Introduction
This curated collection of activities, techniques and tools for teaching adult ESL learners with emergent literacy skills started in Fall 2018, when I took Dr. Maricel G. Santos's course Seminar in Teaching ESL in the Community at San Francisco State University.
Adult literacy learners (a.k.a. LESLLA learners or emergent readers), who usually receive six or fewer years of education in their home country (Florez & Terrill, 2003), are a special group of ESL learners that need more attention from scholars or TESOL practitioners. With considerable life experiences, many of them are ready to talk about their stories with their new friends in the new country in the new language. However, they are often viewed as beginning learners alone and are provided with beginning materials designed for adolescents, or worse, for children.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to learn a little more about LESLLA learners since I entered the M.A. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program in San Francisco State University. In my first semester, through the SHINE program, I became a teaching assistant at a literacy class in the community college and found that these learners understood and learned languages differently than I do. They had some learning strengths that the so-called "better-educated" ones did not do. My mentor teacher was a wonderful teacher and provided opportunities for these learners to see their own progress. It was a beautiful picture and urged me to consider LESLLA teaching more seriously.
This teaching toolkit is created according to Dr. Patsy Egan's five principles of teaching LESLLA learners (Vinogradov, 2008). You can see an introduction to each principle by clicking "1", "2", "3", "4", or "5" in the header. Activities, techniques, or tools are sorted by principle, skill/knowledge (e.g., reading, speaking, vocabulary), or material type (e.g., assessment, lesson plan); just check the sidebar on the left. You may also type in words in the "search" box at the top of the page to look for related materials.
I hope you find this site helpful, and you and your students enjoy your English lessons! Should there be comments, suggestions or questions, feel free to contact me at the email address below.
Sin Yee Chau
sinyeechaulai@gmail.com
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Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash
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Adult literacy learners (a.k.a. LESLLA learners or emergent readers), who usually receive six or fewer years of education in their home country (Florez & Terrill, 2003), are a special group of ESL learners that need more attention from scholars or TESOL practitioners. With considerable life experiences, many of them are ready to talk about their stories with their new friends in the new country in the new language. However, they are often viewed as beginning learners alone and are provided with beginning materials designed for adolescents, or worse, for children.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to learn a little more about LESLLA learners since I entered the M.A. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program in San Francisco State University. In my first semester, through the SHINE program, I became a teaching assistant at a literacy class in the community college and found that these learners understood and learned languages differently than I do. They had some learning strengths that the so-called "better-educated" ones did not do. My mentor teacher was a wonderful teacher and provided opportunities for these learners to see their own progress. It was a beautiful picture and urged me to consider LESLLA teaching more seriously.
This teaching toolkit is created according to Dr. Patsy Egan's five principles of teaching LESLLA learners (Vinogradov, 2008). You can see an introduction to each principle by clicking "1", "2", "3", "4", or "5" in the header. Activities, techniques, or tools are sorted by principle, skill/knowledge (e.g., reading, speaking, vocabulary), or material type (e.g., assessment, lesson plan); just check the sidebar on the left. You may also type in words in the "search" box at the top of the page to look for related materials.
I hope you find this site helpful, and you and your students enjoy your English lessons! Should there be comments, suggestions or questions, feel free to contact me at the email address below.
Sin Yee Chau
sinyeechaulai@gmail.com