Conversation Partners

The English as a Second Language program began its spring semester with not only an eager group of ESL students but also two wonderful groups of graduate and undergraduate education students.  Jan Dimmitt-Olson’s EDUC 585 Advanced Literacy and Dr. Karen Sorvaag’s ED 445 Advanced Literacy Methods for Diverse Learners courses spent several weeks observing ESL teaching strategies within a number of the De La Salle Language Institute’s classes.  In addition, Dr. Sorvaag’s students were paired with ESL students for the purpose of acting as conversation partners and tutors throughout the semester.  These future teachers are now meeting weekly with SMU’s language learners.  While the ED 445 students’ focus is to facilitate the ESL students’ English proficiency, another aspect of the partnership is the development of a cultural awareness and understanding; everyone gets to see the world from another perspective.