M1: Identifying ELLs - The Who

If you haven't already, now you should read Chapter 1 in your textbook, Who are English Language Learners?. When you are finished reading, come back and go through the rest of the module.

 

 

 

Now, as you have read in your textbook, students who are considered ELs have a variety of backgrounds and speak a variety of languages.

As of Spring 2019, Texas public schools boast an enrollment of over a million students identified as English learners. That is about 20% of the total student population in the state! Of those students, 89% have a primary language of Spanish. The next five prominent language backgrounds of ELs in Texas are: Vietnamese (1.6%), Arabic (1.2%), Urdu (0.5%), Mandarin (0.5%), and Burmese (0.3%). 

Schools are often more diverse than the general population realizes. For example, Austin ISD claims to have, "more than 21,000 are English learners. Nearly 15,000 are in [their] elementary schools, 3,600 are at [their] middle schools and almost 3,500 are in high school. More than 90 languages are spoken in schools throughout the district." (Austin ISD Multilingual Dept. Links to an external site.)

Over the course of the semester, we will be interacting with ELLs. We will also be using several different video systems to get an idea of the diversity in our classrooms.