Hello Barbara and everyone
 
I had a couple of questions off-line about efforts to revive workplace
literacy, to link adult ESL and job skills training and to contextualize
language learning using task an contexts common to various job clusters
(health, advanced manufacturing, sales and service). Barbara can
certainly talk more about the Texas Initiative. 
 
There's quite a bit of interest these days in studies that speak to the
issues of work and language education. Although we did not look at
workplace literacy or integrated approaches in the What Works study,
there are strong indicators from other studies that models that link job
skills training with language and literacy development have stronger
outcomes (in terms of retention and transition, job placement and
earnings), than other approaches.  
 
If you'd like to know more, here are a couple of links to a report that
I did with Julie Strawn and others for the Center for Law and Social
Policy.  
 
Full Report: 
 
http://www.clasp.org/publications/LEP_report.pdf
 
Policy Brief: 
http://www.clasp.org/publications/LEP_brief.pdf
 
Other papers are currently being commissioned that address models for
linking adult ESL with employment, including a paper for NIFL on issues
in preparing immigrants interested in careers in Allied Health
(Crandall, Wrigley and Goldberg) and a report commissioned by Public
Private Ventures on promising approaches to help immigrants with limited
proficiency in English move into jobs that pay a living wage and can
sustain a family. 
 
For those of you interested in studies that examine these issues,
resources are available: The Migration Policy Institute's Center on
Immigrant Integration Policy has a number of papers and reports listed
on their site: 
 
http://www.migrationinformation.org/integration/
 
Should employment and training be the only goals of adult ESL? Certainly
not! 
 
But since millions of people are here in the U.S. to make a living and
need language, literacy, and job skills for employment that helps them
move out of poverty, it's worth thinking about models and approaches
that are likely to make a difference. 
 
More on these topics from an international perspective - I just got a
long and thoughtful note from Susan Reid in New Zealand who knows of
such things. 
 
Cheers 
Heide
 
 
 
 
 
________________________________

From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Barbara Tondre
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 9:33 AM
To: specialtopics at nifl.gov
Subject: [SpecialTopics 297] Re: Authentic materials
 
Hello from Texas!  I have been following the discussion.  It's always
good to hear from Heide and Larry as well as fellow practitioners from
beyond...
 
Janet touched upon something that is so fundamental to this discussion,
and that is the basic preparation of ESL instructors.  Here in Texas, we
have been fortunate to have Heide work closely with us for a number of
years in an effort to build a foundation of knowledge among our very
part time AE instructors. 
 
Unfortunately, because of the overwhelming demand, AE often finds it
necessary to make ESL instruction assignments to those who are still
struggling to get a firm grasp on adult learning theory and the
principles of second language learning. In my work with Texas LEARNS and
its response to a legislative mandate that AE provide work-related ESL
instruction, I am constantly reminded that our efforts rest on a rather
shaky foundation.  
 
Preparing program administrators and instructional staff to respond to
the work-related needs of adult English language learners - and to
maintain a balance between language learning and workforce skills
development - is quite a challenge. So I have to ask:  are there efforts
out there that require (or strongly encourage) administrators to guide
their instructors through a series of PD activities that help them
incrementally develop expertise vs. merely fulfill the annual PD
requirement?  The Texas Teacher Credential project is a model for this
kind of professional development, but it seems we need a multi-faceted
tactical approach to move forward.  
 
Just wondering out loud...
 
Barbara Tondre-El Zorkani
Texas LEARNS
  
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/attachments/20070422/c6368aa6/attachment.html