ESL Issues and Policies in Christian International Schools:

A Global Survey

Alan Seaman graduated from the University of Virginia with a PhD He is associate professor ofintercultural studies and TESOL at Wheaton College. Dr. Seaman has more than 20 years’ experience as an English language teacher and teacher educator in the United States, China, and other countries. Many of Dr. Seaman’s publications focus on ESL issues in K–12 programs.

The dawning of the twenty-first century promises to be an invigorating time for Christian international schools. Each year, new schools are established throughout the world. Many established schools are undergoing significant changes.

An important change in many schools is the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of their students. This trend reflects the general diversification of the worldwide missionary force—an exciting trend for those involved in missions. The increasingly multicultural missionary force creates new stresses and challenges for English-medium Christian international schools. As these schools enroll more students who need instruction in English as a second language (ESL), how are schools in various parts of the world responding to these challenges?

To address this question, for two years I have collected data through an international survey sponsored jointly by ACSI and Wheaton College. I have also held conversations with teachers and administrators in Christian international schools. Christian educators have much to share and learn from each other. Following is a summary of the survey findings:

An extensive survey was developed and sent to a sample of ACSI-affiliated schools. In 2002, the preliminary results of this survey were reported at the International Christian Educators Convention in Quito, Ecuador. Also in 2002, I spent a sabbatical in China that included in-depth conversations with several Christian international schools in Asia.

Fifty-five schools responded to the survey, and their data confirm what I learned in conversation with teachers and administrators. The responses present a compelling global demographic picture of Christian international schools in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

• The vast majority (46 schools) provide instruction for K–12 (or grades 1–12).
• A majority (35 schools) are small or fairly small, with fewer than 200 students enrolled.
• Larger schools are also represented, with 5 of them enrolling over 500 students.
• Of the 55 schools, only 4 indicated that they have no ESL needs.
• In all, 36 schools indicated that children with ESL needs constitute 1–20 percent of their school’s population.
• In 7 schools, more than 60 percent of the students are nonnative English speakers. These schools are interesting but atypical.
• Most of the schools have ESL needs that are either moderate (21 schools) or significant (25 schools).

Unique Challenges Faced by Small Schools

Many schools have a fairly small enrollment, but a significant number of the students need ESL instruction. This combination presents particular challenges. Smaller schools often find it difficult to hire ESL specialists or set up special self-contained ESL classes. A school of 100 students with 30 nonnative English speakers needs to modify its classroom instruction. But such a school has fewer resources to draw upon than a school enrolling 500 students.

In addition, many schools scramble to deal with an increased enrollment of students needing ESL. Almost 60 percent of the schools responding to the survey reported an increase in nonnative English speakers over the past five years, while only 14 percent reported a decrease in such students. The most common first languages were Korean (40 schools), Spanish (26 schools), Chinese (25 schools), Japanese (13 schools), and Dutch and German (9 schools each).

Among the “top five languages,” the schools in the survey listed 30 overall, ranging from Czech to Kiswahili to Farsi. These figures reflect three well-known factors:

1. The growing importance of Korean missionaries throughout the world
2. The rise of multinational missionary teams in general
3. A willingness by some schools to admit students from the local community or the international business community

For instance, 14 of the 26 schools with a large number of Spanish speakers are located in Spanish-speaking countries and draw students from the local community. Conversely, 11 of the 13 schools with significant Japanese populations were located outside of Japan. In addition to missionaries’ children, these schools admit the children of Japanese expatriates involved in business or diplomacy.

Taken together, the survey data present an intriguing portrait of Christian international schools worldwide. In recent years, a number of small- or medium-sized schools have enrolled an increasing number of ESL students.

Finally, it must be noted that a large majority of the schools (62 percent) expressed concerns about their ESL programs, saying that they needed either “some improvement” or “major improvement.” Only 16 percent of the schools surveyed felt their ESL programs were effective.

What Do the Students Need?

In addition to documenting the changing demographics of many schools, the survey identifies some specific student needs. In fact, the same concerns were identified by a number of the schools.

The primary need is for ESL training for faculty and staff who are not ESL specialists. Although 32 of the 55 schools have at least one faculty member who specializes in ESL, a majority of the schools (62 percent) indicated that only “a few” or “none” of their teachers had received training in ESL instruction. But ESL students are mainstreamed quickly in most of the schools. Therefore, training in ESL teaching methodology is critical for all teachers, not just for the ESL specialists.

The following paragraphs summarize some other needs of students with limited English proficiency.

• Vocabulary development. Students tend to become bilingual, but they do not develop a large vocabulary in either of their languages. Along with mastery of the English language and of academic content, vocabulary development is a major academic need.
• Preservation of cultural identity. Another set of concerns cluster around the students’ cultural identities. They need to maintain their cultural identity, customs, and language, even though they are in an English-medium school environment. Some schools have made maintaining the native language a priority along with learning English. Many schools commented on the growing need for cross-cultural knowledge and sensitivity among all teachers and students.
• Writing proficiency. At the high school level, writing was a major concern. Expectations for academic writing can be high. However, it can take years for ESL students at the advanced level to write proficiently in English.

How Are Schools Meeting Student ESL Needs?

The survey reports good news—some schools are effectively meeting the needs of their ESL students. What are these effective schools doing? To answer this question, I separated the surveys of 16 percent of those schools that identified their programs as “effective.” I also examined the other 16 percent that described their programs as “adequate.” Ranging in enrollment from 41 to more than 1,000 students, these schools represent a broad range of schools surveyed.

Not surprisingly, every school that describes its ESL program as “effective” has at least one faculty member who specializes in ESL. All these schools also checked yes to at least one category in the “policies” section of the survey. Although policies vary from school to school, these schools set policies for grading, admission, credit toward graduation, and involvement of parents.

What Policies Work Best?

Consistent, clearly defined procedures provide a welcoming environment for limited-Englishproficient students. Schools viewing their ESL programs as “effective” provided some combination of all the following policies:

• Place limits on enrollment. Many schools limit enrollment at the middle and high school levels for students who need ESL assistance. As one administrator wrote, “If they start in first and second grade, they always succeed! Third and fourth too. After that, the numbers drop, and it depends on the student.” A number of schools continue to assist ESL students who have come up through their system, but they will not accept students with ESL needs at the high school level.
  

• ... training in ESL teaching methodology is critical for all teachers, not just for the ESL specialists.

  Provide modified grades. A number of schools use grade reports that indicate the student has taken a modified class. Some students receive special S or U grades (based on effort) during their first year in the school. Many schools with a modified grading system check with students and teachers periodically to determine when the students are ready to receive regular grades. Some schools with larger ESL student populations give a special “ESL report card” at the elementary level. In larger schools that employ ESL teachers, specialized ESL courses—such as ESL Social Studies—result in credits that count toward graduation.
• When mainstreaming, set a formula for the number of limited-Englishproficient students in a particular class. One school mentioned the formula of 30 percent ESL and 70 percent non-ESL for kindergarten classes. Another school does not allow more than two students with ESL needs per classroom. The figures “20 percent or 30 percent ESL per class” were often mentioned in surveys. One school uses a complex formula that awards points for English proficiency to determine how many students to admit in each grade-level class.
• Carefully assess students for English proficiency and academic progress. One surprising survey result is the variety of tests mentioned. It includes many standardized tests (such as copies of the SAT) that were not developed to assess the proficiency of ESL students. Common assessment programs described as effective are the following:
  
  

  The most effective ESL programs have clear guidelines and procedures that integrate ESL students into the school in a humane and orderly process without compromising academic quality.

  • Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery
  • Stanford Achievement Test
  • Bilingual Syntax Measure II
  • Language Assessment Scales (LAS)
  • Tests developed in-house by ESL specialists
  
  However, this variety points to the need for ESL assessment instruments that are widely used and recommended among ACSI schools.
• Provide plenty of support from tutors and aides. Several smaller schools train their teachers to be sensitive to the language progress of ESL students and to adjust their expectations accordingly. Over time, with the help of intensive tutoring and the support of teacher aides, the students make progress with the language even when no ESL specialist is on staff. As one administrator of a smaller school wrote, “We use their first year in the school as a transition year, helping them to fill in the gaps, develop their language, and learn to think critically. We limit some of the regular class load to work on language skills with tutors. We involve the parents actively in their child’s learning experience.”

Compelling Themes in Regard to ESL

The survey results present three compelling themes regarding ESL issues in Christian international schools:

• Diversity. For a variety of reasons, ACSIaffiliated international schools are becoming more culturally and linguistically diverse.
• Need. The majority of the schools we surveyed—especially the smaller schools—have strong needs for ESL assessment, resources, and instruction.
• Clear guidelines. Increasingly, Christian international schools are implementing policies for assessment, enrollment, grading, and modification of the curriculum. The most effective ESL programs have clear guidelines and procedures that integrate ESL students into the school in a humane and orderly process without compromising academic quality.

A school with a growing number of students needing ESL instruction should think its policies through carefully. Perhaps the school should restrict enrollment until it can set up an environment where these students are likely to succeed. In this task, the loving, supportive climate of a Christian school is an asset. As one administrator wrote, “What has been most successful? Relationships and work. Talking about Christ and love opens most students to effective language learning.”

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank both Dr. David Wilcox for his help with conceptualizing and editing the survey, and the 55 ACSI schools that devoted time and energy to their survey responses. Special thanks also goes to Keri Ehrhardt, who compiled the survey results, and to the administrators at Tianjin International School, China, for their many helpful insights.

 
A Global Survey  Q1  2004