Few of the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) participants in adult education classes move on to academic ESL programs that prepare them for content area study or general educational development (GED) or high school equivalency instruction. The ESL literacy curriculum is currently mismatched with GED and academic ESL curricula in purpose, content, and context. Adult ESL and transitional programs can help students bridge this gap by providing them with: (1) motivation and belief in self-worth to face the challenges of academic and administrative demands; (2) knowledge of how to transition to the norms of the academic community; (3) conceptual development and critical thinking skills such as synthesis, analysis, and evaluation; (4) greater focus on language accuracy and careful language use; (5) extensiveness in reading and writing, and multiple skill integration thematically organized for in-depth study; (6) development of a larger vocabulary corpus centered on less-frequently-used academic terminology; and (7) integration and transfer of first-language (L1) skills and use of L1 in learning strategies. (MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)