ESL Teaching Information and Resources
Introduction:
Schools are constantly being confronted with the challenge of teaching ESL students (English-as-a-Second Language). Thankfully we have the internet to help us communicate with other ESL teachers to gain insight and share thoughts to further our understanding of the needs of ESL students. The internet also allows us to find effective lesson plans designed to accommodate needs of ESL learners. Other advantages the Internet brings to our teaching are research articles, specialized websites specifically designed for ESL Learners, and information on programs and materials that are used to better your ESL classroom. The purpose of this Pathfinder is to give you a few resources to start your search on ways to improve your teaching and enhance the learning of your ESL students. These sites are for both teachers teaching at various levels and for students bringing a certain amount of knowledge about the English language to the classroom. Enjoy exploring and learning!
Key Terms:
The following are terms and abbreviations you need to be familiar with when reading ESL information.
- ESL English-as-a Second Language
- ELL English Language Learners
- TWI Two Way Immersion ( A program that places ESL students with English speaking students all day. It is believed that by immersing students in the English language they will be able to pick up the language faster. This program also focuses on developing the ESL learners native language while learning English)
- DIP Dual Immersion Program (Another name for TWI.)
- Bilingual (speaking two languages fluently)
Search Strategy:
To search any topic I always like to use several search engines. Each one usually brings me different information when searching under the same topic. The following are search engines I used, and the phrase I used to search for information. Boolean operators were used in my search, but I typically find them more useful when searching for items online at the library.
Search Engine: Yahoo
Search Phrase: Bilingual Research Journal
Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) Center for Applied Linguistics
Search Engine: Google
Search Phrases: ESL Literacy Learning
Technology and ESL Learners
Search Engine: Dogpile
Search Phrase: Books for ESL learners
Bilingual and Children and Books
Search Engine: Ask Jeeves
Search Phrase: ESL digital storybooks
Research Resources
It’s important to keep up to date with the latest research in your field. The following sites lead you to professional journals and organizations that provide quality information on the latest in bilingual research.
Bilingual Research Journal http://brj.asu.edu/
I have used this journal several times when doing reports on Multicultural Education, Bilingual Programs, and such. It has not only quality information, but quantity as well. It has been a great resource for me to use.
Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE)
This is the second place I come to when searching for information on multicultural issues in education. CREDE offers a wide range of multi-media products (interactive CD-ROMs, videos, online directories), print publications, and a useful website for practitioners, researchers, and parents. The following are areas CREDE specializes in researching:
- Language learning and academic achievement
- Professional development for diversity
- Pre service teacher education for diversity
- Schools, family, and community
- Mathematics and diversity
- Science and diversity
- Teacher-school-systemic integration for effective reform
Center for Applied Linguistics http://www.cal.org/
A new research site for me is CAL. I discovered it when researching Two Way Immersion (TWI) and Dual Language Programs (DLP). CAL is a private, non-profit organization. It consists of scholars and educators who do the following: research, teacher education, analysis and dissemination of information, design and development of instructional materials, technical assistance, conference planning, program evaluation, and policy analysis. For me it was most useful as a place to get research about bilingual education. I liked CAL’s mission: Improving communication through better understanding of language and culture.
Center for Adult English Language Acquisition Established (CAELA) http://www.cal.org/caela/
I wanted to include this site for anyone who might be working with Adult ESL learners. This site serves as a resource to assist states or teachers who are involved in Adult ESL programs. They work primarily with state representatives, but state representatives need to hear what teachers needs are from the teachers themselves. Check this out and talk to your representative.
ESL Resources for Teachers and Students
The following are sources of information for great ideas to enhance the learning of your students. Lesson plans, games, activities, and such are just a click away!
everythingESL.net http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/
Find thirty five content based ESL lesson plans for beginning through intermediate students. The lessons contain standards, step by step instructions on how to teach it, and it provides materials you can download off your computer. What I liked best about the site is the quality of the lessons and the fact that everything was ready to go.
English Club http://www.englishclub.com/
This is a basic website for all! It is more for the adult who is either teaching English or learning English. A child would probably not be interested at this site, but a teacher could defiantly use the resources offered to teach kids. The small portion that is centered toward children offers online books written in English and some cheesy jokes, that I find funny. Additional to the cheesy jokes are job posts for bilingual teachers, materials, lesson plans, quizzes, and other information for both the learner and teacher. To caution you, there is a chat room for adults, so this would be something you might consider before allowing a child to explore the site.
ESL Partyland http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/Tinitial.htm
Another great place for both teachers and students. Due to the reading level of the information given, this site seems more geared to adult learners, but good teachers always accommodate to make learning on the student’s level. The games are interactive and the quizzes assess useful information. They ask a question you answer it to yourself first and then click on the arrow to find the answer. The learning that occurs here is to help students in their conversational English.
Story Place: The Children’s Digital Library http://www.storyplace.org/
Students can choose to use the English language or Espanol to read digital books, do activities, or play games. I like this link, because ESL children who speak Espanol can see their own language which might make them feel more welcomed and appreciated in the classroom.
Booklists and ESL Links
Below are links to booklists and other related ESL sites. This list can give you additional resources to the ones listed above.
IATEFL Young Learners Special Interest Group www.countryschool.com/ylsig/
A great list of links you can visit are located here. It covers all ages and provides useful links that can give you more ideas about ways to teach your ESL class. One disadvantage is that several places ask you to place a membership with them. Some memberships are free and some require you to pay a fee.
Bilingual Books for Kids Inc. http://www.bilingualbooks.com/
A book list offering books in various genres for bilingual students are found here. It lists the genres and then gives a list of books, their prices, and shows the front cover of the books found under that genre.
