May 2005 — Features
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The Advantages of Using Technology in Second Language Education
ESL Program Focuses on Improving Literacy Skills
As children and adults whose primary language is not English attempt to get an education, the basic tools are necessary before they can achieve their goals. Taking a step at ending illiteracy among Spanish-speaking students, the new ¡Leamos! (Let’s Read) PC is an easy-to-use program that enables users to read and write in Spanish in less than 100 hours. The software was designed by eTeleNext Inc. and derived from workbooks written by the Centro Latino de Educaci–n Popular, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit learning center. What makes ¡Leamos! PC unique is that it teaches literacy for Spanish speakers in their native language, so students can use it as a step forward in their quest to learn English.
“While English as a Second Language programs are frequently offered through adult schools, community centers and libraries, there are far fewer resources dedicated to teaching Spanish literacy,” says Melanie Stephens, executive director of Centro Latino de Educaci–n Popular. “Becoming literate in Spanish increases self-confidence and provides an important cornerstone upon which to build their English language skills.”
¡Leamos! PC uses words and phrases related to four main themes: basic needs, health, family and community. The first lesson teaches the five vowels, while each subsequent lesson covers a consonant or consonant pair. By the end of the 43 lessons, students will have learned to read and write all the syllables in the Spanish language. In addition, each lesson builds on and reinforces the prior lessons by incorporating words and sentences which use the syllables studied up to that point. Students must successfully pass each lesson at their own pace before moving on to the next one, and, most importantly, they do this without the help of an instructor.
“The program is unique in that it is a Web-based application that resides on a central server which can be accessed anywhere in the world,” says eTeleNext’s President J'e Nollar. “The server is used to track student and organizational information. The server also remembers where each student finished so that when the student returns, he/she can begin where he/she left off.” So far, the program is doing well in Southern California colleges and adult schools, as well as at the learning center itself. However, with NCLB putting pressure on schools to perform, ¡Leamos! PC may serve as the missing link to ESL programs across the nation.
“There are many more software programs focused on teaching ESL, but all of them assume and require literacy in one’s native language,” says Stephens. “Our goal is to bridge the gap for those Spanish speakers who had never learned to read or write.”
— Alex Roman
