[NIFL-HEALTH:4733] RE: ESL prenatal curriculum, literacy level

From: Susan Auger (sauger@mindspring.com)
Date: Sat May 28 2005 - 11:24:22 EDT


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From: "Susan Auger" <sauger@mindspring.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-HEALTH:4733] RE: ESL prenatal curriculum, literacy level
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Hi Heather-
Another resource is our De Madre A Madre bilingual photonovels. They include
an ESL component in the photonovel design.  There are 7 stories, woven from
actual stories & dialog from Latino mothers & fathers, that contain
essential prenatal care information.  They have been extensively
field-tested with Latino mothers and families with low literacy skills.
Health care providers who work directly with this population were also
included to help us refine and target essential health messages & issues for
this group of women.

As we tested the stories, we found that these mothers did not understand
basic concepts and terms --- we included these as 'key words' and developed
very simple explanations in the glossary. (Note: when we field-tested the
definitions that providers gave us, we found that often even their
explanations were still too complicated.)  So the "key word" & glossary
features are also a helpful cue to educators to check comprehension and
helps model clear communication.

Since we have done a lot of field-testing of prenatal classes in Spanish
with the photonovels, we have also developed a list of related activities
for ESL classes to build onto and reinforce key concepts and practical
skills mothers might need during her pregnancy and delivery and to navigate
the healthcare system.  

For example, to prepare for labor, an ESL activity might be to practice how
to call for a taxi and give directions to the hospital/birthing center if
the mother is by herself, does not have transportation and the cab company
operator only speaks English.  The stories and glossaries can also be used
to develop other fun ESL activities for reading, speaking, writing and
vocabulary building exercises.

If you would like additional information, please feel free to contact me
directly.

Susan 

Susan Auger
Executive Director
Auger Communications/Aprendo Press
Email: sauger@mindspring.com
Tel: 919.361.1857

-----Original Message-----
From: nifl-health@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-health@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of
Heather Elizabeth Young
Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2005 12:18 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-HEALTH:4730] RE: ESL prenatal curriculum, literacy level

Hello All,
I'm hoping that someone might have ideas, feedback, input for a
project I'm currently working on. I'm designing an ESL class
specifically for the target population of immigrant expectant mothers.
The focus of the class will be on developing language skills, using
the content areas and language functions the learners and caregivers
identify as most important during the childbearing year. Most of the
target population learners have just a few years of formal education,
so it will be a literacy level class.

I would appreciate leads on materials that have been developed for
this population, and especially hearing from anyone who may have
designed or taught a similar class.

Thank you,
Heather Young

hyoung1@gladstone.uoregon.edu
Graduate student, LTS Program
Department of Linguistics
University of Oregon



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