Teaching Low Literacy Individuals

[mreniers]

I need some help with mixed-level classes containing groups of students with very low literacy levels. All students are agricultural workers (I was hired to teach the employees of a large company) and many have no more than two years educational experience in their own language. My typical approach (geared towards comfortably literate students) is just not cutting it and I need advice... Thanks!

[JCrawf]

In a situation similar to yours, I've had good luck with these two books:
English Step by Step (Boggs/Dixon)
The New Oxford Picture Dictionary (Parnwell).

I've found them great for classes in low beginning English. Both are profusely illustrated, making them appropriate for those with little or no ability to read English.

Lesson 1 in Step by Step begins with a series of "What's this?" questions and "It's a/an-------" answers. I supplement by filling a sack with common household items and dumping it out on a table. A student selects an item, asks a fellow student "What's this?" and gets a response. The item is passed around until all students have participated in the Q&A, then another item is chosen.
All lessons in Step by Step are equally basic and easy for the teacher to supplement. And, with a bit of planning, each allows the students to interact with each other in English.
Good luck.

[jdanek13]

I'm new to teaching ESOL and "English Step by Step" seems to be a great help. I wasn't able to find it on the Net, though. Could you give me the name of publisher, please?

Many thanks!

[JCrawf]

You should be able to get English Step by Step (authors are Boggs/Dixson) from Amazon.com or other book sellers. I've bought a couple of copies cheaply on eBay.

[kkookk2003]

Originally Posted by mreniers

I need some help with mixed-level classes containing groups of students with very low literacy levels. All students are agricultural workers (I was hired to teach the employees of a large company) and many have no more than two years educational experience in their own language. My typical approach (geared towards comfortably literate students) is just not cutting it and I need advice... Thanks!

Hi,

I came across a very interesting book, about one teacher's efforts to help Maori children in New Zealand learn English, so that they could then cope with normal school life. The teacher and author was a lady named Sylvia Ashton Warner and her approach towards education as well as her methods were anything but conventional. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the book or the publisher. Even if the book does'nt help, its still a heart warming story.

With regards,

Benjamin

[Tdol]

Benjamin, is this the one?

[kkookk2003]

Originally Posted by Tdol

Benjamin, is this the one?

Yes, it is. Thank you. Her methodology may not have the same success in each and every social / cultural environment that one comes across, but its still a good read and very inspirational.

Thanks again,

Benjamin