The United Way has an Information and Referral Line that will answer questions about services that are available for newcomers in each particular community. Since programs vary, call the United Way in your community and ask for the Information and Referral Line number. Second Language Acquisition Understanding second language acquisition can provide teachers with some insight into the difficulties encountered by ESOL students. Questions regarding discrepancies between an individual's ability to speak a second language versus one's ability to perform academically in that language, may be answered once the language learning process is understood. The process of acquiring a second language is similar to the way in which our first language is learned.
Children learn by listening and talking with adults and peers about daily life events.
In essence, they learn language by using it. This concept of learning language by using it applies to ESOL students as well. Providing frequent opportunities for meaningful natural interactions is the first step towards developing language proficiency. It usually takes about one to two years to arrive at this level of proficiency. The second level of language, academic language, is needed to understand cognitively demanding tasks.