ELL stands for English language learners, and this term refers to students who come from non-English speaking homes and are learning English despite it not being their first and primary language. These ELL students often have basic English communication skills but may struggle to bring their speaking, writing, and grammar abilities up to the level required to participate fully in the classroom. As ELL learners are a fast-growing portion of the student population in America, learning how to engage these students is important for today’s teaching professionals.

Teaching English as a second language effectively requires an awareness of the needs of these students and taking steps to accommodate them in lesson planning, assessments, and classroom content such as visual learning with graphic aids. ELL students can also benefit from engagement strategies that involve their families and communities and include creative extracurricular activities. Reaching these students and helping them take their education to a new level with improved English language proficiency can be challenging but also incredibly rewarding work.

ELL teaching skills are increasingly essential for teachers at almost every level, as communities across the country become more diverse and include more and more children and young adults from immigrant households. In addition to being a rewarding career, becoming a teacher offers above-average pay. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers in education, training, and library occupations earned a median annual wage of $50,790 in 2019, and this data includes teachers at every level from kindergarten to high school and beyond.

Certainly! Coursera offers plenty of opportunities to learn about teaching, including individual courses and Specializations spanning multiple courses about ELL and English as a second language. You can learn about the latest language acquisition theories, creative classroom strategies, ELL lesson planning, and other important topics from top-ranked schools like Arizona State University. And because you can view course materials and complete assignments on a flexible schedule, you can add these valuable skills while continuing your current work in teaching or as an addition to your existing education curriculum.