One of the exciting outcomes of past overseas ministry work is that TCK schools are seeing more and more children coming from countries with mother tongues other than English. Many of these schools might not have a teacher specializing in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Perhaps you haven’t had much training in this area yourself. We are including here some articles and other resources that we hope will help you to help your English Language Learners.
For your reference some of the common acronyms and terms used in this section are explained here:
- (T)ESL = (Teaching) English as a Second Language
- (T)EFL = (Teaching) English as a Foreign Language
- (T)EAL = (Teaching) English as an Additional Language
- (T)ESOL = (Teaching) English for Speakers of Other Languages
- ELL = English Language Learner
- MT = Mother Tongue (sometimes called First language, as the “mother tongue” definition can be difficult to pin down in cross-cultural marriages)
- Anglophone = Mother tongue English speaker
*It is worth noting that the first 4 terms are often used interchangeably, although there are some differences. ESL tends to be favoured in North America and EFL in the United Kingdom.
EFL for Children and Young People
This information comes from an article written by Gill Bryant published in Educare, a publication of WEC International.
Part 1 — Helping English Language Learners
Part 2 — Helping Young Students Learning a Second Language
Part 3 — Helping Older Students Learning a Second Language