I work at a a community-based adult education program.  We run two levels of ESL literacy classes, one for beginning speakers who may not be literate in their native languages or in English (although some in this level can read and write in a non-Roman alphabet.)  The other literacy class is for students who know the alphabet and can read very simple text. Both classes work with written material that is controlled for useful, every day vocabulary, length of sentences, and grammar.  In both levels, it is typical for students to be  better at reading than at writing.  We use a combination of a structured approach, including phonics, and more traditional ESL approaches that include listening and speaking activities. The students come from many different countries, including Haiti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nepal, and some Central American countries. I have two questions: 

1. I don't know of any standardized reading assessments for low level ESOL students.  I think the Woodcock-Johnson Basic Reading Skills Tests were developed for native speakers of English.  Was the comprehension subtest controlled for vocabulary that would be unfamiliar to someone who is a beginning speaker? In my experience teaching ESL literacy, ESOL students do not do well with nonsense words because they can't relate or get any meaning from them.  Also it is difficult for the test administrator to judge correct pronunciation of words and separate out issues due to second language interference.

2. I've always had difficulty using authentic materials with beginning literacy students.  Can you suggest ways to use them without simplifying them so much that they don't resemble the real thing? 

Thanks for all of your work.  I think this will be very useful to the field.