Abstract

Amongst all second language learner populations, adult immigrants with insufficient native language literacy skills progress the slowest in acquiring linguistic competence and particularly in developing basic literacy skills in the language of their new country. A large body of research on children shows that those who read for pleasure go further faster in developing reading comprehension skills. Krashen (1988; 1989; 2003; 2004) extends this to second language learning. Pleasure reading depends on a good selection books available in the home, school, or community, but the small quantity of engaging books written for low-educated adult immigrants impedes this practice. Since 2010, the Simply Cracking Good Stories project has worked with creative writers and linguists to produce narratively engaging, cognitively sophisticated, and linguistically accessible short fiction books with adult themes. These books are available in hard copy form, but there are a number of reasons to move to digital.