Students & Programs By Katie Hampton

The Facts At least 3.5 million children identified as limited in English proficiency (LEP) are enrolled in U.S. schools English language learners represent the fastest growing portion of the entire public, school-age population. This statistic, from the National Clearing House for English Language Acquisition, includes any child that speaks a language other than English at home and/or those who have varying levels of proficiency in English.

What is an ESL Program? English as a Second Language (ESL) is an English language study program for nonnative speakers. The main focus of this program is to teach students the English language.

What is an ESL Program? Classes may include students of different languages, all receiving intensive instruction. The language of instruction is mostly English, with little or no use of the native language. Usually ESL is taught during a specific school period, and students are involved in other mainstream, immersion or bilingual classes during the day.

5 Stages of Second Language Acquisition Stage 1—Pre-production Stage 2—Early production Stage 3—Speech emergence Stage 4—Intermediate fluency Stage5—Advanced Fluency

Helping ESL Students Connect with ESL students—initiate friendly interaction, and encourage students to see you during office hours or free-time. Develop better oral and written communication in class— speak more slowly, write key terms on the board, write legibly, and minimize “unnecessary noise”. Encourage Participation—direct some questions to ESL students, organize positive cooperative group dynamics, advise the formation of informal study groups, and build in some flexibility so that some presentations/projects can be presented in pairs.

Common Myths About ESL & Second Language Acquisition Myth #1—Students can learn English quickly by being exposed to and surrounded by native language speakers. Myth #2—The ability to converse comfortably in English signals proficiency and means the child should be achieving academically. Myth #3—Students should learn English before attempting to study an academic subject in that language. Myth #4—ESL students should stop speaking their native language and concentrate on speaking English.

“For every one of the ESL kids who makes it, there are hundreds who don't.” ~Hetty Roessingh, University of Calgary