Questions & Answers

What is an ELL?

ELL stands for English Language learner.  An ELL is any student who speaks a language other than English at home.  

What does the ELL teacher do?

The ELL teacher works with the students to develop English vocabulary and strategies for understanding their class work.  He or she also helps the students develop reading and writing skills and understand concepts in the content areas through the use of pictures, graphics and organization of information.  

The other part of the ELL teacher's job is to help the classroom teacher meet the needs of the students.  The ELL teacher is only available for a short time each day, while the classroom teacher sees the students for 6 hours, or more, each day.  The ELL teacher provides hints for how best to involve visual and kinesthetic representation of concepts to help reach all students at a different level of understanding.

Do you have to know how to speak Spanish to be an ELL teacher?

NO.  It is an added benefit if you happen to be able to speak the language of your students, but most ELL teachers do not have that luxury.  Often, the classes consist of 10 or more language groups.  The teacher could have students who speak Nepalese, Chinese, Hmong, Swahili and many others.

More specific questions and links to some answers:

Language difference  or learning disability?

Do you have other questions?  E-mail me at: elizabeth_hartung@mononagrove.org  to submit questions.  All sources will remain anonymous.