An unavoidable must Asylum seekers, refugees, and English classes

1. �An unavoidable must�? Asylum seekers, refugees, and English classes James Simpson (University of Leeds) Melanie Cooke (King�s College, London) Journeys and Justice Conference University of Leeds 29-01-10

2. ESOL Research ESOL Effective Practice Project (EEPP) Baynham, M., C. Roberts, M. Cooke, J. Simpson, K. Ananiadou, J. Callaghan, J. McGoldrick and C. Wallace, (2007) Effective teaching and learning: ESOL. London: NRDC Turning Talk into Learning Project Cooke, M. and C. Roberts (2007) Developing adult teaching and learning: Practitioner guide ESOL and Reflection and Action in ESOL Classrooms. London: NRDC Placement Practices Project Simpson, J., M. Cooke and M. Baynham (2007) The Right Course? An exploratory study of learner placement practices in ESOL and Literacy. London: NRDC. Cooke, M. and Simpson, J. (2008) ESOL: A Critical Guide. Oxford University Press

3. The struggle for English The EEPP study showed that some people had been in the UK for many years without reaching a level of English they found acceptable Many people speak English outside the classroom mainly in fleeting casual encounters or unequal institutional encounters Some people have dense social networks but others are extremely isolated and almost all have very limited opportunities to practise English Many express a strong desire to get to know people from English speaking communities, to work and to �integrate�

4. Motivation to learn English Employment: most asylum seekers and refugees suffer a dramatic loss of cultural capital when they come to the UK. Professionals and skilled workers are unable to practise their professions because they are not permitted to work, or their qualifications are not recognised in the UK Dealing with everyday bureaucracy To break dependence on others (e.g. interpreters)

5. Motivation (2) To understand everyday interaction �my wife and I used to joke with each other, saying that we might have said thanks in reply to someone else�s curses�. (Chinese man, Leeds) To interact in the community and make friends � our other neighbours are a younger husband and wife. I would really like to get to know them. If they ever have time it would be nice to just sit with them for half an hour and have a chat (Iranian woman, London) Presentation of self If we were sitting on a bench like now and wished to talk about life, I don�t think we would be able to do it in English� nature, flowers, art, pictures, images, impressions. I am sure we would not manage to talk about them. But it is a very important part of my life, and all that is in Russian. How can I translate it into a different language? What about my feelings and the like? (Russian man, Leeds)

6. The role of ESOL classes Preparation for work or further study Formal instruction: I don�t know how the teachers made me hear what they said in class� I was just like a stone. They knocked my head and they made me hear. At the beginning I was hearing nothing, just sitting there then leaving (Eritrean woman, Leeds)

7. Role of ESOL classes (2) Breaking isolation and making friends: I come to class as a way of escaping the house and of escaping sadness (Iranian woman, London) Socialisation into multicultural, multilingual Britain You can meet a real cross-section of the world here� all colours, countries, dress and types of food. When I started at college I shared a class with students from Sri Lanka who have really interesting clothes and food. Communicating with them is very interesting for me. It�s very different from Iran. (Iranian woman, London)

8. Role of classes (3) Creating a safe environment in which students are encouraged to �speak from within�, to talk and write about the stories they wish to tell: �we perceive the world in narrative form� (Ochs and Capps 2001)

9. Narrative activity becomes particularly illuminating in the case of �displaced� groups such as immigrants, in that it is through the process of retelling and reconstructing past experience that members of these groups make sense of social encounters and conflicts and foreground an emerging sense of their identities, a process that in many cases implies contesting established roles and claiming social space (Pastor and de Fina 2005:37)

10. Asylum seekers and refugees in ESOL classes Stress and trauma affect asylum seekers and refugees in particular: I think this life is far, far away from the normal one. I come here to this class because I know it is important for me but my mind is not here. I am not calm I am not concentrated in lessons. I don�t know what is going to happen. I have a family here and I want a better life for them but it does not depend on me. Today I am here in college and at midnight the police might knock on my door and tell me to leave this country and go back to Kosovo (Kosovan asylum seeker)

11. Public discourse Migrants, especially asylum seekers and refugees, are central to government �conversation� about social cohesion, integration and citizenship But Recent policy has cut the budget for ESOL and rearranged how it is provided (The New Approach) Tendency in public discourse to blame migrants for perceived lack of integration

12. There are people who are isolated in their own communities who have been here for 20 years and still do not speak English. That worries me because there is a separateness that may be unhealthy. (Tony Blair 2005)

13. We have to make the learning of English an unavoidable must. � Immigrants have to see language acquisition as an essential part of the contract they enter into when they settle in Britain. People should not opt out of their obligations on the back of multiculturalism. (Margaret Hodge 2005)

14. People who come into this country, who are part of our community, should play by the rules. � I think learning English is part of that. I think that understanding British history is part of that. � I would insist on large numbers of people who have refused to learn our language that they must do so. (Gordon Brown 2006)

15. Public discourse vs. individual experience I used to work in the mornings at Lambeth North, which is near here, I worked 3 hours and then I finished. I had to kill 2 hours waiting to come to class; I used to ride around on buses because I didn�t have time to go home so I rode around till it was time to go to come here. After that I went to my other job, starting at 4. (Colombian woman refugee)

16. Public discourse vs. individual experience (2)

17. Conclusions English is promoted as key to social cohesion and integration Barriers to social cohesion and integration are largely systemic Learning English is a right but not available to all

18. Recommendations Public recognition of the vital role of ESOL classes Funding for all who require it: ESOL classes funded from the point when potential students arrive in the UK. As in Australia there should be an entitlement to a statutory amount of provision Fully funded accessible childcare Small classes to facilitate the best learning environment Training for teachers on how to work with people suffering trauma Access to counselling and other help in colleges and other institutions Fast-track classes for professionals and skilled workers with close liaison with workplaces. Well-resourced careers� guidance for students with skills and qualifications from overseas Cross disciplinary liaison between agencies which work with refugees