Learners in open enrollment classes may enter and leave as they please on a daily or even hourly basis. Many factors may be the cause of this: time constraints or conflicts, monetary constraints, or loss of interest. Despite these factors, the teacher must still assess learners' needs and goals, set class objectives, track learners' progress, and provide feedback while simultaneously building a sense of community and continuity in the class. This article addresses techniques for coping with open enrollment classes to promote learner engagement and retention in a dynamic learning environment. In this article I explore these techniques in the context of taking consideration of available class resources, conducting needs assessment, setting goals, implementing class activities, and providing and requesting feedback.

CLASS RESOURCES

As with most teaching situations, the teacher should first identify resources available. Some ESL programs have volunteers available to teachers. If so, volunteers can be an invaluable resource when trained to give intake orientations. Teachers should not interrupt, or worse restart, their lesson for each new arrival for an extended period of time (Parrish, 2004). Volunteers can help situate and orient newcomers. To avoid talking with and further disrupting the class, the volunteer can use an intake sheet with learners as seen here.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Teachers may develop introductory activities (see Figure 1) for each class to serve as an intake or mini-diagnosis. These include the day's or week's class goals, such as what grammar point the students will learn (Figure 1), so that the learners know what to expect. If the class is ongoing or part of a sequence, a few cloze activities building on either previous courses (an intermediate course) or on a beginner course or classes earlier in the week or semester can also be included to both gauge the learners' proficiency and activate schemata for the day's lesson. Before presenting the answers to the class, the teacher can have learners pair and share. This gives the teacher a chance to informally assess what the class knows and to calibrate the follow-up lesson as necessary.

Figure 1

SETTING GOALS

Including goals is especially important because these can help learners decide whether they will stay and possibly return for future classes. It is best to make clear what the class can and cannot do for them. As such, goals should also be realistic. If learners know what a class can do for them and teach them, they are more likely to prioritize their studies and make a stronger effort to attend, thus increasing retention (Parrish, 2004). Rationales for class activities and objectives may also be explicitly stated so that learners can understand why they are doing activities.

CLASS ACTIVITIES

Class activities should give learners an opportunity to pair and share their work. This lowers anxiety and builds community within the classroom (Brown, 2003). It gives more time for the teacher and volunteers to touch base with newcomers who missed a previous activity. However, pair work must be implemented correctly in addition to having a rationale for it. The teacher should guide the pairs and pair work. Informal assessment through intake sheets and introductory activities can aid the teacher to identify higher-proficiency learners and with whom to pair them.

Once identified, higher-proficiency learners can act as tutors for lower-proficiency learners. This is especially useful when volunteers are not available to the teacher. The teacher can instruct higher-proficiency learners on how to help others. If group work is used for activities, higher-proficiency learners may be assigned leadership roles. Over time, these roles and responsibilities may shift to others so that they have the opportunity to help. This builds community and accountability with the learners and encourages retention.

PROVIDING AND REQUESTING FEEDBACK

Because enrollment can vary from class to class, it is important to give feedback immediately. In addition to being communicative, activities should also include some form of assessment, formal or informal. As previously mentioned, pair work allows the teacher and volunteers to touch base and informally assess learners (Thornbury, 2005). These informal assessments and feedback should be in relation to the class's goals.

The teacher may also request feedback on the lesson itself. This may be done via surveys (Figure 3) or mini-journals at the end of class. Learners can rate activities on how useful they were and explain why. The teacher can guide survey handouts to elicit a focus to be on form or meaning. This gives learners a feeling of involvement in the classroom and that they are in control of their learning (Brown, 2003). It gives the teacher a chance to assess what the class actually learned and how the consecutive lesson can be designed to improve quality and retention.

CONCLUSION

Maintaining a learner-centered environment helps language teachers manage open enrollment classrooms by avoiding a rigid teacher-centered curriculum. Assessing learners and adapting the curriculum accordingly leads to a more flexible syllabus that immediately engages and addresses learners' needs. Through empowering learners, teachers can maximize both the effectiveness and efficiency of open-enrollment classes.

REFERENCES

Brown, D. (2003). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. New York, NY: Pearson ESL.

Parrish, B. (2004). Teaching adult ESL: A practical introduction. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill ESL/ELT.

Thornbury, S. (2005). How to teach speaking. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

vanDommelen, D. (2010). Learning assistance center. San Francisco, CA: San Francisco StateUniversity. Retrieved May 24, 2010, from http://www.sfsu.edu/~lac/

Percival V. Guevarra, MA TESOL , works as an ESL specialist at UNC Chapel Hill's WritingCenter providing academic support for higher education students and faculty. His areas of interest include social interaction, psycholinguistics, and learner agency.