ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) AND ENGLISH LITERACY DEVELOPMENT (ELD)

SECONDARY SCHOOLS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY-
The goal of Ontario secondary schools is to support high-quality learning while giving individual students the opportunity to choose programs that suit their skills and interests. The updated Ontario curriculum, in combination with a broader range of learning options outside traditional classroom instruction, will enable students to better customize their high school education and improve their prospects for success in school and in life. THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) AND ENGLISH LITERACY DEVELOPMENT (ELD) IN THE CURRICULUM Ontario secondary schools are now home to students who speak more than 100 different languages, including several Aboriginal languages, many African, Asian, and European languages, or an English-related creole language (such as Caribbean Creole or West African Krio).

We are committed to working with Indigenous partners and the education sector to improve access to education for Indigenous students in Ontario and support First Nation, Métis and Inuit student achievement and well-being. This includes:

• closing the achievement gap between Indigenous students and all students
• increasing every student’s knowledge and awareness of Indigenous histories, cultures, perspectives and contributions
  
  
  
  Ontario’s increasing linguistic and cultural diversity provides students with many opportunities for cultural enrichment and for learning that is global in scope. At the same time, however, this diversity means that a significant and growing proportion of Ontario students arrive in English-language schools as English language learners – that is, students who are learning the language of instruction at the same time as they are learning the curriculum. The curriculum in English as a Second Language and English Literacy Development for Grades 9 to 12 has been developed to ensure that English language learners have the maximum opportunity to become proficient in English and achieve the high levels of literacy that are expected of all Ontario students. use English to communicate effectively in a variety of social settings; use English to achieve academically in all subject areas; take charge of their own learning, independently and in groups; select and use effective learning strategies; integrate confidently into mainstream courses; use English effectively to advocate for themselves in all areas of their lives; make a successful transition to their chosen postsecondary destination (work, apprenticeship, college, university); function effectively in a society increasingly committed to the use of information technology; use critical-literacy and critical-thinking skills to interpret the world around them; participate fully in the social, economic, political, and cultural life of their communities and of Canada. |The content in each of the ESL and ELD courses is organized into four interrelated strands, or broad areas of learning: Listening and Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Socio-cultural Competence and Media Literacy. Effective instructional activities blend expectations from the four strands in order to provide English language learners with the kinds of experiences that promote meaningful learning and that help students recognize how language and literacy skills in the four strands overlap and strengthen one another. The program at all levels is designed to develop a range of essential skills in the four interrelated strands, built on a solid foundation of knowledge of the language conventions of standard English and incorporating the use of analytical, critical, and metacognitive thinking skills. Students learn best when they are provided with opportunities to monitor and reflect on their learning, and each strand includes expectations that call for such reflection.