ESL and Star Magazine

          First, I want to thank those of you who have taken a look at and/or have read my blog.  I hope I am providing you a good read and maybe giving you a bit of information to think on as well.

          So, what does the Star Magazine have to do with ESL learning?  Without question, it is one of the best resources I have ever found when instructing adult learners.  There are plenty of resources out there for younger learners; annotated readers, online worksheets, and other items to help any instructor.  I have discovered that the same is not as true when looking for resources targeted towards ELL adults.

          My first experience teaching English outside of the Army was an adjunct position at a fairly large community college.  I was excited to get the opportunity and was surprised to learn that the entire ESL department was me.  I would be teaching four classes; ESL Reading, ESL Listening, ESL Speaking, and TOEFL.iBT Prep.  My new boss left the curriculum basically, completely up to my whims. Please don't misunderstand.  She was a great mentor and so very willing to help, but just did not have the time to babysit me through setting up my curriculum.

          I was confident that I was prepared and relied a lot on my own experiences teaching through my time in the Army.  Young Soldiers or young students, could they be that different?  Surprisingly they are markedly different.  My first class of the new semester, ESL Reading, was a class of 18 students, all female, all but one from Central and South America, and with an average age of about 35.  These were not typical college students nor were they typical Army students.  The majority had lived in the U.S. for several years and almost all were looking to improve their English skills as a means to better their lives.  They wanted practical, every day language not an ESL version of Charlotte's Web. There is nothing wrong with Charlotte's Web, but reading it won't necessarily get you a pay raise at work.

         To say the least, I was dumbfounded.  I muddled through my first day's lesson but knew I would have to "up my game".  I communicated my helplessness with every friend, colleague, and mentor I could contact.  Several offered great suggestions, but none of the suggestions seemed to be the right fit for this class. Then, I remembered that while waiting for class to begin, some of the students had been discussing a reality show they had been watching.  I don't remember the exact show, but it sparked an idea.

         My mother was sort of addicted to Star Magazine.  We actually had it delivered to our house when I was younger and naturally I soon became sort of addicted to it as well.  The magazine is basically a collection of gossip and rumors about entertainers and other notable, "pop" culture figures.  I knew without a doubt that my new students would probably recognize some of the content simply because they watched television, listened to radio, and had access to the internet.  I knew this type of content would interest them.  Plus, for those who don't know,  Star Magazine is extremely visual. Every article is accompanied by numerous photos and splashy colored text.  Furthermore the articles are generally short, only a page or two long, which would keep the text fresh and new as we read.


          What I discovered after reading through several issues is that the magazine has a few other surprises in it that proved valuable for my ESL adults.  First, the language is simple and current.  It is the same language one would hear at the mall or on television.  Second, the syntax is current as well. Third, often the photos represent the exact text.  For example, if the article is about someone being angry, the photos show that person being angry.  What this does is strengthen the contextual clues in determining the meaning of unknown words.  If one didn't know what the word "angry", meant it would be clear from the picture.  Finally, Star Magazine has a unique style of using multiple synonyms in the same article.  Again, one might see the word "angry", see an angry picture, but also perhaps see the words upset, disgruntled, or perturbed in the article as well.  I found it not unusual to see an average of three synonyms each for one or two key words in almost every article.  The Star Magazine was my goldmine.  The students loved reading it and I found it merged well with the speaking class as well; serving as a conversation/discussion prompt.

          Take it from me, the Star Magazine is a great resource for adult ESL students.  If you are looking for something different as a teaching resource, why not give it a try.