Candidates focus on the history, theory, and rationale for bilingual education and English as a second language to teaching speakers of languages other than English. Candidates investigate current research on the effectiveness of these methods and use the World Wide Web to access instructional materials and engage in conversations with Bilingual/ESL teachers.
This course is an examination of various techniques and materials being used to teach content area subject matter in ESL/TESOL bilingual education programs. Other topics of discussion include language assessment and adaptation of materials to the learner's language proficiency and cultural experience, application of major theories and research related to the structure and acquisition of language to help English language learners' (Ells') develop language and literacy and achieve in the content areas. 20 hours field observation and experience are required and integrated into the course.