CRESPAR Report #58: Transitional Programs for English Language Learners: Contextual Factors and Effective Programming

Abstract

In this report, transitional programs refer to instructional programs for students who have been schooled in their native language and are now in “transitional” classrooms where literacy instruction takes place in English. Transition usually occurs during the elementary years but may occur in middle and high school for older students recently arrived in U.S. schools who are entering English-only literacy programs in the U.S. With regard to the development of literacy and transition from a first language to a second language, the paper focuses on school-age children who are acquiring English as a second language, where English is the societal language.