Background
The Center for Adult English
Language Acquisition (CAELA), established in 2004, is funded by the Office of
Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) of the U.S. Department of Education and
housed at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC. CAELA was
created to help states build their capacity to promote English language
learning and academic achievement of adult immigrants and refugees learning
English. The capacity building work that CAELA does with states consists of
assisting them in analyzing their teacher and student data to plan professional
development, finding resources and materials for professional development, and
building state systems and networks among states to sustain and enhance
professional development.
CAELA’s major tasks
are:
* Leading an initiative to build
capacity for improving the skills of teachers and administrators in adult ESL
programs
* Developing an easy-to-use
repository of resources (e.g., research studies, instructional curricula,
information on language acquisition) that are accessible through the CAELA Web
site
* Producing easily accessible
materials that synthesize research and make applications to practice
*
Developing a toolkit of training
materials for professional developers to train teachers of adult English
language learners
* Providing technical assistance
to adult ESL teachers, programs, and states
The information
that supports
these activities and the resources themselves are housed on the CAELA Website.
Many of the features and resources of the CAELA Website are useful to teachers
teaching English as an additional or foreign language throughout the world.
This article discusses what is available on the CAELA Website
(www.cal.org/caela) to help instructors and teacher trainers plan both
professional development and classroom activities.
The
CAELA Website was built on the
foundation of the National Center for ESL Literacy (NCLE) Website. This Website
was redesigned in 2005 to maintain the NCLE collection, under a new name,
CAELA, and to add several more features and increasing functionality for users.
The CAELA Website includes many briefs, collections, and digests; an adult ESL
resource database; and other materials that teacher trainers and teachers may
find useful. The remainder of this article discusses each of these sections and
their possible use.
Briefs
(www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs.html)
CAELA briefs, all written since
2005, are easily accessible papers that synthesize research and make
applications to practice. These online publications are written by experienced
teachers, trainers, and researchers, and cover a wide range of topics integral
to teaching adult English language learners. Some of these topics include:
* Online Professional
Development for Adult ESL Educators, at:
www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs/onlinepd.html
* Adolescent Learners in Adult
ESL Classes, at:
www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs/adolescent.html
* Applying Research Findings to
Adult English Language Students, at:
www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs/research.html
*How should Adult ESL Reading Instruction Differ from ABE Reading Instruction? at:
www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs/readingdif.html
The briefs
also contain substantive bibliographies that give
teachers and teacher trainers easy access to current, seminal information for
further research. Many of the resources cited contain Web links for convenient
access.
Collections (www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/collections.html)
CAELA collections contain
information on a topic from many different sources. They provide background
information and an overview of the resources that are currently available
online and in print on specific topics in adult ESL. They often include links to
journal articles and other resources. Background information includes
definitions for key terms, current information available and, if necessary, an
historical overview of the topic. Collections then list CAELA resources
available on the Website, resources from the ERIC database, and a bibliography
of articles and reports. Collections also list information about government and
non-government organizations and electronic discussion lists that are pertinent
to a topic, with their Websites. The following table, appearing in each
collection, shows the types of information available on each collection topic
and, by clicking on the type of information, for example “Articles/Reports,”
the user is sent to that part of the collection.
Current collections are:
Assessment and Evaluation in Adult ESL, Civics Education for Adult English
Language Learners, Learning Disabilities and Adult ESL, Second Language
Acquisition, and What Beginning Teachers and Tutors of Adult English Language
Learners Need to Know.
Digests
(http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests.html)
CAELA digests are shorter pieces
written on specific topics of particular interest to practitioners (e.g., ESL Instruction and Adults with Learning
Disabilities, Improving Adult
English Language Learners’
Pronunciation). Sixty-seven digests are
online at present and cover such topics as assessment and evaluation, culture,
methods and approaches, professional development, program design, second
language acquisition, technology, and workplace ESL. Digests are written by
experienced adult ESL teachers, trainers, and researchers and contain a
synthesis of research and information about the topic and references. Digests
are shorter and provide less detailed treatment of a topic than briefs do.
Because of their length, depth,
and bibliographies, briefs and digests can be effective background readings for
trainings and discussion readings for study circles. (A study circle is when a
group of practitioners read and discuss research and consider its implications
for classroom and program practice. Led by a facilitator, the group meets
multiple times to reflect on the meaning of theory and research and to explore
its applications to their own work.) Briefs are longer and may contain more
information about a specific topic than digests. Whether a trainer or study
circle leader chooses a brief or a digest will depend on the amount of time
participants can devote to reading. For example, because they are usually only
two print pages, digests can easily be used for jigsaw reading activities in
trainings
Resource Database www.cal.org/CALWebDB/CAELATracker/CAELAList.aspx)
One of CAELA’s tasks has been to
develop an easy-to-use repository of resources about adult English as a second
language (e.g., research studies, instructional curricula, information on
language acquisition). The repository is accessible through the CAELA Website.
With this repository, CAELA is able to disseminate research-based information
and resources for effective English language instruction for adults. The
repository of resources currently contains 120 research studies and
research-based resources and is regularly updated.
Tools
http://www.cal.org/caela/tools/)
The CAELA Website has a section of
“Tools” for both Program Development and Instruction. In the Program
Development tools section of the Website, administrators and teacher trainers
can find information about staff development, ESL methods and approaches, and
many other topics. Each of these Webpages contains information about the topic
and links to CAELA and other resources for information and implementation. In
the Instruction section, there are tools and information for teachers to use.
The Instruction section contains information for teachers on assessment and
evaluation, ESL methods and approaches, health literacy, workplace literacy,
second language acquisition and other topics.
Other Materials
The CAELA Website also contains
other materials that might be of interest to teacher trainers. These include
annotated bibliographies, health literacy resources, a practitioner toolkit,
and a compendium of project-based learning materials, such as:
*Online Professional
Development Resources for Adult ESL Educators, at:
www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/bibliographies/pdonline.html
* Research on Reading
Development of Adult English Language Learners: An Annotated Bibliography, at:
www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/bibliographies/readingbib.html
* Practitioner Toolkit:
Working
with Adult English Language Learners (a
toolkit designed to support adult education and family literacy instructors), at:
http://www.cal.org/caela/tools/program_development/CombinedFilesl.pdf
* Picture Stories for Adult
ESL
Health Literacy, at:
www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/Health/healthindex.html
* Project Based
Learning and
Assessment: A Resource Manual for Teachers, at:
www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/REEPproj.pdf
Closing
All the resources
listed, as well
as the others on the CAELA Website, are free and available to all who have
Internet access. If someone has a specific question about a topic or situation,
they can write to CAELA at caela@cal.org. A CAELA staff
person will answer
their question in a timely manner.
“Now many
national policy-makers
and experts believe that professional development...is…an important tool for
improving student learning.” (Viadero, 2005, p.1) Through CAELA’s Website, and
the many and varied documents it presents, CAELA endeavors to support
administrators, teacher trainers, and teachers.
Reference
Viadero, D. (2005).
Pressure
builds for effective staff training. Education Week, 24(43), 1 & 18. (43), 1 &
18.
