Developed by Alberta’s Rural Routes program, the Rural Routes ESL Tutor Handbook is a new resource to help ESL tutors as they begin working with adult learners. At an impressive 559 pages, it is a substantial resource. But, it is organized in a way that makes it practical and easy to use.

The first section contains a concise introduction to adult education and the role of the instructor and learner. There is also a quick look at assumptions and biases as well as brief lesson tips and ideas on what feedback could look like. And, being a very recent resource, there are online tutoring suggestions.

Lesson Plans

Two introductory lessons contain activities that tutors can use to help them get to know their learners and their learners’ goals and needs. The remainder and core of this handbook is ready-to-use lesson plans based on nine common scenarios:

• Making Friends in Canada
• Living in Canada
• Learning English with Children’s Books
• Looking for a Job
• Becoming a Better Worker
• Preparing for Citizenship
• Preparing for a Driver’s Test
• Preparing for an English Test
• Improving Pronunciation

There is a learning plan and a set of lesson plans for each of these themes. The lesson plans are designed for learners who are either at their early stages of learning English (CLB 2-3) or those with a little more fluency (CLB 4-6). Some learning plans include lessons at both levels.

Each lesson plan includes the specific resources you need – every lesson requires a paper and pen, most need an internet connection and an electronic device (laptop, tablet or smart phone). Handouts are included at the end of each learning plan. Note: Some of the resources are for Alberta learners and will need to be replaced in other locations.

Games

The final section includes games: icebreakers (for the beginning of a lesson), adaptable games (low prep and may be adapted to many different topics and structures), and grammar games. Many of the games can be adapted to use in online tutoring.

For new tutors working with EAL adult students and for experienced tutors new to online tutoring, this is a source of lots of ideas and resources to help with your work.