Parent-Teacher Collaboration in Supporting ESL Students

Who are ESL students? The students who have English as a second language. These students are the ones who have another primary language, which is the language of their home country or the language that is commonly used at home. These students come from a diverse cultural background, which also differs from other students on a language basis.

These students have different levels of proficiency in English because it’s an additional language for them. Usually, these students are migrants or refugees who need support while going through the English language learning process. They require special attention and academics for them to be a seasoned English user.

Parent-teacher collaboration is valuable when supporting ESL (English as a Second Language) students on their educational journey.

By developing strong partnerships between parents and teachers, we can create a supportive environment that facilitates ESL students’ academic, linguistic, social, and emotional development.

By uplifting their cultural knowledge and linguistic expertise, parents contribute to the enhancement of the learning process, providing valuable cultural insights and language support that improves students’ engagement and comprehension. This collaboration promotes language development and grows cross-cultural understanding and appreciation among students, creating a more evolving and respectful learning environment.

How to support parents of ESL students?

Since not only the students but also the family are part of the learning process, it becomes essential to support the parents of these students throughout the journey. The challenges faced by them are overlooked due to the challenges faced by their children, but before their children, they should be made familiar with the language in order to foster a cultivating environment. Here are some ways to support the parents:

1)Language Assistance

The parents need to be assisted in the language, primarily English which means that there should be a provision for the translation of the school documents or other guiding material in their home language which makes it understandable for them, or there should be a guide to assist them when working on these documents.

2)Orientation

Orientation Programs are the ones that make the parents aware of the policies, rules, and regulations of the school. The institutes should conduct such programs regularly to address cultural differences and make the parents comfortable with why they had enrolled in such schools and how they are essential to their children’s growth.

3)Parental Involvement

The parents should be involved in language learning through online portals or direct contact with the teachers. This enables their trust process in the school. There should be community building for the parents of ESL students. This would make them volunteer for events like open-ended discussions and debates at the school, bringing them closer to the English culture.

4)Creating groups

They are creating a platform for the parents where they could share experiences with each other and advise each other on similar issues, thereby enhancing learning. These groups give them a sense of belonging because they have similar attitudes toward English learning. Also, they can exchange ideas about evolution while facing challenges.

5)Parenting Workshops

The parenting needs of the ESL students are different from that of the other students. They need a particular level of understanding due to the introduction to a new language, which makes them less confident. The parents need to be educated about the parenting techniques for these students in order to boost their self-esteem.

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How do the parents influence the ESL education?

The role of parents in ESL education is vast as they are the first teachers, and the children spend most of their time with their parents. They need to boost the children for what they are learning and make them feel connected. Here are a few ways in which parents can support their ESL-learning children:

1)Home Environment

There are two ways of getting work done: instruction or education. Education means guiding children to learn something to their maximum potential instilling courage and confidence in them to learn. The parents can create a positive learning environment by using the preferred language, i.e., English, at home by reading stories or poems as per their age.

2)Encouragement

Rewarding your children for every further step they take toward their enhanced learning process encourages them to do better every time. The rewards can be in terms of giving them some extra playtime with their peers. This would ensure that the children are learning without the fear of being punished, and the parents can regulate the performance of their children. Parents can also show their pride in their children for what they are learning and the identity they are acquiring. 

3)Teacher Alliance

The needs of ESL students are better understood by their parents, and these need to be communicated to the school education system through the mode of teachers. The parents need to interact with teachers regularly to meet the changing demands. By collaborating with teachers, parents can provide the necessary feedback to the teachers about the students to enhance learning.

4)Resources Support

The parents need to support their children in their homework by checking the homework together, discussing what has to be done, or going through the instructions on how it has to be done. This reduces the void of classroom learning at home. Also, some students may require unique resources which could be audio-visual, for a better understanding of the concept.

Parents can learn how to make English learning a fun family activity here.

Significant Challenges faced by ESL students

ESL students often face many challenges when it comes to the learning process, as the language is new to them, and they are getting comfortable with it. Adapting to the new culture is quite a task for them and needs great attention. Some of the challenges faced by them are:

1)Language Obstacles

ESL students often face language barriers while expressing themselves in the classroom. They might not even be able to understand the instructions given in the language they are learning, and this could create misunderstandings for them. This would affect their participation level in school activities and would affect their development.

2)Vocabulary

The students may face the inability to clearly understand the new-age vocabulary, which may affect their learning. They may not be able to absorb the academic content the way it should be done, which may also affect their capability to express themselves in written or oral form. Learning new language vocabulary can be an ever-learning process.

3)Cultural know-how

Adapting to a new culture could be challenging for ESL students coming from different cultural backgrounds because their beliefs do not match the current cultural beliefs, and such a change becomes a complex process. They might not be able to take up this change and get into a cultural shock state, where they need clarification of choosing the current culture or the background culture. A smooth transition through orientation could be done. 

4)Self-Esteem

The insecurity of not being able to compete with their peers academically can severely affect the self-confidence of the students. They might face the fear of being misunderstood or made fun of while expressing themselves in the crowd. The peers could not be mature enough to take up the inconvenience of communicating in the language.


5)Parental support

Due to unfamiliarity with the concepts of the new language, there is only limited support for the students from their parents. The parents do not clearly understand the school system’s needs, which affects the support they provide to their children. They are helpless as they are limited to English knowledge. Also, it becomes difficult for them to convey the needs of their children to the teachers.

6)Social Acceptance

The children can feel left out when they do not feel confident in their peers. They feel a lack of social acceptance due to their lack of enhanced knowledge of English. This can impact their mental health and affect their self-esteem to a great extent, thereby increasing their avoidance of the subject. 

Benefits of Parent-teacher Collaboration for ESL Students

1)Integrated Support

The parent-teacher collaboration is essential as it provides multi-level support to the ESL learning students; the teacher can inform the parents about the progress a child is making in the school, and the parents can tell the teacher about the issues or changes they could see in the process. They can also support their children in the way the teacher suggests to them, referring to the parenting that is being taught to the parents.

2)Customized Instruction
It is persistent to mention that the teacher and parents can alter the strategic plan of the process in accordance with the needs of the student. Teachers can make the process more culture-oriented to make the students well aware of the new culture and will try to align the previous cultural background with it.

3)Language Learning
The time a student is exposed to the language determines his progress in it. The teacher and parent together inculcate the language at home and at school for the student to maximize the interaction time. The teacher can work more on the academic part while the parents can work on the general activity, which includes behavior.

4)Cultural Sense
When the teachers interact with parents, they understand the cultural background of the family, thereby understanding the needs of the students. This will initiate the time and activities to be involved in the learning process. Also, the teachers create a sense of respect for students’ cross-cultural beliefs, which makes them curious to know about other cultures and learn about them.

5)Parental inclusion
The parents are involved in making them a part of their children’s academic success to make them feel connected. When the parents are involved in parent-teacher meetings or orientation, they get familiar with the importance of English and then motivate their children to do better in the subject. This helps the parents to feel a sense of achievement.

6)Early Projection
The involvement of the parents and teachers makes it easy to identify any challenges that come across the path of the student as soon as possible. The early identification of the errors helps them to correct them on time because once the mistakes are not pointed out, they may become a habit that will be difficult to change. This can help eradicate challenges for the students.

7)Improved Communication Skills
The team-up of parents and teachers to enhance language learning will potentially make it more effective for the students to learn English and their native language. The engagement of students in conversations with both parents and teachers helps in the development of language proficiency and the achievement of success in the journey of learning.

8)Community Building
The parents and teachers collaborate to give them a sense of partnership towards the learning process of the children. By investing time in understanding each other’s needs, parents and teachers can foster an environment of growth for their children in school and at home. Also, it enhances community building, promoting trust and cooperation among both. 

Summing it Up!

Parent-teacher collaboration influences the parents to play an active role in their children’s education, inculcating a sense of belongingness and addition to their academic success. When parents are involved in school activities, participate in parent-teacher meetings, and speak for their children’s requirements, they indicate the importance of education and create a supportive home environment promoting learning.

The efforts of both parents and teachers are directed in the right direction with each other’s help because they have common goals,, which is their children’s linguistic and academic success.

Furthermore, parent-teacher partnership accelerates early identification of the errors and support for ESL students, enabling teachers and parents to address academic, language, or socio-emotional challenges proactively before they increase in strength. Also, it enhances the quality of content a student learns due to the involvement of both clans trying to align the cultural differences to make the learning process easy for the student, and they confidently achieve what they desire.

Together, parents and teachers can make a big difference in the lives of ESL students, creating a way for their success in school and the future.