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Bar College of Education & Human Services Lesson 3: What About
Standardized Testing of English Language Learners?It's Easier to
Mingle When You're Bilingual Remember, what seems like a
“disability” now, is an advantage in the future. Bilingualism,
trilingualism and multilingualism are strengths and highly
valued the world-over. Why would we erase our students’ gifts?
While many of us have not had experience learning a second
language, we have all had the experience of observing children
learn their first language. We can apply the process of learning
a first language to understanding the process of learning a
second. The process includes predictable, sequential stages
through which learners progress at varied, individualized rates.
By understanding the stages of language acquisition, we can
better instruct and educate our ELL students. These levels have
been clearly defined and standardized by the WIDA Consortium.
(See Lesson 2) Continued use of