Promoting education and achievement of adults learning English
Reading and Adult English Language Learners: The Role of the
First Language Miriam Burt and Joy Peyton National Center for
ESL Literacy Education The ability to read is a critical skill
for adults in the United States. Educators Grabe and Stoller
(2002) assert, "As we enter a new century, productive and
educated citizens will require even stronger literacy abilities
(including both reading and writing) in increasingly larger
numbers of societal settings" (p. 1). However, most research on
reading development has focused on English-speaking children in
preschool through Grade 12. (See, for example, the results of
the National Reading Panel, 2000; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998.)
Little research on reading involves adults learning English as a
second (or additional) language. In a review of the research
published from 1980-2000 on reading development among adult
English language learners in the United States (aged 16 years
and older), Adams and Burt (2