Although it is not intended primarily for the trained teacher, it contains many ideas and suggestions which the experienced teacher may find helpful. The manual is designed as a self-instructional guide to be used prior to and during the initial stages of learning to teach. It is intended that a large part of the orientation will occur as a natural part of actually preparing and teaching ESL lessons to your class. If you follow the guide carefully, you will develop the fundamental skills of conducting ESL as you teach.
The manual contains a set of beginning lessons and intermediate level lessons which can be used for the first twenty to thirty hours of instruction in your ESL class. These lessons form the basis for the teacher training part of this manual. They are accompanied by detailed instructions which will help to orient you and train you in using the basic techniques for teaching ESL.
The format of the ESL lessons has been purposely made similar to that of many commercially available programs so that upon completion of the training materials you can readily apply the skills you have gained in teaching from the lesson materials that your center, college or school district has chosen to purchase. Thus the ESL lessons in this manual are only prototype lessons used for the purpose of introducing various techniques and principles of teaching ESL.
In addition, the manual contains a section on teaching the non-literate adult, which includes several lessons for developing basic reading and writing skills.
A selected bibliography of ESL materials is presented at the end of the manual to assist you in choosing appropriate materials for your program.