Strategies for Success with English Language Learners

Book excerpt: Approximately 4.7 million designated English language learners attend public schools (Office of English Language Acquisition, 2002). It is predicted that by the 2030s, English language learners will account for about 40 percent of the school-age population. Yet very few teachers have been trained to address the needs of these students, and the questions they ask are the same as they asked decades ago: Who are English language learners and what are effective ways for schooling them? What kind of educational program brings about the best results? What are sound practices for facilitating English language acquisition? How can English language learners have academic success in subject areas? How do we teach English language learners in our classrooms? - p. 5.