English Reading Demystified
Find English Reading Demystified in the main ESL resource library on the ATLAS website.
The links here will take you to the introductory page for this resource, which includes demonstrations of code-cracking activities, video clips from Adult Basic Education (ABE) classrooms, and an introduction to a scope and sequence that can enhance your current teaching of ESL reading. After following the links here, click on English Code Crackers – Tests & Tools and More Code Crackers Resources in the right-hand menu to access further resources on this topic.
Background
The content for this multi-modal resource stemmed from a study circle of four adult English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers whose learners ranged from pre-literacy to advanced levels of ESL instruction. The educational backgrounds of these learners varied widely, but a significant number have had limited formal education and many never acquired literacy in their native language.
The teachers observed their English Language Learners (ELLs) struggling with various elements of alphabetic print literacy including phonemic awareness, phonics, print awareness, fluency, comprehension, and writing. They noticed that the difficulties ELLs experience are extremely similar to the difficulties experienced by learners in another field of literacy: dyslexia.
To enhance their own practice and to contribute to an area with limited research, they completed a study circle that intentionally connected adult ESL literacy and K-12 dyslexia/reading disabilities education.
While the two contexts are different in many ways and these language learners were likely not dyslexic (there is currently no way to diagnose ELLs), they found much that overlaps. By purposefully learning more about instruction for learners with dyslexia, they enhanced their own teaching of adult language learners across all levels.