There is great need to understand individuals' functional language abilities, not only in education but in commerce and public policy discussion. The aim is to quantify language use patterns, proficiency, and dominance in the two languages of bilinguals. The Bilingual Language Profile (BLP) is an instrument for assessing language dominance through self-reports that is concise, quick, and easy to use. The BLP is intended to produce a continuous dominance score and a general bilingual profile taking into account a variety of linguistic variables. The BLP is an open and free assessment tool for researchers, educators, and anyone with an interest in assessing language dominance.

When I first heard Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton I was, like everyone else, immediately blown away by its combination of music, history, emotion and empowerment. My second reaction is one only teachers can relate to: asking “How can I use this in my teaching?” I’ve been working on this project since 2015. Thanks to a grant from Open Oregon, I’ve been able to improve my materials and create a workbook that I hope will let others access this incredible musical.

The workbook is designed to be used over a 10-week college communication course. It is designed to cover academic listening, pronunciation, and public speaking, using a thematic approach tied to the musical Hamilton. Ideally, students would access the workbook in print form, as it is meant to be an interactive “notebook” which will be filled with notes by the end of term.

We created this site to share the lesson plans and other materials that we use in this Listening/Speaking Level F class with other ESL teachers -- click around and use what works for you! This is a 10-week course at LCC, but you can pick and choose from the 8 chapters for a shorter or longer term. The chapters can be covered in any order.

Lane Community College's Intensive English Language Program offers 6 levels (A=beginner, F=college transition). This site was designed for Listening/Speaking Level F, which is a class that teaches listening and note-taking strategies focused especially on lecture listening, as well as presentation, pronunciation, conversation, and academic discussion skills.

LCC ESL Students in Level F take three separate intensive classes (Writing, Listening/Speaking, and Reading for a total of 20 in-class contact hours per week). Prior to the re-imagining of this class and the creation of this site, each Level F class had a different textbook with different thematic progressions. Students experienced cognitive overload with the demand to learn the vocabulary, concepts, and skills of the three separate classes. In addition, students in our department are often from marginalized backgrounds and can find it financially difficult to purchase the three separate textbooks.

In order to lessen students' financial and cognitive burdens and create more connections between the three classes, we used the topics from the Reading textbook (Academic Encounters Level 4: Reading and Writing, 2nd edition, Cambridge 2014) to find freely-available authentic videos or recorded audio for the Listening/Speaking class.

Over the past year, students have expressed appreciation for the reduced cost of taking the course. In addition, they have shown increased interest and engagement in the course due to the authentic, real-life materials and complementary nature of the three Level F classes.

The volume is designed specifically for language teachers who are turning toward content-based instruction to promote content learning and language learning in their classes. Through the exploration of topics related to civic education, language teachers can help their students master English and simultaneously become more knowledgeable citizens of the world. The combination of improved language skills and increased knowledge can enhance students' studies, work, and ability to become more active and conscientious participants in their communities.

Peace Education offers topics and issues that touch the lives of our students every day such as resolving conflicts, clarifying values, and understanding diversity. The language classroom also offers us the opportunity to help students address these issues through activities and tasks that are related to the content and that require the practice of language skills, social interaction skills, and critical thinking skills

The content is related to an aspect of building or maintaining a Civil Society— topics that affect students' personal or professional lives on a daily basis. Each chapter has four basic parts, including a brief background on and discussion of the topic(s) presented, classroom activities designed for a lower intermediate class (but which can be adapted to a more advanced level), other resources for authentic materials (internet, books, videos, etc.), and references for what has been presented. Paradigms, theories, and techniques have been developed to aid the instructors in their tasks. Techniques such as scaffolding help to make the content more accessible to the student. Theories such as learning strategies and multiple intelligences help instructors to appropriately design their lessons for maximum benefit to each student's own academic culture. Choices of activities such as reading, discussion, and interviews aid the instructor to focus on strengthening the students' basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in an integrated way that will foster communication and promote the students' self-reliance in the target language.

One of the fastest-growing areas of medical research is that of genetic testing and gene therapy. This chapter introduces students to this area of DNA research and helps them explore the related ethical issues. Scientists have recently completed a preliminary ‰ŰĎmap‰Ű of all the genes in the human body. This is also known as the Human Genome Project and consists of all the sequences of DNA chemical units that tell a cell how to behave. This accomplishment has incredible benefits. However, it also raises new, complex issues that society cannot ignore.

Rather than focus on the scientific details of this discovery, this chapter gives an overview of the important concepts related to DNA's initial discovery and later research conducted in this field. Teachers can use the lesson plans and materials to help students understand these fundamental concepts and gain a command of the vocabulary necessary to discuss them. Given the amazing advances in biological research and the new knowledge that has become available to human beings about their own biological makeup, it is important for students to know basic concepts related to DNA research and the human genome project. This following lesson provides a basic introduction to this topic in an interactive fashion.

Biotechnology is perhaps the most rapidly advancing area in science today. The Advances in Biotechnology volume has been created to provide language teachers with resources about breakthroughs in biotechnology. Each chapter of the volume highlights one aspect of research in the field of DNA and genetics along with its applications to and implications for society. The chapters feature relevant background information on each topic, interactive and communicative classroom activities, and a list of related print and Internet resources that will allow teachers to expand the lesson further.

Minneapolis College, the most selected higher education destination of students from all Minneapolis Public High Schools, is located downtown, nestled between the hustle of Hennepin Avenue and the green spaces of Loring Park. As a part of the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities, Minneapolis College most serves those students who are least likely to go to college. With three-quarters of the student body composed of those underrepresented in higher education, the hallways are filled with recent immigrants, those seeking to learn English, members of communities with the highest unemployment and incarceration rates in the state, veterans, those of low socioeconomic status, seekers of diversity, and those who wish to serve them. Collected here are their stories, stories of overcoming, coming up, perseverance, pride, and power in the face of depressed opportunity and systemic oppression.

ESOL Reading Level 8 ESOL 260

This advanced academic reading curriculum for English language learners features eight units, each focusing on a different reading skill. Each unit includes presentation slides with a graphic organizer for taking notes; two readings with comprehension questions; academic vocabulary exercises of terms drawn from the readings; and an extension activity. Materials include student textbook, teacher textbook (with answer key and Quizlet links), and presentation slides.

Course Description
Presents reading as a process that involves determination of purpose, selection and adjustment of strategies, analysis and reflection of underlying meanings, and integration of prior knowledge with new knowledge to address the purpose. Covers content comprehension, textual analysis, critical thinking skills, study skills, and language analysis at the high advanced level. Includes reading diverse texts for a variety of purposes. Includes finding themes and main ideas, analyzing figurative language, summarizing, paraphrasing, evaluating sources and analyzing arguments, inferencing, and using context clues, word forms and common affixes. Prerequisites: ESOL placement test OR successful completion of ESOL 250 AND concurrent enrollment in or completion of (ESOL 252 and ESOL 254) or placement into (ESOL 262 and ESOL 264). Audit available.
Intended Outcomes for the course
Understand the development of reading as a process that involves determination of purpose, selection and adjustment of strategies, analysis and reflection of underlying meanings, and integration of prior with new knowledge to address the purpose.
Acquire and use words and phrases found in high advanced-level academic and everyday texts.
Accurately read high advanced level academic and everyday texts which include dense or long complex sentences and paragraphs with appropriate pacing, phrasing, and expression.
Choose from a range of strategies, including some sophisticated ones and integrate them to monitor and/or enhance text comprehension.
Form and express an opinion and draw conclusions based on the information found in high advanced-level academic and everyday texts.

To complete the course ECUR 415.3: Current Issues in EAL, students are required to submit a final paper that reflects their growing knowledge about English as an Additional Language (EAL). EAL is the term used in Saskatchewan to describe students who speak languages other than English and require adequate levels of English to be successful with the school curriculum.

Most students enrolled in the online course ECUR 415 are practicing teachers who are working toward a Post-Degree Certificate in EAL Education (PDCEAL), while continuing to live and work in various locations both within and outside of the province. The certificate program, offered through the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan, is recognized by provincial education authorities as being equivalent to one full year of post-degree study. As such, the certificate equips teachers with the knowledge and expertise to be considered teacher-specialists of EAL Education. The course ECUR 415 also attracts some pre-service teachers who are pursuing a Bachelor of Education degree and have an interest in EAL Education.

This material has been used for several years with Intermediate to high Intermediate level students in the Chemeketa Community College ESOL program. It has been sourced and designed in response to feedback from and the changing needs of this community. The students take Listening and Speaking classes twice a week. Each class is an hour and a half twice a week, for a total of six hours’ contact time.

A large part of the course is based on a project based learning approach; at this level, using critical thinking skills, collaboration, and presentation skills enables students to develop and practice skills while seeing tangible results boosts confidence and provides a sense of community. Active learning is also a key component. Students have a voice in the themes, topics, and activities assigned and since all have a wealth of experience in many areas, the presentations and projects are engaging and relevant. Much of the success of projects is based on an expectation that students will work on them outside of class time, and homework
assignments are a regular part of the course.

I’ve designed this course as a set of modules which can be used separately or in conjunction with one another; please feel free to select what works for your class and leave the rest. This course is an Open Education Resource and is under an Open License, which means the material is free, can be copied, shared with others, and adapted. I ask that any instructor who used the material attributes it, but users are free to adapt or build on it to create new material for educational purposes. All material within this resource is open source.

Teaching Pragmatics explores the teaching of pragmatics through lessons and activities created by teachers of English as a second and foreign language. This book is written for teachers by teachers. Our teacher-contributors teach in seven different countries and are both native-speakers and nonnative speakers of English. Activities reflect ESL and EFL classroom settings. The chapters included here allow teachers to see how other teachers approach the teaching of pragmatics and to appreciate the diversity and creativity of their endeavors.