ESL literacy: phases of development
Describing literacy development
in LESLLA learners
There are various systems for describing phases of literacy development in adults; here we present
the Canadian system, which describes in detail the characteristics of each stage of learners (for other
systems, please visit the folder "For Administrators")
The Canadian Benchmarks for ESL literacy recognizes four phases of literacy development.
Each phase has three stages: initial, developing, and adequate.
When students have reached the adequate stage they move on to the next phase.
Foundation:
These students have little or no formal schooling, read little, and write not much more than their names.
http://www.esl-literacy.com/essentials-life/levels-esl-literacy/foundation-phase
Phase 1:
These students can read a few sight words, recognize most letters, and write legibly on a line.
http://www.esl-literacy.com/essentials-life/levels-esl-literacy/phase-i
Phase 2:
These students can read a few sight words, recognize most letters, can write legibly on a line, have a
bank of familiar words, can use pictures and formatting to understand text, can begin to write simple
sentences
http://www.esl-literacy.com/essentials-life/levels-esl-literacy/phase-ii
Phase 3: Phase III learners have stronger literacy skills and often speak at a relatively high level, so they
are most likely to be overlooked and misplaced in either mainstream ESL classes or mainstream Adult
Basic Education
http://www.esl-literacy.com/essentials-life/levels-esl-literacy/phase-iii
EACH of these PHASES is further broken down into 3 phases:

initial

developing

adequate