English Language Acquisition Program
The English Language Acquisition (ELA) Department serves students who are acquiring English as an additional language in Thompson School District. The primary goal of the English Language Acquisition program is to develop English language skills to support academic achievement toward the ultimate goal of meeting or exceeding the district’s standards in all subjects.
The English language acquisition program in Thompson School District delivers specialized instruction in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension. This specialized instruction is delivered in English through the use of strategies and techniques designed to enhance the acquisition of social and academic English. The teachers in the program are licensed teachers with an endorsement in the teaching of the linguistically diverse student.
Although English is the language of instruction in Thompson School District the district recognizes the value of multilingualism and multiculturalism and promotes the continued development of the students’ mother tongues. Students and families are encouraged to develop bilingualism and multilingualism as well as literacy in multiple languages.
Students are identified through the use of a home language survey that is completed by all new students to Thompson School District. Based upon the responses to questions in the home language survey some students are assessed for English proficiency with the Colorado English Language Acquisition Placement Assessment required by the Colorado Department of Education. The results of this placement assessment and other evidence provided by parents and families are used to recommend English language acquisition services to students. The recommendation is made by Thompson School District personnel however the decision to accept or refuse these services is made by the parents or guardians of the student.
Approximately 5% of the student population in Thompson School District is identified as English learners. In 2009, 423 students are receiving services for English language acquisition through the district’s program and an additional 281 students have been exited from the program or are being monitored for continued academic success.
The emerging Bilingual students in Thompson School District represent a total of 22 different languages. Of those languages Spanish is spoken by over 89% of the students. The other most common languages in Thompson School District are Vietnamese, Russian, Mandarin, and Cantonese. There are 12 languages that are spoken by only one student each in the district.
LANGUAGES IN THOMPSON SCHOOL DISTRICT (2009)
Arabic |
2 |
Cantonese |
5 |
Mandarin |
6 |
Farsi Eastern |
1 |
French Creole |
1 |
German |
1 |
Hindi |
3 |
Icelandic |
1 |
Igbo |
1 |
Korean |
4 |
Lao |
2 |
Lithuanian |
1 |
Marshallese |
1 |
Panjabe Eastern |
1 |
Russian |
9 |
Spanish |
482 |
Swedish |
1 |
Tagalog |
4 |
Thai |
1 |
Ukrainian |
1 |
Urdu |
1 |
Vietnamese |
11 |
Totals: 22 Languages
540 Students
