About 6 million LEP -- limited English proficient -- students are enrolled in schools each year. In addition to LEP growth in Western and Southwestern states including California and New Mexico, growth has exploded in states that have traditionally not had many LEP students, including in the South. Since 1997, the LEP population in the United States has doubled. LEP students may be enrolled in English as a Second Language programs to help them become proficient in listening, speaking, reading and writing in English. The Linguistic Minority Research Institute says most students take four to seven years to gain proficiency in English. Those who have difficulty with learning English may have other issues that need to be addressed.
According to the National Council of Teachers of English, one of the most important factors in learning English has two parts. First, language acquisition is affected by whether the student was attending school in her home country. Frequently, students come to the United States with no prior schooling. In these cases, the first role of the ESL teacher and the classroom teacher is to teach the student school and classroom procedures before English learning can really begin. Second, if the student comes to school literate in a first language, it makes teaching the student English much easier, because teachers can draw parallels between the student's home language and English. Materials, games, even books can be made for the student in her first language and English.
It is estimated that approximately 15 percent of students in the U.S. have a learning disability, and LEP students who have a disability have a very difficult time achieving proficiency. In addition, a learning disability may go unrecognized for years because staffers attribute the problem to language acquisition. Learning disabilities may make it difficult for a student to process, read or write in English.
Finally, LEP students who have parental involvement in their schooling tend to acquire English faster than students whose parents cannot help them because of their own language proficiency. According to the Lexington Institute, schools wishing to increase their students' English language proficiency should: involve the parents in school activities, offer parent education workshops to help the parents help their students, translate school documents, have parents volunteer in the school to help with their English language proficiency and the students as well, and have take-home materials in both languages for the parent and student to work on together.