Home Page - BHS English as a New Language Program

  • Thank you for visiting the Brighton High School English as a New Language (ENL)/English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) website. This year our English Language Learners (ELLs) at the high school level hail from the nations of Vietnam, Laos, China, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Chile, Cuba, Indonesia, Brazil, Spain, Russia, Serbia, Albania, Greece and Italy. 

    Common acronyms used in NYS public schools regarding non-native English speakers:

    ELLs = English Language Learners

    MLLs= Multilingual Learners

    LEP=Limited English Proficiency

    ENL = English as a New Language   

    ESOL = English for Speakers of Other Languages

    ESL= English as a Second Language

    SIFE= Students with Interrupted Formal Education


    NYSED website for ELLs/MLLs: http://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed/schools/program-options-english-language-learnersmultilingual-learners

    The Brighton High School ENL Program ...

    ...continues its literacy-based program in which students learn English through actively utilizing and building skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Our students work diligently in acquiring the English language while simultaneously learning new content material in their mainstream classes.
     
    International students also use the BHS ENL/ESOL Room (106) as an alternative testing and technology site within the high school. Our classroom currently houses three computers, three I-pads, and Smart Board technology which have helped to transform our learning environment. Video streaming, Google and Babylon translation and online images all help to make content vocabulary and concepts comprehensible and accessible within seconds. Students are also encouraged to use their own personal electronic devices for translating and searching helpful sites and study aides alongside traditional paper and pencil assignments.
     
    Scientific research...
    ...indicates that English requires 5-7 years for mastery (Cummins et al.) while newer research reveals the process takes longer: 7-10 years for mastery (Collier et al.).
     
    Research also shows that language is learned in stages and that the process is different for every individual. Factors to be considered when learning a second, third or fourth language is one's own literacy level in one's own native language, prior academic performance, motivating factors to learn a new language, personal learning style preferences, tolerance for ambiguity - along with patience with self. 

    NYS certified ESOL teachers are trained to:
    • equip ELL/MLL students to develop English (reading/writing/listening/speaking) language skills 
    • establish helpful classroom strategies so that ELLs/MLLs may meet with lingusitic, academic and social success in school
    • gauge mainstream classroom instructional language and scaffold assignments so that ELL/MLL students may better access material and concepts
    • act as a bridge between and among different languages and cultural systems so as assist ELL/MLL students and their families access educational needs and supports
     
    Generally, listening and speaking are the first skills acquired when learning a new language, but we do not acquire language skills in isolation, so literacy skills are introduced immediately. We focus on all four modalities of English language learning: listening, speaking, reading and writing, plus cultural nuances such as body language, idiomatic language and cultural norms & celebrations unique to the United States.

    Important links for NYS ESOL students and families:

  • For New York State Education Department updates:    (insert web address here)                http://www.emsc.nysed.gov
  • For the Office of Bilingual Education and Foreign Languages http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/about.html

    Testing Dates:

  • Midterms

  • NYSESLAT (New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test) will be administered again this spring (May 2014)   

  • NYS Regents examinations: June 2017           

    Thank you for visiting our site.

    Feel free to send us an e-mail at: jennifer_wheeler@bcsd.org, or send us a comment on our blog (password to submit is "homework")

    Sincerely,

    Jennifer Wheeler-Ballestas

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