Colleagues:

Donna Brian and Lynda Terrill, Moderators of the Workplace Literacy
Discussion List and English Language Learners Discussion List proudly
announce a discussion on ELL in the workplace.

You can partake in the discussion by subscribing to either list:
Adult English Language list
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Englishlanguage
OR
Workplace Literacy list: http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Workplace/

Here is some information about the discussion:
 

 One issue that has been of interest on the Workplace Literacy
Discussion List has been serving the needs and goals of employers while
at the same time serving the needs of adult immigrants on the job and in
their lives. On the Adult English Language Discussion List, issues
related to workplace and adult English language learners have been
discussed for many years. Workplace ESOL classes are not new, but, as
more workplaces throughout the country hire immigrants who may not be
proficient in English, new teachers come on board and new needs (and
funding sources) arise. New questions also arise.  

 

We have home-grown expertise on both the Workplace and ELL Discussion
Lists. Subscribers on both lists have been involved in managing state
and federal workplace grants, developing curricula and materials,
teaching or training other teachers in workplace contexts.  We could all
learn a lot from sharing questions and experiences.    Lynda Terrill,
moderator of the English Language Learner Discussion List and  Donna
Brian, moderator of the Workplace Literacy Discussion List,  invite you
to  access this combined expertise in a cross-list discussion: a
focused, simultaneous, shared discussion on both lists on issues related
to the workplace and adult immigrants.  We hope that you will  join us
in sharing  philosophies, approaches, and techniques—lessons
learned—with each other in a week long dialogue combining the two lists.
We have set next week—September 18-22—as the time scheduled for this
shared discussion to take place. 

 

Discussion Questions
Some important questions we hope may be addressed in the discussion are:


·         What are effective ways of planning, implementing, and
evaluating (adult ESL) workplace classes? 

·         What types of workplace classes have proven most effective and
why? 

·         How can teachers and administrators develop curricula and
materials that meet the needs and goals of the learners in class as well
as the needs and expectations of employers? 

·         What are effective and appropriate approaches for teaching
issues related to culture, civil rights, and responsibilities on the
job? 

Background Reading and Resources 

Below is a small sample of the best available materials we know of. We
hope subscribers will suggest others that have been useful to them:


This resource is added by Janet Isserlis:  One reading I would add (and
that in fact was just discussed in the workplace literacy share that
grew out of a CAELA study circle), is this piece by Gary Pharness, which
very much focuses on learners¹ needs in workplace learning contexts.

Learner-Centered Worker Education Program.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/000000
0b/8
0/2a/14/f4.pdf



Issues in Improving Immigrant Workers' English Language Skills (Burt,
M., 2003, Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics)

http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/Workplaceissues.html. 

 

ESOL in the Workplace: A Training Manual for ESOL Supervisors and
Instructors. (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Office of Adult Education and University of Tennessee Center for
Literacy Studies, 2003). 

http://www.cls.utk.edu/pdf/esol_workplace/Tenn_ESOL_in_the_Workplace.pdf
Getting to Work: A Report on How Workers with Limited English Skills Can
Prepare for New Jobs (Working for America Institute)
http://www.workingforamerica.org/documents/PDF/GTW50704.pdf

 

Getting to Work: A Report on How Workers with Limited English Skills Can
Prepare for New Jobs (Working for America Institute)
http://www.workingforamerica.org/documents/PDF/GTW50704.pdf

 

Steps to Employment in Ontario. 

http://209.121.217.200/main.html

 

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