During these weeks I was participating in online discussions about how to design effective online education, what are the best practices to integrate technology in the classroom, what are the most successful models for eLearning in k-12 education, and other interesting topics. What are the implications of this technological integration in the area of teaching English as a Second Language?
English as a Second Language implies a very complex student population. Since every group is created according with their age into specific school levels the teacher must integrate different strategies and applied methodologies to teach English. Frequently in the same classroom there are different levels of English acquisition, therefore the teacher mush create lesson plans to teach simultaneously beginners, medium and advance English learners. Additionally the different backgrounds and cultures in the same group make the planning process even more complicated.
To address this particular student group’s needs it is important to explore different tools in order to find good support for speaking, listening, writing and reading learners’ process and select the best to create different online activities relevant for each student’s acquisition level and native language spoken.
The difficulties and strengths to learn English vary deeply according to each learner’s native language, culture and level of acquisition. Some specific resources are relevant depending on the student previous knowledge. In the process of learning English form Spanish, I found these resources that provide good information for teachers, parents, and students.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/learn_eng.htm
http://www.rtinetwork.org/learn/diversity/response-to-intervention-implications-for-spanish-speaking-english-language-learners
https://sites.google.com/a/mail.ccsf.edu/esl/home/esl-resources-for-different-language-groups/esk-resources-for-spanish-speaking-students
http://www.colorincolorado.org/
http://esl.about.com/od/englishspanish/
Rosanna Miiller Salas
Reflections about online education…
How to design English Language Acquisition Courses for Speakers of Spanish?
2 responses to “How to design English Language Acquisition Courses for Speakers of Spanish?”
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Rosanna, you share some very useful resource tools for ESL specifically for Spanish native speakers. I found your statistics compelling – while non-native speakers of English represent over 400 different native languages, Spanish is the first language spoken by 80% of them. You found some excellent sites for teaching and assessing English language skills and knowledge, many of which offered complete exercises and testing instruments as well as games and fun activities. I understand the challenge ESL teachers face as they try to engage learners at a variety of different proficiency levels in English. Congratulations on identifying an important issue and on presenting some resources teachers can use to deal with those issues.
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Thank you for your positive comment! I appreciate it. I hope I can contribute in some way to improve our ESL students academic experience. : )
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Rosanna Miiller Salas 
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