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ESL definition

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You may be wondering to yourself, what is ESL?
ESL stands for English as a Second Language. What is an ESL Program?
An ESL program is coursework designed to help students who are looking to learn English as their second, third, or in some cases, fourth language. These programs hire teachers that are often bilingual who are there to help students to develop their:
Structure of ESL Programs
ESL schools help students become more fluent in English by breaking down concepts and language rules. Many programs teach mathematics, science, and history classes in a way that is easier for students who are non-native speakers. Oftentimes, these programs are located in English speaking countries to give students a real immersion feeling. There are ESL Programs that can be found in home countries as well!

Many ESL students can feel extremely overwhelmed being immersed in a country that they does not speak the language; it can be very frustrating because they cannot understand or participate in a class that is entirely taught in English or in the outside world around them.
Who are ESL Programs Designed For?
Many schools, from pre-kindergarten to high school, to colleges and universities, to private institutions have ESL programs. Eligible students are those that do not speak English in their homes, international students, as well as students that genuinely have trouble with English are all welcome at most campuses.
Private ESL Programs
Independent ESL programs are vital because they provide a small and comfortable environment for learning a different language. These independent ESL schools can be considered to be healthier learning places to learn English because they typically offer smaller class sizes fostering an environment of learning and one-on-one interaction. Independent ESL schools provide a wide range of opportunities for students of all ages from children, teens, college students, to adults.

For students with advanced proficiency, ESL programs can provide one-on-one instruction to help students learn how to reduce or change their accent thereby perfecting pronunciation, allowing students to be understood more easier by others. ESL schools can help students learn more about common sayings, because slang and idiom phrases are prevalent within the US, Canada, Australia, as well as the UK, and will allow you to regionalize your language fluency.
Finding an ESL Program
Our ESL Program Search has an entire listing of independent English Second Language Schools in the United States and abroad which can be very useful for prospective students. You can simply click on a specific state to see which school is closest to your location and go from there. This site can also direct you to online ESL programs and you can virtually travel to different programs to find which one is best suited for you.

ESL programs can help students learn more about the local culture, values, and society. ESL programs can help you understand people's jokes and enrich your understanding of the English language. These ESL programs can be geared toward precisely what you need to master, according to your current level of understanding. Additionally, they are personal, in that they can help you no matter what level you are at; they can help you with just one aspect of English or every facet that you need help in. Understanding English is vital to succeed in today's international world because much of the international language is English.
>> Return to the Learning English section

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You may be wondering to yourself, what is ESL? ESL stands for English as a Second Language. What is an ESL Program? An ESL program is coursework designed to help students who are looking to learn English as their second, third, or in some cases, fourth language.

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Characteristics of the ESL Program

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Characteristics of the ESL Program

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November 2014

Students: Identification, Program Approach, Standards, Assets, Exit, PreK

Percentage and number of ELL students (2011-2012)

14.9 percent
722,043

How is an "English language learner" defined in state policy?

A person who is in the process of acquiring English and has another language as the first native language. The terms "English language learner" and "limited English proficient student" are used interchangeably.

What methods are used to identify English language learners?

School districts are required to conduct a home language survey of each student who is new to the district or who has not been previously surveyed. The survey contains two questions:

What language is spoken in your home most of the time?

What language does your child speak most of the time?

To identify ELLs, districts are required administer to students identified on the home language survey:

In prekindergarten through grade 1, an oral language proficiency test approved by the state department of education; and

In grades 2-12, a department-approved oral language proficiency test and the English reading and English language arts sections from a department-approved norm-referenced assessment, or another test approved by the department.

The grade levels and the scores on each test that are used to identify a student as an ELL are established by the department. The commissioner of education is required to review the approved list of tests, grade levels and scores annually and update the list.

Which program approaches does state policy authorize?

State policy authorizes:

Bilingual education in kindergarten through the elementary grades;

Bilingual education, instruction in ESL, or other transitional language instruction approved by the state department of education in post-elementary grades through grade 8;

Instruction in ESL in grades 9 through 12.

Unique policy levers to promote parent engagement

School districts that are required to offer bilingual education and special language programs must establish a language proficiency assessment committee that includes a professional bilingual educator, a professional transitional language educator, a parent of a limited English proficiency student, and a campus administrator to review all pertinent information on ELLs, make recommendations concerning the most appropriate placement for the educational advancement of the ELL after the elementary grades, review each limited ELL's progress at the end of the school year to determine future appropriate placement, monitor the progress of students formerly classified as ELL who have transferred out of the bilingual education or special language program, and determine the appropriateness of a program that extends beyond the regular school year based on the needs of each limited ELL.

In school districts and grade levels not required to provide a bilingual education program, the language proficiency assessment committee is composed of one or more professional personnel, a campus administrator, and a parent of an ELL participating in the program designated by the school district.

Does state make available state seal of biliteracy? If so, is district awarding of seal voluntary or mandatory for eligible students?

Yes - offering mandatory

What measures do schools use to reclassify students as English proficient?

A district may transfer an ELL out of a bilingual education or special language program for the first time or a subsequent time if the student is able to participate equally in a regular all-English instructional program as determined by:

State department-approved English language proficiency tests administered at the end of each school year to determine students' oral and written English language skills;

Satisfactory performance on a reading assessment or an English language arts assessment, as applicable, administered in English. Students in the first or second grade must score at or above the 40th percentile in the reading and language arts sections of a department-approved English standardized test; and

Department-approved criterion-referenced tests and the results of a subjective teacher evaluation.

The language proficiency assessment committee may reenroll a student who has been transferred out of a bilingual education or special language program if the student has inadequate English proficiency and achievement. The committee is required to reevaluate a student who is transferred out of a bilingual education or special language program to determine whether the student should be reenrolled if the student earns a failing grade in a core subject during the first two school years. In addition, during the first two school years after a student is transferred out of an ELL program, the language proficiency assessment committee must review the student's performance and consider:

The total amount of time the student was enrolled in a bilingual education or special language program;

The student's grades each grading period in each subject in the foundation curriculum;

The student's performance on each assessment instrument administered;

The number of credits the student has earned toward high school graduation, if applicable; and

Any disciplinary actions taken against the student.

After this evaluation, the committee may require intensive instruction for the student or reenroll the student in a bilingual education or special language program.

Are state-funded pre-kindergarten programs required to provide ELL instruction?

Yes. School districts required to offer a bilingual education or special language program must offer a voluntary pre-K program for ELL children who will be eligible for admission to kindergarten or the first grade in the next school year. Schools with a semester system must offer a half-day program for eight weeks during the summer break or on a similar, approved schedule. Schools with a non-semester system must offer 120 hours of instruction on a schedule established by the district's board of trustees. The program must be an intensive bilingual education or special language program that meets state standards and the student/teacher ratio may not exceed 18/1.

Has the state adopted the English language development standards put forth by World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA)?

No

Type of funding

Formula Funded

How is funding distributed?

Funding is allocated through the state's primary funding formula.

What ELL training, if any, is required of general classroom teachers?

During the five-year teaching license renewal period up to 25 percent of a teacher's continuing professional education activities must include instruction about educating diverse student populations, including students of limited English proficiency.

Are ELL-only instructors required to hold a specialist certification or endorsement?

Yes. Teachers providing instruction in bilingual education and English as a second language programs (or other special language programs) must have a bilingual education or ESL certification.

Unique Characteristics

Unique characteristics

School districts unable to staff their bilingual education and ESL programs with fully certified teachers must use at least 10 percent of their bilingual education allotment for preservice and inservice training to improve the skills of the teachers who provide instruction in language development programs and/or content area instruction in special classes for English language learners.

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English Language Learners - State Profile

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November 2014 Students: Identification, Program Approach, Standards, Assets, Exit, PreK Percentage and number of ELL students (2011-2012) 14.9 percent722,043 How is an "English language learner" defined in state policy? A person who is in the process of acquiring English and has another language as the first native language.

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Concept maps are helpful to use with ESL students because of language barriers. This allows students to draw pictures or cut them out of a magazine with few written words.

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A concept map is a visual organizer that can enrich students’ understanding of a new concept. Using a graphic organizer, students think about the concept in several ways. Most concept map organizers engage students in answering questions such as, “What is it? What is it like? What are some examples?…

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Nancy Taylor describes how she uses TPR (total physical response) with her ESL students. She uses action or movement as an easy sign language when talking to her ESL students.

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ESL Teaching Strategies: #1 TPR or Total Physical Response (VIPKID)

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The jigsaw learning strategy helps ESL students with listening, communication, and problem-solving skills. With this strategy, they are learning from other students, not reading a lot.

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A jigsaw is a cooperative learning strategy that allows students to form "home groups" and then one to two students break off and form a new groups, also known as "experts". In their expert groups, the students read their selected section of of a difficult text. There may be a worksheet that the teacher would require the students to fill out. The experts then break off and return to their home groups and report back on the key information they learned. "This process scaffolds the learning of English learners because in both groups they are working with other to understand the text. Some classmates may have more background information on the topic (Echevarria, Vogt, Short, 2014)."

Have the content/material broken into sections prior to meeting with the class and setting up jigsaw groups. Make sure that each section or content can stand alone and doesn't need the other sections in order to be understood.

It may be important to select the students in each "expert" and jigsaw groups as it may be valuable to differentiate the learners within the "expert" groups, so there are varied learning styles and strengths within each group.

Don't limit jigsaws to reading/analyzing text. You can also support student's learning and process by providing other ways to access research material such as educational websites that the students can research and/or adding visual content through video or realia (Enome, 2015).

To further explain this visual, it starts in break out 1, where the students get into groups, in which they call expert groups. The students then discuss with one another their focused topic. After the expert groups are finished, they break out to a home group, where they report their learning to the new students, who were also in expert groups, where they share their findings as well. Students then discuss after listening to the reports from the expert group in their home group. This strategy helps reinforce learning by making students in charge of what they know and the depth to which they comprehend it.

Echevarria, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. J. (2014). Making Content Comprehensible for Elementary English Learners: The SIOP Model. Pearson.

Echevarria, J., Ellen, M., & Short, D. (2015). SIOP® 8 Components and 30 features. Retrieved September 22, 2015, from http://esol.leeschools.net/SIOP/pdf/SIOP 8.pdf

Enome. (2015). Jigsaw. Retrieved September 22, 2015, from https://goalbookapp.com/toolkit/strategy/jigsaw

Images from: Children ready for school - Google Search. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015.

Images from: Jigsaw in reading - Google Search. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015.

Image Links are listed around or by clicking on the picture itself

Jigsaw. (2012, February 1). Retrieved September 21, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=24&v=mtm5_w6JthA

Jigsaw. (2012). Retrieved September 21, 2015, from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/jigsaw

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A jigsaw is a cooperative learning strategy that allows students to form "home groups" and then one to two students break off and form a new groups, also known as "experts". In their expert groups, the students read their selected section of of a difficult text.

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Schools need to let parents know that there is a partnership to help educate their children. The schools show this by hosting a Spanish speaking back to school event this can help parents feel apart of their kid's education.

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English language learners (ELLs) benefit just as much from their parents' involvement in their education as other students. Some Hispanic parents may feel apprehensive about getting involved because of their limited English skills, lack of familiarity with mainstream culture and the public school system in the United States, and other reasons.