Teaching and Learning English in Hawai'i
E komo mai and welcome to "Localizing TESOL in Hawai'i". This online portal intends to stimulate the dialogue between teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) in Hawai'i and provide them with resources for adding local language and knowledge to international students' repertoire. The website was a semester-long project developed in the course SLS 680 "Localizing TESOL" with Dr. Christina Higgins in the Department of Second Language Studies at UH Mānoa. The course was concerned with appropriating English language teaching material for local contexts. The "Hauzit?" from the cashier at the local grocery store, "makai" and "mauka" signs at the bus station and the "bento box" in the school cafeteria are only a few examples of the linguistic reality in Hawai'i. What is easily understood by the community insider can create obstacles for the ESL student who learns English from a standardized textbook or has been taught a generic version of American or British English in the language classroom.
Pidgin is a language spoken by a large number of local residents in the Islands and prevalent in the linguistic landscape. Considering this linguistic situation which L2 students encounter most often unexpectedly in Hawai'i, the pedagogical goal of this project is to equip international students at UH with linguistic knowledge for operating successfully in their local community. The website provides ESL teachers with background information on the topic as well as lesson plans for raising English language learners’ awareness for the local language.
To this end, the site offers background information for implementing Pidgin in the ESL curriculum as well as several localized lesson plans for an academic writing class in the English Language Institute at UH Manoa. I hope that soon other teachers in Hawai'i will share their experiences of incorporating local language and make this website a hub for ideas that can be used for meeting English language learners' strong interest in the local community of the Hawaiian Islands.
Angela Haeusler
PhD student & Lead Teacher for Academic Writing
Department of Second Language Studies & English Language Institute
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Pidgin is a language spoken by a large number of local residents in the Islands and prevalent in the linguistic landscape. Considering this linguistic situation which L2 students encounter most often unexpectedly in Hawai'i, the pedagogical goal of this project is to equip international students at UH with linguistic knowledge for operating successfully in their local community. The website provides ESL teachers with background information on the topic as well as lesson plans for raising English language learners’ awareness for the local language.
To this end, the site offers background information for implementing Pidgin in the ESL curriculum as well as several localized lesson plans for an academic writing class in the English Language Institute at UH Manoa. I hope that soon other teachers in Hawai'i will share their experiences of incorporating local language and make this website a hub for ideas that can be used for meeting English language learners' strong interest in the local community of the Hawaiian Islands.
Angela Haeusler
PhD student & Lead Teacher for Academic Writing
Department of Second Language Studies & English Language Institute
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa