Author Description

ESOL: A Critical Guide describes the diversity of ESOL learners in terms of their backgrounds and life experiences, ranging from asylum seekers and migrants to people coming from more settled backgrounds. The authors look at how policy makers, teaching institutions, and individual teachers meet the challenge of addressing this huge range of needs and expectations. This book differs from other introductions to ESOL in that it includes coverage of some of the more controversial aspects of the field. Contentious issues such as migration and asylum, citizenship, social exclusion, the economy, and globalization all affect ESOL in different ways, and the authors discuss all these and give a personal perspective based on their own experiences as teachers and researchers. The book is organized into eight chapters: - Chapter 1: 'ESOL in the world' gives a general overview, with a particular focus on England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. - Chapter 2: 'A world of difference' f Published On: 2008-08-20