Who are our English Language Learners?

Where are ELLs from?

Our English Language Learners come from so many places around the world! They represent dozens of countries, some more well known than others, but for the most part, most have made their way to the United States with their families seeking a better life- and the right to good public education that goes with it.
Ahem, at least that is still the case here in California.

Without a doubt, the vast majority of English Learners in California are Latino- most from Mexico, but a Central American population has made its presence known in more recent decades. Obviously, their primary language is Spanish, and represents the major language that English learners must negotiate as they learn English. This is why there are so many "bilingual" programs that are in Spanish and English.
Hmm, another good topic for another day...

Next in line, depending on where in the state you are, whether you are in an urban locale or a rural one, the specific city (or even within the same city), you will find a variety of other English Language Learners. Vietnamese, Tagalog, Cantonese, Hmong and Korean speakers are among the next most numerous groups.

Trust me, we have many others.

My second year of teaching I had 12 countries represented and 11 languages spoken! If I remember correctly- hey, bear with me, it was 8 years ago- they were Portuguese (hailing from Brazil), Japanese, Mandarin, Hebrew, Spanish (from Guatemala, and Mexico), German, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Korean, Thai, and Somali (from Eritrea). Yeah! Needless to say, we all learned a few phrases from each other that year.
I wish I had digital pictures from that year to post!

Here's the stats on CA: http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/LEPbyLang1.asp?cChoice=LepbyLang1&cYear=2006-07&cLevel=State&cTopic=LC&myTimeFrame=S&submit1=Submit

Why should we care?

These children bring a vast wealth of cultural knowledge and traditions that may or may not dovetail with the "cultural responsiveness" of the U.S. educational system and so need even more time to adjust on that front. The fact that these students are expected to operate at a level of a native speaker, in the same timeline, AND be expected to be proficient in all content areas should be a cause to pause.

Don't forget...they are also learning English! And whose charge is it to teach it to them...? Ours! We'll get to the HOW of that, soon enough!