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The relationship between the English CSF and the ESL Companion

An important element of the diagram on page 7 is the period of overlap between the English CSF and the ESL Companion. As ESL students move beyond the ESL Companion, the outcomes of the English CSF are likely to become more appropriate for describing their English language learning. However, reference to the curriculum focuses and learning outcomes expressed in the ESL Companion will continue to be relevant in the development of programs for students with an ESL background. When the outcomes of ESL students start to approximate the levels of the English CSF of their peers, the English CSF should be used instead of the ESL Companion.

It takes time to develop full control over a second language. Equally, it is recognised that students do not learn at uniform rates, and that their progress in reading, writing, speaking and listening may not correlate across the stages. Consequently no assumptions should be made about the time that students will take to progress through the stages of the ESL Companion. The stages described are those that are typical of ESL students in the first years of learning English. Students are still likely to require ESL support after they have progressed to the English CSF.