Useful Websites for LESLLA Educators

New American Horizons

The New American Horizons Foundation embarked on a video project that resulted in 12 amazing videos that provide models of classroom practice with adult LESLLA learners. The contributors to the project include many of the longtime LESLLA members. Among the videos, we particularly love the lesson with Andrea Echelberger and her learners in Minnesota - a classic example of a Language Experience Approach (LEA) lesson that takes a Whole-Part-Whole (balanced) approach to literacy instruction.  Don't miss "Building Literacy with Adult Emergent Readers."

ESL Literacy Network 

Bow Valley College in Calgary, Canada launched a ESL literacy network. The site has information on best practices, descriptions of learners, the Canadian benchmarks for literacy, guidance on how to develop curriculum, and ideas for teaching. It also contains videos of classroom ideas and printable readers.

Literacy Minnesota

Literacy Minnesota l has developed the Classroom Activities for Adult ESL Learners video series, which features professional teachers leading adult ESL classes through common classroom activities. The videos include both volunteer-led and teacher-led classrooms. Teachers and volunteers can watch these videos at a convenient time and location in order to develop their classroom skills and become more comfortable introducing new activities to their learners.

The videos were produced by Literacy Minnesota intern Timothy Johnson, and ESL Training Coordinator Andrea Echelberger.

The EU Speak Project

The EU SPEAK Project is a collaborative endeavor involving partners from several European countries aimed to provide teacher training and materials to support language acquisition and educational outcomes of immigrant and refugee-background populations with little or no formal education and emerging literacy skills. You can access modules, books and additional resources in English, Dutch, Spanish, Finish and Turkish.

• EU-Speak is an eight-year project working to make a difference in the educational outcomes for immigrants with little or no education.

• EU-Speak es un proyecto que lleva 8 años trabajando para cambiar la situación en los resultados educativos de los inmigrantes que cuentan con poca o nula educación formal. 

• EU-Speak on kahdeksanvuotinen hanke, jonka tavoitteena on parantaa vähän koulutettujen ja kouluttamattomien maahanmuuttajien oppimistuloksia.

• Okul eğitimi almamış yetişkin yaştaki göçmenlerin eğitim düzeyini geliştirici uluslararası ücretsiz ve online bir öğretmen eğitimi programı.

• EU-Speak ist ein achtjähriges Projeck mit dem Ziel, sechs Module zu entwickeln, die den Praktizierenden viele Möglichkeiten bieten sollten, ihr Wissen anhand einer breiten Spanne von relevanten Themen für die Arbeit mit den Lernern zu erweitern.

H2L2 How to Learn a Second Language

Language learning can be challenging. If you would like to discuss the learning process in your LESLLA classroom, you might be interested in checking out this website: How to Learn a Second Langauge H2L2.

The website is the outcome of the European Erasmus+ project in which partners from four countries implemented language learning strategies in their LESLLA classrooms.

Five animated videos, with voice-overs in eight languages, may help you to discuss the process of language learning with LESLLA learners. The videos are available in English and in seven common student languages.

The website also provides suggestions on how to work with these videos in a class. On this page, teachers will find a video introducing the principles

Additional Sites

The following Web sites are listed in alphabetical order by country name. Additional links to helpful literacy websites may be added. Please submit your website ideas through our Contact page.

Australia

ACAL – The Australian Council for Adult Literacy promotes adult literacy and numeracy policy and practice. The Web site provides information and links to publications, state sites, other links, and interactive live webpages for information exchange. 

Indigenous Learners and Language - The mission of this website is "improving the educational outcomes of Indigenous students through a focus on the Aboriginal English/ESL interface." The site offers information, publications, studies and research, teaching resources and ideas, and other links. 

NCELTR - The National Centre for English Language Teaching & Research is the centre for English language at Macquarie University. The Resource Centre offers bibliographies and research guides including a bibliography of resources for teaching adult literacy. 

RESIG - The Refugee Education Special Interest Group has compiled and shared an open access annotated bibliography curated by a collective of scholars in Australia who share an interest in the impacts of forced migration on people from refugee, asylum seeking and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) migrant backgrounds. This bibliography offers a snapshot of some of the available literature that relates to the many areas of scholarly and practitioner interest. Click here for a pdf of the annotated bibliography.

BELGIUM

Bruxelles FLE - This is a site for Belgian teachers of French as an additional language. This site offers access to resources shared by and for teachers, interactive maps to locate training centers, and a participatory platform for you to share your resources!

Lire et Écrire  - Lire et Écrire a été créée pour que tout adulte qui le souhaite puisse trouver près de chez lui une formation en alpha­bétisation de qualité adaptée à sa demande. [Read and Write has been created so that any adult who wishes to do so can find quality literacy training close to home that suits their needs.]

Objectives: 1) to draw the attention of public opinion and public authorities to the persistence of illiteracy and the urgent need to combat the causes and to find solutions; 2) promote the effective right to quality literacy for any adult who wishes to; and, 3) to develop literacy in a perspective of emancipation, participation and social change towards greater equality.

Proforal Asbl - Proforal asbl is a non-profit organization based in Brussels, Belgium. This training center is dedicated to LESLLA learners. The organization also promotes ongoing teacher development. Its proposal is to provides links with professionals working on integration pathways in Europe and participate in the dissemination of existing studies in English for French as a foreign language teachers .

Canada

Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks - The Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks is the centre of expertise in support of the national standards in English and French for describing, measuring and recognizing second language proficiency of adult immigrants and prospective immigrants for living and working in Canada. 

Literacy Centre of Expertise Resource Bank
The Resource Bank of the Literacy Centre of Expertise offers the LESLLA professional a rich choice of materials that can be used for classroom lessons and program design. It includes:

• Reading material with processing exercises included. Interesting for everyone and very relatable for Canadian Indigenous LESLLA students.

• An interactive guide to handwriting each letter of the English alphabet. There is a special focus on recognizing and learning to write capital letters. It comes with an instructional video that gives the LESLLA teacher tools on how to use this material online and offline.

• Literacy Foundation Level 1 modules around recognizable topics such as: 'cleaning the house' 'winter clothes' 'fruit' etc. Eight modules are offered. Each module includes a Handbook for the student and the teacher.
  The Student Handbook invites exploration of the initial situation before starting the module. The student is shown examples of oral and written skills within the framework of the topic and asked to indicate: what can you already do? and then: what do you want to learn? The Student Handbook also provides formal real-world-task assessments and forms on which to complete the results achieved. At the end of the module, the student is asked to look back: what did I learn? what is going well, what is not going well yet? what did I enjoy doing, practicing? After reflecting on the initial situation, the student is given a short story on video, appropriate to the theme. Then various processing exercises are offered. The first 3 modules involve for example: vocabulary exercises, sound recognizing, matching pictograms with images in a picture and oral practice of short sentences to use in everyday situations appropriate to the topic of the module. In the next 5 modules, the exercises are broadened. Also in these modules, students first start with a story on video and practicing vocabulary. This is followed by exercises such as: recognizing syllables in a word, counting letters in a word, recognizing the shape of a word, sound recognition and learning to read the words of the theme supported by pictures. Practical skills, such as handling a calendar and recognizing time on a clock are also offered. The oral exercises section now focuses on interaction.
  The Instructor Handbook includes a teacher's guide containing instructions on how to use the various exercises indicating which Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) competency area(s) and statements are involved, suggestions for oral exercises and for additional multimedia learning materials, and a survey to provide feedback.

• Modules at Literacy Foundation levels 2L and 3L. These are under development. Two modules are now available on this website.

• Portfolio-based language assessments (PBLA) from Foundation Literacy to Literacy 4L (google forms)

• Reading skills stories: interactive stories for students with a focus on phonics

• Skill-building resources to support real-world tasks

• Presentation materials from: For the Love of Literacy Conference 2024

Teaching Refugees with Limited Formal Schooling - This site is a collection of resources with links to web-based documents that explain the instructional design in detail, and links to teacher and student resources. There are also downloadable PDF documents which provide more detail about the foundational ideas of the instructional design. A literature review provides a summary of the “best practice” research that was conducted in preparation for the creation of this website.

Youth Literacy Canada - Promising practices and research results for teaching literacy skills to youth at risk, based on a project funded by Literacy BC.

Finland

Digitaalisia Taitoja Maahanmuuttajille - Auttaa maahanmuuttajia kaikissa verkkoasiointiin, verkko-opiskeluun, arjen digitaitohin ja tietoteknisiin perustaitoihin liittyvissä asioissa. Auttaa maahanmuuttajien opettajia ja ohjaajia integroimaan digitaalisia välineitä ja verkossa olevia materiaaleja omaan opetukseensa. [Support for immigrants building digital literacy skills and resources for their teachers.]

International

LIAM (Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants) provides useful resources from EU countries on policies and practices for linguistic integration throughout Europe.

LASLLIAM (Literacy Acquisition and Second Language Learning for the Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants

LASLLIAM is a new reference guide of the Council of Europe. It was developed by a group of experts and the Council of Europe Education Department to support high-quality learning environments for non- and low-literate migrants.

LASLLIAM is linked to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages. It provides Can-do descriptors at levels below and up to A1 as well as extensive recommendations on how to use these to encourage/assist learner emancipation and learner development. With this guide, the authoring group intends to contribute to enhancing language-learning opportunities for non- and low-literate adult migrants by supporting their language educators in designing, implementing, evaluating and improving curricula and teaching materials tailored toward the specific needs of the learners.

Language skills foster, among others, social inclusion, and access to education and employment. Within this context, non-literate or low-literate migrants have specific educational needs, as they must learn a second language while either learning to read and write for the first time or developing basic literacy competences in an alphabet or writing system sometimes different from the one they will have learned initially.

When it comes to language or knowledge of society courses, these needs are rarely taken into consideration, and this group of migrants is rarely offered a sufficient number of hours to reach the language level required. This is why LASLLIAM has been conceived: it aims at supporting language educators, curriculum designers and language policymakers in their endeavour to design, implement, evaluate and improve curricula tailored toward the specific needs of the target learners.

LSM (Language Support to Migrants) tools
March 19, 2024, the Toolkit Language Support to Migrants (LSM) was presented at the Council of Europe (COE) by its LSM project team during a webinar and it is a part of its LIAM project. The LSM Toolkit consists of a set of 80 resources designed to guide educators who are providing these kinds of language support for adult migrants and migrant children in a wide range of contexts. Accompanying this Toolkit is a Guide designed for training teachers and volunteers.

There are three main categories of tools:
A
Tools designed to enhance the general understanding of educators who are providing language support for migrants about the nature of the task and the needs of the learners.
B
Tools offering practical help when planning and preparing a course or series of language support sessions and when organizing the learning environment and the resources needed.
C
Tools describing practical language support activities of various kinds that can be done in a limited period of time. These tools suggest ways of handling different stages of learning and work on the language needed for different situations and topics. Some of these tools are specifically designed to address the needs of migrant learners with a low or very low level of literacy. This is an area of need and support that is focused on in the LASLLIAM Reference Guide launched in 2022.

UNESCO - Founded in 1945, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is today composed of 191 Member States. UNESCO deploys its action in the fields of Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information. Goal 4 of UNESCO is to Improve Adult Literacy by 50 Per Cent-this goal calls for a certain level of improvement in adult literacy by 2015 - it says that it should be 50 per cent better than it was in 2000. The needs of women should receive particular attention. In addition, all adults should have opportunities to go on learning throughout their lives. The UNESCO adult literacy programs are presented on this website.

A Parents’ Guide to Protecting their Kids Online - Technology is constantly evolving and both adults and youth benefit immensely. However, with these perks comes tremendous pressure on parents and educators to help children and teens learn how to use these resources safely and responsibly. This simple guide can be used as both a text to develop literacy skills with LESLLA learners as well as a useful guide for LESLLA parents who want to know more about their children’s safety in online spaces. Plus, parents themselves will gain important insights about their own online security!

Spotlight English - This site has easy to understand audio and video programs for English language learners. Each file comes with a transcript. The subjects are authentic, spanning a wide range of topics including: entertainment, healthy living, relationships, science and technology, and more. They utilize a 'Specialized English' method for broadcasting that uses fewer words (list of 1500), a slower speed (90 words per minute), and shorter sentences (one idea per sentence).

IRELAND

The Intercultural Storytelling Project - Intercultural storytelling promotes intercommunity cohesion and social inclusion as a literacy practice for New-Irish with more settled 'locals'. Story-partners share and co-write their biographical experiences and cultural knowledge  which are then published and disseminated to foster greater two-way integration.

National Adult Literacy Agency - These materials range in level from beginner ESOL learners, through to exercises for higher-level learners, so that tutors may teach the same theme in a mixed-level class. The emphasis is on task-based learning and speaking, and each unit provides the opportunity for using listening, speaking, reading and writing and building vocabulary.

ITALY

Alfabetizzazione Italiano Lingua Seconda (AL2 Online) è un sito per lettori principianti dell'italiano come lingua aggiuntiva. I moduli coinvolgono gli studenti attraverso pagine interattive che collegano immagini e alfabetizzazione alla stampa con supporto audio. [AL2 Online is a site for beginning readers of Italian as an additional language. The modules involve learners through interactive pages that connect images and print literacy with audio support.]

PONTIdiPAROLE è un modello didattico all’avanguardia per l'apprendimento della lingua italiana rivolto a un target di utenti a bassa scolarità (migranti giovani e adulti) e studiato ad uso di insegnanti, scuole e strutture d’accoglienza. I percorsi formativi proposti da PONTIdiPAROLE seguono la filosofia step-by-step, accompagnando insegnanti e studenti nella costruzione del corso stesso e nel conseguimento degli obiettivi di apprendimento. I percorsi di PONTIdiPAROLE sono costituiti da due componenti, i VOLUMI e il SUPPORTO DIGITALE, frutto della competenza ed esperienza decennale di ItaStra  in collaborazione con PLURALIA, studiati in modo da interagire tra loro in maniera semplice e modulare.

SPAIN

Libros Para Neolectores - Esta es una colección de historias creadas por estudiantes de español. La audiencia prevista son los lectores emergentes de español como idioma adicional. [This is a collection of stories created by Spanish language learners. The target audience is emergent readers of Spanish as an additional language.]

Switzerland

Der Verein AlphaDaZ wurde im Jahr 2018 mit dem Ziel gegründet, die Vernetzung und den Austausch zwischen Lehrpersonen, wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeitenden, Institutionen und interessierten Personen zu stärken. Der Verein AlphaDaZ ist der einzige Verein in der Schweiz, der sich dem Thema Alphabetisierung und Grundbildung in Deutsch als Zweitsprache widmet. [The AlphaDaZ association was founded in 2018 with the aim of strengthening networking and exchange between teachers, academic staff, institutions and interested persons. The association AlphaDaZ is the only association in Switzerland dedicated to literacy and basic education in German as a second language.]

United Kingdom

Learning Unlimited - Learning Unlimited has a long track record of working with adults to help improve their literacy skills in English.  This work includes direct delivery of training for adults who wish to improve their reading and writing skills as well as working with parents to help them to support their children’s literacy skills.   Learning Unlimited also publishes a series of readers for adults with low levels of literacy.  Learning Unlimited offers continuing professional development to literacy teachers in subjects and have a number of publications available covering literacy-related topics such as dyslexia support and teaching spelling and writing.

National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults (NATECLA) - NATECLA is the national forum and professional organization for ESOL practitioners in the United Kingdom. Individual members work in colleges, adult education centers, and in the community as teachers, managers, examiners and assessors, inspectors, and teacher trainers. For over 26 years NATECLA has shared expertise and participated in new developments in this specialized field. NATECLA holds an annual conference, which has been an established event in the ESOL calendar for many years. 

NIACE – The National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education is a non-governmental organisation in the UK working for more and different adult learners. NIACE both represents and advances the interests of all adult learners and potential learners – especially those who have benefited least from education and training. 

NRDC – The National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy is a national centre dedicated to conducting research and development projects in the fields of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. The UK-based NRDC is a consortium of partners, who are specialists in the fields of literacy, numeracy and ESOL.

TLANG (Translation and Translanguaging) is an interdisciplinary research program to develop new understandings of multilingual interaction in cities in the UK, and communicate these to policy-makers and communities locally, nationally, and internationally.

United States

abcEnglish - abc English is a collection of resources for teachers and tutors who work with adult and adolescent English learners who have emerging literacy skills. You can find materials here that are designed to be clear, simple, and relevant for adult and adolescent English learners from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. Visit the Online Library for resources that you can download, print, and screen share. Visit the Books page to order printed books or PDF copies of books.

Adult ELL Literacy Indy is a site for teachers and volunteers who seek to develop the language and literacy skills of adult English Learners. The Adult ELL Literacy Indy initiative grew out of an observed gap in resources and services for adult English AND literacy learners. The site includes suggested intake procedures and tools as well as assessment tools, lesson plan templates, reading materials and more. All resources are available to teachers for free.

CAELA – The Center for Adult English Language Acquisition was created to help states within the US to build their capacity to promote English language learning and academic achievement of adults learning English. This federally funded website provides an ESL resource database, which categorizes and annotates over fifty documents of interest to teachers, administrators, students, and researchers interested in adult ESL. When available, the database links directly to documents online. In addition, the site provides a web page on statistics and data related to adult English language learners and is currently developing a set of annotated links that deal specifically with research in adult ESL and adult education. 

The Change Agent - The Change Agent is a biannual magazine for adult educators and learners published by the New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC) at World Education. This publication provides socially relevant content, powerful student writing that inspires discussion, and ready-to-use, CCR-aligned lesson plans – all oriented toward a multi-level audience.

Code Crackers - The content on this site stemmed from a study circle of four adult English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers whose learners range from pre-literacy to advanced levels of ESL instruction.  The educational backgrounds of these learners vary widely, but a significant number have had limited formal education and many never acquired literacy in their native language. 

ESL Literacy for Beginners – (For Teachers) This US site was created for teachers of beginning ESL literacy students. 40+ teaching activities and resources are arranged by topic. (For Students) The preliteracy page is designed for students who are preliterate and low-literate learners in their first language. The high beginner page provides exercises for advanced beginning literacy learners and students who learn at a faster pace. 

Literacy Work International - This site is intended to be of use to policy makers, administrators, and, most of all, teachers. Our policy is to make all of our materials available to be used freely by teachers for non-commercial purposes. 

Literacy A-B-C - This site supports teachers of adult literacy level students by providing links to lesson plans, texts, assessment tools, professional development materials, and other useful resources.

Lesson Pick - Lesson pick is a resource sharing platform designed by English language teachers for all educators working with English learners (ELs). The contributors of the site aim to support the efforts and professional learning of educators. This site offers a wide range of resources for teaching and professional development for teachers of young learners, SLIFE and adults. 

Minnesota TESOL (MinneTESOL) - MinneTESOL is a professional association of teachers of English as a Second Language in Minnesota and neighboring states dedicated to the education and support of students acquiring English at all levels of public and private education.

The Minnesota TESOL Journal – MinneTESOL Journal is the official journal of Minnesota Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MinneTESOL), a professional association of teachers of English language in Minnesota and neighboring states dedicated to the education and support of students acquiring English at all levels of public and private education. The mission of the MinneTESOL Journal is to provide a meaningful benefit to members by sharing relevant, thought-provoking content linking theory and practice of interest to teachers, researchers, teacher educators, and the many others whose work touches the lives of English learners.

Multilingual Minnesota - Click on "For Teachers of Pre-literate Adult ESL" to access a compilation of readings for teachers, recommended books, publishers, information about balanced literacy instruction, etc. NOTE: This site is still up, but it is no longer being maintained.

MPI – Migration Policy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in Washington, DC dedicated to the study of the movement of people worldwide. The organization's website houses the Migration Information Source, an online database that offers current and authoritative data on international migration, as well as analysis from migration experts around the world. 

NCSALL - The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy is a US-based, federally funded research and development center focused solely on adult learning. NCSALL's efforts are dedicated to improving practice in educational programs that serve adults with limited literacy and English language skills, and those without a high school diploma. (*Note: The research dissemination efforts of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) ended on March 31, 2007, with the end of the federal funding. The research publications, Focus on Basics, training and teaching resources, and other materials continue to be available for download from this Web site.)

SLIFE (Students with Limited or interrupted Formal Education) and the MALP (Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm) by Helaine Marshall and Andrea DeCapua. This wiki outlines the MALP, provides access to numerous publications, powerpoint presentations, and a teacher wiki related to teaching students with limited or interrupted formal schooling (SLIFE).

Story Corps - Story Corps presents a collection of stories about the human experience. The story topics are wide-reaching and the audio is accompanied by a transcript. Some stories are animated. You can search stories by location, collection type/topic, and year. 

 The Most Costly Journey (in Spanish, El viaje más caro) is an ethnographic cartooning project that employs collaborative storytelling as a tool to mitigate loneliness, isolation, and despair among Latin American migrant farm workers on Vermont dairy farms. The graphic stories can be used in literacy classes or serve as inspiration for launching storytelling projects with other communities.

Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center (VALRC) – The VALRC provides adult education and literacy resources, publications, and training for teachers of adults in Virginia.