The primary goal of ESL elementary students is to obtain competence in speaking, reading, writing and comprehending the English language. The ESL elementary students enrolled in the ESL program receive instruction that supports, supplements, and reinforces the grade-level English language. The students exit the ESL program after meeting the exit criteria; it requires the student to develop proficiency in English language with particular focus on oral communication, reading, comprehension and composition skills. In plug-in ESL programs, the ESL teacher incorporates the language arts module and co-teaches with the mainstream teacher who gives training on vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and other literacy work.
At the elementary level, the ESL program is accepted as an integral part of the academic program; it facilitates the limited-English-proficient (LEP) students to acquire the English language skills necessary for general academic success. In addition to enabling the mastery of English language skills, the goal emphasizes on understanding other subjects including math, science, and social studies for all the students. The program achieves this goal by integrating academic concepts and language with learning strategies and literature, such as engaging thematic units. Thematic teaching achieves the goal by offering opportunities for activities appropriate for multiple intelligences, the seven distinct intelligences namely visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic and logical-mathematical, identified by Howard Gardener, and individuals differ in the strength of these intelligences; it also appeals to the different learning styles of elementary students.
ESL elementary students receive the instructional support that enables them to master English language skills required to participate effectively in the general education program. The grade-level instruction addresses the affective, linguistic, and cognitive needs of LEP students. The students receive instruction that is age- and grade-appropriate to commiserate with the students' language proficiency and to address varying learner needs. The ESL elementary students also get opportunities to interact and converse in comprehensible academic language as they explore new ideas, relate these ideas to prior information and learn to respond through oral communication and written compositions.
The core of elementary ESL is for the elementary students to achieve language skills that enable them to obtain, process, construct, and provide subject matter information in content areas across the curriculum. In addition to achieving language skills in all content areas, the students acquire social language skills through the program. LEP students benefit greatly from the ESL training as they learn to use English to communicate in social settings and to use the language in socially and culturally appropriate ways. The content-based language instruction of the elementary ESL integrates language learning with science, mathematics and social studies to ease the transition of the English-language learner to the mainstream classroom.