Acronyms

Lawyers are no strangers to acronyms and abbreviations. However, for those of us teaching U.S. legal writing to international students, knowing also a few acronyms related to English language learning couldn't hurt.

Here are a few you might run across:

• EFL = English as a Foreign Language (studying English in a non-English-speaking country)
• ESL = English as a Second Language (studying English as a non-native speaker in a country where English is spoken)
• L1 = "Language 1" = the student's native (primary or first acquired) language
• L2 = "Language 2" = the language being learned or studied
• TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (also the name of an association, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.)
• TOEFL = Test of English as a Foreign Language
• NNS = Non-Native Speaker
• NS = Native Speaker
• ESP = English for Specific Purposes / English for Special Purposes
• EAP = English for Academic Purposes
• IEP = Intensive English program

For additional examples, see this website: http://iteslj.org/acronyms.html