ESL Club helps non-native speakers have a voice

By Valerie Sanabria | Published by October 23, 2020

All Juliana Lopez wanted was to fit in with other Kean Students.

“The ESL(English as a Second Language) Club was my first opportunity to realize that I could be like the other students. I also have opportunities, I just have to work harder for them,” Lopez said.

Kean’s ESL program administrators introduced Lopez the idea of creating the club as a space for students to interact. The ESL program at Kean assists students admitted to the university whose English is not their first language.

Yoelfry Almonte, treasurer of the club, remembers he was the last board member to join. He saw the ESL Club as an opportunity to receive extra help and to have more options.

“When I found the ESL Club it was exactly what I was looking for,” Almonte said, “I got so involved with it and decided to be more than just a member.”

For the board members making the club official was hard and confusing because of the number  of documents and members they needed to form it. According to Lopez, it was even harder since ESL students are mainly focused on learning English and many are scared to interact with other people.

“We are scared to be part of something bigger where we have to speak,” Lopez said. “We feel like people will not accept us. At the beginning we did not have many members, that was hard.”

The club’s vice-president, Ambar De Leon, said she thinks that many people who enroll in Kean University through the ESL Department or Spanish Speaking Program (SSP) do not know English at all, which is an impediment for them to be involved. But, through fun activities and creating a safe space the ESL Club board members want students to know they can be part of things bigger than them.

“We play Kahoot, role play, every week we have different activities,” De Leon said, “We do not want them to feel like they are taking another class, we actually want them to be them.”

According to Almonte,  students feel comfortable in the environment they have created and their growing confidence is visible. Some students need to practice and the ESL Club is the perfect place for them.

“Our club is a safe environment for ESL students to speak in a free way and no one will judge them,” Almonte said.

Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to remote education, the board members are finding ways to create activities to keep teaching and helping students.

On Oct. 6,  the club had a virtual meeting through Zoom where besides teaching “study tips,” they also played Bingo. Their Bingo edition was about places and resources for students at Kean, including important information such as how to make an appointment through TutorTrac.

Before asking a question, the board members reminded them that they were in a safe environment where they could talk and participate freely.

For Katherine Pujols, the club’s director of public relations, the ESL Club is an opportunity to help other students through their mission and that gives her satisfaction.

“It makes me happy to know that I am part of a group with a real purpose, which is that students who come to the university and English is not their first language and are not originally from this country, can feel free to be part of a club with people like them that need to improve their English. This is a beautiful experience.” Pujols said.

De Leon said it was easier to meet students in person, but it was exciting when one of their virtual meetings was attended by about 30 people.

Before officially creating their own club, some of the ESL students felt excluded from activities because they do not feel comfortable practicing with native speakers or with people who do not have the same level of understanding as they do, DeLeon explained.

Lopez can easily remember how she felt about speaking English when she was one of the only two members who started the club. She said Kean may not understand how hard it is for non-native speakers to feel comfortable communicating with other people.

“We do not want to join other clubs or classes so we don’t have to stress about speaking in public,” Lopez said. “They think we are regular students but we are not. We do not need things to be easier but we need spaces where we can be ourselves more freely.”

ESL Club board members say their relatively new club was created to help other students like them, and helps them to be heard at Kean.

For Lopez, the club pushed her to do more and gave her confidence to be more involved so much so that she would like more people to know about the club.

“For ESL Students, we don’t think we can be part of something bigger than us. But, the ESL club is the first step that pushed me to do more things,” Lopez said, “I would like more people to know about it. I think this is a great opportunity for students.”

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