In 2004–05, the ELL [or ESL: English Language Learners or English as a Second Language] population had increased 61 percent since 1994–95.*Holy cow. That's incredible. A 61% increase in 10 years?
To be perfectly honest, I haven't studied much about ESL/ELL/LEP/L2/(whatever you want to call it) issues thus far in my education. When I've had the chance to choose a topic for a paper or project in my classes (which is most of the time), I've never picked anything related to ESL education. I guess I've just kind of hoped it wouldn't be an issue I need to worry about; I think I'm inclined to ignore the topic just because it's so hard.
Case study: Working with English as a Second Language students at the Writing Center is always a slightly frustrating experience for me, because I feel like their writing challenges are so different from those of most of the students I see (and, consequently, I don't have the experience or pedagogical knowledge I need to feel well-equipped to help them).
But I'm coming to understand that I can't just pretend that ESL matters are something I can brush under the rug. Check out these graphs from the same website cited before (click on them to see them full-size):
Here's what I gathered from each: Utah's population of students with limited English proficiency--i.e. students who probably speak English only as their non-primary language--has more than doubled in the last 10 years or so: that means they represent more than 10% of all students in the state.
This is incredible! I will be student teaching here, and I may or may not be teaching teaching here. These statistics mean that odds are at least 1 in 10 of my students will not have the basic English skills they need for me to teach them a "regular" secondary English curriculum.
Help!
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* National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. “The Growing Numbers of Limited English Proficient Students, 1994/95–2004/05.” 20 Sept. 2007
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