Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Teaching ESL to the Elderly

The adult ESL students I work with as a private tutor have very specific purposes for improving their English language skills. Usually, the main purpose is to be able to advance in their jobs. This applies to ESL students living and working in the U.S., as well as those who are here for a year or so on a sabbatical (of sorts).

Elderly students who are no longer in the workforce have different needs and different reasons for studying English as a Second Language. In my experience, it's usually to be able to survive in an English speaking society. For whatever reasons, they are recent immigrants who often have not studied English in their home countries.

Doing a Needs Assessment with a student with little or no English language skills is very difficult. Obviously, there are some basic skills that the teacher can start with. I found this great website with information that can help ESL teachers and tutors, and other organizations working with recent immigrants. Here's their site: Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Please note that our website, www.clese.org has been updated recently. The Bright Ideas curriculum has been expanded. Videos and teaching materials are now even easier to download. As before, Bright Ideas materials are free and you may download and copy them as needed.
Linda Seyler, Program Manager
Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly (CLESE)