This collection of papers focuses on literacy and the special educational needs of speakers of English as a second language (ESL). In a paper entitled "Ethnic Minority Educational Needs in the 1980s," Gurnam Heire examines some of the changes in employment and training that have taken place over the past few years and how these affect the educational needs of ethnic minority communities. Jane McLaughlin's paper, "Creative Writing in English as a Second Language Work," makes a case for not neglecting the important part that writing can play in working with persons for whom English is a second language. In "Bilingual Teaching and ESL," Sufia Majid emphasizes the importance of the mother tongue and of the bilingual teacher in language and literacy work. Jane Rawlingson Mackillop draws on her experience in southern California in her paper, "Acquisition: A Common Factor in Teaching Literacy to Native and Non-Native Speakers." In the final paper, "Integrating First and Second Language Speakers of English," Frances Graham examines some of the possibilities and problems of mixed literacy provision for those for whom English is a first or second language. (MN)