Student-Centered Language Appropriation: A Study of Classroom Practices in the Adult ESL Classroom at the University of California, San Diego

Abstract

This study discusses research which was undertaken in the author’s country of residence,San Diego, CA. It was conducted because the researcher saw a need to better defi ne the concept of‘student-centered learning’ in the ESL teaching profession in an effort to help both new teachers tothe fi eld, and experienced teachers, make their teaching practices more student-centered. In this study,two adult ESL classes were asked to give their opinions on two specifi c classroom practices. The fi rstpractice involved the students discussing and negotiating the course content with the teacher. The secondpractice involved the students discussing and negotiating the course evaluative criteria with the teacher.The advantage of performing this research is to fi nd out if students prefer to have the opportunity to givetheir input on such areas as course content and evaluative criteria. Discovering that they do prefer thesepractices demonstrates the need for more student control in an ESL classroom and leads us to adaptingthese practices with more confi dence in the hopes of encouraging more meaningful learning experiencesfor our adult ESL learners and promote student-centered language appropriation.

Keywords : Student-Centered, Language Appropriation, Classroom Practices, Student Control