Materials not in Use? The case of ESOL Freda Mishan, University of Limerick, Ireland

1. Materials not in Use? The case of ESOLFreda Mishan, University of Limerick, Ireland Mishan, F. (ed) (in print, 2019) ESOL Provision in the UK and Ireland: Challenges and OpportunitiesPeter Lang (Henceforth EPIK)

2. Materials not in Use? The case of ESOL Outline • ESOL today • Framework of reference (EPIK) • Main issues identified in EPIK • MATERIALS: • What is NOT used and why? • What IS used and how?

3. Defining terms ESOL – English for Speakers of Other Languages • The specific government-funded English language provision for • Adult migrants, typically with refugee or asylum status • e.g. from Middle East, Africa, India • Migrants from EU or Commonwealth countries ‘LESLLA’learners - ESOL learners with low levels of literacy in their own language Literacy Education & Second Language Learning for Adults http://www.leslla.org/

4. ESOL: why now? UK Migration 2008-2018 In 2018:Approx 600,000 immigrants arrived in the UK Net migration 273,000 (Steady rise from 2008, but numbers stable since 2016) ONS Office for National Statistics https://www.ons.gov.uk/

5. to Republic of Ireland 2018 -Approx90,300 immigrants to Republic of Ireland -Rise from 84,600 in 2017 -2018 ROI net migration 34,000 Central Statistics Office http://www.cso.ie/en/

6. ESOL provision & funding - Complex, Diverse, in Flux - England, Scotland, Wales and ROI all have different policies* and provision. Migration to English-dominant countries across the West outpaces the development of policies and infrastructure which address the presence of new migrants, and the linguistic diversity that their arrival entails Simpson 2016: 180 *One policy issue: Relationship of ESOL to Literacy?

7. ESOL provision & funding ENGLAND • Skills for Life strategy (Department for Education & Skills (Dfes) 2001): dedicated ‘Adult ESOL core curriculum’ based on national core curriculum for literacy and numeracy • ESOL government-funded through the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) (but funding is level-dependent) • NATECLA: National Association for Teaching English & Other Community Languages to Adults National forum & professional organisation for ESOL teachers • First English ESOL strategy promised by Sept 2019 (via Integrated Communities Green Paper) https://www.natecla.org.uk/news/898/Integrated-Communities-Action-Plan-(ESOL)

8. ESOL provision & funding SCOTLANDThe gold standard for ESOL provision! • Scotland’s ESOL Strategy 2015 – 2020 (Scottish Government 2015) • Welcoming Our Learners: Scotland’s ESOL Strategy 2015-2020, http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/22892/2/ESOLStrategy2015to2020_tcm4-855848_Redacted.pdf • Scottish curriculum for ESOL (accredited by the Scottish Qualification Authority, SQA) not linked to literacy but to mainstream Scottish education • Fully funded Scottish ESOL Policy held up as a model of best practice: principles of inclusion, diversity, progression and learner-centredness at its core We don’t talk about migrants – only new Scots Scottish MEP Alyn Smith 2019

9. ESOL provision & funding WALES • National policy on ESOL since 2014, ESOL Policy for Wales http://gov.wales/docs/dcells/publications/140619-esol-policy-en.pdf‘Nation of Sanctuary’ • ESOL provision part of Wales’ Lifelong Learning policy • English language recognised as essential skill on a par with basic literacy & numeracy • ESOL publicly financed, but immigration regulated by UK government (has led to high demand outstripping supply)

10. ESOL provision & funding IRELAND • State provision of ESOL coordinated by NALA (National Adult Literacy Agency) https://www.nala.ie/ • NALA works in partnership with Irish government & its agencies, mainly the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and • Education and Training Boards (ETBs), who deliver ESOL

11. Framework of reference: EPIK 20 contributions: 11 Chapters (excluding introduction and conclusion) 3 Case studies 6 Vignettes Of this total: 2 from Scotland 6 from Ireland 1 from Wales 11 from England 2 6 11 1

12. Main issues/themes identified in EPIK(1) • Fluctuating government policies on ESOL provision, affecting: • Assignment and coordination of ESOL provision • Adequacy and consistency of funding • Required language proficiency levels • Lack of fit between government educational ‘objectives’ and ESOL population • Lack of pathways between ESOL qualifications and mainstream education/vocational training • The often ad hoc and reactive nature of addressing ESOL provision • Over-reliance on volunteering

13. Main issues/themes identified in EPIK (2) • Dearth of ESOL & LESLLA-specific teacher training resources & opportunities resulting in: • Inadequate preparation & training of ESOL teachers & providers for the needs of refugee and asylum seeker learners • Expanded ’role’ of ESOL practitioner • Mixed ESOL classes with respect to learners’ English language proficiency, literacy & educational background, culture, age & gender • Need for ESOL teaching resources/materials (in particular for LESLLA learners) counsellor, friend, social worker, careers advisor, even family ‘the teacher is literally in loco parentis’ (16+ programme)

14. EPIK: Materials in use in ESOL ‘at a glance’ One study in ESOL / FE in Scotland showed only 57% of teachers used their assigned (ESOL) materials ‘an over-reliance on EFL course books designed for the international market [with] little cultural relevance for EAL pupils in Ireland’ Farrell & Baumgart

15. Findings from EPIK…Materials in use for ESOL ESOL resources most commonly referred to in EPIK (representing the different jurisdictions): • Skills for Life/Adult ESOL Core curriculum:The Education and Training Foundation’s ESOL Excellence Gatewayhttps://esol.excellencegateway.org.uk/ • NATECLA, The National Association for Teaching English and Community Languages to Adults https://www.natecla.org.uk/ • The Big Picture: materials and resources for ESOL Tutors(2005): published by NALA (National Adult Literacy Association of Ireland) The Big Picture • NALA (The National Adult Literacy Association of Ireland) www.nala.ie

16. Findings from EPIK…Materials in use for ESOL Skills for Life/Adult ESOL core curriculum Entry level 1: Daily life - Shopping -Travel - Health - The neighbourhood - Friends and family - Going to work The Big Picture, NALA (2005) (Foundation level/mixed) Children: New baby, at the Chemist, Doctor - Education (schooling in Ireland) - Daily life - Family Life - Festivals & Celebrations It is a constant challenge to identify topics that provoke sufficient discussion but are not beyond the linguistic resources of the learners STAR case study

17. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL? EFL??

18. Evaluate material re. suitability for typical ESOL population (e.g. asylum-seekers, refugees) Any hidden curriculum…? Methodology? Topics? Sensitivity to learner’s situations? New Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate 2005, 6-7

19. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOLEFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  Potentially insensitive to learners’ situations An urgentneed to identify and develop materials, resources and classroom procedures which are relevant and appropriate to students Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP)

20. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  Potentially insensitive to learners’ situations - EFL material: Myself, my home, hobbies, daily routine, travelling, family and jobs Vignette 6, Aldridge-Morris Booking a holiday, going on a gap year, going to a restaurant Ma 2018 - Topics @ A1 level/QQI ESOL materials (used in many ETBs in Ireland): Writingpostcards home, menus, comparing your country to Ireland IRPP

21. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  Potentially insensitive to learners’ situations • Refugee sensitivities around topics relating to family, home countries or difficult experiences are taken into account in choosing materials. Volunteers report finding negotiation of these subject areas difficult and steer away from topics which may be too sensitive for the refugees STAR programme • Students who are separated from their families and cannot afford holidays, and those who suffer from ill-health, do not necessarily want to study every-day topics such as family, health or holidays all the timeVignette 4, Grimes • A refugee student from a failing state who has not seen their elderly mother for years and years, burst into tears in a Speaking and Listening exam on the topic of holidays. ibid

22. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  Potentially insensitive to learners’ situations Volunteers report finding negotiation of these subject areas difficult and steer away from topics which may be too sensitive for the refugees STAR programme Teachers adapted the materials they had as effectively as they could, and they tried to identify topics of interest to the Syrians. IRPP

23. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  These potentially insensitive to learners’ situations Materials today are typified by codified regimes of inclusivity whereby women in particular … require non-stereotypical representation Gray 2013, 6 On March 8th, International Women’s Day, I decided to tease them. I put a sheet of A1 paper on the flip-chart stand with a line drawn down the middle. The heading on the left-hand side was ‘Men’s jobs’ and the heading on the right-hand side was ‘Women’s job’. They began to allocate jobs to each column, but after assigning about five jobs to male or female, all the students had an animated discussion between themselves, then the whole class agreed that I had set up the chart wrongly, and that in the UK, anyone could aim for any job. Vignette 5, Grimes

24. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  These potentially insensitive to learners’ situations Both sides of coin – cultural sensitivity: Many studies emphasised importance of separate men’s and women’s activities e.g. men’s & women’s ‘shed network’ - community-based associations promoting social interaction, health & wellbeing (IRPP) Vignettes: Language Café, Heart & Parcel - women’s classes. I’m wondering now, actually, should I bring to the student’s notice this [voluntary English conversation classes] programme and see if she could […] but I wonder would her husband want her going out to this. Service Provider on IRPP

25. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  These potentially insensitive to learners’ situations Communicative Methodology Inductive ‘what a person might think is ‘I’m sitting there and I’m playing games’, why?’ ‘It’s all communicative and conversation and games and that kind of thing’ ‘Our teaching approaches and methodologies would be very much like work in pairs, role play […]’ ‘[The students think] that we’re a bit kind of … we’re all too ‘happy clappy’IRPP  ‘Culture shock’

26. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  These potentially insensitive to learners’ situations Communicative Methodology • ‘Culture shock’ Students want…. Grammar, Spelling, Listening strategies, Teacher-led • The feedback from the Syrians is, you know with TEFL teaching it’s all communicative and like and conversation and games and that kind of thing, they’re not used to that, and they say ‘they’re not teaching us grammar’ they come in to me, and they kind of, they want to be taught at, which is […] totally opposite to what, you know, we do in Ireland nowIRPP

27. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  These potentially insensitive to learners’ situations Communicative Methodology • ‘Culture shock’ Students want…. Grammar, Spelling, Listening strategies, Teacher-led • Closing the methodological gap: The teachers had begun to adopt a more traditional, grammar-focussed teaching style in their lessons to cater for the learning styles and preferences of these students. A more gradual approach to the introduction of certain activity types was felt to be more appropriate along with clear explanations of the rationale behind the approach IRPP

28. Findings from EPIK…Materials not suited for use in ESOL: EFL!! ‘Hidden’ (ideological and cultural) curricula  Unsuitable methodology  Unsuitable topics  These potentially insensitive to learners’ situations Communicative Methodology Personalisation, Sharing Instead, students are ‘given opportunities to choose what aspects of their stories they want to share, through the use of creative arts & skilful adaptations of ESOL activities’ 16+programme - see later  ‘Authentic’ sharing a feature of all the vignettes – learners share their own stories, exchange aspects of their culture (e.g. cooking), share their experiences in the UK, give advice etc. Students’ often precarious psychological situations require pedagogical approaches that do not […] force them to relive traumatic events; for example by asking them to write about their families or their journey to the UK 16+programme

29. Findings from EPIK…Materials in use in ESOL: What works? ESOL materials: what works? Approaches and techniques  Interesting authentic materials with local and historical relevance are important for motivation of students after usually twelve-hour shift work in tough conditions FE, Scotland Professional training: e.g. IT skills, welding, trades, bus/taxi-driving IRPP, SVPRS  DARTs (directed activities related to texts) With simplified fables ‘modern stories of kindness and forgiveness’Vignette 1, Grimes Function of DARTs is to get students to interact with texts via… Sequencing, prediction, highlighting, diagram completion, ‘cloze’, question-setting etc.

30. Materials in use in ESOL: What works? The 16+Programme for unaccompanied minors, Clyde College, Glasgow

31. Materials in use in ESOL: What works? Lessons from the 16 + Programme 16+ @ Clyde College Glasgow(Idle & Ma Chapter 6) 8-point action plan inspired by Dörnyei’s work on Motivation: Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom (2001) Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (2009) • Develop a personal relationship with the students • Build group trust and cohesiveness • Plan in detail • Visualise • Transform the classroom walls • Introduce role models (including peers and recent alumni) • Provide learners with regular experiences of success • Promote learner autonomy and self-motivating fostering learner strategies.

32. Materials in use in ESOL: What works? Lessons from the 16 + Programme Visualise  Creativity ‘Creative arts’ Transform the classroom walls • Use of creative arts to choose what aspects of their stories learners want to share • In our context, students can feel safe and secure in the knowledge that they will not be asked, by us as teachers, to tell their story again and to provide evidence of its truth Idle & Ma, 16+ programme

33. Materials in use in ESOL: What works? Lessons from the 16 + Programme Visualise  Creativity ‘Creative arts’ Transform the classroom walls • creation of : Coats of arms with mottos Learners choose images, words and/or phrases that mean something to them Introduces them to idea of taking responsibility for their learning  Displayed in the classroom • Those who have missed primary/secondary school need affirmation of their existences: their value, their writing ability, their art and design ability. The classroom walls provide an opportunity for this • affirmation to happen Idle & Ma 16+ programme

34. Materials in use in ESOL: What works? Lessons from the 16 + Programme Visualise  Creativity ‘Creative arts’ Transform the classroom walls • Creation of Identity Boxes*: help young people to ‘share information about themselves in a safe and controlled way whilst also allowing them to discover their creative talents and skills’ *Based on concept of joseph cornell shadow boxes

35. joseph cornell‘shadow box’

36. Materials in use in ESOL: What works? Lessons from the 16 + Programme Visualise  Creativity ‘Creative arts’ Transform the classroom walls Design a Suitcase to show – and celebrate - what young people have brought with them = ‘Arts-based pedagogy’ (plus outdoor learning...) Healing power: ‘fractured identities’ ‘We came here broken’ (Ma 2018) 16+ Programme 16+ programme project Scotland-our-new-home

37. Findings from EPIK…Materials in use in ESOL: What works? Strong subtheme to emerge was that effective ‘learning resources’ go beyond the traditional classroomto embrace ACTIVITY and CREATIVITY • Cookery (e.g. Heart & Parcel, Language Cafe) • Gardening • Excursions • Participating in sports • Classes e.g. IT skills • Doing arts and crafts projects • Music = Holistic approach

38. community music workshop ‘from within a women’s heart’ promoting integration HalaJaber, PhD student UL = Holistic approach

39. EPIK – a glimpse into the ESOL classroom One man has to leave class early to get to the optician. It occurs to me that he doesn’t know the names of the letters of the alphabet. When I see him the next week wearing a new pair of glasses, I wonder if they’re the correct strength Charity (volunteer) ESOL provider, vignette 6, Aldridge-Morris On the hoof, I make a game with some cardboard from a cereal packet in the kitchen. A Syrian asylum seeker smiles at me and joins in with the pelmanism game. In his delicate, bony hand he holds a card with a verb in the past tense. It’s an irregular past, and somewhere, under a sea of blank cards spread across a donated plastic table, he realises he has to find the present Charity (volunteer) ESOL provider, vignette 6, Aldridge-Morris

40. Mishan, F. (ed) (in print, 2019) ESOL Provision in the UK and Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities Peter Lang

41. EPIK references Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom.Cambridge Dörnyei, Z. (2009). ‘The L2 Motivational Self-System’, in Z. Dörnyei and E. UshiodaMotivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self, pp. 9-42. Multilingual Matters Gray, J. (ed.) (2013). ‘Introduction’. In J. Gray, (ed.), Critical Perspectives on Language Teaching Materials,(pp. 1-16). Palgrave Macmillan. Ma, L. (2018). ‘Supporting Young Adult Refugees’, in Education Scotland, ‘Teaching ESOL to Refugees’https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/Teaching%20ESOL%20to%20refugees Mishan, F. (ed) (in print, 2019) ESOL Provision in the UK and Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities. Peter Lang. Simpson, J. (2016). ‘English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL): Language education and migration’. In G. Hall (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of ELT, pp. 177-190. Routledge. Young-Scholten, M. et al (eds.) (2018). EU-Speak-3: European Speakers of Other Languages: Teaching Adult Immigrants and Training Their Teachers: A Compendium of Module Content. Newcastle University. Contact: freda.mishan@ul.ie (+all book chapters referred to)