The expression “look at” can mean so many things!  This is a place for musing, wondering, examining, learning, practicing, exploring and connecting about all things related to literacy.  My specific area of interest is literacy and language development for adult newcomers to Canada, specifically for those with limited or interrupted formal education.  For some people, formal schooling may have been unavailable; for others schooling was interrupted before fully developing their first language literacy skills.

When people with interrupted education come to English classes in Canada, they are often simultaneously learning English and how to read and write for the first time in their lives. As a result, their language learning styles and needs are unique. This area has come to be known as adult ESL literacy.

The wonderful thing about this specific area of interest is that theory and practice in multiple areas converge and inform what adult ESL literacy teaching looks like.  There’s room for insights from childrens’ literacy development, adult literacy development, applied linguistics, and teachers’ intuitive sense of “what works”.

I’m here to share my views, explore the current research, experiment a little, discuss issues and ideas and raise awareness of the specific joys and challenges of this pocket of educational work.

I hope you will join me in taking a fresh Look at Literacy!