English as a Second Language

TCALL Resources

English Language Civics Resource Listing (On TCALL Library Search page use Broad Search Categories box to find library resources in this subject area, equivalent to the hard-copy bibliography.)

ESL Instructor Resources (On TCALL Library Search page use Broad Search Categories box to find library resources in this subject area, equivalent to the hard-copy bibliography.)

ESL - Program Resources (On TCALL Library Search page use Broad Search Categories box to find library resources in this subject area, equivalent to the hard-copy bibliography.)

 ESOL Orientation (Heath 2002)

Evaluating Phonological Skills in Adult ESOL Learners (Robin Lovrien Schwarz, M. Sp. Ed: LD, October 2006)

Games in the ESL Classroom (Crowther & Walsh, 1997)

Planning Literacy and Language Services for Texas' Limited English Proficient Workers: The Devil is in the Details

Teacher Action Research (Literacy Links, September 1999)

Teacher, Parents, and Students Working Together in the Limited English Proficient Home & Classroom (Ensle, 1998)

Technology (Literacy Links, December 1998)

The Transition from Adult Literacy ESL Programs to Academic Reading and Writing: Next Steps for English Language Learners, (Lisa Gardner Flores, Dominique T. Chlup, 2005)

  Things to do in the ESL Classroom  (ESL Professional Development Center, The University of Texas at San Antonio 2002)

Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks Resources

Texas Standardized Curriculum Framework (TSCF) Resources
NOTE: These resources are not related to the Texas Adult Education Content Standards adopted in 2007. They are based on an earlier set of curriculum frameworks widely used in Texas in the early 2000s, which were in turn adopted from a framework developed by the Florida Department of Education, Division of Workforce Development.

National Institute for Literacy's LINCS Resources

"English for Speakers of Other Languages Fact Sheet" from National LINCS

ESL National e-mail Discussion Group (facilitated by National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education)

For more information from a searchable nationwide adult education & literacy database, go to LINCSearch

Other Web Sites of Interest

Activities for ESL Students offers short practice activities for almost every ESL topic you can think of, at every level. There's no audio, but many of the activities include visuals. This is a project of The Internet TESL Journal.

CAELA -- The Center for Adult English Language Acquisition -- was created to help states build their capacity to promote English language learning and academic achievement of adults learning English. Funded by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), U.S. Department of Education, CAELA accomplishes its mission through building state capacity for improving the skills of teachers and administrators in adult ESL programs; developing an easy-to-use repository of resources that are accessible through the CAELA Web site; producing easily accessible materials that synthesize research and make applications to practice; developing a toolkit of training materials for professional developers; and providing technical assistance to adult ESL teachers, programs, and states.

The Center for Literacy -- Located at Baylor University's School of Social Work, the center's mission is to support research, development, and evaluation of programs and models that help people become proficient in reading, writing, and speaking English. Baylor's School of Social Work brings a distinctive faith-integrated approach to quality education.

Colorin Colorado - Designed by WETA's Reading Rockets, this website provides information, activities, and advice for Spanish-speaking parents and educators of English language learners.

Eating Well, Living Well – Website developed by San Diego Community College has free nutrition lessons for English language learners (ELL) at various levels and a resource list of free nutrition-related materials as well as special links for ELL teachers.  These materials, developed with federal funds, are designed for agencies that serve adults eligible for food stamps.

English for All - FREE, multimedia system for high-beginning level adult students. ESL/basic skills/life skills course includes twenty 15-minute video segments with real-life stories featuring a multi-ethnic cast and a friendly host, who explains language and skill content throughout each show. The 20 video segments can be accessed in streaming video online or as reproducible VHS tapes (a Clearinghouse loan item - call 800-441-READ to check them out). English for All Print Materials include over 400 pages of exercises and activities in Portable Document Format (PDF), also downloadable from the Web site or available free on CD-ROM from the Clearinghouse (call 800-441-READ to request). English for All Website also includes interactive student activities and a course management system for teachers to track student progress.

EL/Civics Online – Series of online professional development courses for ESL instructors and volunteers who wish to incorporate EL/Civics content into their adult ESL classrooms will assist teachers in creating interesting, effective ESL lessons. EL/Civics Online is a collaborative project of the U.S. Department of Education/Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services/Office of Citizenship (USCIS).

English Literacy (EL/ESL) page on website of CPAL (Community Partnerships for Adult Learning) - Site includes How-To's, Research, Journals, and Website links about English Literacy, ideas on how to incorporate learners' interests into the curricula, and other helpful materials.

ESL Monkeys - English-as-a-second-language teaching materials and learning resources for teachers, students & schools. Search for ESL jobs, lesson plans, English schools/programs, books, school resources and more.

Florida Adult ESOL Task Force Lesson Plans

Harnessing Technology Web Page - The Harnessing Technology Web pages help adult literacy education (ABE/GED/ESL/ESOL) teachers and learners to use computers, television, audio and video cassettes, and other electronic technology to help solve learning and instructional problems. The Web pages grow and improve as practitioners and learners describe problems and contribute good solutions which use technology. Problems and solutions which are unattributed are those of site host David J. Rosen of Boston's Adult Literacy Resource Institute.

Interesting Things for ESL Students has games, quizzes, exercises and lots of other activities. The site offers explanations of hundreds of idioms, together with quizzes to practice them. This site is non-commercial and has no advertising and was created by Charles I. Kelly and Lawrence E. Kelly.

Internet Picture Dictionary The Internet Picture Dictionary is an online multilingual picture dictionary designed especially for ESL students and beginning English, French, German, Spanish and Italian language learners of all ages. There are also activities to help remember new vocabulary: flashcards, fill-in-the-blank, word scrambles, stinky spelling and straight recall.

Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESLLA) for Adults – International forum of researchers who share an interest in research on the development of second language skills by adult immigrants with little or no schooling prior to entering the country of entry. Goal of the LESLLA is to share empirical research and information to help inform and guide further research on second language acquisition for the low-educated adult population.

Practitioner Toolkit: Working with Adult English Language Learners was developed by National Center for Family Literacy and National Center for ESL Literacy Education at the Center for Applied Linguistics . Texas practitioners may also request a hard copy free from the Clearinghouse Library.

Project CONNECT - On this web site, adults enrolled in adult education classes can practice their English skills and learn about working, studying and living in the United States -- all online using a computer with reading, writing, audio, video, Internet and email activities. Teachers can set up online class groups, send and receive email with their classes and review student work. Project Connect was created by PBS, the National Center for Adult Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky in partnership with KET - The Kentucky Network.

Pumarosa - This free website for Spanish speakers learning English provides lessons on English words and phrases as well as grammar exercises. Lessons are at beginning and intermediate levels. Beginning level lessons include audio demonstrating pronunciation in both English and Spanish. It also can be used by students whose native language is other than Spanish.

Skillswise is a website with resources for both adult learners and tutors to help adults improve their reading, writing and math skills. Factsheets, worksheets, quizzes and games to help adults improve their English skills (grammar, spelling, reading, listening, writing, and vocabulary) and math skills (whole numbers; measures, shape and space; fractions, decimals and percentages; and handling data). Skillswise is being developed and created by BBC Interactive Factual and Learning.

The Study Zone offers extensive interactive practice with grammar, reading, vocabulary, and idioms. Hosted by the English Language Center at University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners: A Reading Instruction Staff Development Program - Prepared by the Center for Applied Linguistics for Virginia's Adult ESOL Program and published by The Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center, this 15-hour training will acquaint participants with the fundamental knowledge and skills required to teach reading effectively to adult, nonnative speakers of English. Content is based on research on the reading process in general, on the process of learning to read as an adult, and learning to read in another language. (This is a PDF document - download Adobe® Acrobat® Reader)

The Idiom Connection offers explanations of hundreds of idioms, together with quizzes to practice them.

Tex-TESOL