English As A Second or Foreign Language

English As A Second Or Foreign Language

English as a second language (ESL) is the use or study of English by speakers with different native languages. It is also known as English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), English as an additional language (EAL), and English as a foreign language (EFL) The precise usage, including the different use of the terms ESL and ESOL in different countries, is described below. These terms are most commonly used in relation to teaching and learning English as a second language, but they may also be used in relation to demographic information.

English language teaching (ELT) is a widely used teacher-centred term, as in the English language teaching divisions of large publishing houses, ELT training, etc. Teaching English as a second language (TESL), teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) and teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) are also used.

Other terms used in this field include English as an international language (EIL), English as a lingua franca (ELF), English for special purposes, or English for specific purposes (ESP), English for academic purposes (EAP). Some terms that refer to those who are learning English are English language learner (ELL), limited English proficient (LEP) and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD).

Read more about English As A Second Or Foreign Language:  Terminology and Types, Difficulties For Learners, Exams For Learners, Professional Associations and Unions, Acronyms and Abbreviations

Famous quotes containing the words english as, english, foreign and/or language:

    To be born in a new country one has to die in the motherland.
    Irina Mogilevskaya, Russian student. “Immigrating to the U.S.,” student paper in an English as a Second Language class, Hunter College, 1995.

    That Cabot merely landed on the uninhabitable shore of Labrador gave the English no just title to New England, or to the United States generally, any more than to Patagonia.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Man-in-seed, in seed-at-zero,
    From the star-flanked fields of space,
    Thunders on the foreign town
    With a sand-bagged garrison....
    Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)

    Nothing so fretful, so despicable as a Scribbler, see what I am, & what a parcel of Scoundrels I have brought about my ears, & what language I have been obliged to treat them with to deal with them in their own way;Mall this comes of Authorship.
    George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)