III-D. Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners

III-D. Teaching Reading to Adult English
Language Learners
Table of Contents
Trainer Guide
3
Trainer Notes
13
Goal, Objectives, and Agenda ............................................................................................13
What Do You Think About Reading? ............................................................................... 14
Reading and Adult English Language Learners: A Review of the Research—
Cooperative Reading Activity ........................................................................................ 17
26 Letters ........................................................................................................................... 19
Reading Comprehension ....................................................................................................20
How Should Adult ESL Reading Instruction Differ from ABE Reading Instruction? ..... 21
Summervil e Free Clinic Sample Lesson............................................................................29
Beginning Reading Conversation Grid .............................................................................. 35
Evaluating Reading Lessons ..............................................................................................40
Lesson Plan Template ........................................................................................................ 41
Reflections on the Workshop .............................................................................................42
Participant Handouts
43
Goal, Objectives, and Agenda ............................................................................................ 43
What Do You Think About Reading? ...............................................................................44
Reading and Adult English Language Learners: A Review of the Research—
Cooperative Reading Activity ........................................................................................ 45
Reading Comprehension .................................................................................................... 47
How Should Adult ESL Reading Instruction Differ from ABE Reading Instruction? .....48
Summervil e Free Clinic Sample Lesson............................................................................ 56
Beginning Reading Sample Lesson .................................................................................... 61
Evaluating Reading Lessons ..............................................................................................66
Lesson Plan Template ........................................................................................................ 67
Reflections on the Workshop .............................................................................................68
Workshop Evaluation ......................................................................................................... 69
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners
I I-D-1
Trainer Guide

---

Page is left blank intentionally.

---

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers
Teaching Reading to Adult English
Language Learners
This workshop module contains detailed instructions and all the materials necessary to conduct
a training session on teaching reading to adult English language learners. The module has three
components:

4 Trainer Guide

4 Trainer Notes

4 Participant Handouts
The Trainer Guide is the trainer’s script for the training session. It contains step-by-step

instructions for presenting the workshop.
The introduction states the rationale and purpose of the workshop. It also gives the goal and
objectives of the workshop, the workshop agenda, an overview of workshop sections with the
amount of time to be spent on each section, trainer preparation instructions, and materials
needed. The introduction is fol owed by detailed sequential instructions for conducting each

section of the workshop.
The introduction to each section states the purpose of the activities and the timing of that sec-
tion. It is fol owed by a two-column table with instructions for each activity in the first column
(Action) and the materials needed in the second column (Materials). Hard copies of all the

materials needed (with the exception of non-CAELA publications) are provided in the Trainer
Notes or the Participant Handouts. Materials are listed by their titles fol owed by the page
numbers on which they can be found and marked TN (indicating that they can be found in the
Trainer Notes) or PH (indicating that they can be found in the Participant Handouts). Ordering
information for non-CAELA publications is given in the workshop introduction. Materials that
need to be made into transparencies for use with an overhead projector or into PowerPoint slides
are marked “Transparency or PowerPoint Slide.” You will need to prepare them before the train-
ing session.
The Trainer Notes accompanies the script of the Trainer Guide. It includes copies of all the
participant handouts, answer keys to participant activities, transparencies or PowerPoint slides to
be made, and other supplemental handouts, if appropriate. The contents of the Trainer Notes are
organized in the order they are needed in the session, and the place they will be used is indicated
in the Materials column in this Trainer Guide.
The Participant Handouts contains all the information and activity sheets that participants
need to participate in the session and will take with them when they leave. The contents are
also organized the order they will be used in the session. Make a copy of the handouts for each
participant.
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners
I I-D-3
Trainer Guide

---

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers
Teaching Reading to Adult English
Language Learners
Introduction to the module: Most adult learners of English want to increase their language
and literacy proficiency so they can achieve their goals related to family, work, and community.
Helping them increase their reading skil s is an important task. The purpose of this workshop
is to support adult education instructors of English as a second language (ESL) in understand-
ing the foundations of reading in a second language and appropriate reading instruction for their
learners. The workshop activities and materials are based on research about reading development
of adult English language learners in the United States (see Burt, Peyton, & Adams, 2003).
The workshop can be tailored for instructors of beginning-level learners, advanced learners, and
mixed levels of learners. A 15-hour version of this workshop, suitable for use over several weeks
with time in between sessions to implement activities in the classroom, is available at www.valrc.
org/publications/.
Target audience for this workshop: New and experienced teachers, tutors, and classroom aides
Goal of the workshop: To increase skil s in developing coherent, comprehensive, and appropriate
reading lessons based on promising practices
Workshop objectives for participants: At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to

4 Identify types of native language literacy

4 Identify models of reading

4 Describe knowledge and skil s important to the reading process

4 Identify elements of a good reading lesson

4 Create a coherent, comprehensive, and appropriate reading lesson that develops each of
the four skil s important to reading
Length of workshop: 5.5 hours
The workshop components are as fol ows:
Part 1. Introductions and Warm-Up
40 minutes
Part 2. Presentation: What the reading research says
40 minutes
Part 3. Demonstration: Understanding the reading
30 minutes
process
Part 4. Presentation: Differences in teaching ABE
45 minutes
and ESL reading
Part 5. Demonstration: Reading lessons
45 minutes
Part 6. Practice: Creating reading lessons
40 minutes
III-D-4
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners

Trainer Guide

---

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers
Part 7. Application: Lesson presentations
60 minutes
Part 8. Wrap-Up and Evaluation
15 minutes
Total projected length of workshop
315 minutes (about 5.5 hours)*
*This does not include time for lunch and breaks. It is recommended that 15 minutes be scheduled for breaks in the morning
and the afternoon and 30 minutes for lunch.
Preparation for the workshop:

4 Read Reading and Adult English Language Learners: A Review of the Research and How
Should Adult ESL Reading Instruction Differ from ABE Reading Instruction? (a CAELA
brief).

4 Order copies of Reading and Adult English Language Learners: A Review of the Research,
for workshop participants from http:/ calstore.cal.org, or download from www.cal.
org/caela/research/RAELL.pdf

4 Secure student reading materials that workshop participants can use for developing
reading lessons. A possible source for reading textbooks is local publishing company
representatives, who often provide examination copies of texts to teachers. Other read-
ing materials of interest to students include community service information (available
from local agencies or on the Internet) and newspaper or magazine articles. Workshop
participants could be asked to bring their own reading materials.
Materials needed for this workshop:

4 Reading and Adult English Language Learners: A Review of the Research (a copy of this
publication for each participant)

4 Student reading materials to be used by workshop participants for developing
reading lessons

4 Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners: Trainer Guide

4 Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners: Trainer Notes (make trans-
parencies or PowerPoint slides as indicated in the guide)

4 Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners: Participant Handouts
Note: In the Trainer Guide, materials to be found in the Trainer Notes are indicated by TN, followed by the page number; materials to be
found in the Participant Handouts are indicated by PH, followed by the page number.
Reference
Burt, M., Peyton, J., & Adams, R. (2003). Reading and adult English language learners: A review of
the research. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. Available from www.cal.org/
caela/research/RAELL.pdf
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners
I I-D-5
Trainer Guide

---

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers
1. Introduction and Warm-Up
Purposes:

4 To establish the purpose of the workshop

4 To review the goal and objectives of the workshop

4 To activate participants’ prior knowledge of the reading process for adult English
language learners
Time: 40 minutes
Actions
Materials
Introduce yourself.
If participants don’t know each other, do a short activity in
which they introduce themselves to each other.
• Warm-up activity: What do you think about reading? (15
What Do You Think about
minutes) On the handout, have participants put an X on the Reading? (TN, pp. 14–16;
scale to show where they stand on the scale for each
PH, p. 44)
statement. Then have them discuss their choices with a
partner. With the whole group, go over each statement,
using the Trainer Notes as a guide.
• State the goal of the workshop—to increase skil s in develop- Goal, Objectives, and Agenda
ing coherent, comprehensive, and appropriate reading
for the workshop (TN, p. 13;
lessons based on promising practices—and the objectives.
PH, p. 43)
Post the goal, objectives, and agenda of the workshop.
III-D-6
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners

Trainer Guide

---

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers
2. Presentation: What the reading research says
Purposes:

4 To identify factors that affect the literacy development of adults learning English

4 To describe four skil s important to reading development: phonological processing,
vocabulary recognition, syntactic processing, and schemata activation
Time: 40 minutes
Actions
Materials
Have the participants complete the cooperative reading activity in
Publication: Reading and
Reading and Adult English Language Learners.
Adult English Language
1. Explain that part of the workshop is based on this document that Learners: A Review of the
synthesizes what is known about how adult English language
Research
learners learn to read in English, what types of activities facili-
tate the process, and what research still needs to be done. The
Reading and Adult English
publication stems from a review of the research literature on
Language Learners: A
reading development among adult English language learners.
Review of the Research—
There is not a lot of research on this population, but this review
Cooperative Reading
offers valuable insights and includes research on second lan-
Activity (TN, pp. 17–18;
guage acquisition.
PH, pp. 45–46)
2. Set up the cooperative reading activity.
a. Have participants work in groups of four or five.
b. Have each person in the group be responsible for certain
questions.
c. Have participants read silently and answer assigned ques-
tions, then share their answers with their group.
d. Circulate among the groups to get a sense of what issues to
highlight with the whole group after the group discussions.
e. Discuss any issues or questions with the whole group.
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners
I I-D-7
Trainer Guide

---

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers
3. Demonstration: Understanding the reading process
Purpose:

4 To describe the knowledge and skil s important to the reading process
Time: 30 minutes
Actions
Materials
1. Il ustrate the skil s discussed in the cooperative reading activity and their
relationship to the reading process by completing the activity with 26 letters Transparency or
(letters, words, phrase).
PowerPoint slide:
a. Show the 26 random letters (do not show the words and phrase) for 2–3 26 Letters
seconds. Then cover up the letters and ask the participants what they
(TN, p. 19)
remember.
b. Show the next set of 26 letters, arranged in words (do not show the
phrase), for 2–3 seconds. Then cover up the words and ask participants
what they remember.
c. Show the last set of 26 letters, arranged in a phrase, for 2–3 seconds.
Cover the phrase and ask what they remember.
d. Discuss why the last set was easiest to remember. Point out that it was a
single unit of meaningful text. Discuss what skil s and knowledge the
participants used to understand the phrase—for example, letters com-
bined into meaningful units (words, phrases), cultural information about
PTA meetings usual y held at night (schemata). Emphasize that reading
involves visual symbols (letters forming words), linguistic knowledge
(phonology, morphology, syntax), and world knowledge (schema).
2. Il ustrate the importance of vocabulary and meaning by completing the
reading comprehension activity.
a. Have the participants read the passage and answer the comprehension
Reading
questions.
Comprehension
b. Have the participants, in pairs, discuss the questions.
(TN, p. 20;
c. After participants have finished discussing the questions, ask them what PH, p. 47)
helped them answer the questions, for example, their knowledge of
letters and sounds (phonological processing), their knowledge of gram-
mar (syntactic processing), or their background knowledge (vocabulary
and schema).
d. Then, even though they could answer the comprehension questions, ask
whether they understood the passage and why. Discuss the importance
of vocabulary and meaning. Point out how many assessment activities
look like this. Someone with good understanding of grammar could
answer the questions but still not comprehend the passage.
III-D-8
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners

Trainer Guide

---

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers
4. Presentation: Differences in teaching ABE and
ESL reading
Purposes:

4 To describe differences in teaching reading to adult native English speakers and adult
English language learners

4 To identify activities and strategies for reading instruction for adults learning English
Time: 45 minutes
Actions
Materials
1. Explain to participants that in 2002, a review of research related
to adult literacy and reading instruction in adult basic education
(ABE) was completed by a group convened by the National Institute
for Literacy and the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning
and Literacy. This study focused on four components of reading—
vocabulary, alphabetics and word analysis, fluency, and
comprehension—and offered suggestions for instruction. The
CAELA brief, which participants will now read and discuss, presents
the findings of the ABE review and those of the ESL review they
Questions: How Should
looked at earlier. The brief discusses the differences between
Adult ESL Reading
reading instruction for native English speakers and adult English
Instruction Differ from
language learners and the implications for instruction.
ABE Reading Instruction?
2. Direct participants to the questions and the CAELA brief in their
(TN, p. 21; PH, p. 48)
handouts.
a. Have participants answer the first question.
CAELA brief: How Should
b. Then have them read the brief and answer the second question.
Adult ESL Reading
Instruction Differ from
c. In pairs, have them discuss their answers with a partner.
ABE Reading Instruction?
d. With the whole group, discuss the third question—what they
(TN, pp. 22–28;
found interesting about these differences.
PH, pp. 49–55)
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners
I I-D-9
Trainer Guide

---

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers
5. Demonstration: Reading lessons
Purpose:

4 To explore and experience a good reading lesson
Time: 45 minutes
Actions
Materials
1. Model a good reading lesson. Have the participants act
If using the multilevel sample:
as your reading students. Create your own lesson or use
KWL Activity Transparency or
the sample in the Participant Handouts. The sample is
PowerPoint slide (TN, p. 29)
based on an actual brochure from a community service
agency. It is for use with a multilevel class. If you decide
Summervil e Free Clinic
to use it, fol ow the lesson plan form provided. If you

– Brochure text (TN, p. 30; PH, p. 56)

– Questions (TN, p. 31; PH, p. 57)
create your own reading material, provide a copy of the

– Focus on Grammar (TN, p. 32;
lesson plan and any relevant materials for participants.
PH, p. 58)
Substitute your lesson for the sample in the Participant

– Focus on Phonics (TN, p. 33;
Handouts. If possible, demonstrate a lesson that reflects
PH, p. 59)
the levels taught by the workshop participants.

– Summervil e Free Clinic— Multilevel
Reading Lesson Plan (TN, p. 34;
PH, p. 60)
Note: A beginning reading lesson about jobs, Miguel’s
If using the beginning sample:
Story, is included in the packet with worksheets attached. Beginning Lesson Plan
Both reading lessons can be used if time permits, or
(TN, p. 39; PH, p. 61)
trainers should choose their primary focus based on

– Conversation Grid (TN, p. 35;
participants’ needs.
PH, p. 62)

– Miguel’s Story (TN, p. 36; PH, p. 63)

– Comprehension Questions and
Vocabulary Practice (TN, p. 37;
PH, p. 64)

– Conversation Practice and Writing
Practice (TN, p. 38; PH, p. 65)
2. After the reading demonstration, have participants
Evaluating Reading Lessons
complete the evaluation sheet and discuss their answers (TN, p. 40; PH, p. 66)
with the whole group.
III-D-10
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners

Trainer Guide

---