This recent post by our friends at Neuron Learning may be of interest to students who are struggling to read in English where they are ELL (English Language Learner), also called ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) or ESL (English as Second Language). Learn more about our program for English Language Learners here.
Read more from the Neuron Learning Blog here.
For non-native English speaking students who work through English in an English language school learning keeping up with the class can be a challenge. Especially if they have even a modest auditory processing difficulties and/or if their English skills are not reinforced at home or at play outside school. Also they may have to compete against native English speakers in the school. This puts them at a disadvantage educationally.
So their learning can be affected if they don’t have English language competence. For example, they may have problems discriminating sounds (mixing up works that they hear) or keeping up with the teacher (because he or she also has to keep the native speaker engaged they may speak at faster speed than the kids can take in effectively).
They can mix up their phonemes (sounds and letter relationship is not strong) and they find it hard to decode words on the page. They may have poor English language structure (grammar: tenses/plurals/possessives, poor morphology and so on). They may not have good vocabulary (especially when it comes to the nuances — homophones,synonyms, homonyms, antonyms etc).
Many providers are discovering, through their results just how powerful Fast ForWord for English language training can be. The programs systematically address language development making sure that students have the foundation skills essential for English efficiency in spoken and written comprehension. On top of this Fast ForWord does a terrific job developing the cognitive skills essential for learning.