Bilingual and/or ESL Specializations

Bilingual Education and ESL Coursework

Bilingual Education and ESL Specializations | Area of Concentration in Bilingual/ESL Education for Undergraduates

If you are interested in bilingual education or ESL instruction for children in grades k-12, we recommend that you take the following courses:

Bilingual Endorsment/Approval

C & I 433: Foundations of Bilingual and ESL Education (Fall)
C & I 446: Culture in the Classroom (Fall)
C & I 477: Bilingual and ESL Methods and Materials (Spring)
C & I 517: Bilingual and ESL Assessment (Spring)
C & I 595 (will be renumbered at a later date): Clinical Course in Bilingual and/or ESL Education (only can be taken after all the other courses have been completed or are being completed concurrently)

ESL Endorsement/Approval
C & I 433: Foundations of Bilingual and ESL Education (Fall)
C & I 446: Culture in the Classroom (Fall)
C & I 477: Bilingual and ESL Methods and Materials (Spring)
C & I 517: Bilingual and ESL Assessment (Spring)  (Undergraduates should take EIL 460)
LING 100 or alternatives
C & I 595 (will be renumbered at a later date): Clinical Course in Bilingual and/or ESL Education (only can be taken after all the other courses have been completed or are being completed concurrently)

You may take the courses as part of your degree or as a non-degree student through Academic Outreach. Undergraduates may take any of the 400 level courses.  Only graduate students may take the 500 level courses. For the clinical requirement, undergraduates should request to be placed in a bilingual/ESL setting for student teaching.

The above courses meet the Illinois State Board of Education's requirements for bilingual teaching approval/ endorsement. In addition, to obtain state approval/endorsement in bilingual education, students must be a certified teacher at the appropriate grade level, pass a language proficiency test in a language other than English, and complete clinical hours in a bilingual classroom (by taking C & I 595) or have taught for three months in a bilingual classroom. The language proficiency test is administered by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Certified elementary teachers who have their bilingual teaching approval/ endorsement also may teach ESL in grades K-6.

Approval versus Endorsement

A teacher with a valid Illinois teaching certificate can receive an approval as a bilingual teacher for the grade levels identified on their teaching certificate upon completion of the following

• 18 credit hours of the coursework identified above
• Clinical experience in a bilingual classroom totaling 100 hours (CI 595) or bilingual teaching experience for a minimum of three months
• Passing a language proficiency exam in the non-English language

A teacher with a valid Illinois teaching certificate can receive an approval as an ESL teacher for the grade levels identified on their teaching certificate upon completion of the following:

• 18 credit hours of the coursework identified above
• Clinical experience in an ESL classroom totaling 100 hours (CI 595) or ESL teaching experience for a minimum of three months

The bilingual or ESL endorsement requires completion of 24 credit hours across the courses identified above in addition to an approved elective, a passing score on the language proficiency exam in the non-English language for those seeking the bilingual endorsement and a $30.00 fee.

If you have any questions regarding approvals/endorsements , please contact the Department of Curriculum and Instruction or Brenda Clevenger in the Council of Teacher Education.

Area of Concentration in Bilingual/ESL Education for Undergraduates

Students who plan to enroll in the teacher education program in Elementary Education have the option of choosing Bilingual/ESL Education for their area of concentration.

Students may choose at least four courses (12 hours) to fulfill an Area of Concentration in Bilingual/ESL Education:

C & I 433: Foundations of Bilingual Education (3 hours)
C & I 446: Culture in the Classroom (3 hours)
Linguistics 100: Introduction to Language Science (3 hours) or EIL 487: Introduction to Linguistics for Language Teachers (3 hours)
EIL 489: Theoretical Foundations of Second-Language Acquisition (3 hours)
EIL 422: English grammar for ESL teachers (3 hours)
C & I 449: Issues in Latina/o Education or EPS 402: Asian American Education (3 hours)

Non-degree seeking students can also take the courses identified above from the online program in Bilingual and ESL education