In 2006/2007, Northern Illinois University, together with three other Illinois academic libraries--National-Louis University, Olivet Nazarene University, and Prairie State College--formed a partnership to respond to the increasing number of non-native speakers in need of acquiring the English language and residing in Illinois. We wanted to add depth and focus to the existing collections of English as a Second Language (ESL) materials available through the state's libraries. Specifically, three institutions (National-Louis University, Northern Illinois University, and Prairie State College) have decided to focus on the dominant language group of Spanish speakers, with the cooperative effort aimed at covering the wide span of educational levels, including early childhood and elementary education, secondary education, and higher education. Olivet Nazarene University has chosen to complement these collecting efforts by targeting materials focused on cultural and linguistic diversity to include other groups of non-native speakers. The Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) has decided to support this project by awarding the group $9,350 to purchase relevant materials.
Bibliographer:
Ladislava Khailova
(Project Coordinator)
Subject: English-Language Acquisition of Hispanic Children: Early Childhood and
Elementary Education
Amount Awarded: $2,625
In relation to demographic data on the increasing number of Hispanic children who speak English less than very well and reside in the state of Illinois, NIU Libraries (Ladislava Khailova) decided to purchase materials supporting the English language acquisition of these children in early childhood and elementary education. Majority of the items were selected before October 2007, and fall into three general categories:
To highlight the growing new collection, we created a new subsection of our Juvenile section on the fourth floor of FML--Foreign Languages Juveniles (see map). We are delighted with the number of quality titles (151) we acquired with the CARLI funds, and firmly believe that the collection will benefit the entire state of Illinois.
The following tabs allow users to browse the individual subcategories of the NIU collection, as well as to view a cumulative A to Z Title List.
Contact Bibliographer:
Rob Morrison
Subject: Bilingual Acquisition of Hispanic Culture and Academic Success in
Higher Education for First Generation Immigrants
Amount Awarded: $3,000
NLU's portion of this grant focused on materials to support first generation college students who are Hispanic. A major focus was to obtain materials that "support success in higher education for Hispanic students." Our initial review before the grant was approved found that there was a need to expand this type of ESL collection in CARLI. Once we started the process, we discovered that NLU's niche may have been a little too focused and it took until the spending deadline of June 2008 to locate and order appropriate materials. We underestimated the number of quality publications in this area. This is a quality collection and one that we feel will also support academic programs in adult education and teaching that go beyond ESL.
The following tab allows users to browse a cumulative A to Z Title List of materials purchased.
Contact Bibliographer:
Diane Fox
Subject: ESL Teaching Materials with a Focus on Cultural and
Linguistic Diversity
Amount Awarded: $1,500
Many books purchased with the award money are intended for use by teachers in the mainstream classroom. Topics include but are not limited to multicultural and diverse literature and teaching methods for students of diverse cultures and languages. A few items were purchased to be used with the ESL students themselves. The majority of the books were purchased by early in the 2008 spring semester. Several titles were ordered in April 2008. We plan to promote the ESL grant materials to the faculty and students involved in the ESL minor offered by the university, those students involved in ESL tutoring in the community, and the faculty involved in teaching multicultural education and children's literature courses. Information about the ESL collection will be disseminated to our local library group, the Kankakee Area Library Association (KALA). Librarians from the local public libraries and school districts regularly participate in the group. The list of titles will also be shared with the library committee of our regional higher education consortium, the South Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium.
The following tab allows users to browse a cumulative A to Z Title List of materials purchased.
Contact Bibliographer: Susan Bayer (now retired),
Jerry Mackay (Associate Dean)
Subject: Secondary Education Resources for Spanish Speaking ESL Students and
Their Instructors
Amount Awarded: $2,225
In this grant PSC concentrated on materials to support our students finishing their GED and other Secondary school level functions. The program is tiered accordingly to the Illinois ESL Content Standards and consists of several levels ranging in literacy from beginning to intermediate and to advanced. Susan Bayer did the ordering of materials at Prairie State. The challenge for her was that her original intent was to use 60% of the funding for materials for teachers and 40% for materials for students--she did not reach the 60% threshold as she didn't feel that there were enough good, basic level materials for teachers. Prairie State College's ESL coordinator resigned early last year. Since we had expected guidance from the coordinator, Susan had a much more difficult time with the selection of materials.
The following tab allows users to browse a cumulative A to Z Title List of materials purchased.
This website was developed by Ladislava Khailova, with the generous help of Charles Larry, TJ Lusher, Anitha Paruchuri, and Theresa Paulson.