This guide, written in narrative format by several adult English as a second language (ESL) experts, presents an overview of ESL instruction. The manual is organized in six sections. The first section, an introduction to ESL, contains definitions, describes adult ESL students, and provides tips for new ESL teachers. The second section sketches a brief history of ESL teaching in the United States, summarizing such methods as the grammar approach, the audiolingual method, the communicative approach, the natural approach, and the direct method. The third section surveys the content and context of ESL, providing information on program categories and professional resources (organizations, centers, curriculum guides, contact persons, ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, publishers, and professional reading). Assessment is the subject of the fourth section, which includes information on the types of tests available and how to prepare students for them. Preparing lesson plans is discussed in the fifth section (samples are included). The final section discusses teaching the multilevel class. Appendixes to the guide contain ESL drills, a checklist for American culture, learning activities (including a 26-item annotated bibliography), a list of contact persons in Florida, selected tests, a teacher self-rating checklist, and a textbook evaluation checklist. (KC)