Students who do not speak, read and write English are increasingly enrolling in Tennessee classrooms.
Some non-English background students are immigrants, but statistics show that many English language learners are born in the United States. Educators know that all children can learn at grade level, but sometimes monolingual teachers feel challenged to create academic success with students who do not speak English.
That led University of Tennessee at Martin to offer an online English as a Second Language endorsement.
“It can be advantageous to regular classroom teachers who would like to better serve the needs of non-English language background students in their classroom and schools,” said Dr. Beverly Hearn, program director. “And it is essential for those teachers who would like to make a career move and work exclusively with English language learners.”
The additional endorsement in English as a Second Language is for teachers who are presently licensed K-12 in Tennessee. With the additional endorsement in ESL, educators will be prepared to teach K-12 self-contained ESL classes as well as pull-out, push-in or any other program model.
At UT Martin, the graduate coursework for the additional endorsement in English as a Second Language includes: TESL 700, Principles of Teaching ESL; TESL 710, Strategies for Teaching ESL; and EDFN 720, Multicultural Issues in Education, for a total of nine hours. All classes are online and practicum hours are embedded into the assignments for each of the two TESL classes. All coursework directly addresses the ESL Praxis II, which is required in order to obtain the additional licensure in ESL.
For more information about the online ESL program, contact Dr. Hearn at bhearn@utm.edu or call (731) 881-7197.