"Let me Tell You": Adopting 'Personalization' in the ESL Classroom

The language teaching process is demanding since there are specific problems considering the needs of individual learners and their level of understanding. Thus, over the years, adopting new techniques and methodologies in the English language teaching context has become general. Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) has been challenging, as the learners need more exposure to the language. The studies conducted in the ESL teaching context have found distinct methodologies and technology-based strategies to create an effective learning environment. Within the humanist paradigm, where the ultimate goal of education is self-actualization, the teachers were urged to focus their lessons on the learners' lives, experiences, and feelings (Moskowitz, 1978, p. 197). Previous studies identified the implications of personalized learning for years in various forms that evolved and grew to the current state, supported by modern technology. The present study investigates the use of personalization in creating an effective learning environment in the ESL classroom. The study was survey research, and the researcher used the qualitative research method. Five ESL pre-intermediate classes (onsite) were observed, and ten ESL teachers were interviewed to collect the data. Each classroom was observed for two hours to identify strategies the teachers used to adopt personalization in ESL teaching. A semi-structured interview (using six questions) was conducted with teachers with more than six years of language teaching experience (aged 30–55) to explore the reasons for adopting personalization in the ESL context. The collected data was analyzed according to the relevant themes and patterns of the study. The data collection analysis shows that all the teachers found personalization to be a valuable language teaching technique to create an active and motivated learning environment. According to the classroom observations, it was found that the teachers adopt students to personalize at the stages of brainstorming, eliciting examples, and presenting and practising the target language. As the strategies, the surveyed teachers conducted speaking practice sessions and games and utilized personalized language input, practice activities, videos, and photographs to apply personalization throughout the teaching process. As a common strategy, technology integration was highlighted in providing opportunities for the learners to present their recorded short monologues and to teach vocabulary by showing photographs (the living room, bedroom, kitchen, and garden of the learners and teachers).

Further, the results revealed that personalization was adopted to motivate the learners to use the target language, build good rapport, add authenticity, and make the lessons relevant and memorable. While most of the surveyed teachers highlighted only the advantages, a few revealed the drawbacks of personalization when discussing topics that might cause arguments or upset learners. Thus, the implication of personalization is believed to make language acquisition more effective and encouraging in the ESL learning environment. The study offers pedagogical implications for the syllabus designers to adopt more opportunities for personalization as a valuable tool to facilitate the learners' second language acquisition.