ABSTRACT
English learners (ELs) are in the process of acquiring English as a second language. As such, their English language skills in the areas of speaking, listening, reading and writing are progressing towards higher proficiency. The language and cultural backgrounds of ELs are diverse in the United States (U.S.). In U.S. public school settings from kindergarten to twelfth grade, the Office of English Language Acquisition (2015) reported that, betweern 2011 and 2012, over 4.4 million students or 9% of the student population were ELs; the data indicate that those students were from over 400 language backgrounds with the majority speaking Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic and Hmong. ELs’ levels of language proficiency range from little to no ability to communicate in English, to mixed proficiency (e.g., better able to communicate orally than in writing), to more advanced levels of English proficiency.
