English As A Second Language

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English is a language that is connected to other languages and major aspects of peoples’

lives (Ajoke, 2017). The process of learning a new language can be difficult, especially for

English. A person has to learn the new structures, words, tenses, and articles of the new

language. Since learning a new language takes some time, this causes students who speak

English as a second language to have low representation in areas like engineering and technology

(LaCosse et al., 2020).

One factor that has been noted about learning a language is that younger people can

learn a language faster than older people (Hashim et al., 2018). Such information shows how

adults or older people will go through a lot to master a language. People have a lot of pressure of

knowing how to speak English because it comes with various benefits, such as,

 English is the language of business- Many corporations now encourage their workers to

have an understanding of English to get employment. Since many countries now have an

understanding of the language, it can create a link that can be used to conduct business.

 Enables interaction with a global community- English is not the most spoken language

but it is spoken in the largest amount of countries. That is about 101 countries when

compared to other languages. Having an understanding of the language enables one to

join this community.

As much as English has benefits, ESL students find difficulty learning in higher

education institutes. This is caused by several reasons like,

 Culture Shock- This is the anxiety that kicks in when one is in a new environment with

unfamiliar signs and symbols. This can slow down the ability of ESL learners in

comprehending what they are learning since they are not yet comfortable. Factors that
lead to culture shock include the language barrier, unfamiliar weather patterns, living

conditions, social isolation, and different foods.

 Inability to comprehend the vocabulary used in higher education like in science,

technology, engineering, and math (STEM) - For ESL learners to participate in higher

education they have to understand and apply the vocabulary they learn. However, this can

be a challenge since the vocabulary used in higher education has various meanings

(LaCosse et al., 2020).

 Higher Education Faculty lack training in handling ESL learners – The faculty in higher

education institutes can lack the knowledge on how to handle ESL students which

hinders the development of ESL learners in their studies.

 Lacking a sense of belonging – Having a sense of belonging also affects how one

performs academically. Since ESL learners are under-represented they have challenges

fitting in which causes them to perform poorly.

All these challenges facing ESL learners can be taken care of with the right

interventions. Since presently more ESL learners are being registered especially in the United

States it will be vital to take care of them. The world is becoming a community therefore having

more ESL learners is vital to ensure it does not fall apart.

References

Ajoke, A. R. (2017). The importance of instructional materials in teaching English as a second

language. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, 6(9), 36-

44.
LaCosse, J., Canning, E. A., Bowman, N. A., Murphy, M. C., & Logel, C. (2020). A social-

belonging intervention improves STEM outcomes for students who speak English as a

second language. Science advances, 6(40), eabb6543.

Hashim, H. U., Yunus, M. M., & Hashim, H. (2018). Language Learning Strategies Used by

Adult Learners of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). TESOL

International Journal, 13(4), 39-48.

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