There is a very readable article which explains how we travel along the road from being ethnocentric to ethonorelative at 
http://www.teaminternational.net/Resources/Docs/IDI.pdf.
 
Enjoy
 
Anthony Berry

Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 08:53:30 -0500From: alcrofford at okcps.orgTo: englishlanguage at nifl.gov; dezreen at excite.com; englishlanguage at nifl.govCC: djacks1 at tacoma.k12.wa.usSubject: [EnglishLanguage 2571] Re: ESL Reading - 2 or 3 things we know for sure



Dr. Culbertson from Southern Nazarene University has a page on culture shock and things to help get through it.
 
http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/shock.htm
 
Sometimes we think we are doing poorly in our adjustment when we might be doing well. A friend was at the downtown post office in Cotonou, Benin one day when several people "budged" in line. By her words, she lost it and told everyone where they actually belonged which was not in front of her! She felt terrible. Later a Beninese friend who was there unbeknownst to her said, "Ah, you are finally becoming an African. No Beninese woman would have allowed that either!" She was judging herself by her own (Canadian) culture and found herself lacking. He judged her by local standards and thought she was great. 
 
Amy Crofford


From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Sledd, LeeSent: Wed 5/21/2008 5:20 PMTo: dezreen at excite.com; The Adult English Language Learners Discussion ListCc: AvisSubject: [EnglishLanguage 2568] Re: ESL Reading - 2 or 3 things we know for sure


"the possibility of mental illness/low grade depression and how to suggest health services. This is a culturally loaded area, so has to be dealt with carefully."

 
I'd love to hear more on how you handle this. Depression is common and I often do class readings about it; just acknowledging and discussing it makes the topic safe for conversation or conferences. 
 
However, we had a student who recently left our program recently with some apparent paranoia- thought other students were talking about her, thought her teacher was angry with her, etc. Despite our best efforts, she left- and now she has also left the other program we referred her to. I am less sure how we can handle this.
 
Lee Sledd
Madison Family Literacy, ESL
Tacoma Community College
253-571-1887


From: kathleen morganSent: Wed 5/14/2008 7:01 AMTo: englishlanguage at nifl.govSubject: [EnglishLanguage 2442] Re: ESL Reading - 2 or 3 things we know for sure
In my experience, helping students understand how the class curriculum ties to their life and helping them set short and long term goals is a good place to start. 

Many low L1 and L2 literacy students (HS) and parents I have worked with who were illiterate were also very adept at hiding their lack of skills. In teaching or working with them, I worked hard to focus on what they knew how to do and kept the list of what we were going to work in future lesson short to keep their stress low. 

I've also become more aware of the possibility of mental illness/low grade depression and how to suggest health services. This is a culturally loaded area, so has to be dealt with carefully. 

Kathleen
Telluride CO


 --- On Wed 05/14, joe ramos < gangfree1 at yahoo.com > wrote:
From: joe ramos [mailto: gangfree1 at yahoo.com]
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 21:12:36 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2441] Re: ESL Reading - 2 or 3 things we know for	sure

Hello,<br><br>I don't know if this is the right forum for my<br>question but I'll try. <br><br>First of all my name is Joe Ramos, I am a graduate<br>student working on a MA in Education (Adult Education)<br>and a Post Secondary Certificate in Reading at San<br>Francisco State University. <br><br>I am currently working on a project or paper that<br>deals with motivation or "motivating the unmotivated."<br><br><br>The focus is on teaching either high school students,<br>post secondary students or adult learning students who<br>are involved in a reading or basic English class who<br>are unmotivated to learn to read or write on their<br>own.<br><br>Is any one out there who might have a suggestion of an<br>article or two to read?<br><br>Or someone who might have experince working with this<br>type of student.I would appreciate some feed back as<br>my paer is due soon.<br><br>Thank you<br><br>Joe Ramos<br><br><br>--- Glenda Lynn Rose <glyndalin at yahoo.com> wrote:<br><br>> I've found
 
  
the same thing.  If I don't emphasize<br>> reading for pleasure by setting time apart for it<br>> during the student's study time, it is interpreted<br>> as being unimportant, no matter how many times I<br>> assert to the contrary.  So, I set some time aside<br>> to just let the read for themselves.<br>> <br>> Barbara Caballero <barbaracaballero at sbcglobal.net><br>> wrote:          Good afternoon, everyone,<br>>   Im Barbara Rotolo-Caballero, a part-time ESL<br>> instructor at Austin Community College in Texas. My<br>> comments are related to my intermediate/advanced<br>> level class and this assertion:<br>>   "4. Reading is an interactive process between the<br>> reader, the text, and the writer. The situation in<br>> which you read and write and your purposes for doing<br>> so play a role as well (think about opening a letter<br>> from the INS  now USCIS - or a note from your<br>> ex-spouse)." <br>>    <br>>   I like to have fun in my class, but reading has<br>> often been
 
  
the least fun. Too often I have inserted<br>> myself between my students and text and writer by<br>> diligently focusing on comprehension and<br>> vocabulary-building. What a drag.<br>>    <br>>   My students werent doing reading homework that I<br>> assigned. My students didnt have books in English<br>> at home. Attempts to get them to bring in reading<br>> material that was interesting to them (something out<br>> there in the real world) bombed. The only reading we<br>> were doing in class was ESL textbook reading and<br>> usually reading aloud. I knew that they needed to<br>> read more and to get the feel of reading English as<br>> part of everyday life. I didnt know how to make<br>> this happen.<br>>    <br>>   Inspired by Nancy Meredith, a colleague at ACC,<br>> Ive introduced a new process. For one-half hour in<br>> the middle of our 3-hour class, my students sit down<br>> with a book and read, silently. So do I.. I have a<br>> file box full of leveled readers for 
 
adults (mostly<br>> Penguin, mostly books based on movies). Each student<br>> may select any book. Each student keeps a log of the<br>> books completed. Thats it. We dont all read the<br>> same book. I dont plan a lesson around any of these<br>> books. We just sit and read for pleasure. Not one<br>> student has balked at this, nor have I lost a<br>> student because of it. I encourage them to read<br>> through, without dictionaries. I encourage them to<br>> keep a list of words that theyd like to learn. Its<br>> often difficult to pull them away from their reading<br>> when its time to move on to another task.<br>>    <br>>   I'm very happy with this new process and I wonder<br>> who else is doing this.<br>>   Barbara Rotolo-Caballero<br>>   brotoloc at austincc.edu<br>>   <br>> <br>> <br>>   ----- Original Message ----<br>> From: "Wrigley, Heide" <heide at literacywork.com><br>> To: "Wrigley, Heide" <heide at literacywork.com>; The<br>> Adult English Language Learners Discussion
 
  
List<br>> <englishlanguage at nifl.gov><br>> Cc: Lynda Terrill <lterrill at cal.org><br>> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 3:26:57 PM<br>> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2390] ESL Reading - 2 or 3<br>> things we know for sure<br>> <br>>             Hi, all <br>>    <br>>   Apparently, theres been a bit of a problem with<br>> the CAL server but we are moving along. <br>>    <br>>   Hello again to those of you participating in the<br>> Reading for Adult ELLs discussion. As promised, I<br>> wanted to start us off with the two or three things<br>> we know for sure from research in reading (though<br>> not necessarily from research with adult English<br>> language learners  we dont yet have research that<br>> speaks directly to this population). <br>>    <br>>   So here is my questions. Which one of these<br>> assertions really resonates for you?  If you are an<br>> ESL teacher do you have examples from you students<br>> that either supports or disproves one of these<br>> points <br>>    <br>> 
 
  
  <br>>     <br>>    You learn to read just once (this is also known<br>> as breaking the code; once you have developed<br>> phonemic awareness in one language and you know to<br>> decode one language), you dont need to start all<br>> over with developing phonemic awareness in another<br>> language  you just need to absorb the rules of the<br>> new system  that is, you must learn how English<br>> works, not how literacy works. <br>>    <br>>     <br>>    Knowledge from the first language transfers to<br>> knowledge about the second language but transfer is<br>> not automatic. You may need to draw your students<br>> attention to certain common features of the<br>> language.<br>>    <br>>     <br>>    We make sense of the world by connecting prior<br>> knowledge with new knowledge.  We gain meaning from<br>> print the same way. So if your knowledge of the<br>> world does not match the knowledge of the world that<br>> the writer assumes, the text is likely to be<br>> 
confusing to you even if your reading skills are ok.<br>>    <br>>     <br>>    Reading is an interactive process between the<br>> reader, the text, and the writer.  The situation in<br>> which you read and write and your purposes for doing<br>> so play a role as well (think about opening a letter<br>> from the INS  now USCIS or a note from your<br>> ex-spouse).<br>>    <br>>     <br>>    When we read, we activate two types of knowledge<br>>  what we know about meaning making (top down<br>> processes) and what we know about language<br>> (bottom-up processes).  Its important to keep in<br>> mind that the purpose of reading is comprehension. <br>>    <br>>     <br>>    Although control over bottom-up processes is<br>> important for learning to read, it does not follow<br>> that new readers must have mastered all sub skills<br>> before they can focus on comprehension. Using sub<br>> skills effectively enhances comprehension, but<br>> control over sub skills does not 
automatically lead<br>> to comprehension.<br>>    <br>>     <br>>    Language proficiency and reading comprehension<br>> are closely related. One way of increasing the<br>> reading skills of literate learners is to build<br>> language skills.  One way of building students<br>> comprehension of (pre) academic texts, is to present<br>> such information orally (mini-presentations) and<br>> visually (through PowerPoints or video clips) so you<br>> can build understanding of concepts without your<br>> students getting mired in print.<br>>    <br>>     <br>>    Vocabulary knowledge is one of the key<br>> determinants of reading comprehension. Increases in<br>> vocabulary means increases in background knowledge<br>> and in reading comprehension, the same as in<br>> everything else, the more you know  the more you<br>> know <br>>    <br>>   Looking forward to hearing your thoughts <br>>    <br>>   Heide<br>>    <br>>    <br>>    <br>>       From: Wrigley, Heide <br>> Sent: Monday, 
 
May 12, 2008 12:18 PM<br>> To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov<br>> Cc: Lynda Terrill<br>> Subject: Reading and Adult English Language Learners<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>>    <br>>   Good morning all <br>>    <br>>   Its 7 am here in Southern New Mexico, its still<br>> nice and cool and the roses are blooming big time<br>> and I should be going out to water soon (coffee<br>> first, though)<br>>    <br>>    <br>>   I wanted to welcome you to the discussion on ESL<br>> Reading and am hoping that well have a lively back<br>> and forth as you pose questions, challenge<br>> assumptions, and share your own experience teaching<br>> reading to ESL students  either teaching these<br>> skills explicitly and systematically or just folding<br>> reading into your regular curriculum. <br>>    <br>>   I would like to invite you to tell us a sentence<br>> or two about yourself and your work and your<br>> experience before you post your messages.<br>>    <br>>   Just a bit of background: Im Heide 
Spruck Wrigley<br>> and my work revolves around the intersection of<br>> research, policy and practice. Ive been involved in<br>> several studies on ESL literacy (broader than just<br>> reading) that we can talk about, and this year Im<br>> doing quite a bit of work around workplace literacy.<br>>  Most of my work has been with language minority<br>> adults <br>=== message truncated ===><br>----------------------------------------------------<br>> National Institute for Literacy<br>> Adult English Language Learners mailing list<br>> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov<br>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings,<br>> please go to<br>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage<br>> Email delivered to gangfree1 at yahoo.com<br><br><br><br>      <br>----------------------------------------------------<br>National Institute for Literacy<br>Adult English Language Learners mailing list<br>EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov<br>To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, 
 
please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage<br>Email delivered to dezreen at excite.com<br>

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