LITERACY-with-PURPOSE

A TEACHING FRAMEWORK AND LESSON-PLANNING TEMPLATE FOR ESOL ADULT LITERACY

INTRO


	SITE OVERVIEW		FACTS
			FACTS


INTRO—provides background on the population of adult ESOL Literacy learners and describes the purpose of the site PRINCIPLES—introduces and explains the guiding principles of the Literacy-with-Purpose framework OBSTACLES—describes two teaching and learning obstacles that often get in the way of effective adult ESOL Literacy instruction SUPPORT—outlines a lesson-planning template for adult ESOL Literacy teachers to create lessons that connect literacy practices in the classroom to authentic literacy practices outside of the classroom REFERENCES—lists the books and articles that are the backbone of the Literacy-with-Purpose approach	Nearly one in five U.S. residents is now a non-native speaker of English [24]. The 1990s saw more immigrants come to the United States than any other decade in American history. These recent immigrants tend to have weak English skills and low levels of English and native language literacy [25]. Therefore it should not come as a surprise that there are currently millions of adults enrolled in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and ESOL Literacy classes across the country [22; 24]. Increasing numbers of immigrants are coming from Latin America and Asia with a concomitant decline in the number of immigrants of European origin [5]. This trend is reflected by the fact that Spanish is now the most common non-English language spoken in the United States followed by Cantonese [24].

		purpose n. An aim or a goal. ETYMOLOGY: Middle English purpos, from Anglo-Norman, from purposer, to intend.

			-American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th ed.


	QUESTION


	I taught beginning ESOL Literacy to adult immigrants in Boston for two years. Learners in my classes came from China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I discovered, much to my disappointment, that what learners gained in the classroom often did not translate to significant changes in learners’ literacy practices at home. Learners were making real progress with basic reading and writing skills; they were not, however, using these skills in the appropriate applied contexts outside of the classroom. After two years, I had a big unanswered question that I felt was crucial to try and address: How to meaningfully connect classroom literacy practices to authentic literacy practices outside of the classroom?


	AIMS

Literacy-with-Purpose has two principal aims:

1. to present a framework for teaching literacy that goes beyond literacy as merely the ability to read and write. Teaching isolated skills like how to decode and how to spell is simply not good enough for the adult ESOL Literacy learner. Given that many adult ESOL Literacy learners lack any formal education, the literacy landscape is unfamiliar territory for them. The myriad uses of literacy that we take for granted (everything from reading a bus schedule to scribbling a note on a post-it) have to be learned. That learners fail to transfer what they have learned in school to their lives outside of school is, in my view, due largely to their low levels of education and their dearth of experience with literate cultures.

2. to outline a model (including a lesson planning template) that will help adult ESOL Literacy teachers plan high quality lessons that traverse the gap between school-based literacy and literacy outside of school. (Although adult literacy with native speakers of English is not my area of expertise, I would imagine that the Literacy-with-Purpose lesson-planning template could also be of use to non-ESOL adult Literacy teachers). It is important to mention that Literacy-with-Purpose does not explicitly address the nuts and bolts mechanics of reading. That is, Literacy-with-Purpose is not designed to teach reading on the level of word analysis, fluency, etc. (although any of the major reading components could easily be incorporated into the Literacy-with-Purpose framework). Rather Literacy-with-Purpose is designed to teach literacy skills as contextualized practices (e.g. making a grocery list, reading food labels or writing a personal letter). For an excellent resource on reading assessment and reading instruction, please visit the National Institute for Literacy site on “Assessment Strategies and Reading Profiles.”


	ABOUT THE SITE AUTHOR		NOTE
	ABOUT THE SITE AUTHOR

For Adult Literacy aficionados: Literacy-with-Purpose, with its focus on skills, is not to be confused with the basic skills approach to teaching literacy; unlike the basic skills approach, Literacy-with-Purpose does not teach discrete skills out-of-context nor does it focus on only a narrow range of survival-level skills. Literacy-with-Purpose lesson plans could be used to teach how to write a check or how to write a poem.

I am currently a graduate student in the “Learning and Teaching” program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. I taught ESOL Literacy and ESOL Math for two years in Boston. Prior to my work in Boston, I taught ESOL for four years abroad in the Czech Republic, France, India and Nepal.


	I would appreciate any and all feedback from adult Literacy practitioners, learners and researchers or anybody interested in the adult Literacy field. Please e-mail me at snyderje@gse.harvard.edu.


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