To earn an ESL endorsement from the Illinois State Board of Education, a teacher must:
- hold (or be earning) a valid Illinois teaching license
- have ESL clinical experience totaling 100 clock hours
- have earned credits totaling 18 semester hours in five course areas: Linguistics, Theoretical Foundations of Teaching ESL, Assessment of the Bilingual Student, Methods and Materials for Teaching ESL, Cross-Cultural Studies for Teaching EL Students.
More detailed information is available at the state website: http://www.isbe.net/licensure/html/bilingual_endorsement.html
The ESL endorsement is valid for K-12 grade range, regardless of initial licensure grade range.
| Course Number | Course Title | Credit Hours | When the Course is Offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| LING 224 | Theoretical Foundations of Lang. Acquisition | 4hrs | Fall Semester |
| LING 227 | Cross-Cultural Teaching/Learning | 2hrs | Spring B Quad |
| LING 325 | Principles of Assessment | 2hrs | Fall A Quad (or Spring for Secondary) |
| LING 326 | EL Methods for the Content Areas** | 2hrs | Spring (linear quad - night class) |
| LING 328 | EL Methods for Specialists | 2hrs | Fall (linear quad - night class) |
| LING 328L | ESL Practicum | 1hr | concurrent with course |
| LING 329 | Curriculum and Materials Development | 2hrs | Spring A Quad (5:30-8:45pm) |
| LING 331 | Introduction to Linguistics (MS ELA) | 4hrs | Spring |
*Pre-MAT students should wait and take INTR 618 – the grad level version of LING 326 – as it’s required for the MAT program
Practicum Requirements:
For the LING 328L practicum, you’ll be placed with an EL Specialist for 30 hours.Additional general education practicums will be completed with EL students in order to reach the 100 clock hours required for the endorsement. These can include EDUC 136L, EDUC 225L, and select hours from methods and student teaching. You must submit records of the hours that were specifically with ELs.
Recommended Sequence:
- Freshman Spring: LING 227 (can be taken any spring)
- Sophomore Fall: LING 224
- Sophomore Spring: LING 326, LING 331 (this can be taken any spring)
- Junior Fall: LING 325, LING 328/LING 328L
- Senior Spring: LING 329 (if graduating in December, please discuss options with Prof. Vroom Fick)