In this "Distance Learning" Special Issue, Errol Craig Sull introduces the "Try This" series of articles to assist In The Classroom. Sull notes, where once the idea of offering ESL (English as a second language) assistance and courses was a minor afterthought in postsecondary education, it has become crucial, for it recognizes…

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is committed to the cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development of all children in Illinois. ISBE's Multilingual/Language Development Department is focused on ensuring that students with diverse linguistic repertoires and those who may benefit from additional support have equitable access to…

This article explores the 'burden of compliance' experienced by providers and teachers in the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), a large national English as an Additional Language (EAL) program in Australia. It shows how compliance requirements have been shaped by the relationship between two groups, those who make and operationalise relevant…

Most university degrees in France include languages as part of the curriculum. LANguages for Students of Other Disciplines (LANSOD) courses refer to language courses destined to students whose major is not languages, but another discipline such as musicology or chemistry. It is estimated about 90% of students enrolled in French higher education…

Accrediting agencies for English language programs, such as the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA), require a plan in writing for monitoring and reviewing assessment practices. Nonetheless, web-search queries such as "assessing assessment," "how to assess assessment," "assessing assessment…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) offers two main ESL programs for students whose native language is not English and who need to develop and enhance their English language skills (emergent bilinguals or EBs). The Content-Based ESL model (CB-ESL) consists of an intensive program of English instruction in all subject areas with…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page sheets on a variety of subjects. This fact sheet provides the following data on ELs in the United States over the 2017-2018 school year: (1) Percentage of Students Enrolled in K-12 Who Are English Learners; (2) English Language…

Communities of practice have taken a firm foothold in the second language teaching profession due to their promise of enabling participants to self determine their professional development needs and, through peer mentoring, achieve their goals. This article provides a rationale as to why the model is particularly well suited to teacher…

Teacher professional development is essential to English teaching reform in vocational colleges. Community of practice presents a new way for professional development of ESL teachers in vocational colleges in China. This paper introduces and discusses the process of creating and exploring ESL teacher community of practice in a vocational college.…

Dr. Santosh Kumar Mahapatra did not grow up speaking English, and studying English in secondary school was not easy for him. In fact, he almost failed the subject in Grades 10 and 12. Later, after he earned a master's degree in English Literature but still felt he could not speak the language well, he improved his English-speaking skills while…

The authors illustrate models and procedures that can be applied to calculate overall composite scores in order to identify an indicator of English language proficiency, based on composite scores for English learners with 504 or individualized education plans who are missing one or more domain scores on the Assessing Comprehension and…

This article proposes a model for integrating text-to-speech software (TTS) in students' interpreting training and practice. It shows the aims of the model, the definition of TTS, the advantages of using TTS, how to search for TTS, instructional stages with TTS, and the interpreting instructor's role. The students can use TTS software online;…

English writing is one of the four indispensable skills that English learners need to master, but unfortunately, many Chinese college students have much difficulty composing clear, concise and coherent essays although they have studied English for at least over six years. To address the problem, the researchers and teachers in China have tried…

In this article, the authors discuss the importance of the skill of synthesis in university-level writing. They outline specific challenges faced by students of English as a second language with synthesis as a writing skill. They then describe a lesson that they created for an English for academic purposes class for graduate students in the field…

The Intercultural Competency (ICC) Program is a structured program that has been developed at the University of Adelaide's English Language Centre (ELC) to create opportunities for students to connect in a global context. This stand-alone and easily transferable program aims to create meaningful opportunities for mixed-language-ability learners to…