Writing Literature for LESLLA Adults

Pilot Project 2008

Martha Young-Scholtenand Donna Maguire

Reading: Going beyond instructional materials

• L2 adults in literacy classes spend time on workbook or software exercises– They are far less often exposed to authentic

materials such as books, magazines and newspapers (Rodrigo et al. 2007)

– Having access to literature and culturally rich material is important for reading development for L2 learners (Pang & Kamil 2004:20)

Extensive reading (aka free voluntary reading/sustained

silent reading)

• ER is claimed to improve reading skills as well as language development (e.g. Krashen 2004)

• An ER approach (Day & Bamford 1998)– assumes that reading is its own reward– involves reading inside and outside the classroom – means that materials are within students’

competence – makes a variety of materials available to students

The minimum of books to begin an extensive reading library is one book of suitable level per student, with perhaps ten extra books in addition to this. In order to allow plenty of choice, however, it is ideal to have two, three, or four different books for each student in a class. Beginning with double the number of books as there are students is realistic. With this solid beginning, the library can gradually grow as the years go by. (Day & Bamford, 1998:108-9)

We are fortunate to be teaching at a time when the supply of children’s books is rich, varied and easily available. (literacy seminar notes, BA in Education, 1973)

Example: Make Way for Ducklings (two ducks raise a family on an island in the Charles River in Boston)

Is ER feasible with L2 school children?

Aloki (1993); Nieto (1993): There is a shortage of multicultural

children’s literature in English (aswell as in heritage languages).

Is ER feasible with LESLLA adults?Rodrigo et al. (2007): according to their extensive literature review, ER had notbeen used with low-literate L2 adults

ER with low-literacy adults Rodrigo et al. study: set up a program with 249 books at US reading levels 3rd - 5th

grade (8 – 10-yrs old) for 43 low-literacy adults (16% ESOL); many had never read an entire book

• Top seven categories in students’ evaluations for the 731 book ‘readings’ – general fiction (246) – biography (97)– African American fiction (80) – health and education (59) – crime mystery (56) – personal reflection (49)– romance (44)

Reading materials for LESLLA adults with lower than 3rd grade reading level

• textbooks, workbooks, worksheets – discourse in textbooks can confuse students (deixis is one

problem); students do not read these at home (Whiteside 2008)

• content-based books (Williams & Chapman 2008)

• ‘old stories’ for new readers (Kurvers 2008)

• children’s books – Characters/story lines perplex students (Wallace 2008)

• series such as Sam and Pat and More Sam and Pat (Lowry, Hendon & Hartell)

• Student-written stories (see e.g. Peyton 1993)

There are far from enough books at pre-3rd grade level (=literacy level/ pre-entry level for ESOL adults) to set up an Extensive Reading programme that would meet Day & Bamford’s 4 books : 1 student ratio.

Creation of LESLLA literature 1. Linguistic constraints • Vocabulary

– 98% of words in a text should be known (Hseuh-Chau & Nation, 2000)

• Morphosyntax– Level the same or one above student’s stage of

development• Phonology

– Monosyllablic words– CVC structure

• Decoding– Will be emerging for lowest level students– Sight word repertoire

2. Linguistic considerations • Characteristics of written discourse

in children’s literature (e.g. Gourley, 1984) – syntax– vocabulary– connectives– linguistic markers of cohesion– narrative voice– patterned repetition– relationship of picture to text

3. Non-linguistic considerations

• Elements of fiction– Plot, character, setting, etc. – Cultural sensitivity

• Sophistication – What will engage these readers? (cf.

Sesame Street development in extensive testing kids responded best to interweaving of fantasy and reality, Palmer, 1972)

Pilot project, spring 2008• Language and linguistics undergraduates at Newcastle

University each wrote a story book for pre-entry LELSLLA students at Gateshead College

– First, students considered what was read to them as children, what first read on their own and what they currently enjoyed reading

– Next they visited the Gateshead ESOL programme to • observe students learning to read in literacy classes • meet other ESOL students in the resource centre• determine the availability of books at these students’ levels in the

College library

– The whole class brainstormed vocabulary likely to be known

– Students then each wrote a story draft and a final, illustrated story

– Finally, each Newcastle student field-tested their story, reading it together with a Gateshead student

Brainstormed nouns and adjectives

• Every day objects: cup, plate, bowl, knife, spoon, fork, keys, chair, table, door, carpet, windows

• Places: mosque, church, park, beach, school, work, post office, bank, shop, supermarket

• Animals: dog, cat, fish, bird, cow, sheep• Transport: bus, metro, car, boat, bicycle, motorbike, taxi, pram• Famous people: Harry Potter, David Beckham • Common names for people: mum, dad, sister, brother, child/children,

husband, wife• Numbers: 1 through 10• Money: pence, pound• Clothing: shoes, coat, glasses, underwear, socks, hat, trousers, scarf • Adjectives

– red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black, white – happy, sad, tired, clever, good, bad, ugly, pretty, busy– sunny, rainy, windy, snowy, cloudy, cold, warm, hot

Practice assignment• Think up a story line involving love and

write 250-300 words– use the vocabulary list– use CVC syllable words when possible – add the required verbs– write sentences based on the characteristics of

Organic Grammar Stages 1 and 2– be culturally sensitive (no pub settings, etc.)– (see also Kurvers 2008)

Stages of Organic Grammar

Stage markersVPSTAGE 1

FPSTAGE 2

AgrPStage 3

CPStage 4

main verb position

pronominal subjects

copula, modals, auxiliaries

agreement

embedded clauses w/ complementizers

question formation

L1, then L2

none

none

lacking

none

formulaic;intonation

L2 order

some

one copula form; then modals

none; then on suppletive forms

conjoined clauses

more, but uninverted

L2

obligatory

common

acquired

simple subordination

inverted

L2

obligatory

obligatory

acquired

complex subordination

inverted

The story books

• A Day in Newcastle by Freddie Douglas

• David the Bus Driver by Anna Baylis

• Laura and the Flowers by Claire Younger

• The Life of Victoria by Kate Green

• Music for Money by Lucy Popeski

• A Day with Emma by Donna Maguire

A Day with Emma by Donna Maguire

Emma is a small girl. Emma has blonde hair. She is helpful and happy. Emma has a small dog. The dog is brown and white. The dog is called Jack. When it is cold, Jack wears a small coat.

Emma takes Jack to the dog park. They go after school. Jack likes to catch balls. When the day is sunny she takes lots of balls for Jack to play with.

Emma likes to read a book while Jack plays. When it rains, Emma wears a blue rain coat. When it rains, Emma takes 1 ball for Jack to catch. Emma’s mother and father come too.

On rainy days, Emma and Jack come home wet and muddy. After playing in the park they walk home for tea. They jump in puddles and make foot prints in the mud.

Emma has lived in England for 2 years. She lives with her mother, father, and 2 sisters. Emma goes to school and has lots of friends. Her friends like to come to the dog park too! They come to the park to play games.

Emma lives in a tall house with a blue door. Emma likes the colour blue. She has a small garden. In the garden there are blue flowers.

Emma has a kitchen, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room. The bedrooms and bathroom are upstairs. Every room is blue. Emma shares her bedroom with the sisters. At night, they share stories.

Jack likes to run upstairs and sit on Emma’s bed. Jack is very muddy from the park. He gets the bed very dirty. Emma says he is a naughty dog and gives him a bath. Jack is a sad dog. He does not like baths.

After the bath, Emma and Jack have tea with the family. Emma has soup and bread. Emma eats from a big blue bowl.

Jack is hungry and eats a big bowl of dog food. After tea, Emma and Jack go to bed.

Emma always thinks how happy she is. She loves Jack very much. Emma always looks forward to the next day.

The End

…but the beginning of 1001 Stories

ReferencesDay, R. and J. Bamford.1998. Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge: CUP.

Gourley, J. W. 1984. Discourse structure: Expectations of beginning readers and readability of text. Journal of Reading Behavior XVI:169-188.

Hsueh-Chao, M. H. and P. Nation 2000. Unknown vocabularly density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language 13:403-430.

Krashen, S. 2004. The Power of Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Kurvers, J. 2008. Old stories for new readers. Talk at Newcastle University, May.

Palmer, E. 1972. Formative research in educational television production: The experience of CTW (Children’s Television Workshop). In W. Schramm (ed.) Quality in Instructional Television.Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

Pang, E. and M. Kamil. 2004. Second-language issues in early literacy and instruction. Publication Series No. 1. Stanford.

Peyton, J. K. 1993. Listening to students’ voices: Publishing students’ writing for other students to read. In J. Crandall and J. K. Peyton (eds.) Approaches to Adult ESL Literacy Instruction. Washington, DC: ERIC and CAL.

Rodrigo, V., D. Greenberg, V. Burke, R. Hall, A. Berry, T. Brinck, H. Joseph and M. Oby. 2007. Implementing an extensive reading program and library for adult literacy learners. Reading in a Foreign Language 19:106-119.

Wallace, C. 2008. A socio-cultural approach to literacy instruction for adult ESOL learners new to literacy. In M. Young-Scholten (ed.) Low-Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition. Proceedings of the Third Annual Forum.Durham: Roundtuit.

Whiteside, A. 2008. Who is ‘you’? ESL literacy, written text and troubles with deixis in imagined spaces. In Young-Scholten.

Williams, A. and L. Chapman. 2008. Meeting diverse needs: Content-based language teaching and settlement needs for low-literacy adult ESL immigrants. In Young-Scholten.