Lynne makes a good point about picture dictionaries. I would definitely want
to have picture dictionaries available, either as the "text" for the class,
or have a set in the classroom at all times.  Vocabulary development is
definitely a primary concern at this level, and with classes that have a
variety of native languages in them, pictures can be very helpful.  I've
even used picture dictionaries in doing needs assessment with students, both
overtly (getting them to point out what pictures/pages illustrate topics
that interest them) or more subtly (watching and noting which pictures/pages
they gravitate toward and spend more time examining).

There are a number of picture dictionaries out there and I think choosing
the one right for you and your students really comes down to personal
preferences about points such as the following:
- photos vs. illustrations
- accompanying materials are available
- inclusion of short activities or exercises
- levels (a basic level with fewer pictures and vocabulary per page or unit,

  more white space, etc.)
- how the pictures and vocabulary are arranged or grouped and how well it 
  maps to your curriculum or students' needs.

One picture dictionary that I found helpful to have access to, in addition
to the more traditional ones, was English for Everyday Activities: A Picture
Process Dictionary from New Reader's Press.  This picture dictionary focuses
on a variety of actions and processes (from using an ATM machine to making
rice) and provides captions with vocabulary for each picture of a step in
the process.  While the captions, even in the basic level, were too much for
literacy students, the visuals of processes provided a context that was
great.

I will say that Colleen reminded me of a very good point, too. Some literacy
students do find it difficult to make the leap from three dimensions to two.
I found students for whom pictures were not as obviously representational as
they were to me.  I often muddled through in those cases, starting with
concrete things in the classroom (chairs, pencils, etc.) and their
corresponding pictures.  But I'd welcome hearing anyone else's experiences
in dealing with that.

MaryAnn



MaryAnn Florez
Project Director
Adult Education Professional Development Center
D.C. LEARNs
1612 K Street, N.W. Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
202/331-0141, x25 (tel)
202/331-0143 (fax)
www.dclearns.org/aepdc 
mflorez at dclearns.org  

 

 

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and resources.

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-----Original Message-----
From: Lynne Wilkins [mailto:lwilkins at mills.edu] 
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 10:12 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List; Betsy Wong
Cc: 'The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List'
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 1951] Re: Practical Strategies for Working
withLiteracy-Level Adult English Language Learners

Hello to all,

I think this will be an important discussion. And I'm looking forward to
sharing and learning a lot. To start, I'd like to humbly suggest that
it would be better for the students to have their own picture
dictionary, particularly the Heinle Picture Dictionary, and to have
access to the integrated text, opposite of the situation below. It's
vocabulary that is so vital to be able to communicate anything and
being able to point to a picture and have someone else give you the
word is a wonderful beginning, literate or not. The pix dictionary
would be at home, in the stores, on the bus, etc. Not just in the
classroom.

Lynne Wilkins
--
Lynne Wilkins, Director, Corporate Training for Industry
Associate Director for Programs, The English Center
P.O. Box 9968, Oakland, CA 94613
(510)430-2285
lwilkins at mills.edu
www.eciw.org


Quoting Betsy Wong <betsywong at comcast.net>:


>  Happy Monday, Everyone!  And welcome to this discussion on working

> with

> literacy level learners. As teachers and mentors to adult ESL

> teachers, one

> of the questions that we frequently hear is, "What can I do with my

> literacy

> learners?"  We hope that the discussion that we will all have this

> week will

> address that question and more.

>

>

>

> Where to start?  How about the way we start a class, by activating

> prior

> knowledge and experiences and clarifying some of the expectations and

> goals

> of our discussions over the next few days?  Following is the

> description of

> a representative adult ESL literacy level class.  We offer it as a

> discussion starter.  Take a look at it and think about what questions

> and

> comments it brings to your minds.  For example:

>

>

>

> - What would be running through your mind, as the teacher walking

> into this

> class?

>

> - What pieces of information do you think are important here?

>

> - How would you find out the students' needs and goals?

>

> - What would you do the first night?

>

> - What would you do to make students feel comfortable and secure?

>

> - How similar or different is this from your experiences with

> literacy level

> classes?

>

> - What other points would you add or revise in a scenario like this,

> based

> on your experiences?

>

>

>

> The Class/Classroom

>

> The class is offered as part of a lifeskills-based curriculum.  It

> meets in

> a high school classroom two nights a week for two hours each night

> for a

> total of twelve weeks.  Learners buy a textbook and workbook at the

> "literacy" level of an integrated textbook series used by the

> program.  They

> have access to class sets of picture dictionaries and the teacher has

> access

> to a variety of reproducible literacy materials and flashcards. The

> classroom walls have a lot of high school-oriented print, so much so

> that

> the adult ESL teacher often uses flipchart paper to cover it up, so

> students

> don't experience overload.

>

>

>

> The Students

>

> The students all tested as literacy level students, but still exhibit

> important differences.  For example, Amina has never been to school

> in her

> native Somalia, does not speak any English, and does not read or

> write in

> any language. Gustavo went to school for three years in El Salvador.

> He

> speaks almost no English and has minimal literacy skills in Spanish.

> Maria

> also went to school for three years in El Salvador, but she converses

> easily

> in English and has a wide vocabulary. She can sight-read some

> high-frequency

> words in English and Spanish but cannot sound out words in either

> language

> that she does not know. Laxmi is a professional from Nepal who speaks

> and

> writes Bengali, but she doesn't know the Roman alphabet and speaks

> very

> little English. Alemseged is a senior citizen from Ethiopia and while

> he

> says he studied English among other subjects in his native Ethiopia,

> he was

> unable to read or write responses to even the simplest placement test

> questions. Rena was a language teacher in her native Tunisia. She has

> strong

> oral English language skills and is very comfortable and happy using

> her

> speaking and listening skills with her less accomplished classmates.

> However, when asked to read or write, she becomes more hesitant and

> less

> confident.

>

>

>

> As we said at the beginning, this is a way to get the conversation

> started.

> Think of it as that picture that starts out most units in ESL

> textbooks---there are all sorts of possibilities!

>

>

>

> Looking forward to our discussion.

>

>

>

> MaryAnn Florez

>

> and

>

> Betsy Lindeman Wong

>

>

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