ESL Students Speak Up: Their Stories of How We are Doing.

Abstract

This study explores the ESL curriculum as experienced by students, casting light on their side of the story. We invited three Japanese secondary-level students to discuss their experience of learning English and analyzed their stories in terms of Schwab's four curriculum commonplaces (learner, subject matter, milieu, and teacher). Our analysis reveals that for the students, learning English has to do with negotiating their identities in a new environment. The current ESL curriculum as it focuses on the development of academic skills may not be providing enough support to help them integrate into the school community. In the absence of such support, some students may run the risk of perpetuating their marginality in the school and prematurely reaching a plateau in their English acquisition. Some practical ideas to promote integration, some of which are already implemented in Canadian schools, are discussed in the light of these findings.