ESL Endorsement
Additional Program Offerings
The bilingual/ESL endorsement program at Aurora University Online is designed for teachers who already hold an existing Illinois teaching certificate/license in another subject area. The endorsement will enable you to seek employment in Illinois as a bilingual or ESL teacher in the same grade level as your original certificate/license. The program will provide you with the knowledge and skills to meet the linguistic and academic needs of English language learners.
Program Requirements
The online bilingual/ESL endorsement program requires 18 semester hours. The bilingual/ESL courses meet the requirements for both the Illinois bilingual endorsement and the ESL endorsement. If you wish to earn a bilingual endorsement, you must also pass a language proficiency test in the target language (TLP), administered by the Illinois Certification Testing System (ICTS). All bilingual/ESL courses are approved by the Illinois State Board of Education and include the required 100 hours of clinical experience embedded in the coursework.
Admission Requirements
Applicants should hold a current Illinois teaching certificate/license and an undergraduate degree with a GPA of 2.75 or higher from a regionally accredited institution. If your undergraduate GPA is less than 2.75, you may be admitted on a probationary status and will be required to earn a 3.0 or higher in your first three courses. The application also requires one letter of recommendation from an individual familiar with your professional abilities as an educator and all transcripts from previously attended institutions.
Opportunities
As the number of non-English-speaking students in Illinois schools grows, demand continues to increase for effective bilingual/ESL educators. The bilingual/ESL endorsement program will prepare you to fill the need for educators of English language learners. Check out this additional information about the different careers in education.
Course Details
EDU6110 Foundations for Language Minority Education (3 hours)
EDU6120 Methods and Materials for Teaching ELLs (3 hours)
EDU6130 Cross-Cultural Studies for Teaching ELLs (3 hours)
EDU6140 Assessment of Bilingual Students (3 hours)
EDU6150 Linguistics (3 hours)
EDU6170 Methods and Materials for Teaching ELLs in Bilingual Programs (3 hours)
