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Any references for core textbooks aimed at English language learners at the university level?

I have need of them for: Calculus I-II-III, Linear Algebra, and Differential Equations.

Most of my students are in a unique situation where the only language they can sort of read is English, but not well enough for the standard textbooks to be accessible to them. Currently, I am essentially wasting my students' money since their books are unreadable to them.

Jay
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    Do you think this may be appropriate at ell.stackexchange.com ? – Gerald Edgar Dec 04 '21 at 22:00
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    Can you help them with the reading more? Where are you located? – Sue VanHattum Dec 05 '21 at 02:52
  • What's causing them the most trouble - general English, academic English or mathematical terminology? – J W Dec 05 '21 at 15:13
  • @JW Academic English. We are in the US and most of the students are Americans. That said, they do struggle with general English as well. – Jay Dec 05 '21 at 16:32
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    Perhaps you can add those details to your question. Just use the Edit link. – J W Dec 05 '21 at 16:37
  • This sample chapter on the academic language of mathematics could be of interest. – J W Dec 05 '21 at 16:57
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    It is possible to be American, and to have a first language other than English. But rare. What is the first language of your students? If it is English, they are not ELL students. – Sue VanHattum Dec 05 '21 at 22:35
  • See also https://matheducators.stackexchange.com/q/5711/376 – J W Dec 06 '21 at 15:46
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    @SueVanHattum "It is possible to be American, and to have a first language other than English. But rare." - Rare, really? – Rusty Core Dec 07 '21 at 02:38
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    If they have problems with general English, I would check whether they can read. By that I mean whether they can spell. Write some gibberish and ask them to read. If they cannot, this means they have been "taught" using whole language method, and that less of re-teaching them how to read you cannot do anything. It would be interesting though if you told more about your students. – Rusty Core Dec 07 '21 at 02:46
  • Oops. I didn't word that right. We have plenty of students at my community college for whom English is not their first language. The ones who are not foreign students usually speak English excellently. – Sue VanHattum Dec 07 '21 at 15:58
  • @RustyCore, I have tried to find evidence for your claim regarding whole language method. I found one article written by an organization that teaches phonics. It sounds like we all want more information from the OP. Please keep to the topic. – Sue VanHattum Dec 07 '21 at 16:03
  • @SueVanHattum The topic is that some native Americans not only struggle with English-language academic literature, but also "struggle with general English". Either they cannot read in the normally accepted way, that is, by making words out of letters (or by making sequences of sounds out of basic sounds), or they have not had enough experience with the world around them. "The ones who are not foreign students usually speak English excellently" - speaking is not the same as reading and writing. Outside of English-speaking countries, English is taught by explaining spelling rules. – Rusty Core Dec 07 '21 at 22:25
  • I don't understand the premises of the question. How can a university level student not read a single language well? If this is really a problem, no choice of ODE textbook will remedy it. – Dan Fox Dec 17 '21 at 11:12
  • What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks 1 language? An American. –  Dec 17 '21 at 15:25
  • The world needs Esperanto. –  Dec 17 '21 at 15:25

2 Answers2

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You've said that your students are at a "university" (i.e., not a community college), and have clarified that they're in the US. Your characterization is that "most of" them find a standard textbook not "accessible," or "unreadable."

It's unclear what you mean when you say that you want to cater to "English language learners" but "most of the students are Americans." ELL is a term used to mean people whose native language is not English. Given your student population, it sounds like probably the majority of them are not people whose native language is not English.

Terms like "unreadable" are absolute, whereas reading comprehension is relative.

You cannot guarantee your students the ability to benefit from a college education. All you can guarantee them is college-level instruction that is appropriate for students who have the preparation and motivation to succeed in college-level work. You can also, if you choose to do so, guarantee that none of them will be limited to a second-class education by the structure of your class, or held back from improving their academic skills and critical thinking ability because the class is taught at an inappropriate pre-college level.

Currently, I am essentially wasting my students' money since their books are unreadable to them.

If money is the issue, then choose an OER text. There are many such texts to choose from at the lower-division level, especially for freshman calc.

user18168
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    Community college and university are not mutually exclusive. I teach at a community college which is part of an R1/R2 university (CUNY); all my students are receiving full university credit for every class. – Daniel R. Collins Dec 06 '21 at 14:49
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I think it's broadly unlikely that there are any calculus-track textbooks aimed at English Language Learners. But that's just an educated guess.

If you use OER textbooks, then you won't be wasting any of your students' money. I recommend the ones from OpenStax, which in my opinion are fairly high quality. That includes the full calculus sequence, but not linear algebra or differential equations.

Daniel R. Collins
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