Warren County educators are teaching the third largest number of limited English proficient children in Kentucky. We have more than 750-students speaking 29 different languages. The English as a Second Language, or ESL program, helps international students become productive citizens in an English-speaking country. “The first thing you have to do is gain their trust. They come from very diverse backgrounds. When they walk in the ESL room they feel like they’re on an even ground,” explained ESL instructor Cathy Roemer. Warren County Schools has limited English proficient students in every one of its 19 schools.

(more…)

search for : limited English proficient children, English as a Second Language, ESL program

Oscar Garay is a welding student at Big Bend Community College. Garay, 33, Wilson Creek, is much more than a student. He works full time doing construction with OK Manufacturing and is a full-time father to five children ranging from ages three months old to 18 years old. “I want to become a welder. I want to make more money,” he said laughing. “I want to be a good example to my kids. When they grow up they can go to (college) too.” When talking with Garay it’s hard to realize English is a newly learned language for him because of his sharp fluency. His native language is Spanish. He began the college courses close to two years ago along with his citizenship classes. The welding program is integrated with teaching adult basic skills and English as a second language. The program, Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training, (IBEST) allows people to earn a higher education while improving their basic skills which might prevent them from gaining a degree, Big Bend Community College Director of Basic Skills Sandy Cheek said. The program helps to educate the current work force. (more…)

search for : Big Bend Community College, Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training

Gladys Calo said she was happy to see Hispanic students smiling as they danced the meringue in front of parents last week at Northwest Cabarrus Middle School. “I think our students were proud of what they were doing,” said Calo, a Spanish teacher who hosted Northwest’s sixth annual Hispanic Night. Odeyi Lopez, 11, said the program provided families a fun opportunity to get involved with the school. Parents were also told in Spanish of school policies and announcements, such as the formation of a multicultural club that will provide a better support system for their children. As many as 40 languages are spoken by students in Cabarrus County Schools, though most students who speak foreign languages speak one form of Spanish or another, said Marion Bish, the system’s federal programs director. Cabarrus County Schools assesses the English proficiency of incoming students who speak English as a second language to determine if they need additional school resources.

search for : Northwest Cabarrus Middle School, Spanish teacher, English proficiency

For decades, it’s been considered the best way to cultivate patriotism in young schoolchildren in the United States. Does it matter if it’s not said in English? Some local parents say yes, and are raising objections over last week’s recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish during Hispanic Heritage month at Spring Hill’s J.D. Floyd Elementary School. But school district officials say no, that it was a one-time teaching exercise designed to broaden the horizons of young children, nothing more. Gladys Pedersen, president of the Spring Hill-based Hispanic Scholarship Civic and Cultural Foundation, which awards scholarships to Hispanic students from each of the four high schools in Hernando County each year said saying the pledge in a different language does not change its meaning. (more…)

search for : Pledge of Allegiance

Under the dual enrichment program local elementary school children will be taught half of the day in Spanish and half of the day in English, with the hope that by middle school they will be bilingual and bi-literate. “We will only do Spanish because that is the language other than English that we would have enough students to offer the program,” Wanda Hamilton, ESL supervisor, said. “It would begin in a couple schools only in kindergarten, and then we would add a grade each year.” This program is still in its pre-planning stage for this area, but dual enrichment has been around for almost 20 years. Schools in northern Virginia have already started to implement the curriculum. (more…)

search for : dual enrichment program, ESL

British teachers who can teach English as a second language (ESL) will find more opportunities than ever in New Zealand after the government announced changes to the New Zealand immigration laws to benefit foreign students. British teachers who can teach English as a second language (ESL) will find more opportunities than ever in New Zealand after the government announced changes to the New Zealand immigration laws to benefit foreign students. The burgeoning ESL industry in New Zealand should receive a big boost from the easing of the New Zealand immigration rules for foreigners studying in New Zealand.

(more…)

search for : English as a second language, ESL

In the winter of 2006-07, Western Washington was held hostage as hundreds of thousands were plunged into darkness by the strongest windstorm since 1993. It took more than five days to restore power to 1.5 million residents throughout the region. Seventeen people died, some from carbon-monoxide poisoning caused by indoor use of generators and charcoal grills. Most of them could not read the equipment warnings, says Van Dinh-Kuno, executive director of the Refugee and Immigrant Forum of Snohomish County.

(more…)

search for : carbon-monoxide poisoning

More than $33 million designed to increase basic skills education at the community college level - previously vetoed by the governor - has been approved. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put his signature to AB 194, the Student Success Initiative, last week after originally trimming the funds out of the 2007-08 budget in late August, pending a more intensive legislative review. The $33.1 million appropriated in AB 194 will now be released to community colleges throughout the state to support basic math and English skills, English as a Second Language instruction and related student support services. Each community college will perform its own self-assessment and create an internal action plan to determine what subjects they wish to target.

(more…)

search for : English as a Second Language instruction