Welcome to The ESL Connection!

(Update: The name of this blog was changed to The ESL Nexus a few years after this post was published.)

Welcome to The ESL Connection!  I started this blog because I am interested in educational policy and how it affects English Language Learners (ELLs).  I plan to write about current issues in education that impact ELLs and will offer my thoughts and opinions about them here, based on articles I read in the media and other places and on my experience in the field of English language teaching.  It is my hope that others will join in by posting comments so that conversations can be started about how best to educate ELLs in schools in the U.S. and around the world.

Thanks for reading! Source: Pixabay

A note about the title of this blog, The ESL Connection: The term ESL is used, instead of ELL, because the focus of the blog is on the entire field encompassing the teaching of the English language, not just the students who are learning English.  And while this blog will also discuss topics pertaining to the teaching of English in countries where it is not the dominant language and when people speak it as a third or additional language, I think that ESL is the term most familiar to most people who are likely to read this blog.

I look forward to sharing my ideas about best practices for teaching ELLs, about effective ways to provide teacher training around ELL issues, about assessing ELLs appropriately, about ELLs and special education issues, about working with ELL parents, and about other issues that affect the education of English Language Learners.  I invite you to follow me and hope to see you online!