Mariah Jessen

ESL 6063
Assignment 2: Investigating an Institutional Context

Teaching Context Description

This paper describes and analyzes the English as a Second Language program at

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) at its San Antonio, Texas location. My

information was gathered from the program director, an instructor of multiple levels and classes,

and from observations. There are nine levels of classes from beginner to advanced offered in

semesters that are 10 to 15 week long sessions and intensive sessions which are either 3, 5, or 7

weeks long. In addition to these courses, there are academic level courses that prepares students

for college level work with focuses on reading and writing skills, TOEFL preparatory classes,

and conversation classes.

Considering all of the students that attend these programs come from other countries, all

students in this program are L2 writers and learners. While some classes do focus more on oral

production than writing or reading, there are still aspects of each taught to the students in each

course, except the conversation classes.

Despite the fact that UNAM San Antonio is a satellite campus of its Mexican University

sister and due to changes in the visa processes, most of the students no longer come from

Mexico. However, most of them do come from the Spanish speaking countries of Puerto Rico,

Venezuela, and Brazil. The rest of the students currently and historically have come from

countries such as Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Turkey, Jordan, South Africa, France, Nigeria,

India and Iran. The students in these classes range in their experiences and needs, however, most

of them are there to prepare for college or other professional developmental reasons. Most of
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Assignment 2: Investigating an Institutional Context

these students have experience in college level course work in their native countries. Class sizes

can range anywhere from 2 to 18 students.

Before students can be placed into the different levels and class types, they must take an

oral and written English exam. The average of these results is used to place the students into the

best possible level. These levels can be adjusted within the first week of classes if needed. In

addition, an oral checkpoint exam is taken at the end of level 2 and level 5 (the midpoint of the

beginner and intermediate classes) to determine if they have actually learned the key grammar

and oral skills needed to continue to move forward in the program. If not, they will not receive

the referral to continue to move forward and instead will be asked to retake the course.

Teachers administer formative assessments weekly to assess whether or not students have

learned the new material covered. This material ranges based on the purpose of the class. In

addition, they may give a mid-term summative assessment to ensure they haven’t forgotten

important grammar points from the beginning of the semester. In addition to these, the teacher

may give them quizzes or conduct other in class assessments to check their understanding and

level. At the end of the course, they administer a summative final assessment which requires a

grade of 75% or higher to pass.

In general, the instructors come from many different walks of life which may or may not

have included work with ESL students. However, many have found a new career in teaching and

quite a few have obtained their masters in TESL. There are a few teacher who have retired from

teaching at public schools and have teaching experience, but may not have much experience with

ESL students. All teachers are required to: 1) have a bachelor's degree, preferably in a subject
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Assignment 2: Investigating an Institutional Context

related to teaching; 2) have native level knowledge of the language; and 3) if they are teaching

academic preparatory or American studies classes, they must have a masters degree. Once hired,

UNAM does not provide any official training for their teachers. However, the instructor I spoke

with indicated that they do encourage their teachers to attend conferences and have even paid for

membership fees for TexTESOL. In addition, the director has an all instructor meeting where

they can discuss problems with the program they have noticed, make suggestions for

improvements, provide advice to other instructors struggling with an aspect in their class(es) and

any other related topic that may come up. Those who have their backgrounds or degrees in TESL

are asked to present a topic that would be relevant to this context. Outside of encouraging

instructors to attend enrichment conferences and trainings and having a meeting, there are no

instructor training requirements by UNAM.

While it is hard to know how successful the L2 students are in meeting their goals for the

program and the program’s goals, there is an exit questionnaire that they fill out at the end of

each course. This allows them to give feedback on the course and instructor which could give

some indications of whether or not their goals are being met. Historically and in general, students

have expressed satisfaction with the courses and felt they were moving towards achieving their

goals.

Letter to Program Director

Dear Mr. Meadows,

After our discussion, speaking to an instructor, and my own observations, I am truly

impressed by many aspects of what UNAM offers its ESL students. The wide variety of courses
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Assignment 2: Investigating an Institutional Context

and academic tracks available truly allow more students to find a program that fits their needs.

For example, your academic courses, allow students who are hoping to begin their college

courses a chance to learn how to read, write, and discuss more advanced topics that they may

encounter once they are in their fields of study, while your evening classes help those looking to

gain enough knowledge to help them get by. In addition, the small class sizes follow the

recommendations of the CCCC (2014) and benefit our students by allowing them more one on

one instruction. This allows for more directed feedback and more teacher-student conversations

that can lead to deeper learning. In addition, while teachers are not required to have any

background knowledge in ESL it is obvious that you, as the director, have taken it upon yourself

to try and hire those who have had some sort of background with ESL. This is a huge

undertaking, but such an important one for our students. However, the fact that it is not a

requirement, could cause some problems with teacher’s gaps in knowledge on how to best

approach or help our students’ needs which are often diverse.

In addition to this lack of requirement, is that UNAM does not require its teachers to

attend trainings to help them continue to progress and develop their current knowledge on

important topics in teaching and developing important ESL approaches to teaching. While I do

acknowledge that the staff meetings are designed around the concept of discussing any issues

that teachers may be encountering in the classroom and that those who have a background in

ESL will present on bigger topics at these meetings and that, when asked, the university will try

to cover membership fees for organizations such as TEX TESOL and send their teachers to

conferences should there be enough interest, it's not enough. Even the CCCC (2014)
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Assignment 2: Investigating an Institutional Context

recommends that teachers attend professional trainings to help them in the classroom as well as

continue their growth in their fields. Such trainings could include conferences with workshops,

putting on their own training sessions where they bring in those who are more knowledgeable

about the different topics to present, and creating a culture of teachers being forever students in

order to better serve their own.

I would suggest that UNAM changes its hiring policy to ensure that those who are

teaching ESL have their degree in it or are currently pursuing one. I would also urge the

university to make trainings mandatory instead of optional as well as provide paid or partly paid

opportunities that their teachers can take part in. This will benefit the teachers, students, and

ultimately UNAM as a result.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Mariah Jessen
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Assignment 2: Investigating an Institutional Context

References

Conference on College Composition and Communication. (2014). ​Statement on

second language writing and writers.​ Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/

cccc/resources/positions/secondlangwriting