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Immersion and Practice

Perhaps no other component of language learning is as neglected in the curriculum as immersion and practice. Ironically, it is the most critical. Without immersion and practice, there will be no competence or mastery.

Fortunately for ELs, they are already in an English-speaking country where they will be amply surrounded by English wherever they go including their classroom. Most language teachers would prefer native over non-native speakers for immersion activities. That will be less of a problem for ELs than for students of a world language. Even if they managed to find a native-speaking partner, what would they talk about?

Critics of the Let's Talk method insist that "talking" alone is not a viable path for achieving communicative competence. The interactions must be of high quality. But, what does that mean? It means teachers need to devote more time to cultivating engaging, meaningful, and authentic opportunities for immersion and practice and not merely assume learners will do this essential work on their own. In most cases, they will not.

Pairing ELs with native-English speakers studying a foreign language sounds like an efficient way to help both groups of learners, but it could be a fairly limited method that may produce good results for some, but less than stellar results for others.  Based on my experience and research, the most effective way to pair language students with native-speaking "buddies" is to find a comparable EFL classroom abroad with the same needs, same general skill level, approximately same class size, and similar school, socioeconomic background, cultural values, and age. I am not sure if these factors apply to ELs in the U.S. in need of immersion and practice but as a language teacher of 16 years, I know that L2 immersion and practice are essential.

Online Interactions with EFL Peer Learners Abroad?

I wonder if ELs would benefit from a similar pedagogical structure. For example; pairing a class of ESL learners in Virginia with a class of EFL learners in Mexico with a comparable level of English. I understand instructors' preference that learners practice with native speakers, but the real world consists of many speakers and many accents. At intermediate and advanced levels, students are ready to hear English with various foreign accents. I think it helps.

It is becoming increasingly common for language instructors to partner with an EFL instructor abroad to jointly coordinate international telecollaborative language exchanges; when two displaced learners or groups of learners meet to complete task-based activities with equal time being given to the L1 and the L2 during the interaction; hence the term language exchange. Both students have something to gain and something to give back.

Cooperating with a teaching partner abroad to bring two displaced classrooms in different countries together for collaborative online learning can be a challenge. The responsibility lies with the instructor.

The point is immersion and practice are vital to second language acquisition. ESL teachers, with free videoconferencing technologies, may want to consider partnering with EFL instructors locally and abroad to design and deliver high-quality immersion opportunities jointly across international borders.