Product Review

Phonics for English Language Learners: What the ESL Teacher Needs to Know points out the not-always-obvious needs of older students who arrive in our schools with no English or extremely limited English vocabulary and who may be literate in a language that uses a non-Roman alphabet, or who may not be literate in any language at all. These ESL students' needs are not met by phonics materials designed for native English speakers, and to the contrary, they and their teachers are frustrated by the long wait required before they can begin reading instruction. This brief work summarizes how ESL Phonics for All Ages by Elizabeth Claire meets those needs, and offers a basic teacher's guide to using that series for effective and rapid decoding instruction.