Making the language lab available to the ESL students just seemed a natural extension of the foreign-language program, several school educators said.
"It's just such an important tool to get the kids speaking and listening," Preisel said. "You get more in one session here than in an entire year" in just a classroom.
For the non-English speakers, the chance to go through exercises slowly, to be able to repeat words and phrases, to hear themselves speak in English and to do so under teacher supervision seemed a perfect match with the lab's purpose, Moshi said.
"It wakes the kids up. It's still English, but it gets their interest. I think it's a great motivational tool," he said. "A lot of the ESL kids aren't computer-literate, so there's an added benefit — it's an introduction to computer literacy."