I just want to emphasize that the vocabulary is the only area I've noticed a real difference.  As far as learning grammar structures, speaking and writing, I haven't noticed that "the kids" have any advantage over their older counterparts.

Sarah Young <sarah at cal.org> wrote:  It does seem that it's difficult to find districts that will allow older
adolescents to enroll in high schools. In my experience with a few high
school programs in the suburbs of Washington, DC., they will allow older
adolescents to stay in high school if they demonstrate commitment to
their education and don't prove to be discipline problems. One of my
adult ESL students, a young guy in his late 20s, is married to another
immigrant who attends one of the local high schools. She is 24. She's
one of only two older students at the high school, and it's no secret
that she is a lot older than the other students, but many of them look
up to her as a role model. 

Is anyone out there working at a newcomer high school or a transitional
ESL high school? Is there anything we can take from those programs and
use in our adult ESL classes, for those adolecents who aren't able to
enroll in one of these alternative ed programs? From what I understand,
newcomer schools tend to provide a shorter length of intensive English
and content instruction in order to "catch students up" as quickly as
possible and prepare them to join a traditional high school program.
Newcomer schools often focus their services on those students who had
limited schooling in their countries. Transitional ESL high schools tend
to be for older students who may not be able to attend traditional high
schools for work or family reasons, but who need focused English
instruction in order to join an adult secondary education program. 

Glenda Rose mentioned the difference between how much faster some young
adults learn English vocabulary than their older counterparts. If it's
true, as we see in our own experiences, that adolescents might be able
to acquire a second language faster than some older adults, how can we
pair adolescents and adults together in an adult ESL class so that the
adults can benefit from some of the adolescents' language skills and the
adolescents can benefit from the adults' life skills? 

Sarah Young
Center for Applied Linguistics
4646 40th St. NW
Washington, DC 20016

Phone: (202) 362-0700 ext. 529
Fax: (202) 362-3740
Web: www.cal.org 
Email: sarah at cal.org
CAL: "Improving communication through better understanding of language
and culture"


-----Original Message-----
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of ylerew at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 8:56 AM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: Re: [EnglishLanguage] Adolescents in adult ESOL classes
Importance: Low

Could you tell me more about your comment youth have tried to get into
high school but they can't get in. Why is that so? It sounds that they
within the age of attendance. Is it just a misunderstanding/translation
problem about "secondaria"? If so, is there a need for educating the
school district personnel around that?

Or is the district reluctant to admit even those under 21 (or whatever
the year is in your state) that the district feels may not succeed or
graduate? In SD, we encountered the attitude that if students were over
18 (even over 16 in some cases) and didn't have transferrable credits,
the high schools strongly discouraged them from entering and referred
them to adult ed programs instead.

I agree with you, that for many young people, high school would be a
better option than adult ed. Given the limited funding of adult ed, and
therefore limited hours of instruction provided, high school can offer
more. High schools have everything from science labs to subsidized
lunches, none of which exist in adult ed. Also, those youth that need
more adult guidance and supervision may not get that support in adult
ed.

On the other hand, some young people with adult responsibilities (say
they are working until past midnight and don't wake up for school in the
morning) may start in a traditional high school but eventually drop out.
Or those that are significantly older, in years and in maturity, than
their high school peers may not feel that they fit in high school.

What are other people's thoughts about this decision regarding high
school versus adult ed? Who should make the decision? What information
is needed? What is the role of those of us in adult ed in this
decision?

Also, I would be interested in learning about other options people have
found that work for ESOL youth. What about Job Corps, Alternative High
Schools, YouthBuild?

Thanks!
Yvonne Lerew

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