Literacy Links

FREE & INEXPENSIVE

The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) is publishing a quarterly newsletter, Focus on Basics (FOB). This newsletter will feature articles written by practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and staff developers in an effort to foster continuous communication between researchers and practitioners. Subscription rates are $8.00 for one year. The newsletter can also be downloaded at the following Web address: http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=31

The Texas Adult Literacy Clearinghouse has new updated bibliographies. These bibliographies list all of the holdings of the Clearinghouse that are available on loan. The following is a list of the 13 bibliographies available:

Citizenship, ESL, Family Literacy, GED, Language Arts, Life skills, Math, Program and Professional Development, Reading, Spanish Materials, Special Populations, Study Skills, and Workforce Literacy. To obtain your free copies call the Clearinghouse at (800) 441-7323.

A great ESL Web site to check out is Dave's ESL Cafe. This site contains a vast amount of information including a discussion center, idiom page, quote page, job center, quiz center, idea page, and additional links. A great site for teachers and students! The address is:

http://www.eslcafe.com/

Learner-Centered ESL Instruction:

Individual Needs Assessment by Tom Mueller of Laubach Literacy Action is a valuable article published in the Literacy Practitioner. It is geared towards anyone who works with ESL students. It gives some valuable suggestions on interviewing new students on "Why does this person want to learn English?" The article proceeds in demonstrating how to take this information and organize it in a way to be useful in developing lessons. The article gives sample questions to ask the students along with tips on gathering this information with small group or one-on-one settings. For a free copy of the article, please contact the Texas Adult Literacy Clearinghouse at (800) 441-7323.