“Smart businesspeople look at the way things are, and the way things are is there are people out there who are underserved,” said Arron Grow, senior trainer and founder of Grow International of Tacoma, Wash. “It’s a train coming down the track, and it’s been coming down the track for quite some time. They need to get on.”

Hispanics represented 7.5 percent of McHenry County’s 260,077 residents, according the 2000 U.S. Census. They accounted for nearly 24 percent of the 278,418 Kane County residents at that time. And the numbers continue to grow, reaching an estimated 15 percent in 2006.
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Cathy Lehmer, 60, of Sedalia, helps pupils who speak other languages learn English, empowering them to make the most of their education.

For five years, Lehmer has taught English to children whose first language is Spanish or Ukrainian. She spent four years at Parkview Elementary School as an instructor of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). She is working this year at Washington Elementary School as a long-term substitute for the regular ESOL teacher, who is on maternity leave.

Lehmer collected her first round of pupils, four kindergartners, from their classrooms one day last month. She commented on the earrings of one pupil and asked another about how he had gotten to school that day. (more…)

search for : English for speakers of other languages, ESOL

Donnelly College’s International Center became a little more eye-catching this week with the unveiling of a mural at the center’s recreation room. The mural features 32 international flags that represent the international students in the college’s English as a Second Language program.

Madelyn Shinn, an art instructor at Donnelly College, said the mural is symbolic of the students and the world in general. “We are all one world,” she said. “No matter what country we are from, we are all part of one wonderful world. Because of that, one flag leads right into another flag.”

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Expanding the English as a Second Language program has become easier for St. Philip’s College.
The continuing education department decided to lower the original price of $205 to $75 per course for incoming prospective students, to help local workers gain proficiency in the English language.

Education skills specialist Gabriela Pérez said an overwhelming interest in the course pre-empted the decision. In a press release from St. Philip’s College, Pérez said after the department’s announcement “we received more than 600 calls, and that’s a huge deal for us. For a couple of weeks, we were on the phone with prospective students all day.”

The attraction to the program resulted from advertising in local publications like La Prensa, a bilingual newspaper, and Conexión, a weekly published by the San Antonio Express-News. (more…)

The Dare County Board of Commissioners has adopted a resolution making English the county’s official language that should be “used by all.”

The resolution, passed 4-3 last week, states that while Dare County has welcomed immigrants of “all races, religions, ethnic backgrounds and social-economic classes,” they have a difficult time “melting” into society if they cannot read or write the English language.

Commissioner Jack Shea of Southern Shores, who brought the idea to the board and helped craft the resolution, said its intent was not to cause discord among the community or any one group. (more…)

La Promesa Elementary School was one of 27 schools in New Mexico to be recognized for their English Language Learners program that showed students making and attaining proficiency in English. Each school across 12 districts was awarded a $3,000 Title III bilingual education incentive award for their achievements in making Adequate Yearly Progress.

“We’re excited,” Vallejos said. “We’re very fortunate to have ELL certified teachers here.” Vallejos said more than 60 percent of the school’s families’ primary home language is something other than English, and they have four bilingual teachers who provide services to children in the classroom in kindergarten to third grade. She went on to say they also have several educational assistants who are bilingual, which is extremely helpful where instruction is concerned. (more…)

search for : English Language Learners, ELL certified teacher

Aboriginal English should be recognized as a distinct dialect with speakers requiring the support given to those who speak English as a second language. In a submission to the 2020 Summit, a group of linguists based at Monash University in Melbourne has called for formal acknowledgment that many indigenous people, particularly those in remote communities, do not speak Australian English.

Researchers from the school of languages, cultures and linguistics argue that indigenous Australians operate in a bilingual world but are assumed to speak and understand standard English. The submission argues that formal recognition of Aboriginal English as a distinct dialect is required to overcome disadvantage and problems indigenous people have accessing services.

It recommends an investigation of the extent to which Australian and Aboriginal English are used in existing indigenous programs and services to determine how a lack of English affects access to the services. (more…)

search for : Aboriginal English

Ann Pond is one of 20 full-time English Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL, teachers with Horry County Schools sharing classrooms with seven part-time teachers and four aides. In the past two years, the ESOL classes have grown from 1,500 students to more than 2,100, Horry County Schools report.

Horry’s ESOL program is the third-largest in the state with Greenville County on top, followed by Beaufort County. Georgetown County’s ESOL program has about 210 students with six full-time teachers. The program is part of the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act, which sets educational standards for students from kindergarten through high school.

Federal funding for the ESOL program is set at more than $4 million annually in South Carolina, according to a study from the University of South Carolina. The study states only 2 percent of the state’s students are classified as needing the ESOL program. (more…)

search for : English Speakers of Other Languages, ESOL