Teaching and writing materials for migrant learners in Australia
Rosalie (standing) and the Reading Circle participants in the library

I love the idea of ‘Book Club’ for English language learners, but I know that joining a mainstream book club is a long way off for many new arrivals. So I was excited to hear that Rosalie Foss had written a whole dissertation on the concept of EAL/D book clubs in public libraries, and run a pilot program at the … Continue reading

THIS POST IS OUT OF DATE: UPDATED IN NOV 2023!   In my last interview with Natalie Nawrocki  (Kim Loves Life) I thought how great it was to be able to say, ‘This is a free ESL resource’. Now I know as well as you do that I can search online for ‘free ESL resources’ and find a gazillion worksheets. … Continue reading

2017 Sep 25

The Sea, The Sea! A new Australian ESOL resource

Hazel with her new book, The Sea

In this post, I talk to Hazel Davidson about The Sea, in the sea, on the sea, at the seaside. This is the new book from Sugarbag on Damper, written by Hazel and Dorothy Court (with input from many, many people). I met up with Hazel in Mackay, at the QATESOL/QCAL regional mini-conference (which she was instrumental in setting up!), where … Continue reading

Last week I was looking at the AMES Australia online bookshop and realised they had a new FREE-to-download publication: Lily the Volunteer: an introduction to volunteering for CALD volunteers. That title is self-explanatory – the resource is all about ‘Lily’s’ foray into volunteering. It’s at post-beginner level, and the five units are: Getting Started, Making Contact, First Day, Overcoming Obstacles … Continue reading

If you’re teaching adult ‘prelim’, CPSWE, Initial Course in EAL, ‘pre-beginner’ or ‘literacy’ students in an ESOL class, you’re probably making a lot of your own materials. Your classroom cupboards are filled with word and letter cards, ‘play money’, food and medicine packets and supermarket flyers. Your reading materials are based on excursions or ‘learner news,’ recorded on learners’ phones for … Continue reading

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