Second language learners face countless obstacles in the classroom, including communication and comprehension limitations and difficulty building relationships with peers. Many teachers struggle to build an inclusive classroom environment and ensure all students, especially those with linguistic and other learning disadvantages, are learning. This…

Using communicative activities with learners from diverse cultures can create excitement and empathy while promoting the acquisition of English. This article offers ESL/EFL activities that foster interpersonal tolerance among students who have experienced intergroup conflict. The activities are based on the idea that there are four levels of…

Reviews the challenges that college-level English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs present to instructors and students. Offers suggestions for authentic language experiences in classroom settings. Analyzes the literature on language and literacy, whole language, and learning styles. Offers examples of thematic units tailored to elicit authentic…

Describes the steps involved in adapting the language experience approach for teaching second language learners in the regular classroom as: involving the discussion of student experiences and knowledge related to the text reading selection; recording student experiences and knowledge into written language; and considering student review or…

Describes an adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program using the Language Experience Approach and designed to serve immigrants and refugees. Discusses the use of educationally naive bilingual tutors and a combinatory instructional format. Argues that the program is pedagogically sound, cost effective, and encourages the students to take…

The Northern Native Language Project was constituted in June 1979 to produce a report which would present information on the present situation regarding language education schools in the project area of Ontario (James Bay, Nakina, and Sioux Lookout) and to make recommendations concerning appropriate action for the future. The introduction of the…

Argues that teachers of English as a second language at the secondary school level must consider the social, political, and economic needs, as well as the linguistic needs, of students. (EKN)

The experiences of a teacher of English as a second language in teaching reading in English to an enthusiastic and illiterate Ethiopian woman married to an American and living in the United States are described. The Ethiopian woman was eager to talk on the telephone, take messages for her husband, go to the store by herself, read to her…

Considers approaches to English-as-a-second-language instruction that utilize or encourage the use of story-telling to help participants share and grow, and use language, beyond the limits of pre-set, traditional curriculum. (Author/CB)

The Pima County Adult Education project undertook a demonstration project to provide English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) instruction to students with little or few reading skills. The project's objectives were to: enroll at least 20 students; provide 3 hours of literacy instruction weekly for at least 12 weeks in each of 2 sessions; document…

In Highgate Public School (Toronto, Ontario), resource personnel help regular classroom teachers to facilitate learning of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students mainstreamed into the regular classroom. One of the units successfully used at the school is described. (Author/CB)

A second grade teacher's use of storytelling to teach English language skills to both native speakers and learners of English as a second language (ESL) is described. The technique combines the concept of comprehensible input, the importance of stories and storytelling to children, and a commitment to teaching writing skills. Early in the day, all…

The adult English literacy program at the Phanat Nikhom Refugee Camp has developed techniques for actively engaging the sometimes reluctant students in the skill development process leading to literacy. A literacy warm-up chart used daily for five minutes develops the prereading skills of sequencing and left-to-right eye coordination; a variety of…

Case study reports on the use of language experience and a natural approach to learning languages in a dual-language (Spanish-English) kindergarten class. Descriptions of student writing activities in the classroom illustrate the process of literacy development in the first and second languages. The importance of trained bilingual teachers and…

During the 1979-1980 school year Project Primary Reading Objectives for Bilingual Education (P.R.O.B.E.) was involved in improving the rate of reading growth and cognitive development of four and five year olds from the Bronx, New York. In bilingual classes that were conducted primarily in Spanish, the 153 program participants received instruction…