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~ English as second language growing Page 34 â€" Waterioo Chronicie, Wednesday, December 14, 1977 Purchasing groceries or utilizing city transit doesn‘t pose a problem for most people, but for some youngsters these every day experiences can be difâ€" ficult and humiliating. Approximately 300 students between the ages of six and 18 are constantly exâ€" periencing problems for the simple reason that they can‘t speak English. Immigrants from over 34 countries including Cypâ€" rus, Korea, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, India, Spain, Greece and Romania are landing in Canada daily and for a variety of reasons are making their homes in the Twin Cities. As a result, a significant numâ€" ber of nonâ€"English speaking children are being enâ€" roled in Waterloo County elementary and secondâ€" ary schools continuously. The situation is not new, and the Waterloo County Board of Education recognized the need for an Engâ€" lish as a Second Language (ESL) program shortly after World War II. The aim of the program since its inception has been to help students become fluâ€" ent in both oral and written English and to assist them in adjusting to the school system and Canadian customs. In a recent progress report to the Waterloo County Board of Education, the Educational Services Diâ€" vision described the first aim of the program as proâ€" viding "the student with the opportunity to develop facility in Canadian English so that he or she can use it for the purposes of learning and communicatâ€" Ilpon completion of the program the students should be able to listen to and understand ideas and concepts expressed by others and able to express their own ideas and feelings with clarity and confiâ€" dence. The students‘ level of reading comprehension and speed should coincide with their individual stage of development. The second aim is to provide students with an orientation to their new environmefit, helping them to adjust to methods of instruction and school orâ€" Ontario NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS AND TENANTS By Terry James As a result\of a delay in the passage of recent amendments to The Assessment Act, the normal return of the assessment rolls in municipalities and localities in Ontario will be delayed. The Honourable Margaret Scrivener, Minister of Revenue, has therefore extended to January 19. 1978, the date upon which the annual assessment roll is returned in all municipalities and localities in Ontario. EXCEPT those municipalities located in The Regional Municipality of Waterloo where the day upon which the assessment roll is returned will be extended to March 16, 19 78. This extension affects the time period during which owners and tenants may appeal their assessments. As a result, the final date for lodging a complaint with the Assessment Review Court in respect of any assessment contained in the assessment rolls is extended from January 19, 1978 to February 9, 1978. In The Regional Municipality of Waterloo the date for lodging a complaint has been extended to April 7, 1978. MINISTRY OF REVENUE THE ASSESSMENT ACT ganization and become familiar with the customs, inâ€" stitutions, geography and history of Canada. _ Shirley Losee, ESL resource teacher, said that while achieving these aims it is important to help the students maintain their own traditionsâ€"and pride in their heritage. In the classroom the ESL teacher enâ€" courages each child to share their past experiences and lets them know that it is important that they came from another country. ~ *"We ask children what they do at home with their families and we share cultural experiences,"‘ said Mrs. Losee. ‘"We make sure that they understand that the traditions they carry out in the home are extremely important."‘ The Curriculum Guideline for the Intermediate and Senior Divisions of ESL states that "English is not meant to replace the language and cultyre of the students but to add another dimension to their ability to communicate and to make it possible for them to become active participants in Canadian soâ€" ciety." ~ Centralized classes have been established at Kitâ€" chener Collegiate Institute, Margaret Avenue and Victoria Schools. These classes take care of stuâ€" dents from grade four and upwards. Itinerant teachâ€" ers work with primary children on a withdrawal basis. "Itinerant teachers are used in grades one to four due to the feeling that younger kids are better off being left in the school environment," said Mrs. Loâ€" see. "They watch and listen and pick up English quicker." Every program and every group of children poses a unique set of problems and one very definite probâ€" lem results when some children become fluent in English and refuse to speak their native tongue at home. This widens the gap between children and In schools where there are a small number of chilâ€" dren, remedial teachers provide language instrucâ€" tion. Volunteers are also an important part of the ESL program. T.M. Russell Deputy Minister Margaret Scrivener Minister of Revenue parents who can‘t speak English. As for the various nationalities getting along, Mrs. Logee said the students get along the same as they would in any other class. 7l‘ilem;s always the shy student, the joker, troublemaker and the student that nobody likes," The only racial problem ESL teachers have exâ€" perienced was during the period of the Turkish upâ€" rising. There was some conflict and hard feelings shown between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot students and parents. "In the class we try to stress the fact that the stuâ€" dents are in Canada now and they should leave their past troubles behind them."* Mrs. Losee said thit a number of the parents are interested in learning English and they take advanâ€" tage of night school courses offered through the toâ€" cal boards of education and community colleges. If finances don‘t permit this they use their children‘s curriculum. Lois Thompson has been teaching ESL for the past 10 years. She said that although some of her grades four to six students at Victoria School came to Canada with a spoken English, it was not good enough to complete classroom work. "Many students say they know English because they know a window, door or a tree but they don‘t know enough to put it all together,"‘ she said. _ _ The natural speech flow in other languages differs greatly from English and this is a difficult concept to get across to the students. By repeating sentencâ€" es and raising her voice at the end of a question, Mrs. Thompson endeavours to get the pattern across. Pictures depicting how sentences run togethâ€" er and writing simple sentences on the board are the best methods of teaching this. _ All of Mrs. Thompson‘s students are recent imâ€" migrants to Canada. Some have come to Canada as late as October. At Kitchener Collegiate Institute, Donna Pomes, a nine year veteran of the ESL program, endeavâ€" ours to prepare immigrant students for grade nine level English, history and geography classes. She has found that secondary students pick up the lanâ€" guage quickly because they have already mastered the grammar in their native tongue and they can superimpose it into the English language. _Mrs. Pomes handles the only ESL class at the secondary level and schools throughout the county send their immigrant students to KCL _ _ â€" "Students usually attend classes here for five months, depending on how quickly they pick up the language," said Mrs. Pomes. At this time they move back to their home school."‘ â€" | There are 33 secondary students involved. During a morning session Mrs. Pomes handles a reception class which takes the students from a grade one levâ€" el of English to grade six. 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