Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j88GlwG10109; Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:47:58 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:47:58 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <7E0B624DDF68104F92C38648A4D93D8F5DAEB9@MAIL.cal.local> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Lynda Terrill" <lterrill@cal.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:11111] Second langauge acquisition and literacy development of adults with little or no native language scholling X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 3347 Lines: 23 Dear NIFL-ESL participants, Jeanne Kurvers, Ineke van de Craats and Martha Young-Scholten from the Low-Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESSLA) international forum asked me to forward the following announcement to the list. Lynda Terrill NIFL-ESL Moderator lterrill@cal.org ******************************* We would like to mark International Literacy Day with the following announcement. A fortnight ago, a new cross-disciplinary, international forum was established to consider research findings and classroom issues pertaining to the second language acquisition and literacy development of adults with little or no native language schooling: Low-Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition (LESSLA). Recognizing the existence of substantial bodies of cross-linguistic work on the acquisition of a second language by adults (especially non-classroom learners) and on the development of reading by young children, LESLLA is devoted to the application of past and emerging research findings to address urgent issues relating to a population we consider to be a great risk: refugee and immigrant adults who settle in a given country with little or no education in their native or any other language. LESLLA's aim is to identify previous studies and encourage new studies specifically addressing the needs of this population. In creating a forum in which researchers and practitioners working with such adults in contexts around the globe can share ideas, we intend to influence educational practice and policy in an era of scarce resources. On 25 August, Roeland van Hout of the Dutch National Research Council opened LESLLA's inaugural workshop in the Netherlands (in Tilburg). The first day focused on research, with overviews of the substantial bodies of research on SLA (Ineke van de Craats (Nijmegen) and Martha Young-Scholten (Newcastle, UK)), on children's reading development (Astrid Geudens (Antwerp) and on working memory and individual differences, where studies are increasingly being devoted to second language learners (Alan Juffs, Pittsburgh). The workshop then narrowed in focus to specifically consider the LESLLA population. Jeanne Kurvers (Tilburg) and Martha Young-Scholten discussed their respective studies of unschooled adults' reading development and of language and literacy awareness and cognitive development. The second day of the workshop turned to classroom considerations. Larry Condelli (American Institutes for Research) reported on his extensive study of literacy classroom practice and achievement, and he described a study now underway on explicit literacy teaching. Qarin Franker (Göteborg) and Ingrid Skeppstedt (National Centre for Swedish as a Second Language) discussed the Swedish context, and a study on literacy learners and multimodality. Nancy Faux (Virginia Commonwealth) detailed her work on the training of literacy teachers, and the day closed with a visit to a regional adult education centre in Tilburg and talks about past and current Dutch immigration policy, and literacy teacher training and curriculum development for unschooled adult learners in Tilburg. Proceedings of the workshop will be available from the organizers by the end of this calendar year. Jeanne Kurvers, Ineke van de Craats and Martha Young-Scholten LESLLA Tilburg workshop organizers
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