English as a second language

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Abstract

The teaching of ESL began as a way to help nonnative speakers residing in the United States prepare for the newly enacted 1906 law requiring potential citizens to pass a citizenship test in English (Cavanaugh, 1996). This was part of the “Americanization movement,�? a prevailing attitude that immigrants needed to learn English to become better assimilated into American culture. ESL also began as a way to help nonnative speakers receive vocational training. High schools and private institutions offered English and reading courses to meet the growing demand by nonnative-speaking adults. By 1945, ESL “programs�? started to appear, but it was not until the late 1960s that ESL professionals entered the classroom and began developing the teaching of English to nonnative speakers as a specialty (Farland Sc Cepeda, 1988).

Publication Title

Handbook of Undergraduate Second Language Education

First Page Number

73

Last Page Number

92

DOI

10.4324/9781410605016-12

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