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Product Description
Books written for children or teens can serve as a valuable teaching tool for language _ attractive illustrations and easy vocabulary deal with familiar situations, so that language is acquired easily and the students maintain a high degree of interest. Book Bridges is a complete teaching resource, replete with activities, suggested materials for classroom use, and lesson plans. Reid has carefully reviewed and recommended dozens of audience-appropriate books, for which she provides practice exercises and thought-provoking assignments. Lesson plans address the needs of an entire class or can be tailored for the small group or individual tutoring session. Every teacher needs this guide in his or her teacher's toolbox! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good resources for ESL teachers
This book contained information I already knew, but I wanted a copy of the concepts written in this book for my own professional library. ... Read more

Product Description
If you have been searching for reading materials that are both interesting and accessible to beginning adult and teen readers, look no further. Rosow builds this annotated bibliography of high-interest, low-reading-level fiction and nonfiction materials around themes that appeal to adults. She covers a variety of resources, from books and chapters of books to magazine articles and letters, organizing them from easier to more difficult reading levels to help readers progress with their reading. Dozens of dialogue and writing activities are suggested for each subject area. Most can be used with any size group, from one-on-one tutoring situations to large multiethnic classes of students with a range of reading and writing abilities. Perfect for adult and family literacy programs, ESL students, teen remedial reading classes, and readers' advisory, this book is a great tool for motivating and empowering students to read. ... Read more

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The essays in this book focus on political strategies, pedagogical models, and community programs that enable adult ESL learners to become vital members of North American society. This is particularly important in our present time of contraction and downsizing in the education of non-native speakers. The authors represent a broad range of programs and perspectives, but they all have in common the goal of enabling both faculty and students to become full participants in our society and thereby to gain control over their futures. Readers of this book will develop an understanding of the ways in which innovative educators are creating strategies for maintaining language programs and services.

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This innovative English as a Second Language (ESL) textbook helps advanced English Language Learners develop conversation skills and improve fluency by sharing experiences, reflecting on their lives, and discussing proverbs and quotations. The ESL book includes 45 thematic chapters, over 1400 questions, 500 vocabulary words, 250 proverbs and American idioms, and 500 quotations. Designed for both adult education and intensive English language students, the conversations deepen critical thinking skills and speaking skills essential to success in community college and university programs. Compelling Conversations has been used in classrooms in over 40 countries, is recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, and enjoyed by thousands of English students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

Informative, fun and conversational
Being originally from the Republic of Georgia I have used many ESL books to learn English and so far CompellingConversations has been the most exciting, fun and informative. The quotes, proverbs and questions provided under each unique topic were super fun to go through andvery helpful as a conversational tool. I enjoyed the topics relating to free time and would have loved to seen even more questions on art and photography. Compelling Conversations is an awesome book that makes the process of learning English natural and entertaining.

A book this world needs now
There are so many things to enjoy about Compelling Conversations, I don't know where to start. The beauty is, open the book to any page, and you CAN start. On this rapidly shrinking planet, where English is becoming, more and more, the lingua franca of business, Eric H. Roth and Toni Aberson have created an ESL workbook that reminds us first, as the best teachers do, of our humanity. Quotations span the globe from Buddha to Woody Allen; topics are universal, from pet peeves to falling in love. Questions are thought-provoking ; there's space for notes and fun exercises to do on your own; you'll find quirky, confidence-building reminders like "Make good mistakes". I have yet to find a page that doesn't make me smile and feel grateful to be alive. If you teach English as a Second Language, if you're a student of English--or someone who speaks it already and is looking for the perfect icebreaker for classes, workshops and coffee tables, wrap your hands around a copy of Compelling Conversations.

A great resource for conversation classes.
I found Compelling Conversations to be a great resource when planning out my conversation lessons. The idea of using quotes and proverbs to generate discussion is very good and accessible for all levels of second-language learners. I came to rely on quotes quite heavily later on when designing my own lesson plans. Thumbs up to Eric for producing such a great resource book!

Creative, Superb Book
Here are these two instructors of ESL to adults who have written this wonderful, erudite and fun book for use in the classroom and I wonder how to get all teachers of ESL to adults to know about it, buy it and use it. Many wonderful approaches to be used in the classroom are given, including proverbs to be used in discussion groups in the classroom, arresting quotations that encourage thinking and use of vocabulary and ideas galore generally organized into the book.

With about twenty-seven years of teaching ESL to adults in New York City in adult education and in graduate school of an educational institute and of writing curriculum for my own classes and for a broad range of ESL classrooms, I have never come across such a helpful book that is also so much fun to have for use in the classroom. I would have been proud to write this book and I would be happy to use it in a classroom and recommend it wholeheartedly even though I did not, in fact, write it.

Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics- An Engaging ESL Textbook for Advanced Students

A must buy!
Very interesting book that is great read from cover to cover. This book is good for both teaching and simply enjoying for thought provoking ideas.Learning can be fun and interesing with compelling conversations!! ... Read more

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Adult ESL/Literacy from the Community to the Community: A Guidebook for Participatory Literacy Training tells the story of a university-community collaboration to develop, implement, and evaluate a project designed to train immigrants and refugees as adult ESL and native literacy instructors in their own communities. Beyond the story of this one project, the book is also a clear and powerful explication of the underlying principles and premises of the program model it describes: community leadership development, a participatory approach to literacy instruction and instructor training, native language adult literacy instruction, and collaboration.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Community Literacy Programs By and For the Community
Elsa Auerbach is the leading practitioner in the U.S. of the theories of Brazilian educator Paolo Freire.In this book she discusses an adult ESL/Literacy project in Boston that involved training immigrants, who hadthemselves learned English, to become tutors.According to Auerbach, andFreire, the goal of literacy education is more than just teaching studentsto read and write.Students must be empowered to control their ownlearning process and the direction of their lives.Only then can theybecome full participants in their community and in society.Auerbach isalways inspiring. ... Read more

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This book is a compilation of effective and engaging, pre-tested, game-based ESL activities for teachers of adult students. These activities are designed for active class participation in the form of group work, competing teams, or working with partners. Various grammar points, survival English, business English, and conversational English are covered as well as specific vocabulary building. Most activities include optional Study Sheets and/or Worksheets for the instructor's convenience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Closet Racist Material
I was really excited about this book having read its great reviews, however I found some of the material directly contradicted the author's own warnings against any racist or prejudice remarks towards other nationalities. The section on teaching students humor in the English language, includes insulting jokes that use generalizations the likes of Russian's who drink too much vodka and Americans sucking all the productivity out of a source and then showing surprise that the source died. As far as the other sections and activities in the book - they were unremarkable to anyone who has spent time browsing the web for free ESL activities and material.

This book is the BEST ESL activity book I've reviewed
This may be the best ESL activity book for high school and adult students I have seen. This book succeeds in providing meaningful and exciting game activities for classrooms of any size. These games and activities are completely assembled with pictures, gameboards, and cards that increase student interest.

More importantly, each game and activity covers important topics such as directions, foods, shopping, humor, answering phones and much more. This author has done an OUTSTANDING job at making essential ESL topics a joy for students to learn.

Great book
I'm really glad I bought this book. It has great ideas for games that can be easily modified for different skill levels. The best thing about this book are the pages you can xerox for the games. I can do these games in class with very little prep work.

It's About Time
Finally!A game book for adult classes that has usable activities.

Preposition Bluff was smack-myself-in-the-head-why-didn't-I-ever-think-of-this simple.My students loved it and it took virtually no prep time.

I've also tried the leaving and taking a phone message activities which also worked well.

Each chapter (game) is pretty comprehensive.Most come with study sheets, suggestions for variations on the games, and some have links to interactive online games.

There are games for absolute beginners as well as advanced and suggestions on how to make a game easier or more challenging if you want to use it for more than one class. I don't see why I couldn't try some of the activities out on my guinea pigs (ahem...I mean high school students) as well. :-)

Anyway, I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with this book! :-)

A must-have for the ESL teacher
Written with humor and chock full of useful information, this book is a real boon to teachers of ESL everywhere.The lessons based on real-life activities will really keep your students engaged.Each lesson is very well organized and explained in detail, and I found the worksheets in the back to be a godsend.Cleverly illustrated throughout. ... Read more

Product Description
The author describes the ways in which workplace literacy programs can use a creative learner-centered approach to facilitate language learning through problem posing and critical thinking.By using learners' own experiences as the basis for the curriculum in a critical approach to literacy, educators can provide a common ground for adults of differing language backgrounds and learning styles to better use their literacy skills in a workplace culture.Additionally, the book details the ways in which educators can help workers learn to negotiate the environment of their workplace and to use their communicative skills outside of work. ... Read more

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This book explicitly addresses ethical dilemmas and issues that post-secondary ESL faculty commonly encounter and examines them in the framework of social justice concerns. Ethics is defined broadly, to include responsibilities and obligations to students inside and outside the classroom, as well to colleagues, educational institutions, the TESL profession, and society as a whole.

Scenarios in each chapter provide realistic and compelling situations for reflection and discussion. The authors then set out the issues raised, relate them to the classroom environment, and offer opportunities to examine them in a variety of contexts and to consider possible solutions to the dilemmas. Issues include testing, plagiarism, technology, social and political issues affecting students and the classroom, gift-giving, curriculum decisions, disruptive students, institutional constraints, academic freedom, gender, class, and power.

Busy classroom instructors will find this book accessible, thought-provoking, and relevant to their daily work situations. It is not intended as a theoretical treatment of ethics and social justice in ESL, nor does it propose that ESL faculty teach morals or ethics to students. Rather, it is designed as a concise, practical introduction to ethical practice for both new and experienced ESL faculty in post-secondary teaching situations in the United States, for others interested in the ESL classroom, and as a text for TESL classes and seminars.

Ethical Issues for ESL Faculty: *maps new territory in the field--ethical issues in TESL, particularly as encountered by post-secondary classroom teachers, are not often discussed in ESL publications;
*makes the complex issues of ethics in the context of social justice accessible to TESL practitioners; and
*includes useful resources, such as additional scenarios for discussion, an extensive reference list, and selected ethics-related Web sites.
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Customer Reviews (1)

A Practical Primer for ESL/EFL Teachers, Administrators
I stumbled upon this thin primer crammed with realistic case studies while collecting materials to lead teacher training workshops. Consider me impressed on multiple levels - even though I tend to view the authors as more ideological than practical.

Ethics, in fact, plays far less a role in actual decision making process in many private language schools than ideal. The authors, however, envision a different, better world where money and status issues play little role and the entire school is committed to spreading social justice. This paradigm works better in public schools and in the United States than in some other teaching environments.

Still, the authors manage to compile several fascinating case studies that English language trainers, ESL teachers, department heads, and language school administrators can use in workshops. The book can also be used to help a decision-maker understand and reflect upon classroom dilemmas. Finally, the title alone provides a gentle reminder that ethics should matter in ESL classrooms around the world.

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Product Description
Scott Foresman ESL for grades 6-8 is a content-based, grade-level program that actually accelerates English language learning. It teaches students the academic language and content they need to achieve success in the mainstream classroom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A good learning tool!
This is a good learning tool for someone trying to learn English! My husband uses it as practice for learning and has had some great success with it. (His native language is French).This workbook give a lot of hands on work and covers a wide variety of topics. I recommend it for any ESL learner.

Great precursor to LifePrints level 1
This book starts with the alphabet and recognizing a few simple words.The print is large and the pages are not filled; ideal for students new to literacy in any language.The instructions and diagrams are kept simple.The stories and sentences are very simple.The black and white illustrations are clear.The activities consist of circling, matching, copying, and fill-in-the-blank.

I recommend the teacher's edition, but not the audio CD (they didn't put each listening exercise on a separate track, so it's not much better than a cassette). ... Read more