Teaching Adult English Language Learners with Emerging Literacy Skills

I am part of a discussion group that discusses issues involving adult English language acquisition hosted by the National Institute for Literacy. I have been particularly interested in discussions surrounding literacy for English Language Learners (ELLs). The discussion thread is moderated by Miriam Burt of the Center for Applied Linguistics. She recently posted the summary/transcripts for the discussion on "Teaching Adult English Language Learners with Emerging Literacy Skills," compiled by Inge Siggelkow of the Center for Applied Linguistics. Guest facilitators included Patsy Vinogradov and Martha Bigelow. The link to the summary can be found here. I participated in the discussion, commenting on the positive effects I've seen using an integrated approach of top-down and bottom-up strategies for reading.
The topics discussed include:

Topic 1: Promoting an integrated approach to top-down and bottom-up instruction

Topic 2: Integrating phonics and decoding into a meaningful curriculum

Topic 3: Placing learner’s lives and stories as central to lesson planning

Topic 4: Connecting the real with the abstract

Topic 5: How long does it take to learn English?

Topic 6: Policy and limited formal schooling (LFS)

Topic 7: Emerging Literacy, sharing experiences with different groups of LFS learners

Topic 8: Questions to Martha on her oracy and literacy skills research

Topic 9: Resources to teach learners with emergent literacy skills

Topic 10: Finding suitable reading materials for low-literacy adult