College of Education & Professional Studies | UW-Whitewater
ESL/Bilingual at UW-Whitewater

Undergraduate

ESL/BE Licensure Plan

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) offers two separate, but sequential licenses. You must hold (or be eligible for) the ESL license in order to obtain the BE license. The eight ESL/BE Core Courses (24 credits) are required for the ESL license.

In addition to the 8 Core Courses, all candidates for the ESL license must:

  • demonstrate proficiency in a second language at the intermediate level (251 level course)
  • receive a passing score on the Praxis II Exam for English as a Second Language

Students must complete a program plan with an advisor before enrolling for courses.

ESL/BE Core Courses (24 credits)

  1. Introduction to ESL and Bilingual-Bicultural Education CIGENRL/ESL 350/550. 3cr.
  2. Survey of Educational Linguistics CIGENRL/ESL 310/510. 3cr.
  3. Seminar in ESL/Bilingual Education CIGENRL/ESL 354. 3cr.
  4. The Spoken Language and Discourse Analysis CIGENRL/ESL 320/520. 3cr.
  5. Teaching English Grammar in the ESL/BE Classroom CIGENRL/ESL 330/530. 3cr.
  6. ESL Methods and Curriculum CIGENRL/ESL 403/603. 3cr.
  7. Assessment in the ESL/Bilingual Classroom CIGENRL/ESL 405/605. 3cr.
  8. Field Study CIFLD 492 3 cr.

Candidates for the Bilingual Education (BE) License must complete the requirements for the ESL license listed above and in addition they must complete:

  • Teaching Content in the Bilingual Classroom CIGENRL/ESL 455/655(3cr.)
  • one of the following:

    For Spanish Speakers:
    CHICANO 310/510 History of Chicanos in the U.S.
    OR
    CHICANO 320/520 Politics of the Chicano
    OR
    For speakers of languages other than Spanish:
    RACEETH 380/580 Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice: Issues for Helping Professionals
  • Submit a portfolio that demonstrates the linguistic and cultural proficiency necessary to instruct K-12 students in a language other than English. In order to meet the requirements for linguistic and cultural proficiency, additional courses may be recommended by the program advisor

All courses except Field Study are cross-listed in the departments of Curriculum and Instruction and Languages and Literatures; in any given semester a course may be listed in the timetable under one or the other department.