would then have a ready reference for words meaningful for him in his work and personal life.