Adult English language learners who lack print literacy or experience with formal education encounter a unique set of challenges in their lives and their efforts to learn English. Educators and policymakers are similarly challenged by how best to help these adults acquire English literacy. This booklet reviews a variety of research, including that on language acquisition, literacy development in adults and children, cognition and brain functioning, adult education, and professional development. Though research on this specific group of adult learners is sparse, available findings suggest that they need programs and classes separate from those for other beginning-level English language learners, with particular attention paid to cultural influences and their experiences (or lack thereof) with formal education. Those who teach these adults can benefit from professional development opportunities that focus closely on the specific backgrounds, strengths and needs of these learners.

This book investigates multilingual literacy practices, explores the technology applied in different educational frameworks, the centrality of multilingual literacy in non-formal, informal and formal educational contexts, as well as its presence in everyday life. Thematically clustered in four parts, the chapters present an overview of theory related to multilingual literacy, address the methodological challenges of research in the area, describe and evaluate projects set up to foster multilingual literacy in a variety of educational contexts, analyze the literacy practices of multilinguals and their contribution to language and literacy acquisition. This volume aims to initiate a change in paradigms, shifting from structured and conservative problematizations to inclusive and diverse conceptualizations and practices. To that end, the book showcases explorations of different methodologies and needs in formal and non-formal educational systems; and it serves as a springboard for developing multivocal participatory spaces with opportunities for learning and identity-building for all multilinguals, across different settings, languages, ages and contexts.

The concept of "funds of knowledge" is based on a simple premise: people are competent and have knowledge, and their life experiences have given them that knowledge. The claim in this book is that first-hand research experiences with families allow one to document this competence and knowledge, and that such engagement provides many possibilities for positive pedagogical actions. Drawing from both Vygotskian and neo-sociocultural perspectives in designing a methodology that views the everyday practices of language and action as constructing knowledge, the funds of knowledge approach facilitates a systematic and powerful way to represent communities in terms of the resources they possess and how to harness them for classroom teaching. This book accomplishes three objectives: It gives readers the basic methodology and techniques followed in the contributors' funds of knowledge research; it extends the boundaries of what these researchers have done; and it explores the applications to classroom practice that can result from teachers knowing the communities in which they work. In a time when national educational discourses focus on system reform and wholesale replicability across school sites, this book offers a counter-perspective stating that instruction must be linked to students' lives, and that details of effective pedagogy should be linked to local histories and community contexts. This approach should not be confused with parent participation programs, although that is often a fortuitous consequence of the work described. It is also not an attempt to teach parents "how to do school" although that could certainly be an outcome if the parents so desired. Instead, the funds of knowledge approach attempts to accomplish something that may be even more challenging: to alter the perceptions of working-class or poor communities by viewing their households primarily in terms of their strengths and resources, their defining pedagogical characteristics. Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households, Communities, and Classrooms is a critically important volume for all teachers and teachers-to-be, and for researchers and graduate students of language, culture, and education.

A high level of literacy in both print and digital media is required for negotiating most aspects of 21st-century life, including supporting a family, education, health, civic participation, and competitiveness in the global economy. Yet, more than 90 million U.S. adults lack adequate literacy. Furthermore, only 38 percent of U.S. 12th graders are at or above proficient in reading. Improving Adult Literacy Instruction synthesizes the research on literacy and learning to improve literacy instruction in the United States and to recommend a more systemic approach to research, practice, and policy. The book focuses on individuals ages 16 and older who are not in K-12 education. It identifies factors that affect literacy development in adolescence and adulthood in general, and examines their implications for strengthening literacy instruction for this population. It also discusses technologies for learning that can assist with multiple aspects of teaching, assessment,and accommodations for learning. There is inadequate knowledge about effective instructional practices and a need for better assessment and ongoing monitoring of adult students' proficiencies, weaknesses, instructional environments, and progress, which might guide instructional planning. Improving Adult Literacy Instruction recommends a program of research and innovation to validate, identify the boundaries of, and extend current knowledge to improve instruction for adults and adolescents outside school. The book is a valuable resource for curriculum developers, federal agencies such as the Department of Education, administrators, educators, and funding agencies.

This important guide shows how to determine appropriate interventions for ELLs with academic challenges. It includes extensive new discussions of RtI and standardized testing used for diagnostic purposes and and reviews consequences for ELLs. The ensuring a continuum of services model featured in the book is a strong collaborative framework that takes teams of educators step-by-step through gathering information about and implementing effective interventions for ELLs with learning difficulties.