This is the handout for our presentation on a project involving young ELLs with refugee status to develop reading materials for their pre- and low-literate mothers.

1. Young ELLs as Adult ESL Materials Designers: Imagine That!
Karen Marsh Raichle Farrelly
University of Utah University of Utah
marsh.karen@comcast.net railiz@yahoo.com
Background
Reading materials for teaching pre- and low literate adult English Language Learners (ELLs) to read are scarce.
Some useful texts that focus on bottom-up reading skills are Laubach Way to English, Sam and Pat and Talk of
the Block.
The content of many readers often targets life skills (getting around, family, transportation, workplace, health) –
which is beneficial. Some rely on texts that are not relevant to ELLs, such as stories on duck hunting.
Language Experience Approach (LEA) methods for developing texts are an excellent alternative to texts that lack
meaning or relevance to students.
However, when students don’t have the oral language proficiency to generate a story or text to teach from, are
we only left with inauthentic texts?
This poster presents an alternative which incorporates relevant cultural information about the students and taps
into their interests.
We explore the benefits and challenges of working with youth to create materials for their pre- and low-literate
mothers.
The Project
Selecting Young ELLs
We chose youth groups who have pre- and low-literate mothers.
In our location - Salt Lake City, Utah - these youth groups primarily comprise Burundi, Somali Bantu and
Sudanese youth who came to Utah with refugee status.
All of the young ELLs we worked with were girls. Their involvement was voluntary and the girls were more
willing to participate consistently.
The Process
Step One – Gauge Interest; Needs Assessment
Provide background on project
Assess literacy levels of mothers (as reported by youth)
Ascertain that the youth are interested and will commit to the project (incentives, motivation)
Step Two – Generate Ideas
Brainstorm topics that would be most relevant and interesting to their mothers
Step Three – Create Story Boards
Create story boards or outlines for what the books would be about within several topics.
Step Four – Write and Print Stories
Girls supply sentences for books
Compile sentences into Word document; print as booklets
Step Five – Illustrate Books
Youth illustrate small books
Step Five – Share Stories with Mothers
Youth read with mothers