Adult ESL: Politics, pedagogy, and participation in classroom and communityprograms. Trudy Smoke (Ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1998. Pp. 337.

Abstract

This anthology consists of 20 chapters contributed by 25 authors and coauthors; its articles are divided into three sections corresponding to the title categories: politics, pedagogy, and participation. As Trudy Smoke states in the preface, “I decided to use the term adult ESL in its broadest sense – non-native speaking adults who participate in ABE (adult basic education), community college, or senior college programs” (p. ix). However, about 75% of the articles are written from a community college or senior college perspective, with a focus on intermediate-level or above English language learners. There is nothing inherently wrong with this; in fact, it may be inevitable that college ESL teachers are more likely to be able to write articles than their ABE colleagues, who are among the most overworked and underpaid teachers in U.S. education. Smoke notes briefly that some ESL students in ABE programs eventually enroll in community and senior colleges, but for the most part the reader is left having to infer how the insights of college ESL practice and research might apply to teachers in community-based ABE programs in ESL. A more extended discussion of the similarities and differences between ABE and college-based learners would have made the book more useful, especially for new teachers or other readers not familiar with the field.