Teaching such students who have been left back in one language is the job of a bilingual teacher. The eligibility to be a bilingual teacher requires a bachelor's degree from an approved teacher education program. They should acquire a state-specific license after completing their degree program. Bilingual teachers are also known as ESL teachers. They must earn a certificate in ESL in addition to the degree and other needed qualifications. They may be teaching some other language to English speaking students or English to students speaking other languages. There has been continuing demand for such bilingual teachers. Mainly teachers act as facilitators or are also known as a coach, who uses classrooms and give presentations or individual instruction to make the students learn, understand and apply concepts.
Teachers can learn this way, and there are many ways by which one can become a bilingual teacher, and the regulations are different from state to state. To be a bilingual teacher in any public school, most teachers have acquired a teachers training program certificate. There are many universities that also give a bachelors or master's degree programs in bilingual and multilingual Education for people who have an inclination to teach another language. Some training programs are also held mainly for professionals who already possess a degree in another area and wish a transition to bilingual teaching careers.
A bilingual teacher needs to have a bachelor's degree or can also have one to two years of related experience and/or training preferred. They may have an appropriate certificate which is valid. It may be an Illinois Type 3 Elementary Certificate with Bilingual Education. A teacher with prior experience is preferred, though. There are lots of job opportunities for teachers as the demand has been increasing over the years; it all depends on the locality the student stays in, the grade level, and the subject to be taught. More opportunities are expected to rise as time passes. The posting of a teacher can be anywhere. This is the reason teachers leave their jobs in the initial years of their career.
Training is given to teachers who are interested in teaching. This helps in the efficient delivery of knowledge to students. They need to have their license before they can actually teach.
The average salary that is paid to the bilingual teacher is in the range of $20,000 to $25,000. There is not much hike in the salaries of bilingual teachers. The demand for this job is high because there are many candidates looking forward to learn other languages apart from their native language.