ESL instruction for English language learners in the Job Corps setting means providing a foundation of knowledge in reading, writing, speaking, and listening that will prepare the student for academic coursework, as well as trade-specific training. While students are gaining the language skills needed to interact in a social environment, they must also be prepared with employability skills in order to succeed in the workplace.

The texts and computer mediated instructional materials listed here contain content appropriate for one or more instructional levels of the ESL curriculum. Materials vary widely in content, approach, and degree of coverage relevant to the Job Corps ESL instructional objectives.  Materials selection decisions should be based on a thorough evaluation of the content, instructional format, appeal, ease of use, and other criteria established by the instructional staff of each center’s ESL program.

The instructional level of each text or computer program is indicated as seen below:

            BL = Beginning Literacy

            B = Beginning

            LI = Low Intermediate

            HI = High Intermediate

            LA = Low Advanced

            HA = High Advanced

Only texts that have been evaluated by the Job Corps National Office, and recommended as appropriate to the Job Corps ESL curriculum objectives are included in this list. Publishers release new instructional materials on a regular basis. Each center is encouraged to conduct its own evaluation of materials to include center specific criteria before making purchasing decisions.

Text Books for Core Basal Series

These are all-skills texts or computer programs (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) that can serve as the main text in the instructional program. Many programs use a core basal series to organize instruction across the various program levels. Supplementary materials will still be required in order to address all the skills and instructional objectives for each level.

The following textbooks are recommended:

• English in Action Series (Thomson-Heinle)
• Foundation (Pearson-Longman)
• Ready to Go 1-4 (Pearson-Longman)
• Real Life English Series (Steck-Vaughn)
• Scott Foresman English Series
• Side by Side (Pearson-Longman)
• Expressways (Pearson-Longman)
• Weaving It Together: Connecting Reading and Writing Series (Thomson-Heinle)
• New Practice Readers (Phoenix Learning Group)

These texts, as well as the supplemental texts, have been reviewed based on following select criteria:

• Appropriateness:  Is it designed for the JC populations (not a children’s books, not university level); appropriate to the age [16 – 24] and program goals- vocational and/or ABE/GED/HSD
• Level:  beginner, intermediate, advanced
• Design:  a workbook, a conversation text, a teacher’s manual, or other
• Content: workplace related, social studies, citizenship, grammar text, social skills, cultural in nature, or vocational- focused
• Series:  part of a series and how many levels in the series
• Skills addressed: listening, speaking, reading, writing
• Strengths: user-friendly layout

English language instructors and academic managers may want to refer to several sources of textbook reviews. Some comprehensive reviews have been conducted by the ESL/CBET and Citizenship Programs, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District (http://adultinstruction.org/teachers/instructional/) and Colorado State University http://writing.colostate.edu/references/teaching/esl/index.cfm).

Video-based ESL/VESL Programs

• Crossroads Café (Thomson & Heinle)
• Connect with English (McGraw Hill)
• EASY (English Academic Success for You™)
• English For All  (www.myefa.org)

Computer-based ESL/VESL Programs

Computer-based materials can complement the use of texts in the second language acquisition process for English language learners by providing visual, audio, and interactive tools that can be set at the pace of the individual learner. The following programs are recommended as suitable for the Job Corps population. Many of these products have support materials that can assist instructors in tailoring their ESL program to the needs of their Center.

• EASY (English Academic Success for You™)
• ELLIS Academic
• Rosetta Stone
• Oxford Interactive Picture Dictionary
• Words for Work
• Reading in the Workplace Series

Supplemental Materials

Supplemental materials are used to address particular content or skills, but are not recommended as main texts for the instructional program. Supplemental texts can be used in conjunction with a core basal series, or a number of supplementary materials can be used together in lieu of a basal series to cover reading, writing, and grammar, as well as life skills, workplace preparation, and cultural knowledge. Many supplemental materials combine books with companion software (or vice versa). Recommended supplementary materials are listed here by skill area or topic.

ESL Supplemental Texts:

• Day by Day (Pearson-Longman)
• In Charge (Pearson-Longman)
• Language Exercises for Adults Series (Steck Vaughn)
• True Stories in the News (Pearson-Longman)
• Skills Sharpeners Series (Pearson-Longman)
• The Complete ESL/EFL Cooperative & Communicative Activity Book
• Grammar For You (New Readers Press)
• Basic English Grammar (Pearson-Longman)
• Fundamentals of Grammar (Pearson-Longman)
• Focus on Grammar Series (Pearson-Longman)

LifeSkills Texts:

• Life Skills Practice (PCI Education)
• At Work in the US (New Readers Press)
• On-the-Job English (New Readers Press)
• Key Vocabulary for A Safe Workplace (New Readers Press)
• English for Work Activities (New Readers Press)
• The Complete Get That Job! (New Readers Press)
• Make Your Mark in Food Service/Retail Jobs/Health/the Hotel Industry (McGraw Hill)
• Put English to Work (McGraw Hill)
• Speaking Up at Work (Pearson-Longman)
• The Complete Get That Job! (New Readers Press)
• Workplace Plus (Pearson-Longman)
• Workshop Series (Oxford Press)
• Workskills Series (Pearson-Longman)
• VESL/Workplace Clearinghouse Catalog (2005)

Citizenship ESL Texts:

• Citizenship: Passing the Test (New Readers Press)
• Citizenship: Ready for the Interview (New Readers Press)
• Entry into Citizenship (McGraw Hill)
• Getting Your Citizenship (McGraw Hill)

ESL Newspaper:

"News for You" is a subscription newspaper with top news stories of each week for ESL students with a 4th grade and above reading level. The subscription also comes with a teaching supplement.

• News for You (www.news-for-you.com)

US Culture ESL Texts:

• Celebrate with Us (McGraw Hill)
• The USA Series (Pearson-Longman)
• Academic Content Area ESL Texts:
• Content Area ESL: Social Studies (Linmore Publishing)
• The Uncle Sam Activity Book  (McGraw Hill)

ESL Dictionaries:

• Spanish Math Terms (L. Weston Walch Publishers)
• Word by Word Picture Dictionary
• New Oxford Picture Dictionary
• Longman Basic Dictionary of American English
• Longman Dictionary of American Dictionary with Thesaurus
• MacMillan Visual Dictionary
• Scholastic Visual Dictionary
• 101 American Idioms (Passport Books/NTC& Contemporary Publishing Group

Computer Software:

• Critical Concepts: ESL Renegades
• Vocabulary Development (Optimum Resource)

ESL Websites (free):

• Online dictionaries in many languages
  • www.wordreference.com

• Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises

• http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/gammar/html
• http://www.better-english.com
• http://www.longman.com/ae/fogintroductory/index.html
• http://www.manythings.org
• http://a4esl.org
• http://iteslj.org
• http://eleaston.com
• http://www.esl.about.com
• http://www.englishpage.com

• Games for Grammar, Punctuation, Parts of Speech and Vocabulary

• www.funbrain.com
• www.iknowthat.com

• Listening Comprehension Exercises

• www.esl-lab.com

• Beginning Literacy (beginning phonics for preliterate ESL students)

• www.starfall.com

• VESL

• www.autoshop101.com

Websites useful for ESL students (subscription only):

For an annual cost of $20 - $40, the following websites offer unlimited reproducible lesson plans, readings, worksheets, exercises and quizzes in all the content areas from grades K - 12:

• www.edhelper.com
• www.abcteach.com

Professional Development Materials:

• The Vocational Classroom (Center for Applied Linguistics)
• The SIOP Model: Sheltered English Instruction Observation Protocol (Pearson-Longman)
• ESL and Technology Video: Integrating the Two (VESL/Workplace Clearinghouse Catalog)
• ESL Internet Plans: CD-ROM and hard copy (VESL/Workplace Clearinghouse Catalog)
• Going Digital with ESL (VESL/Workplace Clearinghouse Catalog)
• Teaching the Reading Process (VESL/Workplace Clearinghouse Catalog)
• Teaching the Writing Process (VESL/Workplace Clearinghouse Catalog)