A comprehensive glossary of ELD/ESL terminology
In Chapter Two of my dissertation, it was important to identify and define terms used within the English Language Development (ELD)/English Second Language (ESL) communities. Listed below are terminology commonly used in academic forums.
Designated English language development is English language instruction that is in addition to daily general education instruction. Time is allotted during class time for ELD students to develop the four domains (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) of English language acquisition through specified ELD learning opportunities.
Enrollment in daily general education instruction assimilates English language learning opportunities into grade-level lesson content.
English language arts is a general education class. Educational courses taken by standard English speaking seventh to 12th grade students and is required to graduate from their respective institution.
English language development is instruction specifically designed to support English language learners with developing the four domains of reading, writing, speaking and listening English skills.
Specially designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE) is an instructional methodology that incorporates content specific best practices in conjunction with an intentional focus on the four domains of English language acquisition.
The initial English Language Proficiency Assessment of California is given to students who are identified as potential ELL students. After completing the initial ELPAC examination, students are then categorized on a scale of Level 1 through Level 4 based on their reading, writing, listening, and speaking English skills. Students are placed in the ELD program if they do not score a 4 on the assessment and must show proficiency in all four domains by scoring a "four" on the ELPAC which is administered once a year. The summative ELPAC is administered on a yearly basis, usually in the spring term, and continues to assess ELL students' English skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) by categorizing ELL students as Level 1 through Level 4 for each domain.
The Home Language Survey (HLS) is the initial point of contact between local educational agencies and parents, guardians, or caretakers of potential EL students to offer the appropriate educational services and not to determine immigration or legal status (English Learner Tool Kit, 2018). The HLS provides the local educational agency information pertaining to primary language spoken by the student and parents. When the parent, guardian, or caretaker indicates on the HLS that the student(s) speaks a primary language other than English, then the student must take the initial ELPAC assessment.
Initial fluent English proficient are ELL students who are determined through the initial ELPAC assessment to be well developed in the four domains of English language acquisition: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. These students may still need support to engage in familiar social and academic contexts.
Reclassified fluent English proficient or redesignated fluent English proficient (RFEP) are those students who have been enrolled in designated ELD classes and scored a cumulative score of 4 on the summative ELPAC assessment. Generally, RFEP students may still need language or academic support which is monitored through follow-up or intermittent evaluations by their general education teachers or ELD administrators.
English language learners are students who are typically from non-English speaking households and have been classified as requiring scaffolded instruction in the English language.
English as a second language or English second language learner(s) (ESL) is a common acronym to describe groups or individuals who are in the process of acquiring English language skills. ESL students are generally assumed to speak a primary language other than English with English being their second language.
Ever English Learners (ever ELs) includes both current and former English learners. This term has been also used in lieu of long-term English learner (LTEL) to include those students who have graduated from high school without acquiring the English language skills to transition out of ELD programs.
Long term English learners (LTELs) are those students who have been unable to transition out of ELD programs for varying reasons and have graduated from high school without acquiring the English language skills to succeed in the American work environment.
A term applied to those students who are not in the ELD program, are known to be English only (EO) or determined to be proficient in English.
A local educational agency (LEA) is a public board of education or other public authority within the state of California that maintains administrative control of public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a state. School districts and county offices of education are both LEAs.
These terms are commonly used by professionals in the English Language Development community as a reference to a certification process in the this field of teaching. The distinctions between the two acronyms are nominal at best.
A system within general education for assessing students utilizing the following grading measurement: 90 - 100 = A, 80 - 89 = B, 70 - 79 = C, 60 - 69 = D, 0 - 59 = F.
Assembly Bill 124, signed into law on October 8, 2011, required the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI), in consultation with the State Board of Education (SBE), to update, revise, and align the state's current English language development (ELD) standards by grade level with the state's English language arts (ELA) standards by November 2012.
California Education Code 313 established the basic requirements for each school to monitor and assess ELL students eventually leading to successful redesignation as English proficient.
California Education Code (CEC) 60811.3(e) required the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education to present to the Governor, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, a schedule and implementation plan for integrating the CA ELD Standards into the public education system.
California Proposition 58 passed in 2016 and went into effect in 2017. This law effectively stripped Proposition 227 of English only immersion requirements and allowed California schools to independently provide ELL students with multiple programs apart from English immersion classes.
This proposition was passed in 1998 and required California Public Schools to teach ELL students primarily in English, shortened the amount of time many ELL students spent in ELD programming, and attempted to force the transition of ELL students from special programs into general education classes when they had acquired a working knowledge of the English language.