How to make language accessible?

To make your language accessible in the classroom, consider your speaking style. Resource guide working ESL students as outlined by Penn State College of Education Resources.

1. Speak slowly, enunciating carefully while still using a natural tone and rhythm. 
2. Use gestures with your speech. Hold up one, two, and three fingers as you list three attributes or give three steps to follow. Use facial expressions to indicate emotion and other kinds of body language or miming.
3. Explain idioms and colloquialisms, or avoid using them. Remember that certain concepts and terms may be particular to Canadian contexts and unfamiliar to students. 
4. Pause periodically for reflection 
5. Provide visual aids in the form of pictures or realia (concrete objects or models) or point to sections of text or materials to be used as you mention them.
6. Model directions or processes.
7. Give time for students to take notes.
8. Caption recorded classroom lectures: If you record classroom lectures to post on Moodle, use the automatic caption tool in MyMedia to include captioning to help international students who might be more familiar with the written word. How to automatically insert captions into Kaltura videos.
9. Ensure that your intentions are clearly stated when providing feedback to a student’s writing. For example, if you say, “I suggest you add more detail,” some students might not recognize this as an imperative. It might be more appropriate to provide more emphatic feedback, for example by saying, “You must add more detail.” Giving effective feedback.