This discussion draws from the resources above to give a brief overview of the following questions and suggest implications for instruction:

• What factors influence the literacy development of adults learning English, and what challenges do they face when learning to read?
• What reading skills do adult English language learners need?
• What are the overall benefits of reading in a second language?

What Factors Influence the Literacy Development of Adults Learning English, and What Challenges Do They Face?

The factors discussed most frequently in the literature on learning to read in English as a second language are summarized here—learners' first-language literacy, educational background, second-language proficiency, and goals for learning English. Additional factors include learners' ages; motivations to read; instructional, living, and working environments; socio-cultural backgrounds; and learning abilities or disabilities.

First Language Literacy

Researchers have identified six different types of literacy learners according to their first-language literacy background: pre-literate, non-literate, semi-literate, non-alphabet literate, non-Roman alphabet literate, and Roman alphabet literate.

Pre-literate learners come from cultures where literacy is not common in everyday life. They might include those whose native language is not written or is being developed (e.g., the Bantu of Somalia and the Dinka of Sudan). They often have had little or no exposure to written text and may not be aware of the purposes of literacy in everyday life. They need to be taught how written language works. They generally progress slowly in literacy and other language instruction and may need frequent re-teaching of skills.

Non-literate learners come from cultures where literacy is more common, but they have not had sufficient access to literacy, often because of their socio-economic or political status. (For instance, adults from Central America may not know how to read or write in their native Spanish because of disrupted schooling due to war and poverty.) Although they have not learned to read, they have probably been exposed to written language and may have greater awareness of the value and uses of literacy than pre- literate learners. These adults may be reluctant to disclose their limited literacy background in class, and instruction with them may proceed slowly.

Semi-literate learners usually have had access to literacy in their native culture, but because of their socio-economic status or political or educational situation, they have not achieved a high level of literacy in their native language. These adults may have left school at a young age for economic or political reasons (e.g., as did many Southeast Asian refugees and Central American immigrants in the 1970s and 1980s), or they may have lived in the United States and developed oral English proficiency but not literacy.