Evaluation of literacy instruction on low-literate adult ESL learners: a study in progress

Abstract

"According the 2006 programme year statistics from the US Department of Education (US ED), 46 percent of the 2.4 million students in the federally funded adult education program in the USA were English as a second language (ESL) students (ED, 2008). Of these, about 200,000 are at the lowest ESL level, beginning literacy. These students, who face the dual challenge of developing basic literacy skills - including decoding, comprehending, and producing print - along with proficiency in English, represent a range of nationalities and cultural backgrounds. Although the majority of students come from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, there are also students from Africa, India, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, and the Caribbean (Wrigley et al., 2003)"