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English Learners

Helpful information resources for students learning English.

Whittemore Library Reading Resources for ESL Learners of any Level

The Henry Whittemore Library at Framingham State Univerity logo

 

Use the Minuteman Book Catalog Search Page to find:

 

Use RamSearch to find:
  • Children's books (digital)
  • Academic books (digital)
  • Reference book entries (digital)
  • Newspaper articles (digital)
  • Magazine articles (digital)
  • Trade Journal articles (digital)
  • Academic journal articles (digital)
  • Dissertation and Theses citations (digital)
  • Streaming Videos (documentaries)
    • RamSearch searches multiple databases at one time
      • When you check for the full-text, RamSearch will take you to the database the item comes from
        • Much, but not all of our digital library materials are full-text
        • You can request a free copy of materials not held by FSU via our no-cost InterLibrary Loan service (ILL)
        • You can limit your search results to full-text materials only, if you prefer not to have to request ILLs

 

Use one of our individual databases to find:
  • Children's books (digital)
  • Academic books (digital)
  • Reference book entries (digital)
  • Newspaper articles (digital)
  • Magazine articles (digital)
  • Trade Journal articles (digital)
  • Academic journal articles (digital)
  • Dissertation and Theses citations (digital)
  • Streaming Videos (documentaries)
    • A database may specialize in one type of format (articles, books, etc.), or may have a mixture of different types of materials

 

Use one of our individual digital periodicals (news, trade journals, academic journals) to find:
  • Newspaper articles (digital)
  • Magazine articles (digital)
  • Trade Journal articles (digital)
  • Academic journal articles (digital)
    • Look up journals by topic or by name

 

Go to the Fireplace on the library's main floor to our Print Periodicals Area to:
  • Browse through and read the magazines and journals that we still receive in a physical, print form
  • Browse and borrow or read a new collection of diverse graphic novels

 

Go to the Curriculum Library (Upper Mezzanine) to find:
  • Children's books you looked up using the Minuteman Network Catalog
  • Bilingual children's books you looked up using the Minuteman Network Catalog
  • Children's print books, including some bilingual,  by browsing

 

Go to the Reference Room (Main floor, just past the first floor IT Help Desk) to find:
  • Print Reference Books (Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Handbooks, Atlases)
    • These items can not be checked out and taken out of the library, but copies of pages can be made using the printer/copiers just outside

 

Go to the book shelves (on the lower mezzanine and ground floors) to find:
  • Academic print books you looked up using the Minuteman Network Catalog
  • Academic print books by browsing the shelves
    • Our 'book stacks' in all areas of the library are open; browse and borrow freely

Other Reading Resources

Lexile Levels - A Way to Measure Reading Level

The Lexile Framework for Reading is a system used to match students with texts (books, articles, and other reading material), regardless of grade level. It takes a scientific approach to measuring reading levels. Its numeric measures can apply to both reader and text:

  • Lexile text measures reflect the readability of an individual book based on an analysis of word frequency, sentence length, and text complexity.

- From: https://outschool.com/articles/lexile-levels-understand-reading-level

As a learner of English as a second language, you may find the Lexile scale a useful tool. When you know the Lexile score of an English book that you can comfortably read, you can pay attention to the Lexile score of the next book you choose to read in order to provide yourself with a reasonable challenge, instead of a text that may be too challenging.  This can help make your learning practice less frustrating.

A Lexile score is a number, followed by the letter L. In general, the lower the number is, the easier the reading level is.  However, some books containing more advanced concepts can still have a fairly low Lexile score, if they were written in clear, simple language.

Since most Lexile Scores used in the United States are used in our public school system, the scores are often listed as a range, with each school grade (year) being associated with an increasingly higher Lexile score:

 

The 'BR' in the first column stands for 'Beginner Reader'.

 

Below is a table demonstrating the Lexile levels that certain professions require, as well as the Lexile scores of important documents that adults encounter in their daily lives:

 

 

How to Find a Book's Lexile Score:

If a book is fairly simple (for early readers, or kindergarten through 12th grade), you can enter a book's information into the Lexile 'Find a Book' tool

The Ebsco eBook database's Advanced Search page gives you an option to search for books by their Lexile Level:

The EbscoBooks Lexile Level search option