As a child, Literature and English Language Development teacher Elly Brown remembers witnessing her mother, whose first language is Spanish, struggle with language barriers as she was learning English. The experience, paired with Brown’s own difficulty as a “painfully shy” student growing up, motivated her to pursue teaching ELD courses. 

“I always knew that I wanted to help students, especially students who are navigating learning a new language in a new country,” Brown said. “I find that students who are newcomers to the country are often quiet in their classes — they’re very shy. So that was an additional reason why I was motivated to work with ELs — I wanted to provide them with the tools to help them have a voice in and out of the class because I feel like when I was a kid, I didn’t have a voice.”

After moving from Hong Kong in seventh grade with a limited knowledge of English, now junior Nicole Ni experienced similar struggles with speaking up. She had difficulty understanding her peers, relying on Google Translate on her phone and iPad to communicate. With a knowledge of basic English vocabulary but inability to understand and participate in the fast paced conversations of her classmates, Ni remembers feeling “invisible.”

Ni also describes her memory of middle school as “blurry” due to the constant language barrier. Over time, however, Ni has grown more comfortable with asking for help from classmates and expressing herself, a change she attributes to participation in school activities and the MVHS ELD program. 

The ELD program, or English Language Development program, categorizes students into either ELD 1, 2, or 3, from least to highest English proficiency. Ni explains that sheltered courses also cater to ELD students by “slowing down the process” of learning to ensure that students are comfortable with the content.  

Brown adjusts her curriculum on a daily basis depending on the speed at which her classes comprehend the content. She also provides graphic organizers and written instructions to students prior to in-class assignments and discussions to make the process more accessible for students who require additional support. 

“Being a shy student and someone who was really quiet, being able to think about what I wanted to say or write it down gave me a lot more confidence when I shared out,” Brown said. “I think that’s really important for our ELD [students] because sometimes they are a little more timid about sharing out, so I want to provide them with the opportunity to feel that confidence before they respond [in] a whole class setting.” 

Senior Miranda Lin, whose first language is Mandarin, began learning English in kindergarten while living in Taiwan. Although the classes continued until sixth grade, she remembers having a limited ability to form sentences. However, after transitioning to an international school in seventh grade — an experience Lin describes as a “big challenge”— she developed an increased proficiency and progressed to writing paragraphs and essays in English. 

Lin began attending MVHS as a ninth grader where she was placed in ELD 3 and sheltered Biology and Literature classes. Lin initially lacked confidence in interacting with native speakers. During P.E. class her freshman year, Lin remembers that whenever students were allowed to choose their own teams, she and the only other ELD student in the class were constantly excluded. The experience left Lin with a desire to “break out of the bubble” and interact more with other students. 

“Pushing yourself out of [your] comfort zone is the most important thing for a lot of the ELD kids because we usually stay in our bubble speaking our own language to the other immigrants,” Lin said. “It’s not until sophomore year when I pushed myself into other extracurricular activities that opened up a new world to me.”

Lin joined Drama and the MVHS Dance team during her sophomore year, and found that the activities helped improve her English skills and confidence to interact with other students. After being elected Stage Manager of the Drama department’s production of “Alice in Wonderland,” Lin found herself communicating and collaborating heavily with different groups of students. She describes the experience as a “turning point” in her English learning journey. 

“I’m [one of those] people that is good at doing stuff, but [doesn’t] speak,” Lin said. “But after people started seeing what I’ve done and how amazing [it is], I started to push myself to talk to people. Just through experience, you learn how to talk to people, how to be confident when you are given the mic.”

Ni similarly details that her experience exploring extracurricular activities and pushing herself to interact with native English speakers allowed her to become more comfortable socially and academically. 

“With the help [of] the staff and the [ELD] family, I began to grow up and I’m more brave to talk in English, and I got more interaction with native speakers,” Ni said. “I think it’s a major growth — me five years ago compared to today, not only physically but also mentally. [The ELD teachers are] like my second family in America.”

Brown notes that although ELD students typically show “high motivation” to learn English and transition to higher levels each year, there are challenges in accommodating the varying levels of English proficiency among students in her class, some of which are “on the cusp” between levels. 

Brown encourages her students to speak by allowing them space to share about subjects that are familiar to them, such as their personal experiences, cultural background and interests. 

English teacher Karen Maleski, who teaches Sheltered Literature and Writing, also notes that students show greater confidence when they are given space to speak about themselves and their cultural identity. 

For their first semester final, Maleski instructed her students to present information about their cultural backgrounds. She found that students who previously had difficulties communicating in class showed increased interest and participation in the presentation. 

“They got up there and it was an unbelievable two hours from beginning to end,” Maleski said. “Every single one of them had a lot to say. They also could say things in their native language if they wanted to, so one of them read a famous poem from his home country and it was just beautiful. Because poetry … the native language that it’s written [in] is often the best language to listen to. It was just magical. I wish I had the whole thing on tape.”

Brown emphasizes the importance of building trust in the classroom, and views the ELD classroom as a “home base” for students due to its close-knit nature. She takes pride in the “immense growth” that students show over the course of the year. 

“Everyone feels like they’re in the same boat together because they’re all navigating the English language together,” Brown said. “I always tell my students that I want them to make mistakes, and that they will make mistakes and that it’s OK because this is where I’m going to have the opportunity to help them learn from their mistakes and improve and carry that knowledge to their other classes.”