My ideal situation would center around teaching adults who are beginning ESL learners, pretty much to the type of class I am teaching now, and for the reasons I described in my previous blog. They want to learn, they are highly teachable, and they respond very positively to anyone willing to make a good effort on their behalf. The difficulties are real, as I mentioned before: their low-literate educational background demands a creative teaching approach; it is hard to assess and track their progress; intrinsic motivation will wax and wane because of the life situations with which they have to deal on a daily basis.
I am comfortable with this area of teaching as it parallels my previous teaching experience in East Africa where I taught secondary school students who were adults. The instructional context for that situation is very similar to that of the learners I am currently teaching.
But this is not to say that I would not be challenged. There is much to be learned from working with this ESL segment. Not a lot of research has been done in adult learner contexts. Therefore, the findings and lessons learned from those actively involved in teaching this population could contribute significantly to this field of endeavor. It would never be boring because I am sure I would be kept busy devising learning activities to increase the communicative competence of my pre-beginning and beginning adult learners.
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