Best practices in the English as a second language classroom for adult refugees.

Abstract

With the rising number of refugees in Buffalo, New York, this capstone project proposes an ESL curriculum and the framework for a volunteer-run class that is specifically designed for adult refugees who were recently resettled. refugees need acculturative information and resources in order to be able to thrive in a new society. Since adult refugees often times have to deal with past traumas it is required of teachers of this program to employ cultural competence and culturally responsive pedagogy. This project has taken into consideration innatist, behaviorist, and interactionist perspectives of SLA as well as the theories of B.F. Skinner and behaviorism, Noam Chomsky's Critical period Hypothesis, parameter resetting, and universal grammar. Stephen Krashen's Monitor Model is also closely examined in order to compare and contrast SLA in relation to age. The curriculum presented offers content matter based on our customs to ease student acculturation by using specific methodologies, strategies, an activities such as those found in the SIOP model, community and communicative language learning, and TPR to ensure their funds of knowledge and schema are being activated. this capstone project intends to present a curriculum based on research and theories that propose a class which utilizes best practices in any ESL classroom.