Family & Community Adult Education Adult & Community Learning Services
Bilingual/Native Language Literacy

Native Language Literacy Network Webpage:

Members with E-mail Addresses

The Massachusetts Native Language Literacy Network

If you would like to be added to or deleted from the list please send an e-mail to ylalyre@doe.mass.edu

Activities:

The Massachusetts Adult Native Language Literacy Network, with the collaboration of SABES and ACLS, holds bimonthly meetings in Massachusetts. Check this site for a new schedule during fiscal year 2002 (July 1, 2001 - June 30, 2002).

Go to http://www.necc.mass.edu for more information.

Summary of Recommendations- Native Language Literacy Task Force, 1998-99

Introduction
The proportion of adult learners of English for Speakers of Other Languages served in Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs in Massachusetts is increasing. SMARTT data for FY97 reported that of the 16008 students enrolled in ABE, 52% were English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) adult students. In addition, of those adults 5,057 or about a third, enrolled at the beginning levels. At the lowest level (SPL 0-2) 65% of students remained in the same class while the average of all ABE students reported as not progressing to the next level was only 31%. In FY98 the dropout percentage at the beginning ESOL levels was a staggering fifty percent. This indicates that adult learners lacking the most English skills progress at a considerably slower pace than the rest of the ABE adult population and are at the most risk of dropping out. Native Language Literacy (NLL) instruction services have proliferated to serve the needs of increasing number of those adults whose progress depends on the acquisition of literacy skills in their native language. Yet, we lack a set of specific criteria to guide the implementation of effective NLL programs.

Definitions:

Native Language Literacy Student:
Adult Native speaker of a Language other than English who is committed to improving his/her literacy skills as part of achieving full potential as a citizen, family member and worker and who lacks the skills associated with achieving a high school diploma or its equivalent in the native language. Many NLL students:

• Need and want to learn survival skills in the US culture, and more, in English.
• Have had or will have difficulties progressing in ESOL classes.
• Need strong support services associated with the reality of being marginalized by several concomitant conditions, e.g., not speaking English, speaking non-standard forms of a language, economic difficulties, etc.

• May have learning disabilities
• May have difficulties in language learning associated with old age.

Native Language Literacy in the context of this document means literacy in a language other than English in which an adult is fluent and has been raised speaking. Literacy, as defined by the International Adult Literacy Survey in 1994(IALS), has three dimensions: Prose Literacy or the knowledge and skills required to understand and use information from texts, including editorials, new stories, poems, and fiction; Document Literacy or the knowledge and skills required to locate and use information included in various modern formats such as job applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules, maps, tables, and graphics; and Quantitative literacy, or the knowledge and skills required to apply arithmetic operations, to numbers embedded in printed materials, such as balancing a checkbook, figuring a trip, completing an order form, and determining the amount of interest on a loan from an advertisement see (Attachment B) (OECDSC,1995).

• NLL is based on research indicating that educational training and literacy in the NL transfers to 2nd language learning and acquisition.
• It has to be needed and demanded by a community through a planning process.
• NLL classes should be a beginning step in a continuum of educational opportunities for adults in basic education.
• NLL is an educational and cultural resource due to its potential economic and societal benefits to the community at large.

The ultimate goal of NLL is expressed in the Massachusetts Board of Education's mission statement for Adult Basic Education:
" To provide each & every adult with opportunities to develop the literacy skills needed to qualify for further education, job training, and better employment, and to reach his or her full potential as a family member, productive worker and citizen." To this end, NLL should:

• Enable students at the very least to arrive at literacy levels comparable to a 6th grade level in their NLL and be able to transfer successfully to an ESOL class or access other advanced opportunities, including GED, employment, or training.
• Native Language instruction should include non-reading/writing (level 0) through equivalency to a High school graduation (grade 12) when there is the need and demand in a community.
• Make students aware of their career, education, social, economic, and political options.
• Encompass all areas of ABE (math, science, social studies, language arts, health and technology) and a variety of programs and services, e.g. family literacy, corrections, YALD, etc.
• Take into account the individual needs of students and be responsive to the community of NLL learners.

Essential components of a Native Language Literacy Program: This recommendation has two parts. The first part is included in the chart of the existing Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Guidelines for Adult Basic Education programs in bold. The second part consists of the following list of components with recommended options

Program Design

Option 1. Two NLL classes, 0-3rd grade level equivalent, 4-6th grade level equivalent, and one or more classes of either ESOL, vocational training, citizenship, pre-GED training, employment training, or other type of transitional education to further the lifetime educational goals of the learners.

Option 2. Three NLL classes, 0-3rd grade level equivalent, 4-6th grade level equivalent, and 7-9th grade level equivalent and one or more classes of either ESOL, vocational training, citizenship, employment training, or other type of transitional education to further the lifetime educational goals of the learners.

Option 3. Four classes, 0-3rd grade level equivalent, 4-6th grade level equivalent, 7-9th grade level equivalent, 10-12th grade level equivalent, and one or more classes of either ESOL, vocational training, citizenship, employment training, or other type of transitional education to further the lifetime educational goals of the learners.

Initial assessment and placement

NLL assessment must be included in all ESOL programs as part of the initial assessment. The NLL Task Force also recommends that arithmetic skills be assessed in the native language. Often adults with limited writing and reading skills have the ability to perform mental arithmetic among their survival skills. We should able to acknowledge that valuable skill when present.

Options

1. Administer the NLL Screening Device in the native language of the learners.
2. Interview orally and writing in the Native Language.
3. Use other forms of Native Language Literacy observation

On-going Assessments strategies

The NLL Task Force recommends that a combination several of the following strategies be used in NLL programs

• Portfolios
• Teacher written reflections
• Student/Teacher conferences
• Student Self-assessment
• Teacher/Program produced tests
• Standardized test
• Acculturation Scales
Exit directions/transitions
• Employment, pre-GED(General Education Development) preparation
• GED preparation (in any language available)
• ESOL instruction at appropriate level
• EDP (External Diploma Program), or ADP(Alternative Diploma Program)
• Citizenship exam preparation
• College education
• Vocational training
• Employment and /or referral counseling
• Community participation
Support services
• Child Care (optional)
• Counseling (not optional)
• Bilingual hiring team (not optional)

Transitions and balances between ESOL and NLL
1) Minimum number of adults that would warrant implementation of NLL.
The group reached consensus and recommends the use of a ceiling percentage of adults speaking L1 based on census data and other data that demonstrates that a particular language group has a high percentage of illiteracy - Some members recommended that the number be 50 or more people. International Literacy data can be obtained from the Internet at: http://www.literacyonline.org or by calling (781) 338-3853.

2) Needs assessment minimum required activities:
a) at the community level through Community Planning for newly arrived groups;
b) at the program level on an ongoing basis for existing programs through outreach activities at churches, schools, places of work, etc.;
c) administration of the NLL Screening Device or equivalent as a minimum placement tool at the program level for ALL ABE/ESOL programs. Arithmetic skills when necessary to enhance the performance of adults with low prose or document literacy literacy skills.

3) Transitions to ESOL instruction approaches:
The group recommends that NLL instruction follow a bilingual or coordinate model or a combination of the two, from Bringing Literacy to Life (Spruck-Wrigley and Guth, 1992), with the caveat that ESOL teachers must have training on how to teach ESOL to adults who lack literacy in their native language

1. The bilingual model: literacy in the native language is taught alongside English language development. This model has the advantage of allowing learners to acquire literacy and English simultaneously, an option that is attractive to many learners who want to learn both as soon as possible. The bilingual model requires a teacher who is both bilingual and knowledgeable about literacy development and second language acquisition. The term "bilingual" denotes an approach different from using the native language of the learners to simply translate English concepts or terms.

2. The coordinate model: in which learners participate both in a native literacy class and an ESOL class. In this model, class time either is split between a literacy and an ESOL component, or the classes can be offered one after the other during the same teaching cycle. This model requires that one teacher share the language of the learners and understand literacy issues and that a second teacher is experienced in ESOL teaching.

3. A combination of 1 and 2.

How to Include NLL in the ESOL Framework
a) NLL assessment should be part of the initial literacy assessments at least written but ideally oral as well.
b) Learners lacking literacy skills should have the opportunity to attend NLL classes or ESOL literacy rather than being placed automatically in a beginning ESOL level class.
c) NLL students who transition to ESOL instruction should continue to receive support in the development of NLL.
d) ESOL programs should not group together adults with different NLL ability levels in the same ESOL class. Special cases must be acknowledged such as learners with highly developed Basic Interactive Communicative skills (BIC) in English but lacking NLL or the student with developed Cognitive Academic Literacy (CAL) in English but lacking BIC skills in English (Cummins, 1979)
e) The native language of learners may be used to explain grammatical concepts or key points.
f) The use of the native language in the classroom should be considered natural and acceptable to discuss issues that touch the lives of the students as a group, such as welfare reform, etc.
g) The use of the native language for purpose of clarification should diminish as the levels of English proficiency rise.
h) ESOL materials should celebrate the home culture of the learners and celebrate and explore the group specific and historical struggles of immigrants to succeed in a--sometimes-hostile-- environment.
i) The assessment of any Learning Disability in an ESOL student needs to take place in the learner's native language.
j) It is the responsibility of ESOL teachers to be open to learning about and being sensitive to the cultures and language of the learners in their classrooms. Ideally ESOL teachers should know a second language since that would enhance their understanding of the process of language acquisition. k) Training for ESOL teachers must include techniques of teaching adults with low literacy skills.


How to include the Mathematics Curriculum Framework in NLL
The NLL Task Force considers that the Mathematics framework is a useful guide to teach mathematics to NLL learners.
-Initial assessment in Math can recognize those NLL students who have arithmetic skills.
-Basic mathematics should be part of all NLL instruction.
-NLL teachers must have training on how to incorporate mathematics into their instruction in an organized manner.

The Task Force group recommends that the role of NLL in curriculum frameworks be examined in depth and propose the establishment of a task force next year to look at it. A recommendation was made to start discussing this possibility at the NLL conference in July 1999.

Cross-cutting issues

-Funding:
the group recommends that additional funds be put aside for NLL at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education level.
-Certification: the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education should facilitate a statewide discussion regarding the certification and training requirements for NLL teachers.
-Mentoring:
the group recommends that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education endorse a mentoring project such as the one described in the book, "From the Community to the Community"(Auerbach, et al, 1996) in which the Boston program Haitian Multi-Service Center and East Boston Harborside participated.
-Staff Training
The group feels that training is urgently needed for NLL teachers on
1) how to incorporate mathematics in the curriculum; and
2) how to assist learners in the preparation for the new GED in Spanish.

Mission Statement

Massachusetts Adult Native Language Network

Mission Statement
March 1988


Despite periodic waves of reactionary sentiment, the United states has no "official" language - and one essential element in a spectrum of adult education programming which meets the needs of an increasing multicultural population continues to be native language instruction.

The Massachusetts Adult Native Language Literacy Network was created to support organizations and institutions providing Adult Basic Education programming in developing and sustaining quality native language instruction, ranging from basic reading and writing to the acquisition of a high school equivalency diploma. In particular, MANLANN works to:

• Provide a forum for dialogue about, and promotion of , high quality ANLL programming which is grounded in the recognition and affirmation of the cultural heritage of ANLL students;
• Create useful staff development opportunities for ANLL teachers and program staff; and
• Promote public understanding and appreciation of the importance of ANLL, as well as of the recognition that the representation of a multiplicity of languages and cultures makes the United States a stronger nation.

In turn, MANLLN recognizes and affirms the importance of ANLL learners' transition from native language instruction to (and through) English for Speakers of Other Languages instruction as an essential component of a life-long learning and growth process.