Gina,

I posted your message to the NIFL Family Literacy Discussion List and  
thought you might be interested in the responses we got there. One  
family literacy subscriber posted to the ELL Discussion List as well,  
so I did not repeat her post here. Hope these are helpful.



Gina,

I am not going to answer your questions per se, but I want to tell  
you a story.  This is a story about a wonderful teacher who used folk  
tales to teach her adult ELL students. I had the privilege of  
observing the process.

First, she told them (in English) the story of the Goose that Laid  
the Golden Egg.  She used a book with the most colorful pictures, and  
she even dramatized the events. Then, she asked them if they had ever  
heard anything like this in their home countries.  "Do you have a  
story in your culture and in your language that is like this one?"

Amazed at their responses, she turned to her teacher's aide. "You  
have to get this down on tape," she said.

Every person in the room could recite a similar story, and there were  
at least six languages and several cultures represented in the class.  
They wrote as much as they were able and drew pictures to illustrate  
their ideas.  The excitement grew and expanded into a book of  
"Universal Folk Tales."

That was at least 15 years ago, and I don't remember the teacher's  
name, but I do remember that there was no question that these  
students were motivated, responsive, and validated.

So, Gina, I hope your love of literature includes children's books.   
There is a great body of quality literature that will prove both  
fruitful and delightful for teaching ELL adults.

Meta Potts (mwpefp at comcast.net)
FOCUS on Literacy
Glen Allen, VA



To add to Meta's "Goose" story: I rewrote "The Three Pigs in a "play"  
form for 6 people and used the "th" sound  a lot, for my mostly  
Spanish speakers.  Three groups of six studied and assigned  
themselves parts and presented it to the class.  I had 1/2 men and  
one 1/2 women and  my class had real beginners through fairly high  
level speakers.  I divided the groups so eacvh one had an advanced  
speaker and a beginning speaker.  They really helped each other!
And all knew the story in their own languages

I have also used Aesop for lots of activities in the classroom.

Rae Connors (arconn at juno.com)





I sometimes pick up themes in children's lit to extend for my adults in
adult lit.  With "Horton Hears a Who," I used George Orwell's short
story "Shooting an Elephant."  MotheRead uses lots of Adult Lit., but
you probably know this.  They use a wonderful Alice Walker short with
"Peter's Chair," to which I added a bit from Margery Williams'
"Velveteen Rabbit" (does that count?).  With "Goggles,"  Motheread uses
that famous 1st intro. paragraph from Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, to
which I added a selection from Beowulf.

Betty.Abadia at craven.k12.nc.us




On Dec 9, 2006, at 10:21 AM, <ginabina2u at verizon.net>  
<ginabina2u at verizon.net> wrote:


> Since I'm new to this discussion board, I'll first introduce  

> myself: I'm a graduate student in the TESOL program at UMCP, with  

> the goal of teaching English to adult immigrants.  I'm very  

> interested in using literature (poetry, novellas, plays, folktales,  

> myths, novels...) in teaching adult ELLs.  And, I'm currently  

> writing a paper on the topic.

>

> I have several "burning" questions for anyone who's had experience  

> with this approach, and would greatly appreciate any insights you  

> might have.

>

> Here's some background: I'm interested in using literature  

> aesthetically (rather than efferently) in teaching ESL adults.  In  

> other words, I want to share my passion for literature with my  

> students -- to engage them in the literary process (interacting  

> with the literature, and thinking about how it applies to their own  

> life experiences) -- not use it merely to teach grammar.  It's  

> important to me that literature be used appropriately in the  

> classroom... the way the authors intended it to be used.  I'm also  

> very interested in how culture plays a (huge) role in literature...  

> and how a teacher can take advantage of this and use literature to  

> not only teach English, but also to promote cultural awareness (of  

> different cultures, as well as those of the students) and  

> sensitivity in the classroom.

>

> As part of my research paper, I'm required to interview a teacher  

> who has (or has had) experience with teaching literature to adult  

> ESL students.  You may have taught literature aesthetically or  

> efferently, or both.  That's fine.  I'd like to hear about your  

> experiences.  Below are my questions:

>

> 1) What has worked for you in using literature to teach ESL  

> adults?  What hasn't?  Why?

>

> 2) Have you had any difficulty motivating and engaging adults in  

> learning English through literature?

>

> 3) Is a certain level of English language proficiency necessary  

> before using literature in the adult classroom?  Is it possible to  

> use literature with low level students?

>

> 4) If you've used literature with low level adult students, what  

> has worked and what hasn't?

>

> 5) Do you have any literature lesson plan ideas for adults (at any  

> level) that have especially worked for you?

>

> 6) In your opinion, are there any circumstances in which using  

> literature for ESL adults isn't recommended?

>

> 7) How would you respond to the criticism that teaching literature  

> is impractical for adults?  (Common gripes: "ESL adults need to  

> learn English to survive... literature is 'fluff' and useless...    

> adults are too busy to sit around and discuss literature... in the  

> time they *do* have, they should be learning practical English.")

>

> A lot of questions, I know.  If you haven't the time to answer all  

> of them, I'm *most* interested in questions 2, 5, 6, and 7.

>

> I look forward to reading your comments!

>

> Thanks so much,

>

> Gina Verbrugge

> Graduate Student

> University of Maryland, College Park

> ginabina2u at verizon.net

>

>

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult English Language Learners mailing list

> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov

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> Message sent to gprice at famlit.org.

>


Gail J. Price
Multimedia Specialist
National Center for Family Literacy
325 West Main Street, Suite 300
Louisville, KY 40205

Phone: 502 584-1133, ext. 112
Fax: 502 584-0172


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