Meeting Low Proficiency English as a Second Language Learners’ English Language Needs

About the project:

Goal
The overarching goal of this project is to help in-service and pre-service teachers become better prepared to meet the complex diverse needs of English as a second language (ESL) learners who have limited literacy and limited formal schooling in their first language.

Activities
Four focus group interviews were conducted at four Edmonton schools that have had recent influxes of (ESL) learners who have limited literacy and limited formal schooling in their first language. The focus groups explored the professional development needs of teachers working with these limited proficiency ESL learners. Workshops designed to meet the most frequently expressed professional development needs were then developed by groups of university students and public school teachers who were enrolled in EDPY 413 - Principles and Practice in Teaching ESL Learners. The presentations are posted on this website.

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About the Faculty of Education and Department of Educational Psychology at the U of A:



The Department of Educational Psychology is one of the largest in Canada and takes pride in its ability to attract students locally, nationally, and internationally.

In the 2007-2008 academic year, there are 217 full and part-time graduate students and 33 full-time Faculty members in Educational Psychology. Approximately 70 students are admitted to the graduate programs annually. Recent graduates of the department are employed in a variety of settings, including universities, colleges, school boards, government agencies, hospitals, industry, clinics, and in the private practice of psychology.

Please visit the Faculty of Education's website for more details