Thread: Clean fiction for adult ESL?

How about some of the Jan Karon novels? I've never read any, but my sister-in-law used to enjoy them, and I'm sure she wouldn't read anything the least bit obscene.

Also, how about some of the better YA novels (like the Newberry winners)?

I'll look into those. Thank you.

To my mind it is important to open up your personal horizon on literature, so maybe you try foreign writers like Gabriel García Márquez whose novels 'Love in the Time of Cholera' and 'One hundred years of Solitude' are classics in my point of view. Actually I am still a huge Jane Austen-Addict, so maybe you try that one too. Or you combine literature and movie by the example of Ian McEwan's novel 'Atonement', which is a very heart-breaking, wonderfully written novel and I think that might interest your adult students.

What level are your students at? How difficult can the text be? I teach middle school ESL and I am using Number the Stars, a book called Elena, Esperanza Rising, Any Small Goodness, The Color of My Words, and others if you are interested, I can look at the others. They are 4-6 grade reading level.

These students are generally in intermediate college-level ESL and range in age from 17 to 70. Some of them have been in the US for several years and have very sophisticated speaking skills, but their reading and writing are underdeveloped because, if they went to American high school or middle school, they were not taught English but simply given all A's for "trying". (I don't know why the K-12 system sets foreigners up for a sucker punch in college, but it's very common.) Most of them are from the Middle East or the Balkans, with a few Asians, a lot of Poles, and a few Russians, Ukrainians and Indians. Hispanics are rare in my classes.

Here are some things I should mention:

-- Reading foreign literature to "broaden their horizons" is kind of absurd, because they ARE from foreign countries and their own cultures are more similar than different.

-- They want to read English literature, not be given patronizing assignments to read stories about themselves.

-- The language in things like Jane Austen novels is just too hard for them. Plus, I don't want them picking up her spellings, like "dropt" instead of "dropped". Plus, those novels are too girlie for most of them, even for the women.

-- Kiddie lit, and even middle school lit by authors like O. Henry, for example, are the whole problem, because they're used to great literature, like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Goethe and Kafka. They find kid lit and most middle school stuff too dumb.

So what I need is adult English literature in relatively simple language with no obscenity. It wouldn't seem like a hard task to find things like that, but it is. Amy Tan stories work, but I'd rather not devote the whole semester to her. They also like stories like David Sedaris's "Me Talk Pretty One Day".

You really don't seem open to suggestions. Our suggestions were patronizing, absurd, and "kiddie." It is difficult to find books for ESL at any level. High-interest, low-reading level stories that also fit your definition of literature will be hard to find. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Flor

You really don't seem open to suggestions. Our suggestions were patronizing, absurd, and "kiddie." It is difficult to find books for ESL at any level. High-interest, low-reading level stories that also fit your definition of literature will be hard to find. Good luck.

I'm not elitist about this. If my students will read kid lit, chick lit, harlequins, conspiracy literature, anything, I'll have whole semi of it delivered. I've given them simplified versions of Brontë and Dreiser novels (the fat ones, from Townsend Press), which were well received, and somebody even liked a simple investing book. They liked Kate Chopin, Steinbeck and Langston Hughes also.

It's not my definition of literature that matters here (even though it's very close to that of my students), but their definition of literature. Most of them received a very solid education in their own countries that puts most US schools to shame, and they want the literature as deep as they can get it, to the degree that they can understand the language. Most things geared toward teens or written specifically for LEP students won't engage them.

Because it is such problem at all levels of ELD, I suggest to my well-educated ELs that they continue reading in their native language at their level, while they are acquiring the English necessary to read the books that interest them. Until they reach that point, it will be hard to find books that are engaging. This is true of all students whose reading level is lower than their age.

Do you have an approximate grade level that you think your students are functioning at? It seems like they can read close to a high school grade level which would mean many of the "classics" taught in high school should be available to them. What books have you tried that were too difficult for them?
Have you tried any Steinbeck? George Eliot? I don't think that Jane Austen is a bad suggestion. I really would not keep them away from literature over a fear of spelling errors. Really, even high schoolers can understand that some words are antiquated uses. To Kill a Mockingbird? How about non-fiction?

Off-topic here, but--
I don't think the American schools system sets them up; it is simply a no-win situation. I receive students as 8th graders. They can read English at a pre-K level. In one year I can bring them up to 2nd grade level then I pass them on to the high school. In California, I must use the ELD standards, not the grade level language arts standards, meaning I 'm not teaching them 8th grade curriculum and that is why they are receiving A's. I imagine that in high school they progress 4 years so they are 18 and reading/writing at a 6th grade level. Then we pass them on to community college and adult education to continue the journey. In some countries where my students come from, a 12 year old who reads like an 8 year old is placed in 2nd grade. We don't do that, of course. We can't keep them in high school until the meet 12th grade standards-- that might take another 6,8,10 years. Some of my student who are literate in their native language will progress quickly, but those who arrive illiterate in their native language and/or have learning disabilities will simply never meet that standard. What do you suggest the high schools do with these students?
My school is about 40% English learner and the problem here is them receiving F's in all their classes except ELD, not getting A's for trying.

Here are my suggestions; you should read them yourself to make sure they are "clean" enough for you, since I don't have any preset "clean" requirements for adult literature:

Authors: Eudora Welty, Mark Twain, Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, Truman Capote, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, EM Forster, Salman Rushdie.



I could go on; there is a world of literature out there. If I understand you, you want to read great literature, written for adults without some adult language or themes, written with depth and complexity, but with simple language. I deleted the titles I had in mind, and just listed some authors that might work.