Language proficiency

teaching and learning of foreign languages, the focus of the area has been directed towards the social aspects of the phenomenon following the behaviorist and cognitivist stances. This shift in the paradigm has brought about the question of the individual, society and therefore, culture inevitably in relation to their effects on the learning process. Having words such as “international”, “intercultural” or “diversity” in the content of many courses nowadays, language courses have also been…

English learners often struggle with the academic demands of content literacy and vocabulary. English learners face the challenge of learning English while simultaneously learning academic vocabulary. Teachers struggle with meeting the unique language needs of English Learners. The problem is illustrated when a student can divide 6 by 3 to find the answer, but cannot do the same task when asked to find the quotient for 6 divided by 3. An understanding of math vocabulary is important to the…

Once phonological awareness has developed in any language, it transfers to other languages that are learned. Therefore, students who are literate in their native language will not need to develop this skill again in English; they will only need to become familiar with the sounds of English and to learn to discriminate sounds that are different between their native language and English. Phonics can be problematic because ELLs often have difficulty discriminating between similar Phonics can be…

Linguistic complexity is commonly defined as the variedness and elaborateness of language production (Ellis, 2003). The definition resembles the philosophical definition of complexity as a function of the number of a system’s constituent elements, the variety of these constituents, and the elaborateness of their inter- relations (Rescher, 1998). Accordingly, the measurement of linguistic complex- ity involves quantitatively measuring the number and nature of linguistic sub- components and the…

work with some children that are learning English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD). I worked with two children, Z and B. After talking to their teacher I found out that Z had been at the school for the semester and did not respond to any English or try to communicate in English at all. This was slightly worrying as I was unsure how I was going to connect with her. B, on the other hand, had a good grasp on the English language. However, he did have some issues with pronunciation of…

The reason that language is so complicated is due to that there is no right way to communicate. As a species, humans communicate in many ways, verbally, through technology and non-verbally. A lot of the cues we get through communication are non-verbal. Not only this but because of certain issues such an individual being born deaf or over time becoming deaf, some can only communicate non-verbally. Whether it's from sign-language to technology. Even to those who can communicate verbally, they will…

The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System is an assessment developed for students of grade levels 1-12 which will demonstrate students’ English proficiency. It is federally mandatory for English Language learnings to take this assessment to find out the annual progress that the English Language Learner students make in the English Language. The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment began after the Reading Proficiency Tests in English also known as (RPTE) needed federal…

The Importance of English Proficiency Among Immigrants Hindrance in communication alone highlights the importance for immigrants to learn the dominant language in any country they move to, more specifically, the necessity of learning English in the United States. The Importance of English Proficiency Among Immigrants Among the various challenges and expectations that immigrants are faced with when moving to a new country, the importance of second language acquisition supersedes the…

English Language for English Language Learners. Yet even though there are many of these instructional programs that help out ELLs, it is up to the educators to determine what the best kind of program works for that specific student. Alike different programs, there are also various types of teachers that aid these programs. For example, mainstream teachers or bilingual teachers. Each different type of teacher plays a different role in the way they help out students acquire the English language;…

2.1 What is writing? Writing helps learners to transfer their messages and express themselves, perform their assignments and develop their cognitive skills. Therefore learners need to learn to write well in order to compose reports, take exams, and communicate in their classrooms. According to Oz (2006), “Writing is the written expression of thoughts, desires, emotions, and schemes and this requires skills; rather than knowledge” (p.251). As writing skills of students develop, they begin…