Editor’s note: This story was republished with permission from The Cypress, the student newspaper of Brookline High School. You can read the original story here.
International students from Brazil to China to the Dominican Republic experience BHS in a unique way through the English Language Learners (ELL) program. The ELL program does not exist as an isolated program but contributes to and is impacted by the high school’s culture and systems. In a place where nearly every word is new, the English Language Learners (ELL) program provides a safe harbor for international students, helping them grow and navigate the unfamiliar.
For years, the ELL program has helped non-native English learners find their footing in a new environment. Led by international student advisers Katy Frost Ouellette and Katya Babitskaya, the ELL students take specialized classes that provide all sorts of training needed for English improvement, including reading and writing classes, listening and speaking classes and science classes. The aim of the program is for students to feel more comfortable in their linguistic abilities, and also for students to graduate from the program and become integrated into mainstream classes.
One important aspect of the program is its separation from the rest of the school. English, science and social studies classes are all taught within the program and include certain features that help accommodate each student’s specific needs. The ELE classes are leveled from ELE I to ELE III, or Entering Level to Expanding Level, respectively. Math classes and electives, however, are taken with mainstream students.
This separation is intentional so that students can feel as comfortable as they can without the fear of making mistakes, according to Frost.
“ELL III students have mostly mainstream classes and then they come to the [ELL] classroom where they can relax and make mistakes,” Frost said.
Sophomore Mina Haidar Nabizada said that for students whose first language isn’t English, the fear of making mistakes can often overshadow their desire to participate in class. She said the ELL program helps students gain a sense of belonging that allows them to triumph over these fears.
“Sometimes when you speak in front of the class, you feel ashamed; you feel like you’re wrong,” Nabizada said. “[ELL class is] like a community. I feel like I belong here. So I feel the most comfortable out of all of my classes in the ELL class because it was more open.”
One defining part of the specialized ELL classes is that they are communication-based. This means that a large portion of the curriculum is based on talking to peers, and assignments and lessons are centered around vocational practice. Sophomore Daniel Martinez said that this communication-based curriculum has really helped him grow as an English speaker.
“Both of [Frost and Babitskaya’s] classes are more based on communication, which I kind of like because I got to practice more English and how it’s supposed to sound,” Martinez said. “I’d like to get to know new people because last year I was shy, so I didn’t talk to anyone. When I did, it was a really short conversation, and now I get to talk more.”
Within the same ELL class, students have a variety of fluency levels. According to Babitskaya, students develop their organizational, scheduling and homework habits at different paces.
“As a teacher, it was really challenging because I had to teach three different curriculums in the same class,” Babitskaya said. “Some kids need to get something very basic, but then there’s more advanced kids. With the kids who are at the lower level, you have to be with them physically and explain everything step by step.”
Some students who go through the ELL program are interested in alternative learning: vocational training. While there has been a recent increase in career and technology education electives, beginning ELL students are limited by the language barrier of the courses they can take.
“[It’s] not because they don’t necessarily want them, but they don’t have accommodations for those kids,” Frost said. “They wanted job training. They wanted functional English. And so, sadly, we’ve seen there’s a profile of students whose needs we’re not meeting at Brookline.”
Even with these limits, ELL students, like many other students, are involved in clubs and take electives they enjoy. Martinez took a culinary elective last year and is involved in the badminton club. Nabizada took painting as her elective, was a part of the chess club and plans to join the animal rights club this year. Nabizada said it is important for students outside of the ELL program to recognize student differences.
“We are from different countries, we have different cultures and we speak different languages,” Nabizada said. “I feel very comfortable at BHS. Everyone is really nice. I like that there’s so many other people with different cultures and I like [that] there’s more freedom.”