The National Career Pathways Network is holding its 2012 conference in Richmond. (December 15, 2011)

October 17-19 at the Richmond Convention Center

Please consider submitting a proposal. Presenter forms will be available mid-January. All areas of adult education (ABE, GED, ESOL, and technical education) are encouraged to apply and to attend.

For more information see their conference website: http://www.ncpn.info/2012-ncpn-conf.php

Contact Kate Daly at kedaly@vcu.edu with questions.

ELL-U National Adult English Language Learning Professional Development Network (November 14, 2011)

ELL-U is an innovative and interactive free professional development network for ESOL practitioners. Through a combination of face-to-face events, online learning activities, and collaborative social networking, ELL-U offers professional learning based on the needs of the field.

You can access this site at http://www.ell-u.org/about_us/ and explore their current catolog of learning activities.

SETESOL Conference in Richmond (September 15, 2011)

Celebrating Culture and Heritage through Language Teaching

Conference site: http://vatesol.cloverpad.org/SETESOL_Conference_2011

This is a great opportunity to attend a regional TESOL conference right here in Richmond. Please see the email message below for details.

There is a tentative schedule of presentations that you can find on the conference site. Laurie Weinberg, President of VATESOL (Virginia TESOL), has passed on a list of presentations that are relevant to teaching adult ESOL.

Here are some of the titles that are definitely geared toward the adult education audience:

• Social Support as an Academic Transition Strategy for Adult ESOL Students– D. A. Westin, Ph.D.
• Language Learning Strategy Used by Colombian Adult English Language Learners – E. Paredes
• Best practices in ESL writing feedback – S. Kegley
• Celebrating Cultural Diversity Through Writing: A Class Book Project – N. Ball
• Promoting Reading Fluency in Adult ESL learners: Extensive Reading – D. Ewert
• Having Fun with Oral Proficiency: Lowering the Affective Filter – A. Chrisman
• Interactive ideas to teach practical information including laws, finances and education – L. Shainis
• Creating a New Faculty Orientation Online in Moodle – L. Bowles
• Using Popular Media to Create Whole Language Modules – T. Allen
• ELT Simplicity & Cognates: How I taught a million people – R. Moran Molina
• Culture Shock Effect on Language Acquisition – A. Quiambao
• Applying Brain Research to Develop Culturally and Personally Relevant Lesson Plans – M. Kaeiser
• The Write Stuff: Getting Students to Write and Read More! – A. Clarke
• Is it learning, OR-I-GAMI – K. Shah-Saleh, Ph.D.
• ESL Review App – Integrating New Technology – D. C. Wagner-Loera
• Celebrating Culture and Heritage by Cultivating Physical and Metaphorical Gardens – A. Clarke

*Please note that co-presenters are not listed.

Funding Available for adult ESOL classrooms (September 12, 2011)

The Tina B. Carver Fund was established by her family and colleagues to honor the life and work of Tina B. Carver, longtime member of TESOL and the ESL/EFL community. Grants are available for funding the purchase of student classroom learning materials and/or teacher-related materials (e.g., ancillary materials that can be used in conjunction with textbooks or other instruction materials) to support adult ESL education programs in the United States.

Donations to the fund are gratefully accepted.

Eligibility: A TESOL member, or member of a TESOL affiliate, may submit an application on behalf of a community-based organization, charitable institution, or other nonprofit in the United States that carries 501(c)3 status and provides ESL programming for adults. Awarded grants will primarily serve the hardest-to-reach students with limited resources.

Deadlines: Annual application deadlines are January 31st, May 15th, and September 30th.

To Apply: Complete the online application with the following information:

The link to this information can be found at: http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=362&DID=13503

Civics and Citizenship Toolkit (August 15, 2011)

USCIS offers a free Civics and Citizenship Toolkit to community organizations that assist immigrants aspiring to become U.S. citizens. The toolkit provides educational materials that focus on both naturalization and civics. For a list of eligible organizations and to register for a Toolkit, visit www.citizenshiptoolkit.gov/Registration/. Interested individuals or organizations that do not qualify to receive a free toolkit may purchase a copy from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Online Bookstore. For additional citizenship information and educational materials, be sure to visit the Citizenship Resource Center.

Reasons for the Misidentification of Special Needs among ELLs (August 5, 2011)

To ensure that misidentification does not occur, the authors of Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners: Delivering a Continuum of Services propose a different approach to assessment and service delivery for ELLs that can overcome many of the problems in traditional assessment and remediation directed toward this student population. Before highlighting solutions in their manual, however, they present three reasons why such misidentification is likely to occur in this population. These reasons are problematic assessment practices, the influence of the medical model when addressing educational issues, and funding biases toward special education.

While this article was written with a K-12 population in mind, it does highlight some of the issues surrounding the identification of adult ELLs with special learning needs and can be useful for adult literacy practitioners who work with ELLs who demonstrate learning difficulties. To view the full article, go to: http://www.ldonline.org/article/40715

2011 LESLLA Symposium to be Held in Minnesota (July 5, 2011)

The 7th annual LESLLA (Low Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition for Adults) symposium will be held at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis from September 29 to October 1, 2011. LESLLA is an international forum of researchers, teacher educators, and practitioners who share an interest in research on the development of second language skills by adult immigrants with little or no schooling prior to entering their new countries.

LESLLA brings together linguists, psycho-linguists, educational scientists, and educators to establish a multi-country and multi-target-language research group to study effective methods of language acquisition and literacy. No other group exists that meets regularly to consider interdisciplinary research on adult immigrants learning to speak and write a language other than their native language.

The annual symposiums are held in different countries and we are lucky, that this year, it is in the U.S.

For more details about the LESLLA organization, past symposiums, publications, resources, please go to: www.leslla.org