Improving Adult Literacy Instruction Options for Practice and Research (2012) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
8 Language and Literacy Development of English Language Learners
8 Language and Literacy Development of English Language Learners
Pages 206-235
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English language learners are the largest group enrolled in adult education programs, with 43 percent of adult learners enrolled in English as a second language (ESL) programs in the 2001-2002 program year (Tamassia et al., 2007)
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that influence the development of literacy in a second language. Part three identifies practices to develop language and literacy instruction that warrant application and further study with adults developing their English language and literacy skills outside school.
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Given the limited research on the literacy development of adult English language learners in the United States, we also draw from a broader base of knowledge on second language and literacy development, which includes relatively well-educated adults and young children in K-12 education. Because a main challenge of literacy development for this population is learning a second language, we review research related to the development of both spoken and written language.
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(2007) find that adult native speakers and English language learners tend to have different patterns of strengths and weaknesses as beginning readers.
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These factors include degree and type of first language knowledge, education level, English language proficiency, age, aptitude for language, reading and learning disabilities, and cultural and background knowledge. First Language Knowledge and Education Level Among adults, years of education in the primary language correlates with English literacy development (Condelli, Wrigley, and Yoon, 2009; Fitzgerald and Young, 1997; Strucker and Davidson, 2003)
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. The degree of overlap appears to depend on such factors as the age at which the second language was learned and second language proficiency.
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Literacy skills across languages and possibilities for transfer. Transfer from a native language to English depends on the overlap in characteristics between the two languages.
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. If adult English learners are not literate in their first language, then literacy development in English has to include instruction to develop sensitivity to the phonological units of English, the English alphabet, and the mappings at both phonemes and larger units.
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English Language Proficiency For young language learners, proficiency with speaking English strongly predicts growth in English reading comprehension, and those with higher English proficiency reach reading comprehension levels of their native speaker peers (Kieffer, 2008)
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Most adult language learners, especially if they were born in the United States, report having good speaking skills, but according to the NAAL only a third had literacy skills beyond the basic level (Wrigley et al., 2009)
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(The report did not state how many of the native speakers were secondgeneration immigrants or Generation 1.5 who had not completed their education.) Age An important question in the teaching of adults is whether age affects the ability to acquire spoken and written language.
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Regardless of the underlying explanation, age constraints on language learning may help to explain slower growth in older adults' reading comprehension in general or second language reading comprehension (Alamprese, 2009) and other basic reading skills (Condelli, Wrigley, and Yoon, 2009)
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. More research is needed to determine how best to diagnose and intervene to develop literacy of both adult English native speakers and English language learners who have disabilities.
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. While these contextual factors affect literacy instruction and performance for native English speakers, they are especially important to consider in practice and research with adults learning a second language, because these adults bring more diverse cultural and educational backgrounds and literacy experiences.
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APPROACHES TO SECOND LANGUAGE LITERACY INSTRUCTION This section describes promising approaches to consider in the development of effective second language literacy instruction for adult learners. We draw on three sources of information.
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in college foreign language classes. In one study of 256 adults in ESL programs in the United Kingdom, however, the main factor that predicted increased BOX 8-1 Task-Based Language Teaching The task-based language teaching method is a promising approach that in tegrates explicit instruction and implicit learning and emphasizes that language is learned from communications used to accomplish certain tasks and goals (Ellis, 2005; Long and Crookes, 1992; Robinson and Ellis, 2008)
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Explicit Teaching A principle of learning is that most students have trouble discovering important principles on their own, without careful guidance, scaffolding, or well-crafted materials. English language learners are usually exposed to much more input than they can process, and learners continually test hypotheses and filter input through knowledge of their first language.
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. Sometimes derided as "drill and kill," direct and explicit instruction simply means making the components and requirements of complex literacy tasks obvious and salient, and it generally can be done in motivating ways.
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. As described in Chapter 3, adult literacy instruction often includes authentic reading materials.
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have compiled research-based recommendations for helping adolescent newcomers in schools who have limited English proficiencies and have difficulty especially with reading and writing academic texts. The literacy difficulties of these students may stem from limited oral proficiency in English, limited exposure to English texts, and possible gaps in background knowledge for the topic.
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. As the name implies, this program targets all students, both native speakers and English language learners.
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. Thus, it is important not to isolate language learners from native speakers and to maximize exposure to the second language using many different venues.
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. Writing As for native speakers, writing is an essential part of instruction for adult language learners.
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These include significant variability in first language background, educational level, second language proficiency, length of time in the new country, acculturation and familiarity with second language writing contexts, and the purposes and needs for writing. This complex web of factors has yet to be considered in a comprehensive model of second language writing development (Cumming, in press)
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Affective Aspects of Learning and Instruction Field research indicates the importance of attending to the affective aspects of instruction (Wrigley, 2009) , although more systematic research on English language learners' affective responses to literacy instruction is needed to develop motivating and supportive approaches.
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assessment of affective and psychological outcomes. Learner Background and Existing Proficiencies The heterogeneity of adult English language learners requires having systematic ways to assess the backgrounds and such factors as first and second language and literacy proficiencies that influence English literacy development.
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Assessment of Incremental Progress in All of the Subcomponents of Spoken and Written Language Another challenge in assessing language learners is the complexity of language acquisition. Understanding spoken or written language requires integrating multiple sources of information, such as word meanings, syntactic rules, and background knowledge.
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Research on effective practices for developing English language and literacy in adults is severely limited, especially those with low levels of education and literacy in the first language. Thus, this chapter reviews three additional sources of information to identify promising practices to study further with adult English language learners: (1)
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identify or develop the technologies that can facilitate the learning of language and literacy skills for adult English language learners who differ in their knowledge of English language and literacy, first language literacy, and educational and linguistic backgrounds; and (d) specify the training and supports instructors need to implement the instructional approaches effectively.
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and documentation of outcomes for adult language learners. • omprehensive description and analysis of the components of effective pro C grams at multiple levels (instructional content, teaching practices, student interactions, and so on)
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