Who are ESL Students?

Any student whose first language is not English. Most people assume these students are from non-English speaking countries. Usually they are, but sometimes these students are born in English speaking countries and grow up within communities of immigrants (recent or not) whose language of preference is not English. So sometimes they are American students, but most often they are international students, permanent or temporary residents of the US.

*A note on abbreviations that continually seem to mutate: ESL is English as a Second Language; TESL, Teaching English as a Second Language; TESOL, Teaching English as a Second or Other Language; EFL, English as a Foreign Language; ESP, English for Special Purposes.