ABSTRACT
We highlight the elementary-level ESL student in this chapter. It contains a decision heuristic to help place students in programs that match their abilities and backgrounds, within different theoretical positions and different pedagogical approaches. The chapter contains discussions of such topics as ESL phonics instruction, whole-language instruction and ESL students, L2 basal reading approach, and L2 comprehension instruction. It is filled with practical ideas to teach beginning ESL students literacy skills. The basic notion developed in this chapter is that comprehensible input is the most important feature of reading instruction.
