Answers for ESL Teachers and Foreign Language and Bilingual Education
The goals of the Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL) Project sponsored by CARLA and the University of Minnesota are to help advance the teaching and learning of LCTLs by encouraging people to study LCTLs, assisting LCTL teachers in developing high-quality teaching material, and helping LCTL teachers cooperate and communicate. Includes instructional materials and resources.
While designed for parents raising bilingual children, the site can provide insight and ideas for educators working with children from homes where English is not the primary language. Includes sections on the mixing of languages, rejection, and handling grammar mistakes.
Cortland's Foreign Language Teaching Forum is an example of resources, especially helpful to subject matter teachers.
George Washington University houses the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. It sponsors a listserv with a weekly online newsletters--a great resource for single ELD teachers in a school, especially during a decade when controversy swirls around this field.
A monthly 'zine, including updated links, for Teachers of English as a Second Language, is published at the Internet TESL Journal.
The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages is the professional association for teachers at all grade levels. You will find resources and up-to-date information on controversial issues at this site.
CAL provides a comprehensive range of research-based language and cultural education resources and testing tools.
Provides resources by language. Another resource for your "newly arrived" students.
Case de Joanna: Language Learning Resources for teachers of Spanish and French provides authentic links, according to Joanna Porvin, the Website designer. It emphasizes primary source material rather than information about teaching language. For instance, you will find stores, sports, museums, and games. It highlights the Latin American Resource Center at Tulane which offers a lending library, kits, and videos which are loaned for free.
The Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE) is focused on improving the education of students who are challenged by language or cultural barriers, race, geographic location, or poverty. CREDE promotes research and provides educators with a range of tools to help them implement best practices in the classroom.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County has a focus on English learner (EL) students. The papers linked here look at topics like the challenges of recently resettled refugee students and the STEP T professional development program for ELLs teachers.
For students from other countries, moving to the U.S. can be very jarring. Check for local or regional resources for your "newly arrived" students.