Teaching Information Skills to Elementary ESL Students Seattle TESOL March 21, 2007 Amal Mahmoud, Karen Fernandez & Dana Franks Highline Community College Des Moines, Washington

Highline Community College

Highline Student Union

Student Demographics: Ethnicity & Language 20 different countries: Afghanistan, China, El Salvador, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Russia, Somalia, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam. 15 different languages: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Thai, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

Group Picture

Student Demographics Age Groups: under 20 – 10% % % % over 50 – 10% Gender Female: 57% Male: 42% Unreported 1%

Age of Students

Student Demographics: Educational Background 60 students over 3 quarters High school diploma: 33% Some high school: 15% Some college: 15% College degree: 8% Unreported: 28%

Student Demographics: Library & Technology Experience Prior library experience 66% with Library use in their country Prior computer experience 38% with prior computer experience 33% with Internet experience

Establishing a Partnership Quarterly library session for ESL class Conversations about ESL strategies: Repetition Hands-on, group activities Simple written instructions, not rely on verbal only Personal experience, real life examples

Preplanning Stage: Comparing Competencies Washington State Competencies for Level III Information Literacy outcomes developed by the Association of College & Research Libraries

Applicable Washington Competencies for ESL III 3.2 Locate a word, number, or item in alphabetical or numeric order. (e.g. telephone book, building directories, etc.) 3.5 Identify units in the U.S. measurement system and their abbreviations (e.g. area, volume, temperature, and distance) 3.6 Locate places and determine distance and routes using maps and schedules.

Information Literacy Outcomes Association of College & Research Libraries Recognize the value of information in their education, work and daily lives. Understand the American library systems and the services available. Know how information is organized and produced/packaged. Recognize that knowledge can be organized into subjects that influence the way information is accessed. Have basic computer skills; e.g. using the mouse and searching the Internet.

Highline Community College Campus-wide Information and Visual Literacy outcome The ability, while adhering strictly to the legal and ethical guidelines governing information access in today’s society, …to assess the information requirements of complex projects … to identify potential textual, visual and electronic resources …to obtain the needed information …to interpret, evaluate, synthesize, organize, and use that information, regardless of format

Basic Concepts Covered: Alphabetical order Dewey Decimal System Numerical Order Call Numbers Chronological order

Basic Concepts Covered: Familiarity with basic print resourcesprint Familiarity with basic Web resourcesWeb Familiarity with basic community resources (public library)community

Practicing Numerical Order

Activities Alphabetization Dewey Decimal classification system Using the Library catalog to find a book on the shelf in the New Readers RoomLibrary catalog Finding newspapers from their own countries Finding public library closest to their homepublic library Finding an online newspaper from their countryonline newspaper from their country

New Readers Room

More Activities Using Internet dictionaries and encyclopediasdictionaries and encyclopedias Finding a print periodical Using MapQuest & online atlases to find places

Searching the Library Catalog

Teachable Moments: Using what students learned in the classroom Oral presentations about their countries The importance of the accuracy of web addresses Google searches California Distance Learning web site English for All

Observations & Challenges Assessment Lacking language but understanding concepts Lack of familiarity with technology

Outcomes of the Project More ESL instructors schedule their classes for library sessions, no matter how limited their skill level is. Highline has considerably increased the library’s ESL collections.

Audience Feedback Thank you for coming Amal Mahmoud Karen Fernandez Dana Franks