Successful Ways to Involve Families of English Language Learners

Working with English language learners has lately become the attention of many school actors. There are several aspects that they consider as the most important points in which to build a successful English learning environment for the students. One of them is involving families in students’ English language learning. Students do better in school when teachers and parents are on the same page about what’s happening in the classroom, what’s expected on tests, and what’s needed to support each student’s learning. In order to cover all of these points, there are some ways that the school actors can do with the families.

The first way how to get families involved in students’ English language learning is by communicating with the families. This is the very initial step to execute in order to embed a deep understanding into every family member’s mind that their contribution is very important. This is a kind of effort in order to tell them that their involvement is valued. Communicating with the families can be facilitated through many ways. Notes, newsletter, daily folders, phone calls, emails, visitations, open room nights, class web pages, postcards, and parent teacher conferences are some of the most popular methods to build an effective communication to the students’ families. This should be undergone frequently so that the interaction will run effectively and the families will get motivated to involve more.

The next approach to involve families in students’ English language learning is by providing a variety of ways to encourage their participation beyond the traditional activities. It needs a good preparation and creativity from the school actors to conduct some activities in order to reach the goal. Developing family leaders and engaging them in school decisions can be the first step to be considered. Family leaders should be the family representative at the school councils and other school governance. Their roles here are important to join every single school decision that are being made. It is also possible to nominate family members for committees in several kinds of program such as classroom volunteering and workshop/training.

After the two ways that has been mentioned, increasing help at home is also one of the most successful ways in order to maximize the role of families in students’ English language learning. As their contribution is valued by some personal interactions, it is important to help the families become involved in supporting students’ academic work at home. By figuring out ways to help them to do such stuffs, the families can be appreciated more for their work. For instance, the families can get some help to learn about the curriculum at their child’s school. This is better to help the students with homework rather than knowing nothing but expecting the best result from them.

In brief, the contribution of families is always needed in order to make the students’ English language learning become more effective and successful. When families are involved, students are expected to exhibit more positive attitudes and behavior in learning environment. By getting supported from the families, students tend to have more self-confidence and do better in school. Besides, they are also likely to get higher levels of test scores and homework completion, better grades, and also better attendance. Yet, the interaction between the families and school actors should be established consistently. So, the involvement of families can affect and give benefits to every side of students’ English language learning.