Before Second Language Acquisition, I did not know that there were courses, studies, theories, and a multitude of people who dedicate their lives to researching how people learn a second language. Since I have been exposed to several languages but have never pursued bilingualism seriously, I did not know the details of what could affect a person’s language learning. Now, with a better understanding of Ortega’s Second Language Acquisition, I am able to see factors such as a learner’s age, motivation, environment, individual differences, cognition, and much more that are incorporated in the process of learning a language. This new understanding of second language acquisition impacted my professional practice in a series of ways, one of which is how I can support my ELL students. In America, when ESL students are learning or have newly learned English, their academic performance in math, science, history, and English language arts can be the result of their language gap (Ortega, 20...