journal

Reflecting journal. Linguistics for ESL students. November, 2nd 2025

journal

Index

02

Case study of an ESL student

03

01

My language learning journey

ESL students in the U.S.

Some numbers and facts

Based on ACCESS scores

Acquisition differences

06

05

04

Diglossia

Cognates

Discourse Analysis

Language functionality depending on the country

Practical use in the ESL classroom.

Applied to a political speech

08

07

09

Spanglish

Spanish Academy of Language

Discourse Analysis

Applied to a teacher

The standard language

The birth of a new language?

10

Nonsensical words

Six seven, word of the year 2025

'the limits of my language means the limits of my world'

Ludwig Wittgenstein

5.3 m

ESL students in the U.S.

Native languages of the ESL students in the U.S.

There are 5.3 million ESL students in the U.S.

This table shows the increasing number of ESL students from 2004 to 2022

Data from Pew Research Center

read more

Some facts about ESL students

There are 5.3 million ESL students in the U.S.; 64% of all U.S. teachers have at least one ELL in their classroom. The States with more ESL students are California, Texas, and Florida. The States with fewer ESL students are West Virginia, Vermont, and Montana. States in the Southwest have the largest number of ESL students. 3 out of 4 ESL students have Spanish as their native language, followed by Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Portuguese. It is quite remarkable that Vietnamese is on this list, given that Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese are among the 10 most spoken languages in the world, yet Vietnamese has only 96 million speakers. The number of ESL students has risen from 12.9% in 2004 to 17.7% in 2022, an increase of 4.7%. According to projections from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), 40 percent of students will be ELLs by 2030, meaning that 75% of all U.S teachers will have at least one ELL in their classroom. Regarding ELL students' nationality, 41.28% are from Mexico; 4.54% are Chinese; 3.60% from the Dominican Republic, 3.49% from Vietnam, and 3.48% are from the Philippines. Nevertheless, a significant finding is that most English language learners are born in the U.S. and, therefore, they are U.S citizens.

'One language sets you in a corridor for life. two languages open every door along the way'

Frank Smith

ACCESS test

Or how not to be considered as an ESL student anymore

ACCESS test is a mandatory test for all the ESL students in the state of Illinois. It is taken once every school year and it evaluates four domains, listening, speaking, reading and writing. To get the overall score, listening and speaking are, each, 15% of the final score, while reading and writing are, each, 35%. For not being considered anymore as an ESL student, the composite score should be 4.8 or over. In general, it takes 5 to 6 years to achieve language proficiency.

ACCESS scores

Example of a student' scores from Kindergarten (2021) to 4th Grade (2025), when he was tested out

Erick took this test for the first time in kindergarten, scoring a 6.0 in listening and speaking. But the following year, in First Grade, the exam became more difficult, and his overall score fell to 3.7. Same punctuation in Second Grade and in Third Grade; he almost passed the test with a 4.7, 4.8, which was the exit score. Speaking and writing (productive skills) got the lowest grades, 4.1 in both domains. Finally, in Fourth Grade, Erick passed the test, and he is no longer considered an ESL student in the State of Illinois.

ACCESS scores

We want to note that Erick's performance is not typical for a student in a semi-urban school in the State of Illinois, where 80% of the population is immigrant. Only 4.8% of students pass the ACCESS test every year. The State of Illinois shares with School Districts a chart (shown on the left) that projects the score increasing from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade to achieve English Proficiency in six years. The main concern is that most students do not enter kindergarten with a score of 319. That would be an excellent starting point for building English skills, but only 5% of Kindergarten students score at 319. And another big issue is newcomer students. We receive 3rd-, 4th-, or 5th-grade students every week who do not know any English because they have just arrived in the country. In these cases, and considering the table, if their English learning journey starts in 5th Grade, they would achieve proficiency in High School. Knowing that most subjects in Middle and High School are taught in English will make it very difficult to master the language without explicit instruction. As a suggestion, ESL students should receive more direct, intensive, and consistent English instruction to accelerate acquisition. Spending six school years in U.S. schools without proper support will not make them proficient English language speakers.

Prediction of cut scores from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade to achieve English Proficiency in the ACCESS test

'language is the road map of a culture. it tells you wherE people comes from and where they are going'

Rita Mae Brown

A brief history of my personal language acquisition in relation to J. Fitzpatrick's article "How learning a language changes depending on your age".

My language learning journey

Design

Plan

Greek

English

Spanish

French

Galician

Structure

My language learning journey.

According to Joe Fitzpatrick in his article "How learning a language changes depending on your age", it is highly recommended to learn a language before the age of 7. In my case, I was exposed to two different languages before that age. The main difference is that one of them, Galician, was part of my culture, and some people in my personal social circle (my caregiver, my grandmother) used this language. On the contrary, English was reduced to school instruction. Considering the Pragmatics use of language, I understand how different it is in the learning journey to be exposed to a variety of settings and communicative situations, rather than to have an experience reduced to a traditional classroom. My following reflection, in agreement with Fitzpatrick, is that the ability to identify and differentiate new sounds is more difficult after the age of 10. I started learning French at 18, and it was a real challenge to understand all the different sounds and vowels in the language. But I did not have major difficulties understanding and applying the Grammar. According to Fitzpatrick, having already mastered our native language, learning a second one may result in "effortless" learning because we do it in an "intuitive way", using his own expressions. In my own experience, I confirm it was as he suggests.

My language learning journey.

"Between the ages of 18 and 50 is a great time to acquire a large vocabulary, even without building precognitive foundations in childhood". I learned Greek later in life, almost at 30. Not having any foundation in this language, it is equally shocking and rewarding to see how many vocabulary connections are possible between Greek and English words. 'Pediá' is the Greek word for children, and in English we say 'pediatrician'. And the same with 'logos' (reason) and 'logical', 'photo' (light) and photosynthesis, or asteri (star) and asteroid. An extensive vocabulary is acquired by creating meaningful connections with morphemes from other languages. According to the previously cited article, older adults develop basic communication skills in a new language more quickly. The ability to stay focused increases with age, and this may be beneficial for language learners. The author even suggests that we can start building knowledge more passively. At the same time, researchers have demonstrated that language learning promotes neuroplasticity in aging, enhances executive functions, and delays the onset of dementia. I can not wait to turn 50 and start learning the next language.

'language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about'

Benjamin Lee Whorf

Cognates and its practical use in the ESL classroom

According to the article “Using cognates to develop comprehension in English”, 30-40% of all words in English have a related word in Spanish. Knowing this, it could be beneficial for my English learners to make connections between two languages and broaden their lexical competence. I was considering how to incorporate more cognates in my daily practice. As an example, last week's lesson was for my 3rd-grade English learners. This group consists of five students who are performing at average in Spanish reading but who scored low in English reading at the beginning of the school year. They receive intervention 5 times per week for 30 minutes. They are progress-monitored every two weeks on reading fluency. In this particular lesson, my focus was on the digraph ph-. Although I am following a reading program for English readers, given that these students are already readers in Spanish, I am selecting lessons that focus on sounds or digraphs that differ from Spanish. I am not revising simple sounds like m or p, whose writing and pronunciation are the same in both languages.

What I incorporated into my lesson after reflecting on the importance of cognates was a visual chart showing my students that, even though the letters are different — f in Spanish and ph in English — the sounds are the same. Students know that we use red for Spanish and blue for English. First, we read the Spanish words (students are proficient in Spanish), then the English ones. We went over the lesson and finished with a sentence dictation. The words foto and photo have different spellings but the same meaning. On the contrary, the u vowel has a distinct sound in Spanish and in English. And this is really challenging for our Spanish native speakers when they apply the Spanish phonetic rules to English words. Based on the idea of creating charts for cognates, I made another one for sounds that are written the same but pronounced differently. Another thing I incorporated into my lesson to make it more visual was that, when we were going over the chart in Spanish, I was wearing a red necklace. I made my students understand that when I am wearing a red necklace (speaking Spanish), I need to apply Spanish phonetic rules. When I changed the language, I also changed my necklace, which is now blue. That means that I am in a new code, in a new language, and the sounds may be different now. I kept the charts on the classroom bulletin board so we can reuse and revise them in the next few days. I would never have created these reading charts if I had not reflected on how helpful cognates can be in improving our students' language competence.

Cognates and its practical use in the ESL classroom

'change your language and you change your thoughts'

Karl Albretch

Diglossia

Or how a language functionality may vary according to the country.

Sociolinguists use the term diglossia for communities with two or more languages. A key-defining characteristic is that each language has its own proper functions and social status. Typically, one is associated with education, formal settings, and official communications. The other is used in informal contexts, among non-educated people, and in colloquial conversations. For example, in Galicia, a region in the northwest of Spain, there are two official languages: Spanish and Galician, which evolved historically from Portuguese. Both languages are mandatory in schools from kindergarten to high school, and different subjects are taught in one or the other, depending on the teacher's choice. Socially, Spanish is a prestigious language associated with higher education, urban areas, and high-income jobs, while Galician is related to rural areas, casual conversations, and informal situations. Thus, mastering Spanish is crucial for professional success.

Diglossia

In the United States, the official language is English. Due to the increasing number of Latin American immigrants, more than 75% of ESL students are native Spanish speakers. Most schools offer bilingual programs in Elementary School, but few of them keep them in Middle or High School. In this context, English is considered the reputable language, the path to College, and the socially respected language. In contrast, Spanish is typically used by newcomers, for cultural celebrations, or at family gatherings. Ultimately, it is not the language itself that determines its aptness for any particular purpose. Instead, it is the use speakers make of that language, the context in which it is employed, and the linguistic register that is used that determine the capacity to express and communicate in every context and level. As a result, diglossia ceases to exist when the speakers of a language have adapted and normalized its use across all possible registers and communicative situations.

'the conquest of learning is achieved through the knowledge of language'

Roger Bacon

Discourse analysis. A language-in-use approach

After watching the video on discourse analysis in the course resources, I became very curious about its application in political discourse. My approach is uniquely based on language use and not on social or economic considerations. My goal was to identify the figures of speech and other resources that politicians use to convey their messages. To do this, I chose a speech by Donald Trump from April 2nd, 2025, on the announcement of reciprocal tariffs. I focused only on the first 10 minutes. In that time, I found interesting examples of language structures that, by altering the usual rules of morphology and/or syntax, highlight an idea and send a clear message to the audience. For example, at the beginning of the speech, Mr Trump affirms that "We have very, very good news today" (0:52). Repetition of the quantitative adverb 'very' emphasizes how good the news that the speaker is going to communicate is. At the same time, given that it is the speech's opening, it creates expectation and invites the audience to maintain their attention. A few seconds later, the speech continues: "April 2nd, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day we made America wealthy again". (1:11)

Discourse analysis. A language-in-use approach

Rhetorical anaphora — the repetition of the same phrase structure to evoke emotion and make ideas more impactful — has been used several times before by politicians. The most memorable "I have a dream" by Dr. Martin Luther King. A few seconds later, the President affirms that "For decades our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered" (1:32). This sentence contains hyperbole because loot or pillage are terms used when referring to a war, and synonymia because a string of synonyms has been used just to intensify how deep the abuse has taken. There is also personification when Donald Trump says, "Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off" (2:11). Maybe U.S. citizens have been ripped off; using the collective noun "the country," the speaker tries to include and imply all the people in the offense, and tries to make them favorable to the policies he is announcing. Finally, using the phrase "Friend and foe. And in many cases, the friend is worse than the foe". (7:43) Trump is calling for a dichotomic approach, using a popular saying. From a pragmatic perspective, all these figures of speech are used by language to convey the communicator's ideas more effectively, intensifying the message and aligning the listener with the speaker's intentions. What I learned from this analysis is that, before, I thought figures of speech were reduced to literature and had very restricted uses. Now I see that political language utilizes it frequently. I could also identify figures of speech in advertisements and comic monologues, often with humorous intent. In conclusion, through discourse analysis, we can understand how versatile and multifaceted our language can be.

'language is to the mind more than light is to the eye'

Willian Gibson

Discourse analysis and teacher praise

In this case, I would like to apply the discourse analysis to a classroom environment. As part of a professional development session, we watched the following video. We were asked to evaluate aspects of the classroom environment, including student involvement, classroom climate, and the academic strategies used to achieve the lesson's objective. What I noticed after watching the video is that the teacher had a very positive attitude towards her students, transmitting confidence and encouraging them to keep trying their best effort. So I decided to analyze the script closely and consider how she is so intentional in her encouragement and praise. The video is 18 minutes long, and I found 18 different instances where the teacher praises students: Thank you for all reading that passage on your own and marking key formation that you found in the text (1:13) Go on and finish (5:02), even after realizing that one group had already finished, the teacher still pays attention to the students with whom she was working. Awesome job. Awesome (5:09)

Discourse analysis and teacher praise

He's correct. Looking good (6:02) (pretending to take a photo shoot with their hands). This gesture, repeated several times, is well known and widely used among students. Looking good. Two out of three! (6:27) She got it. Ready? Looking good. Great job (6:45) Find that. You're getting there. Find that (8:25) Let's give both Emily and Josh our cheer. Looking good (10:31) I like how we have different groups finishing (11:45) We're thinking a little deeper, though (12:12) (when the student did not answer correctly) Very good. Let's go and give her the cheer. Looking good (12:49)

Discourse analysis and teacher praise

You were right, but… was that the most important fact? (12:59) Okay, I agree, but…. I feel that another group got another fact that was just a little bit stronger (13:40) You are not wrong. You are not wrong, but let's see if someone can support it a little bit more (13:45) You are there, bud. Found it (15:57) Graham, give me five (16:10) Both of them provide them with "the cheer". Looking good (17:33) The teacher never uses the words 'no' or 'incorrect'. Even when students are not answering correctly, she is challenging them to go deeper in their responses. Verbal praise is emphasized with gestures. The tone is always positive, and sentences are short, simple, and reaffirming. This analysis of the teacher's discourse was really inspiring and helped me reflect on the communication style I use with my own students.

'time changes all things. there is no reason why language should escape this universal law.'

Ferdinand De Saussure

Spanish Academy of Language

There are over 600 million Spanish speakers worldwide. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries: 1 in Europe (Spain), 18 in Central and South America (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Costa Rica) and 1 in Africa (Equatorial Guinea). Needless to say, such a geographical and cultural dispersal, brings a vast number of Spanish varieties. George Yule, in his book "The Study of Language" states ' The standard variety is an ideal. We agree with this affirmation. Accepting and celebrating language diversity is an integral part of language education. The Spanish Academy of Language was created in 1713. Its main function is to study the varieties of the language across the Spanish-speaking countries and create a standard form for all of them. There is still room for regional synonyms and traditional varieties, but there is also an intention of keeping out linguistic borrowing if not strictly necessary.

'speech has both an individual and social side. and we can not conceive of one without the other.'

Ferdinand De Saussure

Spanglish

In the U.S, due to the coexistence between English and Spanish, there is a new category of words, born by the mix-up of the two languages, called Spanglish. Some examples are the words troca (truck), lonchera (lunch box), or parquear (to park). The Spanish Academy of Language does not recognize these words as correct, since there are Spanish words to name them (camión, bolsa de almuerzo, and aparcar). Nevertheless, they are becoming misused words or relegated to an upper-income speaker profile. In my professional teaching practice, I have found that when I use the correct Spanish words for naming very well-known objects or actions, my bilingual students do not understand me. For example, if I said "Agarre su bolsa de almuerzo" (Take your lunchbox), they would look at me in amazement, not knowing what to do. If, instead, I say "Agarre su lonchera" (incorrect term from the English lunch), they will do it immediately. Although I try to speak the language as correctly as I can, I have to say that, when I am in a rush (which happens in an Elementary School very often) and I need a quick response, I use the incorrect term, even knowing that I am not being the best language model for my students. This article in the New York Times qualifies Spanglish as "the primary language of poor Hispanics". I only partially agree with this idea because the new mixing terms are also spreading to not-so-poor classes. Maybe we should consider that this process of hybridation and linguistic syncretism is not so different from the English derivation from the languages spoken by the Angles and Saxons in the 5th century AD, or the creation of the Romance languages as an evolution from Latin. We need to wait a few centuries to check if Spanglish evolves as a new language, unifying the two most spoken languages in America.

'language brings with it an identity and a culture. Or, at least, a perception of it.'

Tervor Noah

Nonsensical words

Some links about six-seven word:

Nonsensical words have no explicit or widely understood meaning, usually created for creative or humorous effect. We also use nonsensical words to test phonetic skills in reading tests. This past week, it was surprising to hear that "six seven" was the word of the year 2025. We have listened to this term from our Generation Alpha students, but we do not really understand its meaning. The question is, do they? After further investigation, it seems that six seven, could be used instead of the adverb "maybe". But it also means "so and so," or it could be used as a meaningless response to a question whose answer we prefer not to say. Human beings are tribal, and during adolescence, it is essential to develop a sense of belonging with a group of peers. And if they use a nonsensical word, it is vital to use it too, to create a sense of belonging, even if we do not know what that word really means.

Merrian Webster dictionary

Dictionary.com

Forbes

CBS News

Thank you for reading

English

• In prekindergarten, at 4 years old, I had my first contact with English.
• English taught in Spain is mostly British English.
• I had an English lesson three times per week from kindergarten to High School
• I had extra classes to prepare for the standardized English test.
• At College, I spent one semester in Dublin (Ireland).
• I worked for two years in the United Kingdom.
• I currently work as a bilingual teacher. Half of my co-workers are English speakers.

Galician

• In the Spanish region where I was born, there is a second official language.
• Galician is a historic derivation of Portuguese, sharing many common aspects.

• Galician is mandatory from kindergarten to High School.
• When I started pre-kindergarten, at 4 years old, I started learning Galician one hour per day.
• Reading Galician literature was mandatory in Middle and High School.
• Although Galician shares many sounds with Spanish, some particular ones are specific and difficult to distinguish for non-speakers.

French

• I started learning French at University when I was 18 years old.
• At College, I studied one semester in Paris (France).
• French shares with Spanish syntactic structures and morphology, but the French accent is peculiar, with 19 different vowels.

• I read French novels and watch French TV shows.
• I spend one week in France every year.

Spanish

• I was born in Spain, so my native language is Castilian.
• Both my parents are Spanish speakers.
• At Elementary School, reading was strongly supported by the curriculum.
• In Middle School, there were mandatory readings from Spanish Literature.
• In High School, Latin was a required subject for two semesters.
• When I moved to the U.S as a bilingual teacher, I understood how different Castilian Spanish is from Latin American Spanish.

Greek

• I worked in Greece for three years.
• Most of my co-workers were only Greek speakers, so I took Greek lessons to be able to communicate with them.
• Greek does not use Latin letters, but Cyrillic. I had to learn to read and write in a different alphabet.
• It was the first time I used English as a lingua franca. My Greek lessons were taught in English.
• I have a weekly Greek lesson and I spend one month in Greece every year.