What Does an ESL Teacher Do?
An ESL teacher works with non-native speakers of English and helps them develop social and academic language skills. In addition, ESL teachers frequently are cultural ambassadors and even teachers of content areas (math, science, geography, social studies, etc.) Q: Where do ESL teachers work? A: ESL teachers can work at elementary and secondary schools; community colleges; adult education programs; colleges and universities; private language institutes; and private businesses. These are just some of the possibilities that ESL teachers might have in the United States and abroad. Q: Is it hard to get a job as an ESL teacher? A: That all depends on where you want to work. If you are interested in teaching in public schools, there are many opportunities. In private language institutes in the United States, there will probably be fewer jobs. If one wishes to teach abroad, there are plentiful opportunities in various parts of Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Q: I don’t know an
ESL stands for English as a second language, and generally English Language Learners (ELLs) are those people for whom English is not the primary language. ESL teachers work with ELLs to help them acquire fluency in English, both spoken and written. Such teachers normally have special training in this field. Teachers in K-12 grades generally hold credentials in ESL, and teachers at the community college level may have master’s degrees. If you think of the variety of foreign language teachers in education settings, you can compare them to the ESL teacher. One of the differences between a teacher of a foreign language and an ESL teacher is that most students taking the foreign language, at least in the US, share the common language of English. ELLs don’t necessarily share a common language. You could be teaching adults or kids who speak a variety of languages; various Asian languages and Spanish are most common. Therefore, the one resource the ESL teacher usually doesn’t have in the class
For Natalie, an English as a Second Language (or ESL) teacher, the best part of her job is the little changes she can make in her students’ everyday lives. “The other day I taught a couple of Korean girls who were working part time in restaurants the word ‘dishpig’. I don’t know if they use it yet, but they’ve got a word they can use in their jobs.” Depending on the standard of the students, teaching English can include elements of increasing vocabulary, reading, writing and speaking the language. According to Natalie, “We give them opportunities to use words in semi-natural settings by setting up activities that might emulate the real world, like buying a tram ticket or going shopping. They don’t necessarily understand what words mean at first, they’ll learn that further down the track. So long as they know what to say, how to say it and what the appropriate context is, often the meaning will come to them through their lives.
ESL stands for English as a Second Language. An ESL teacher is a specialized educator who works exclusively with students from different cultures, speaking languages other than English. They work with students to improve their English language skills, so they can be successful in an English speaking education system. Sometimes an ESL teacher will also speak another languages, but this is not required to work an a teacher of ESL. What are the career opportunities for a teacher with an ESL specialization? An ESL teacher has many different opportunities for jobs from which to choose. In a world traveling by boat and plane to countries of different culture and tongue, there is a great need for people to become bilingual. ESL teachers allow immigrant students to make English their second, or maybe their third or fourth language. There is a great need for ESL teachers, especially in areas where immigration is happening at a rapid rate. Most ESL teachers work in elementary or secondary school
