The University of Minnesota will provide an online course on Elementary literacy instruction for ESL students this fall. This three-credit course is designed for graduate students and in-service teachers who teach reading and writing in English to students from diverse linguistic backgrounds.
It focuses on:
- How is learning to read in a new language the same or different from reading in a first language?
- Does literacy development in English look the same for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds?
- What challenges exist in learning to read and write while simultaneously learning to speak a language? How can teachers address these challenges?
- What teaching practices have been found to be most effective in helping English learners improve in reading and writing?
- How can literacy teachers build on students’ home languages, background literacy knowledge and cultural resources?
- What are best practices in literacy assessment for English learners?
The essential literacy components of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary development and comprehension will each be examined in relation to EL students’ thorough literacy learning. For more information about the course, please contact Annie Delbridge at polse001@umn.edu