Caslon Publishing and Consulting for Language Educators

1. Who are English Language Learners?
2. Second Language Learning and Teaching
3. Language and Education Policy for ELLs
4. Program Models for ELLs
5. Assessment
6. Listening and Speaking
7. Reading
8. Writing
9. Content-Area Instruction
10. Primary Language Support
11. Technology

Maria Estela Brisk
Boston College

From the broad socio-political perspectives to promising classroom practices, this book addresses all the key aspects of education needed to understand, plan, and carry out engaging learning for bilingual students. Issues, previously covered in other literature, are presented with a fresh and current perspective. Reader friendly, this book is a must for all educators.

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Rebecca Callahan
University of Texas at Austin

Wayne Wright integrates the forces of history, policy, culture, theories of language and linguistics, pedagogy and practice, and measurement as they come together to shape the educational trajectories of English learners and other language minority students in U.S. schools. This compelling new volume is a must-read for educators, researchers and students interested in the education and achievement of students learning English. Bravo, Wayne!

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Pete Farruggio
University of Texas, Pan American

This book integrates numerous examples from research to illustrate key concepts, and provides frequent detailed descriptions of effective teaching practices with explanations of why they work for ELLs. It places issues within their sociocultural and political contexts to enable readers to understand the broader implications of educational policy and practice. The author uses clear, comprehensible language to distinguish valid research findings from the misinformation often reported in the media. His presentation style cuts through the fog and ambiguity found in most textbooks, and offers readers a solid grounding in the pedagogical practices best suited to second language learners.

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Mileidis Gort
University of Miami

I want to congratulate Wayne Wright on producing such a high quality, comprehensive, and useful text. I cannot wait to use it in my future offerings of our "language development for CLD students" course! I have been piecing together chapters and articles from various resources to come up with what I felt was a fairly complete reading list for my students, and have changed it every semester because I was simply not satisfied with the lack of cohesion, cohesiveness, and completeness of what is currently available. Wayne has done a marvelous job of putting together a text that is comprehensive, relevant, and timely; incredibly well-written and organized, and [perhaps most importantly,] accessible and useful for supporting preservice teachers' understanding of schooling/educational issues for ELLs. The companion website is an exciting feature which will keep the book current and will serve as an important resource for both faculty and student users.

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Ruth Harman
University of Georgia

In this current climate of rapid demographic shifts and draconian budget cuts, educators who work with ELLs are often confused by the array of conflicting policies and instructional practices recommended and institutionalized at local, state, and federal levels. Wayne Wright's new book provides a comprehensive and timely account of the policies, second language theories, and instructional practices that can be used by educators to tailor their classroom practices to the social, linguistic, and cultural needs of their ELL students and to also critically challenge institutional practices and policies. I highly recommend this book to practitioners, teacher educators, and graduate students who are interested in working with and for ELLs in K-12 classrooms.

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Nancy Hornberger
University of Pennsylvania

Wayne Wright's deep respect for educational practitioners and his passion for English language learners' right to a fair and full education are evident in every word he writes. Taking ELLs' rich and complex linguistic repertoires as starting point, he offers concrete guidelines and tools by which educators can teach and assess to enhance not just ELLs' listening, speaking, reading and writing development, but their academic learning as a whole. Wright's book and companion website offer a vision and pathway toward fostering dynamic learning communities --across schools, teacher education programs, and communities-- to improve education for ELLs. The rest is up to us.

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Francis M. Hult
University of Texas at San Antonio

This accessible book should be in the professional library of every educator who works with students learning English as an additional language in the United States. Drawing on research-based best practices, Wright provides a wealth of practical information for making sound pedagogical choices about issues ranging from literacy and assessment to the critical interpretation of educational policies.

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Tatyana Kleyn
City University of New York

Wright leaves no stone unturned as he takes on, and accomplishes, the lofty goal of providing a solid foundation for all teachers who work with English language learners across grade levels and content areas. The thorough text makes an important contribution towards the creation of an equitable and applicable education for culturally and linguistically diverse students.

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Juliet Langman
University of Texas at San Antonio

Dr. Wright has gotten it right! His text presents us with a combination of clear, concise considerations of the range of concerns associated with teaching and learning for ELLs and engaging and thought-provoking discussion questions and assignments that take advantage of new technologies which allow students into classrooms to observe lessons. Dr. Wright couches his text in the broader socio-political context of US K-12 schools in the 21st Century, making his text highly relevant to current pre-service teachers who will be facing day-to-day the promise and frustrations of working in today's US schools. By offering practical guidance in lesson planning together with tools for understanding the learner, the learning context, the teaching context, and the broader context of the school and society, Dr. Wright's treatment of what it takes to be a good teacher confronts the media buzz about English language learners and best practices head on, by outlining debates, considering both sides and then outlining his own perspective on how to improve instruction for ELLs.

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Mary McGroarty
Northern Arizona University

Here Wayne Wright provides a comprehensive, timely, and user-friendly resource for teachers and administrators. Each chapter includes helpful terms and discussion questions and reflects research-based insights, an array of promising practices, and a solid grasp of classroom realities and larger contexts of high quality instruction for English language learners. Both practical and theoretically sophisticated, this volume offers welcome guidance and support for all educators aspiring to serve ELL students effectively.

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Robert D. Milk
University of Texas at San Antonio

Writing in a clear, direct and jargon-free style that is easily accessible to non-specialists, Wright provides a comprehensive, substantive, and practical guide for present and future educators interested in learning about effective instruction for ELL students. Each chapter is organized in a manner that facilitates in-depth comprehension and critical analysis, with guiding questions and key terms placed at the outset and technology-based activities (e.g., on-line discussion questions and wikis) listed at the conclusion. The author's long-time interest in educational policy is evident throughout as is his deep concern for the potentially harmful effects of high-stakes testing on ELL student success; and his years of experience as an elementary school teacher are readily evident through a rich description of effective classroom activities and techniques that promote strong literacy and learning among ELLs.

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Huong Tran Nguyen
California State University, Long Beach

Wayne Wright's comprehensive, well-researched, and multi-faceted book on issues related to the education of K-12 English language learners nationwide is a valuable resource for all teachers -- experienced and novice -- administrators and policymakers to ensure equity, access, and excellence for these students in U.S. schools.

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Chang Pu
Berry College

Dr. Wright's new book Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners provides a comprehensive overview of English as a Second Language (ESL) Education. Dr. Wright well addresses all important concepts of ESL education and the multitude of issues around it. The book also includes current instructional technologies used in teaching English language learners (ELLs) which are timely when teaching 21st century students but have not been well-discussed in other ESL resource books. Key terms and guided questions at the beginning of every chapter are great features of this text which highlight most important concepts around the topics. This book is a must-read book for all ESL and mainstream teachers who work with or are going to work with ELLs.

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Jon Reyhner
Northern Arizona University

Wayne Wright's Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice provides a comprehensive look at both the history and current practice of bilingual and English as a second language education in the United States. His understanding of the challenges facing students learning English in our schools and their teachers shines through chapter after chapter of his new book. Any teacher or school administrator reading this book will be much better prepared to help the increasing number of English language learners in our schools.

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Shannon Sauro
University of Texas at San Antonio

Wright's text provides a thorough and accessible overview for educators and administrators working with the growing number of English language learners in US classrooms. I look forward to using it in my class on sheltered instruction.

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Peter Sayer
University of Texas at San Antonio

Nowadays, every teacher ought to approach her classroom with an understanding and a positive disposition towards the diversity and special challenges facing English language learners. This book fills an important gap for pre-service teachers who need a text that is both accessible and gives a sophisticated treatment of the issues facing ELLs. Wright boils down complicated and sometimes contradictory policies and research findings to give teachers the essentials they should have to support best practices for teaching ELLs.

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Fay Shin
California State University, Long Beach

This book provides an excellent foundation for teaching about language and education policy in the United States. This is a comprehensive text for all educators and an importance source of information for anyone working with English language learners. I would use it in bilingual and ESL methods courses.

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Tom Stritikus
University of Washington

This book presents a comprehensive, insightful and engaging overview to English language learners. As our schools continue to become more diverse, it is imperative that teachers, graduate students, and policy makers approach their work with the knowledge and capacity to meet the needs of the fastest growing population in our schools. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice presents the key theoretical and practical concepts that should guide our work with ELL students.

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Sharon H. Ulanoff
California State University, Los Angeles

Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy is a welcome addition to the literature that addresses a critical need for up-to-date information that will serve as a valuable resource for teachers who are preparing to or already work with English language learners. One of the unique features of Foundations is that it brings together content related to policies and programs for ELLs, but also situates the discussion about meeting the needs of ELLs within the context of other instructional debates, mandates, and issues. By including content related to literacy instruction for ELLs, Foundations not only addresses a critical issue for ELLs' success in school, it also highlights how national and state instructional mandates impact the instructional context for ELLs and often serve to perpetuate compensatory educational models.

Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners is organized around general themes that are critical to understanding how best to meet ELLs' needs. The comprehensive chapter on language and education policy for ELLs offers a historical perspective that will help teachers better understand the basis for current educational policies and practices, including those that support and restrict language usage in today's classrooms. The extensive description of federal policy effectively contextualizes the ongoing debate regarding instructional practices for ELLs. Chapter 7 extends that dialogue to include the debate over how best to teaching reading and what that means for ELLs. One of the major strengths of the book is that it expands the discussion to highlight connection between reading and second language acquisition. The focus on knowledge about reading for ELLs adds important content that will help teachers understand the relationship between language proficiency, success in reading, and academic achievement in general. In addition, the focus on specific reading strategies provides an excellent link from theory to practice, which teachers in today's changing classrooms so desperately need.

Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners provides a host of pedagogical features that can be used to engage different levels of graduate students, e.g., post baccalaureate students obtaining licensing and M.A. students. As an instructor who will use this book in a future class, I see the inclusion of both discussion questions and research activities as a major benefit that will assist me as I prepare my class sessions. The specific focus on technology resources as well as the links to the web and online discussion boards within each chapter also serve as a welcome addition to the text.

Overall, Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy is an outstanding new text that will be welcomed by faculty who work with future and current teachers of ELLs. It is well organized, easy to read, comprehensive, and expands on current policy and research texts to include practical strategies for teachers to use in their own classrooms. I look forward to using this book in my own courses.

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Veronica Valdez
University of Utah

This is a welcome addition to the language education field that provides an impressively balanced synthesis of research, theory, policy, and practice within each chapter. It provides an engaging overview of a broad range of essential topics that includes theories of language development and the practical application of research on oracy and literacy to the teaching of English learners while making transparent the sociopolitical context in which these language programs operate. Dr. Wright's carefully documented history of language education, its connection to the fight for civil rights of linguistically diverse communities, and relevant legal decisions provides an important framework from which to understand our current efforts to educate English learners in the United States. I particularly appreciated Dr. Wright's discussion of the importance of using student's home language and his practical suggestions for applying this even if you are a monolingual teacher. Filled with practical examples, suggestions for extending discussion, and suggested uses for technology in the language classroom, this is a must have for anyone planning to work with students who are learning English as an additional language. I will definitely be using this text for my undergraduate and graduate foundations of ESL/bilingual education courses.

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Terrence G. Wiley
Arizona State University

Wayne Wright's foundational text artfully bridges a major gap in the literature by making cutting edge research and policy analysis accessible to teacher educators and leaders within the contexts of their work. This impressive work offers pragmatic insights for the daily challenges that educators face in meeting the language acquisition and academic needs of English language learners. The author demonstrates a command of the research literature while addressing learner needs in real-world classrooms. The book addresses a broad range of policy and ideological issues and successfully links macro debates to the actual decision making power that educators have within their local domains of authority. This is truly an outstanding and empowering foundational work that will be appreciated by students, practitioners and scholars.

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Wayne E. Wright Wayne E. Wright is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he provides training for future and current educators in the areas of ESL teaching methods, literacy, assessment, technology, and research. He has a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Arizona State University, and a Master's degree in Language, Literacy, and Learning from California State University, Long Beach. He was an ESL and bilingual teacher in the Long Beach Unified School District in California working with English language learners in grades K-12 in bilngual, English as a second language, sheltered English immersion, heritage language, and mainstream classrooms. Wright is the author of numerous research articles related to language minority education, and currently serves as the founding editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement. He has presented his research and provided training for language teachers throughout the world. In 2009 Wright was a Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Lecturer at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, where he provided training and assistance to the university and students in the Master's of Education Program. He and his wife Phal are parents of three amazing children.