Adult ESL and Literacy: Issues and Options. Working Paper Summer Institute 2008

In this paper, the author would like to put forward a number of issues to think about and discuss. At the same time, she argues for a better articulated system that more closely matches the needs and goals of various subgroups of English language learners. Adult ESL programs serve diverse immigrant populations with different needs and goals. A One-Size-Fits-All approach limits the effectiveness of services and "cheats" groups at either end of the educational spectrum--those without literacy in their native language at one end, and those with higher levels of education in their native country at the other. If education adapts and varies adult ESL services to differentiate instructional programs according to literacy needs and previous schooling experience, they will have a more educationally sound system. Efforts to change the system and create separate pathways for different groups of immigrants will not happen without investment and planning on all levels--program, state or province and federal--and without focused attention to the specific needs and goals of each subgroup. Creating a better articulated and more focused system will require more resources, but much time and effort is currently wasted in an undifferentiated system that purports to be all things to all people, yet does not serve any given group as well as it could. A bibliography is included.