The United States has long been called a “melting pot,” a place where diverse people mixing and mingling. Learning the dominate language is a challenging part of the process, particularly when a student is trying to learn a new language and expand their content knowledge. Okhee Lee and Cory Buxton shared their views on teaching science to English Language Learners in the April op-ed of NSTA Reports. They write:

English Language Learner (ELL) students can now be found in virtually every school in the nation. Currently, more than 20% of U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, more than 5.5 million—11%—of public school students are currently categorized as ELL students. While Spanish speakers comprise approximately 80% of the ELL student population, U.S. students speak more than 400 different languages. Although the vast majority of U.S. ELL students attend schools in large urban districts, increasing numbers have spread into geographic regions that have not historically seen this linguistic diversity.

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