Mainstream English Teachers Working With Nonnative Speakers - How Well Prepared Are They?

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS

The paper examines how well newly trained composition instructors are prepared to teach mainstream English classes that include growing numbers of nonnative English speakers and “Generation 1.5” students. Based on interviews with 11 recent MA program graduates, it identifies recurring gaps between program goals and classroom reality, especially regarding uneven ESL/bilingual reading and writing abilities and misalignment between grammar pedagogy and community college needs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Main Argument and Context

Student Diversity in Mainstream Composition

Study Design and Interview Findings

Preparedness Gaps in Grammar and Literacy

Working With a Highly Diverse Student Population

CHRIS ANDERSON Sierra Nevada College Mainstream English Teachers Working With Nonnative Speakers: How Well Prepared Are They? The number of nonnative English speakers and Generation 1.5 students enrolled in mainstream English classes continues to grow, especially in community colleges in California and other western states. Yet most English teachers with degrees in Literature, Creative Writing, or even Composition have not been trained in TOESL and often feel underprepared to work with these students and the specific language and grammar problems they bring into the classroom. A recent study focused on the overall preparedness level of new community college Composition instructors provided some interesting data in this regard, illuminating the unique challenge community college teachers face in the increasingly multicultural and multilingual reality of today’s mainstream English classes, which are most often not designed with ESL students in mind. B ecause community colleges offer an affordable and accessible educational option to people of all kinds, their student populations are often quite culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse. ESL students are, of course, a large part of this demographic, especially in western states such as California. Many of the English teachers who work with ESL students in Composition classes have training in composition, literature, or creative writing rather than TESOL. This phenomenon of ESL students enrolled in mainstream Composition classes taught by non-TOESL–trained teachers is most often seen in transfer-level classes, to which all academically oriented ESL students will eventually advance. But what happens when teachers who earn MAs in Literature, Creative Writing, or even Composition encounter students with the multicultural and multilingual backgrounds of ESL students? Are they prepared for the challenges these students bring into the classroom? Do they have the knowledge and training to integrate them into a class primarily made up of native English speakers? During my last semester as a graduate student at a large, urban university on the West Coast, I conducted a study that examined how well new teachers, recent graduates of an English Composition Master’s Program, evaluated their own preparation for careers as mainstream English and Composition in- 168 • The CATESOL Journal 24.1 • 2012/2013 structors. Their level of preparedness (or lack thereof) to effectively teach the large numbers of ESL students encountered in their mainstream English classes came up repeatedly throughout the study. For these new teachers, the impact of multilingual and multicultural students on a mainstream Composition class was significant, illustrating that while these new teachers were prepared to expect a multicultural and multilingual environment in their classrooms, they did not always feel armed to handle the challenge of a hugely diverse student population, including integrating the needs of native speakers with those of ESL students. I interviewed 11 teachers, asking them to evaluate their own preparedness as new Composition instructors. All were recent graduates of an MA Program in Composition, and all had taught at least one Composition class at the community college or developmental level. The interviews averaged about an hour in length and touched on multiple topics. All respondents were, in general, very satisfied with the education they received in the MA program, saying that they were well prepared to teach Composition at the community college level. However, two issues arose repeatedly in our interviews that affected all of our researched topic areas and led to mismatches between the MA program’s preparatory goals and the reality of the experience of its graduates. Those were: 1. The large numbers of ESL/bilingual students whose reading and writing abilities, as evaluated by the respondents, were not on par with those of their peers; and 2. The perceiv

FAQs

What prompted the study on teacher preparedness in mainstream composition classes?

Mainstream English classes increasingly include nonnative speakers and Generation 1.5 students, yet many English teachers with literature or composition degrees lack TOESL training and often feel unprepared for the language and grammar challenges in these classrooms.

How was the study conducted and who participated?

The author interviewed 11 teachers who were recent graduates from an English Composition Master’s Program and had taught at least one composition class at the community college or developmental level.

What two major issues repeatedly appeared in the interviews?

Respondents repeatedly noted (1) that many ESL/bilingual students’ reading and writing abilities were not comparable to peers, and (2) a perceived disconnect between the MA program’s grammar pedagogy philosophy and the actual needs of community college students, including ESL students.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS