School & Family Magazine Newstand Iredell-Statesville Winter 2017 | Page 8

Everyone Smiles in the
Same Language.
Unless you are in a foreign language class or attend
one of our district’s dual language immersion campuses,
you hear teachers and students speaking the English
language in Iredell-Statesville Schools. However, our
campuses celebrate diversity and cultural heritage with
students who, this year, bring a total of 55 languages
to Iredell-Statesville Schools. English as a Second
Language (ESL) instructors work with students who are
coming to school with English as their second language
and may have no understanding of this language until
they arrive at school. According to Dian Morgan, Director
of ESL and Dual Language Immersion, in this 2017-
18 school year, there are 2,746 students whose first
language is not English. The top ten languages spoken
in our schools besides English are Spanish, Hmong,
Chinese, Gujarati, Telegu, Tamil, Hindi, Vietnamese,
Japanese and Russian, while the remainder of the list
runs from Korean to Nigerian and Norwegian to Farsi.
Having been an ESL instructor for twenty years, Dian Morgan knows the challenges her teachers
face on a daily basis. “It’s very hard to see students struggle with communication and academics,” she
said. “Research shows us it takes at least five years to get students to grade level, but there are many
milestones along the way. Listening skills are usually the first to be acquired, then speaking, followed
by academic language and reading, with writing skills the last to be developed. Every child is different,
so while some may be bolder and begin
using language skills pretty quickly, there
are those children who are afraid to make a
mistake and hold back while building their
confidence.”
“It’s a common misconception,” Mrs.
Morgan said, “for people to think that our ESL
instructors can translate for students. They
model and use strategies to get students to
understand. While many of our instructors do
speak a language other than English, it is not
a requirement.”
Staff and students enjoy and learn from the
experiences and languages these students
bring to our schools. Teachers and English
as a Second Language specialists work hard
to create understanding and humanity in
classrooms, and the very presence of these
children allow all children to study, embrace
and build understanding of others.
6 Iredell-Statesville School & Family