Dr. Grove's time with our class today was particularly insightful for me. It was one thing for me to read the articles on working with ESL writers, but it was another for me to hear firsthand the ins and outs of the process with someone who works with these students all the time.
From the very start of class, Dr. Grove captivated our attention as she gave us directions to form a circle and introduce ourselves in Turkish. For a moment I honestly thought that she misunderstood what we were supposed to be doing in class, but then my aha moment came when I remembered that our focus this week was on ESL writers. Her foreign language exercise really helped me to understand how some ESL students may feel as they are surrounded by a society of predominantly native English speakers. Even with some proficiency in the language, the immersion in a foreign culture for a small amount of time is enough to make your head spin, much less if you are actually expected to complete tasks and perform in a comparable way to the larger society.
I am glad that we had the opportunity to have discussion with Dr. Grove, because I believe we learned invaluable information that will better equip us to work with and understand some ESL writers.
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