Compelling Conversations for English Teachers and Learners

One of many signs for schools in Vancouver, BC teaching English as a second language. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)By Robyn D StollerFrom the 1997-98 school year to the 2008-09 school year, the amount of ESL learners enrolled in U.S. public schools increased from 3.5 million to 5.3 million, a 51% increase (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2011).According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2008, there are now over 200 languages spoken in the United States.The number of ESL students...Read Full Story

By Aaron WhirlIt goes without saying that English worksheets, and especially English grammar worksheets, are anything but one-size-fits-all. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. For example, lesson plans for ESL classes will almost certainly differ a great deal from lesson plans devised for native English speakers.English worksheets come in all forms, including worksheets for college-level native speakers, worksheets for beginner-level children who grew up speaking different...Read Full Story

By Joseph Jacobs, via Wikimedia Commons Are you interested in letting your kids go to language schools to learn English language? There must have been myths that you believe that hinder you from letting your kids learn foreign languages at a very young age. Well, let me tell you these two basic myths that have scientific facts that we need to know all about. Learning two languages during the early childhood years will overwhelm, confuse, and/or delay a child’s acquisition of English. Most...Read Full Story

A guest post by Sarah Fudin, who currently works in community relations for the University of Southern California’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, which provides aspiring teachers the opportunity to earn a Masters Degree in Teaching credential online. Outside of work Sarah enjoys running, reading and Pinkberry frozen yogurt. As an ESL teacher, you will work every day with students struggling to learn a new language, many of whom may also be struggling to adapt to the customs of a new...Read Full Story

The social experiment that is bilingual education has failed.  There has been no real, discernible improvement in education because of bilingual education programs, yet there is a real, hard cost to providing these programs.  What sounds like a good idea has led to high proportions of school dropouts among Spanish-speaking children. Bilingual education refers to programs that teach academic material and content in two different languages.  The proponents of these programs believe that...Read Full Story