Serious and frequent criticisms by students in the ESL (English as a Second Language) Program attempting to master the English language are the chaotic spelling of English words and the lexical and grammatical irregularities in English. In many cases, these exceptions originated during the Old English Period (450-1100). Thereby, they may seem illogical, senseless, and unreasonable at a simple glimpse to any ESL student. However, if they are analyzed within an historical context, each case becomes a rich, historical trait that makes English even more a particular and interesting language to acquire, understand, and master. The present study gauges how significant it is for ESL teachers to have knowledge not only of English but also of the peculiarities of the English language. This manuscript introduces the value and relevance for ESL teachers to have the knowledge of the historical background of the grammatical rules of the English language in order to explain to their ELL students how some exceptions have retained their original traits and how others have become simplified through analogy or leveling during the following centuries until Modern English.This study is significant to ESL teachers as it presents the results of a study carried out in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to find out which irregularities cause the most struggles to ELL students and which struggles are particular to the nationality of ESL students. The outcome of the survey is a useful tool for ESL teachers to foster the academic weaknesses of the different ethnic groups and to teach the exceptions of the English language in a relevant and meaningful way.
About the Author: Valeria Scherf Vanstrien was born in the "German" community of Puerto Rico, in Misiones Province, Argentina, where German was the language spoken at home. She attended elementary, middle, and high school at San Alberto Magno School. She attended the Superior Institute "Antonio Ruiz de Montoya" where, in 1995, she received a B.A. in English with certification for High School. In 1995, she also obtained a degree as Technician in the Practice on Taxes and Prevision at the Escuela Superior de Comercio N° 6 "Mariano Moreno" (High School of Commerce No. 6 "Mariano Moreno") in Posadas, Misiones Province, Argentina. She worked as an elementary teacher at the school, "Posadas Colegio Moderno," as a high school teacher in the high school and tertiary level of the school Comercio N° 2 "Independencia Nacional," and in the tertiary institute IPESMI in the towns of Jardín América and Eldorado, in Misiones Province, Argentina. In 2006, she was selected by the American organization VIF (Visiting International Faculty) to come to work as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in a public school in Charlotte Mecklenburg County Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. In 2009, she received a Master's Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Greensboro College. Two years later she received a Master's Degree in Education at Montreat College, in North Carolina, USA. In 2014, she published her first three books: Historias de europeos en la tierra colorada (Spanish edition), Stories of the Red Soil Immigrants (English edition), Nada es para siempre (Spanish edition), and A Guide for ESL Teachers: How to Teach the Historical Background of English Irregularities in Modern English. She currently lives with her husband and children in the United States.