According to a national census in 2000, almost twenty percent of the population in America speaks a language other than English in the home. With this fact in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising that that there are a lot of children in school who may not speak or understand English very well. In fact, in some schools, one out of every four children is an English language learner. Unfortunately, this situation presents challenges for both students and teachers.

For the teachers, English language learners usually require more individual time, attention and creative teaching. And, if the class is large, providing these things can be a difficult task. For the student, the language barrier makes everything from asking questions and learning the material to socializing with other students a constant struggle. That is why building basic speaking, writing and reading skills is such an important part of working with English language learners.

One of the best ways to develop reading and oral comprehension skills is through computer programs. With a computer program, a student can listen to words, play games and read entertaining material with interactive activities. In addition to entertaining and teaching the student, many of these programs can generate progress reports for the teacher and help children become proficient computer users. They can also be used independently which frees up a little of the teacher’s time.

There are also good strategies for developing writing and speaking skills in the classroom. For example, if you want to accelerate a student’s speaking skills, be sure to ask them questions that require more than a yes or no answer and encourage them to share things about their culture with the class. This exercise enriches the class’s understanding and builds confidence in an ELL student. As they learn, keep in mind that grammar mistakes can be a sign or development rather than signs of failure.

The best way to develop writing skills is simply through practice. Start off with letter-tracing worksheets and slowly move to free-hand words and sentences. Have the kids write things that they want to like stories or notes to friends and parents. That will help them see how useful the skill can be and encourage individual effort.

ELL students definitely have a harder task than English-speaking students when it comes to education because they are struggling to understand and master the English language in addition to learning the new material covered in the curriculum. On the other hand, teachers need to careful to give the English-speaking students sufficient time and attention too.

If you are looking for an effective tool for teaching English language learners, Scholastic (http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/zipzoom/) has just the thing you need. More than 7,500 children have used and loved Zip Zoom English. The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.

It’s a face of America that shows no slow down — new immigrants finding new lives in the states are bringing children who face the learning curve of both, getting through regular educational material, and learning a second language. And it’s not something that simply effecting big city metros either, immigrant populations are spreading throughout Middle America, into its small towns and local districts.

This new swath of Americans creates a big obstacle for educators in the classroom and for parents at home teaching these new English-language learners. There are basically two fronts — the new students need to learn how to speak English and they need to learn how to read. The advantage of this is that software plays a great role by introducing both at the same time. Technology provides a tool that can be used at school and at home with learning software.

What Software Can Facilitate in English Instruction

Software has the capacity as a multi-media tool that gives both visual and audio instruction. So that means that you can show how English in constructed in speaking and how speaking is arranged through English words and letters. As an example, instruction software can play an interactive animation where labels and simple English are used. Names of family members can be introduced with their talking image and spelled out name where the English-language learner can be asked to choose in order who the mother is, or who the brother is etc and so on. It’s the synergized coupling of spoken words with the written word meaning that makes a lesson like this so powerful.

On the instructors end, software provides an easy way to gather metrics on student’s scores, where their strong point lie, where they need help while showing how they progress is in the usual class subjects. And often the usual elementary subjects can be taught simultaneously teaching English.

The computer, in all its wonderment, still cannot take everything away that books have to offer. But the combining of a core reading program and computer software gives an extra shot of enlightenment for English-language learners since many books can come with a supplemental media to quiz and challenge the new reader. It often comes as a CD or DVD to run on a drive.
Since teachers need to double their efforts to teach both their usual subject and their English learning students, the software platform will also provide a time to have the teacher work on those who are at a higher level of English speaking.

Scholastic (http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/products/zipzoom/) has a powerful program for called Zip Zoom. This program combines the power of multi-media software, book learning and teacher instruction. The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.