STUDY GROUP OUTLINE

1. Ms. Cromley states, “many adult literacy students have small vocabularies (about 15% larger than a 5th grader’s vocabulary).” (Pg 108) For ABE teachers: Have you observed students in your class who are unable to understand synonyms for common words that you would not identify as “big words?” For ESOL teachers: As students in your classes add words to their English vocabulary, do you find that they often do not know the word in their native language either? General: Does a limited, child-like vocabulary hinder your ability to teach (not their ability to learn)?
2. Adult students can draw on background knowledge to compensate for limited vocabulary. What knowledge are they most likely to refer to? (Pg 108)
3. Why do you think the author says, “When low-literate adults read about unfamiliar topics, they perform worse than children who are reading at the same reading level.”? (Pg 108) Have you observed this in your students?
4. How do you feel about this statement: “[Adult learners] . . . working memory is already as large as it will ever be.” (Pg 108)
5. Practical skills—“how-to” skills--seem to be easier to learn throughout life, according to Ms. Cromley. (Pg 108-109) Why do you think that is?
6. The ability to learn practical skills seems to peak between 40-59; the ability to learn school-type problem solving peaks in the mid-30s. (Pg 109) What implications does this have for adult education teachers and adult education students?
7. If you told your students that “reading comprehension drops about one grade level for every year after high school for people who do not continue to read (either in further education, at work, or recreational reading)” what would be their response? Would this information discourage them or would it motivate them to attend school regularly, completing their GED or English classes in the shortest possible time?
8. Research indicates that the education level of parents is a key factor in the vocabulary level and preparation for school of young children. Children of professors’ are spoken to and read to the most (11 million words per year); children of working-class parents are next (6 million); and children of parents on welfare are last (3 million). (Pg 110) Based on this information, what are the educational prospects for the children represented by parents in your class? Do you know how many children and/or grandchildren each student has? How could you use this information to motivate your students to read to their children more at home?
9. When teachers use familiar topics to teach new information, adult students understand and remember the new information better. (Pg 111) How can you correlate new information in next week’s lesson plan to information you are confident students already know?
10. The author urges teachers to discourage students from simply repeating their own experiences when they are asked to tell a story. (Pg 111) Why?
11. “The more students know about the real world, the harder it may be for them to ignore what they know.” (Pg 112) What implications does this statement have for teachers? Does the inability to imagine—to use imagination creatively—hamper your students?
12. One lesson suggestion is to create a book of anonymous student writings to use as reading material for later classes. (Pg 112) Have you done this, and, if so, did the students writing the stories like the idea and did the students who read the stories later have a greater interest in these stories than ones in commercial textbooks?
13. Explain this statement in your own words: “Whenever you teach adults something you deprive him or her [sic] the opportunity of discovering it.” (Pg 113)

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