Hello PD list members,

I want to let you know about a discussion going on now on the Focus on Basics List that may interest you. Robin Lovrien Schwarz is discussing her article in the recent FOB issue called: Addressing Potential Impediments to Learning with ESOL Students. We had a discussion this topic two years ago that generated an interesting thread about teacher training and professional development. These are issues critical to a program's ability to address the needs of struggling ESOL learners, and your input would be very helpful.

Sorry for the short notice, but I hope that you can join us for this discussion. Feel free to invite colleagues to join in. The Focus on Basics list will end on February 29th, and this will be our last discussion. (See below for subscription address.)

All the best,
Julie

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Guest Discussion: Addressing Potential Impediments to Learning with ESOL Students
February 18-22, 2008
On the Focus on Basics Discussion List: To subscribe or view the archives, please go to:

http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Focusonbasics 
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We will discuss the following article with Robin, the author:

Addressing Potential Impediments to Learning with ESOL Students
http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/fob/2007/fob_8d.pdf

Note: Issue 8D is available only in PDF format. You can find this article on page 20.

Adult ESOL students who are not achieving the expected progress are often assumed to have learning disabilities. While this may indeed be the case, there are several other issues that can impede their ability to learn. This article discusses several of these issues and offers strategies to assess them and address them.

To prepare, read the following article from FOB 8A, and think about the Discussion Questions listed below:

Taking a Closer Look at Struggling ESOL Learners
by Robin L. Schwarz 
http://www.ncsall.net/?id=994 

Discussion questions 

1. What are some of the problems of learners in your program who have not made progress? 
2. Do you think the factors discussed in the article could explain some struggles you've noticed in your learners? 
3. How have you discovered, and then addressed the issues?
4. How can a program develop a coherent system to identify these issues?
5. What kind of professional development do practitioners need in order to address these problems?



Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Education/NCSALL
jmckinney at worlded.org