| Summary: | Abstract
In 2000 a program of English as a Second Language
inservice provision was initiated by the Thursday Island
State High School in response to teacher and community
concerns about low literacy rates in Torres Strait, as
measured by the National Languages and Literacy Institute
of Australia Bandscales and other related difficulties. In
mid-May of that year an English as a Second Language
conference was held on Badu Island and was attended by
teachers from throughout Torres Strait. During the
conference, Susan Shepherd (Education Adviser English
Language Acquisition at Thursday Island State High School)
conducted a question-and-answer session dealing with some
of the most commonly asked questions: What is English as a
Second Language teaching? What is an English as a Second
Language learner? What is an English as a Second Language
school? Why is the students’ English not improving in my
school? Can we have learning support teachers? Why
shouldn’t the children’s home language be banned from the
school so that the students will learn English more
quickly? Why can’t the children understand more about what
they read? Why, if the local Creole is so much like
English, do we need special programs in English?
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