For English learners, especially those who are new to American schools, even the most basic communication can be unnerving. With Foundations, teachers have an organized and efficient way to teach essential vocabulary, expressions, and grammar. Systematic, sequenced instruction supports students and teachers alike.

For English learners, proficiency in speaking English plays a critical role in reading and comprehension of English text. The components that appear to contribute to comprehension include vocabulary knowledge, listening comprehension, syntactical skills, and the ability to handle the metalinguistic aspects of language such as defining words. Oral vocabulary appears particularly important. (Lesaux & Geva, 2006).

In the Student Workbook, the phonic lessons and skills provide a great picture-text support for English learners. These lessons are for English learners who have not yet mastered speaking and listening in academic settings, and read at any level (from 3rd to 8th grade), but have great difficulty communicating in English.

A review of the research indicates that English learners acquire the language of daily life from social interactions, explicit instruction, and modeling of academic discussions on language forms and usage which greatly support growth. Verbal scaffolding extends language production beyond what students would be able to produce independently.