Again, breaking a task down into manageable chunks, understanding the student's feelings, being patient, and having confidence in her and yourself are all very important in helping ESL students. Everyone learns differently. Unfortunately, most schools only teach one or two different ways. This leaves a lot of students in the dust. Schools tend to focus on Linguistic and Logical learning styles, so auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners can have a harder time than others.
Auditory learners learn best by hearing.
They may have trouble with written instructions, tests, and assignments. They can benefit from reading instructions out loud and talking through them, talking into tape recorders and listening to what they said later, and having a quiet place to work. Kinesthetic learners learn by doing. They tend to be very active and coordinated, and like to build things, or work with concrete objects. These students can benefit from role playing games, using pictures to explain things, using rulers or other devices in math, and taking breaks to get up, stretch, and move around.