In the 21st century, digital technology skills are necessary to succeed in technology-rich environments such as the school, the workplace, and daily life activities such as shopping online, applying for jobs, working online, and receiving education. This qualitative case the study provided insights into digital literacy and the most influential…

This book centralizes the narratives of adult English language learners, teachers, and trainee teachers in the development of a humanistic language pedagogy; their strengths, concerns, and stories inform this practical guide to adult literacy development and English language-culture learning and teaching. The author sets the need to educate the…

The Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA) literature explicitly states the suitability of using PBLA in English as an additional language (EAL) learning contexts. An underlying assumption is that it is also suitable for adult learners. This paper tests this assumption by comparing PBLA against the assumptions and principles of andragogy--a…

Immigrant students access community colleges with increasing frequency (Teranishi, Suarez-Orozco, & Suarez-Orozco, 2011); however, the majority of research focuses on Generation 1.5 students who completed K-12 education in the U.S. Generation 1 learners are defined in this study as adult immigrants (Rumbaut, 2004) and adult learners (Knowles,…

While much is known about the characteristics of adult learners and even adult learners in online and distance education settings, very little CALL research is focused on online self-instructed learners, and even fewer studies focus on learners of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs), such as Macedonian, for whom traditional or even distance…

With the Internet, foreign language learners can interact more easily with native speakers from other countries than in previous generations. For learners to develop the ability to function in foreign environments, it is vital to understand their experiences in postsecondary online foreign language classes. If educators and educational theorists…

Interrupted formal education is a barrier that makes learning English as an adult an extremely challenging commitment. Besides the many work and family responsibilities that most adult English as a second language (ESL) learners face, students with interrupted formal education (SIFE) often lack familiarity with school-based skills and typical…

Adult English language learners who lack print literacy or experience with formal education encounter a unique set of challenges in their lives and their efforts to learn English. Educators and policymakers are similarly challenged by how best to help these adults acquire English literacy. This paper reviews a variety of research, including that…

In a report on meeting the language needs of refugees in Ireland, Little (2000) identifies two sets of language rights for refugees--stemming from the right to preserve their own language or languages as a central element of identity, and the right to enjoy free access to Irish society which entails the right to develop language proficiency in…

Research pertaining to adult second-language learning from television is reviewed. It is proposed that course design and marketing must begin with considerations of basic factors such as students' needs, nature of the target language, the uses to be made of the language, and the linguistic skills being taught. Decisions can be made best by keeping…

This paper describes the functional-notional approach to language teaching and learning in terms of the ways it can be used to meet the communicative needs of the potential language learners, particularly adults, who vary in what they want to do in the target language. It contrasts the functional system with conventional approaches, illustrates…

The proceedings of an international conference on teacher training include an introductory section on background and objectives, opening speeches by Georges Tenekides and Paul Sakellaridis, reports of working groups, conclusions and recommendations, a symposium program, a list of participants, and several presentations. The following are the…

Petra Rodriguez, a middle-aged Spanish-speaking migrant woman without reading skills, made it clear when interviewed about reading, that she felt it to be the responsibility of literate people to teach illiterate people how to read. The researcher, as part of another project, arranged for tutoring in the woman's home and discovered that the…

This collection of papers focuses on literacy and the special educational needs of speakers of English as a second language (ESL). In a paper entitled "Ethnic Minority Educational Needs in the 1980s," Gurnam Heire examines some of the changes in employment and training that have taken place over the past few years and how these affect the…

This publication presents the Adult Language Levels (ALL) Management System as a curriculum and programmatic framework to assist administrators and teachers in implementing a competency-based English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) program. Chapter 1 presents theoretical investigations of adult learning and adult second language development…