I absolutely agree with this. 

 

We've newly formed a "literacy department" at our library, but struggle to
communicate with the rest of the staff and patrons exactly what we do and
who we serve. The word "literacy" poses an additional problem to the public,
most people have many mixed ideas about what this word means. I'd LOVE a
discussion of this changing word. 

 

Thank you,

 

Molly Elkins
Literacy Specialist
Douglas County Libraries
Phillip S. Miller Library
  100 S. Wilcox Street
  Castle Rock CO 80104
  Map
<http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&addtohistory=&formtype=addr
ess&searchtype=address&cat=&address=100%20S%20Wilcox%20St&city=Castle%20Rock
&state=CO&zipcode=80104%2d1911&search=Get%2bMap> 
Phone: (303)791-READ 

Fax: (303) 688-7655
Email: melkins at dclibraries.org
Web: www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org <http://www.douglascountylibraries.org/>


  _____  

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Ted Klein
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 6:14 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2102] Re: Topics for the list 2007, 2008

 

Lynda,

 

I would like to see a serious discussion on the current meaning(s) of the
word "literacy." I recently polled a number of my long-term ESL colleagues
and most of us, including yours truly, tend to accept the semantically and
historically original meaning, "the ability to read and write."  Now the
limits seem to be changing and expanding quite a bit. Either we need
extensive agreement on something that is mutually realistic or we need to
clarify and make it "graphic literacy," "communication literacy," and/or
something more tangible. If we are going to talk about it, we need to know
what it really is. When I first heard of NIFL, I thought that it was all
about reading, which interests me less than language teaching methodologies,
techniques, approaches, the application of phonology, cultural factors and
measurement in total L2 acquisition. NIFL seems to represent much more than
my original interpretation. 

 

Thank you.

 

Ted Klein

Lake Travis in Texas

www.tedklein-ESL.com

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Lynda Terrill <mailto:lterrill at cal.org>  

To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov 

Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 11:48 AM

Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2101] Topics for the list 2007, 2008

 

Dear subscribers,

 

I'd like to sum up the topics the list discussed last year and also to look
forward to possible topics of discussion this year on the list.  

 

 First, I want to say that my favorite thing about this list community is
that so many of you bring up  topics of interest and concern and so many of
you respond so quickly. In fact, this is a subscriber -centered list and, to
me, that makes this list a powerful tool. 

 

In 2007, we had several successful guest facilitated discussions and we
spent some time in the fall sharing resources in a focused and reflective
way, but you brought up and worked on many  other important topics as well


 

Last year there were guest facilitated discussions on 

*	workplace ESL 
*	teaching writing to adult English language learners 
*	adult ESL content standards 
*	practical strategies for working with literacy-level learners. 

 

In addition to the focused sharing of resources, we also had the yearly
discussion and sharing about TESOL/COABE sessions (as we will again).  

 

Other topics you brought up-- which were sometimes part of the above
discussions or offshoots of them-- included the following: 

*	immigration, citizenship preparation, and EL/civics 
*	native language literacy 
*	bilingual classes 
*	phonemics and pronunciation\ 
*	reading aloud in adult ESL classes 
*	multilevel classes; 
*	vocabulary acquisition 
*	offering a menu of  classes rather than general ESL classes; 
*	technology and distance learning. 

 

By February 11, will you send your suggestions to the list for "special"
discussions?  

 

Thanks, and, as always, please bring to the list issues related to teaching
adult ESL as they come up.   .    

 

Sincerely,

 

Lynda Terrill

List moderator

lterrill at cal.org

 

 

 

 

 

 


  _____  


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