What is ALADIN?

    ALADIN (Academic Language: Assessment and Development of Individual Needs) is a researched-based assessment and curriculum.  The program was developed to assess and address the college-level academic language needs of both second language learners and native speakers of English.  Academic language is the kind of language used in college classrooms, in lectures, textbooks, and on tests.  Academic language is distinctly different from the everyday spoken language of social interactions.

    There are currently two ALADIN programs available to address the needs of underprepared students. The first program, which includes Books 1 and 2, is appropriate for beginning college students or for college-bound high school students who are underprepared for the language tasks of the college classroom. The pre- and post-assessments are performance-based. They are based on authentic language tasks: lecture note-taking from videotaped college lectures, textbook reading, summarizing, writing, and other diagnostic tasks. Students receive individual assessment profile reports showing their strengths and weaknesses on these language tasks.  A parallel posttest allows students to see the progress they have made on each language task after they complete the curriculum.

The curriculum helps students develop the academic language proficiency they need to comprehend textbooks, tests, and lectures, to take lecture notes, to summarize reading, and to understand college language requirements.   The two ALADIN books currently available each have pre- and posttests and lessons that can span a college semester or a high school year.  Each lesson is also based on a videotaped lecture and college text readings.  Each book has a Spanish supplement for Spanish-speaking students.

The second ALADIN program is designed for community college students to determine whether they have the language skills needed for upper division work at a four-year institution. These assessments and curricula are based on videotaped lectures and readings from professors at Univeristy of California, Berkeley, Stanford, and Harvard.

    The ALADIN assessments and curricula are currently being successfully used in high schools, community colleges, universities, and outreach programs across the United States. Students are very positive about the courses and have made good progress in language development at all sites where the program has been fully implemented. The program was developed and is being disseminated with funding support from FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education), U.S. Department of Education.  For details about the curriculum and assessments, click on the appropriate sections of this web page.  For more information about the ALADIN program, click on the contact section.