Thank you very much.  I'm happy to know that we actually do use some of the materials you describe in our classes. We should do more.  The reading development stages and the video were especially helpful. 
-----Original Message-----
From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Wrigley, Heide
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 7:27 PM
To: specialtopics at nifl.gov
Subject: [SpecialTopics 285] Re: [Special Topics] authentic materials forlow literate adult ESL learners - document literacy


Hi, Joanne and others 
 
As many of you know by now, one of the major findings of the What Works Study was that a set of instructional strategies we clustered under the heading of "Bringing in the Outside" made a significant difference in learner outcomes. 
 
This finding is consistent with other research (Sticht, Purcell-Gates) that points to the importance of keeping adult language and literacy connected to the language and literacy tasks that students encounter in their daily lives (in the community; at work; in training). 
 
It is indeed difficult to find authentic materials that are accessible to first level learners, especially if you are looking for "connected text" (written pieces that use paragraphs as part of prose literacy). Examples of document literacy, particularly environmental print, are much easier to find and they provide a great many opportunities to develop sight words, read for meaning, skim and scan for specific information, compare and contrast various texts and develop critical literacy (do we really think that this medicine will flush out fat and make us slim and thin?)- 
 
Here is a listing that provides a great starting point (more on connected text later) 
 
1. Authentic real life products that students can identify and talk about (what is it? Where do you find it? What is it for? Do you like it?) - these can include cans of food from the store, soft drink cans, fast food bags or wrappers; toothpaste tubes, aspirin bottles. Students can work in groups to discuss and categories or fill in charts - it's a great starting point for low level learners. If you want to see how these materials can be used as part of an assessment, go to www.clese.org <http://www.clese.org/>  and click on "Reading Demonstration" and you'll see me work with Bessima, a woman from Bosnia who is a refugee who had never had the opportunity to go to school. 
 
If you work with learners who don't have much experience with reading and writing in their own language, real materials (products, not just pictures) make a lot of sense as a starting point. 
 
You then can move on to using print that students often see and are probably interested in and that contains lots of picture support. 
 
2. Grocery flyers, Sunday paper inserts, Home Depot ads and catalogues (tools, gear; department store) 
 
 
3. Then you may want to move to environmental print that has some pictures (just because it's not as intimidating as print alone)
Ads are great (you can have students design their own); TV schedules; magazine articles ("How to" are sometimes accessible but you may want to just start with the headings and pictures); brochures
 
4. Next comes environmental print that does not have visual support but still reflects every day tasks. These might include: 
Lottery tickets; Penny Saver type ads; simple medicine labels, simple maps; utility bills; yard sale announcements; street signs; signs in and around the airport, etc;  
 
Basic reading development tends to move through the following stages
*        from recognition of common products and labels as a whole (how else would anyone manage to shop)
*        to being able to recognize a word when the product name appears clearly in a photograph with the logo prominent
*        to being able to read the word in question on a piece of paper when visual support is not there  (e.g., if Coca Cola or Crest is written on a drawing of a can and toothpaste
*        to being able to manipulate words (which word says "coca" which word says "cola"), 
*        to being able to manipulate the string of letters the word represents (if we take out the "c" in cola - what word is left?) 
*        to being able to decode simple words (Cola and Lola; Mac and pack) 
 
You can then, of course, use the products you've worked with, and categorize them into sound patterns so that you don't have to do decontextualized phonics work, but can keep going back to real words that students recognize as you introduce new words that follow the same pattern. The beauty here is that you can use real products that the students know about and use at home (they can copy the labels at home and bring them in and do various forms of Word Sorts). We don't see these types of activities in textbooks, since publishers, for good reason, don't use real products. 
 
By the way, even when doing phonics and decoding work with low level learners, I would still continue with recognitions and comprehension work around real things (including newspaper headlines or magazine articles on common topics), since comprehension is where the rubber hits the road in reading. 
 
More on connected text later - and I apologize Joanne if your learners are at much higher levels of proficiency than what is indicated here 
 
All the best 
 
Soon more 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Hartel, Joanne
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 12:49 PM
To: specialtopics at nifl.gov
Subject: [SpecialTopics 278] [Special Topics] What Works Study for Adult ESLLiteracy Students
 
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. 
-------------------------------
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