LITERACY LEARNING OF ADULTS IN A BILINGUAL ESL CLASSROOM

The purpose of this project was to investigate the nature of literacy teaching and learning in a bilingual ESL program. All learners were fr om Cambodia and all were fluent speakers of the Khmer language. Some r eported that they were literate in Khmer whereas others reported eithe r no literacy or only limited literacy in their first language. One of the teachers was an experienced English-speaking ESL teacher whereas the other was a Cambodian speaker. The major techniques used to gather data were observation, interviews, and journals. Results confirmed th e positive impact of first language literacy on literacy development i n a second language and showed that most learners used their knowledge Of Khmer literacy, no matter how minimal, to help them learn English. The bilingual nature of the classroom helped provide learners with a voice, a way for them to contribute their cultural and language knowle dge to the classroom. There were similarities between emergent literac y of young children and literacy learning of the nonliterate adults in this project.