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NATIONAL 'ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES' (ESOL) STRATEGY
MAPPING EXERCISE AND SCOPING STUDY
CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSIONS
6.1 According to projections (Office of National Statistics 2003) 60% of the expected increase in population of 4.3 million, to 2026, will derive from net immigration into the UK. Although the proportion that will settle in Scotland is unpredictable, that there will be a large increase in numbers of speaker of other languages here is certain. ESOL in Scotland is already a major educational interest, spread over three sectors (four if the relatively small private sector is included). It needs to be adaptable enough, and sufficiently well-resourced to be able to cope with continuing change - spurts in demand and changes in the kind of student requesting classes.
6.2 From the questionnaire data, it appears that most of Scotland can offer some kind of ESOL tuition. However, in many places this is limited to 2 or 4 hours per week. In other places there are long waiting lists, with many students waiting several months to join an English class. At present, there is considerable demand for Beginners' classes, although we were not able to quantify this demand. This demand needs to be satisfied more effectively now, but managers are aware that the profile of learners is not stable, and in Glasgow, for example, refugees and asylum-seekers who arrived 2 or 3 years ago as beginners are now becoming intermediate, and within a few years start to leave ESOL classes.
6.3 However, as Linda McTavish put it, "It's not just about learning English": ESOL is responsible for developing the language proficiency essential for settling into life in Scotland, make friends, use services, raise their families, look for jobs and undertake training and further and higher education. At the same time, the social, emotional and intellectual experience of the ESOL classroom itself can, almost independently of language learning, help learners feel confident and empowered enough to face the challenges of living in a new country.
6.4 Judging from the needs expressed by learners and by teachers, ESOL is seriously under-resourced. Yet ESOL in Scotland includes full fee-paying international students, who bring considerable income into many Colleges, and it was clear from interviews with College managers that there is a determination to develop this business aspect. More classes, crèche places, teaching resources; better classroom accommodation, support and guidance; more in-service and on-site teacher development - all require more resourcing.
6.5 Progression from ESOL into employment and mainstream education is a key indicator of the effectiveness of provision. Progression can be speeded up through into-work projects such as work shadowing, ESOL + courses, English for Work courses and workplace ESOL classes. These are clearly popular schemes and deserve systematic evaluation which goes beyond counting the number of students who go through them.
6.6 Many factors that slow down language acquisition are not due to individual ability, but can be addressed. Amongst these are the number of hours of classes that are available, and when classes are timetabled. Many studies confirm that adult language learners need considerable amounts of time in class in order to reach levels of proficiency that allow them to live independent lives, let alone find skilled or professional jobs. Mixed level classes also tend to hold back more advanced learners: one of the few complaints voiced in focus groups was that mixed level classes were unhelpful.
6.7 Students also need opportunities to practise and use English in "real-life" interactions. Many complained of the shortage of such opportunities, but many also seemed unaware of what possibilities there were, such as online learning or college activities.
6.8 Classes also need to be accessible to all: classes at different times including evenings and weekends, classes in places where learners can get to easily and safely, targeted publicity, more crèche places. Classes also need to be carefully designed to suit specific needs e.g. work-based classes and tailored language support for mainstream courses. Although there seemed to be very little interest amongst learners for English for Work taught in ESOL classes, there is, at the same time, great demand for courses and programmes designed to help learners get jobs. English tuition tailored for such courses can, it seems, help to speed up learning.
6.9 Teachers rated the quality of support and guidance as relatively poor. For most students it is their teacher whom they will approach for guidance, particularly about progression. Many teachers of asylum-seekers still find a large portion of their time is spent helping their students with other than language problems (although there are many more sources of help than during the first months of dispersal). While many Colleges employ international officers, their main task is often to help international fee-paying students.
6.10 ESOL in Scotland is largely delivered by a part-time workforce. While part-time contracts are the norm in CE for all subjects, in FE 2/3 of all staff enjoy full-time permanent contracts - twice as many as amongst ESOL teachers. A professional service needs a stable, well-resourced and trained workforce, which means more full-time or fractional contracts.
6.11 Minimum requirements for qualifications are not consistent across institutions. There are still some institutions, including FE Colleges, which do not require any ESOL qualification for new staff. Some colleges on the other hand are increasingly demanding higher qualifications in TESOL, which normally means the Cambridge or Trinity College Diploma. There is clearly a need to ensure that the profession in Scotland is a fully qualified one. This implies in-service training for practising teachers who lack qualifications. It is suggested that the SQA could offer a professional development award based on the FENTO model - the 2-stage Subject Specifications for teachers of ESOL.
6.12 Employers also have a responsibility to ensure that staff are inducted into the particular needs of their students, the syllabus and assessment instruments in use and the support systems in place for ESOL - on top of general college induction sessions. In a sector where students, requirements and contexts are changing rapidly, teachers are in need of regular professional training, which is at present scheduled almost entirely for weekends or evenings, rather than for working hours.
6.13 Further training is also required for teachers involved in internal assessment of the SQA ESOL NQ Units. The concerns expressed about these awards need to be addressed not only by ensuring that staff are prepared for this responsibility but also by ensuring that the units themselves will eventually match the rigorous standards demanded in the global and highly competitive market for ESOL tests.
6.14 There is no significant difference between students who attend CE and those who attend FE classes, as regards their language needs. The same quality assurance standards need to be applied to both sectors which means collaboration between the sectors on setting standards.
6.15 Although there was only lukewarm interest in a core curriculum amongst ESOL practitioners interviewed, the SQA ESOL NQ Units establish national standards within the national qualifications framework. These imply a curriculum framework. The different configuration of Scottish ESOL, where classes commonly include international students, asylum-seekers and people from the settled ethnic minority community all learning together may make adoption of the English core curriculum inappropriate.
6.16 Most teachers complained about the lack of suitable teaching materials, especially for beginners, literacy classes and to address the specific needs of asylum-seekers. The widely-praised materials for lower level students produced by the Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit for the DfES could be adapted for use in Scotland - as some institutions are already doing.
6.17 Teaching for Citizenship, following the Crick Report, also needs resources specifically for Scotland.
FURTHER RESEARCH
More research could usefully be conducted into a number of issues:
- the need for closer co-operation and strategic planning between providers in a city or area.
- the rate of progress of learners in different types of tuition, including full and part-time, General English and English for specific purposes.
- the effectiveness of "into work" projects.
- the extent of non-attendance amongst speakers of other languages with low levels of English, and ways of encouraging them to join classes.
RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOMMENDATION 1: the Scottish Executive needs an oversight of the whole of ESOL to monitor coverage as well as quality. To this end a national ESOL Co-ordinator should be appointed to liaise with FE, CE and Voluntary sector providers and with the Home Office and other agencies such as the Scottish Refugee Council. The Co-ordinator should also have access to additional funds which could be disbursed to provide tuition in the case of sudden increases in demand.
RECOMMENDATION 2: Local providers should monitor provision and demand and ensure that, as a minimum, there is some provision for all learners who request it. Waiting lists for ESOL classes that keep learners out of classes for more than a couple of months can effectively deprive them of the ability to function independently in everyday life, and can also, by holding up language learning, delay the arrival of the learner in the labour market or from the route to further education and training. Providers should work towards "capping" the length of time any applicant has to stay on a waiting list (e.g. 6 weeks). The Scottish Executive should consider funding short-term and flexible solutions to waiting list problems, including the use of volunteers and part-time classes. In remote areas, use could be made of peripatetic teachers and short intensive (e.g. weekend) courses where there are clusters of learners.
RECOMMENDATION 3: More on-site childcare places and where possible, provision for after-school care, need to be put in place to allow students with young children to attend classes or more classes.
RECOMMENDATION 4: Classes for beginners and ESOL literacy classes should have lower maxima than other classes. Learners at this level should have priority for highly intensive tuition (i.e. more than 21 hours per week). Mixed level classes should be replaced by single level classes wherever possible, especially where such classes (community-based) constitute the sole provision, and there are no FE courses. As a minimum, there should be separate beginner and elementary classes, and advanced level classes.
RECOMMENDATION 5: Where providers can cope with increased demand, they should set up a website in English and in the main migrant languages giving information about all the ESOL classes available in the area, in both CE and FE sectors (using the Glasgow ESOL Forum website as a model). Leaflets translated into the main migrant languages could also be produced and displayed in jobcentres, hospitals, libraries, community centres, surgeries, etc.
RECOMMENDATION 6: Ways of improving progression rates, particularly into work or into mainstream College or university courses, should be investigated. This investigation should focus both on ways of raising learners' expectations so that they are more willing to consider employment or training that matches their skills and experience, and on providing a wider variety of routes including highly intensive courses, ESOL + college courses (for more subject than is available at present), work-shadowing schemes and work-based ESOL, which can provide more motivating contexts for fast - tracking language learning. This is likely to require more staff or staff time for guidance and support.
RECOMMENDATION 7: Institutions should review the support systems that exist for all non-native speaker students both for practical help and for academic guidance. Effective systems should also deal with tracking progress and ensuring students in mainstream courses have access to relevant language support. Modules already exist including online units for training careers advisors for asylum-seekers.
RECOMMENDATION 8: The merged FE and HE Funding Council should consider an alteration in the rules for international students to enable refugees and asylum-seekers, and other categories to pay home fees for full-time FE and HE courses.
RECOMMENDATION 9: Institutions should establish more full-time and fractional posts for ESOL, in order to improve working conditions for teachers and ensure that students benefit from the continuity of teaching, guidance and support that a stable workforce can deliver.
RECOMMENDATION 10: A national minimum level of teacher qualification should be introduced, for both FE and CE sectors and should be available to all teachers wherever they work. The SQA should develop an award for ESOL teachers, based on the FENTO framework.
RECOMMENDATION 11: Training for volunteers should be developed and certificated.
RECOMMENDATION 12: A common quality and inspection system should be devised for all adult ESOL provision allowing for differences in approach in CE and FE.
RECOMMENDATION 13: The SQA needs to review entry requirements for HN courses, so that they match more closely the language requirements (or existing language skills) of native speakers as well as progressing the development of HN Communications Units appropriate for ESOL learners - units that focus on language as well as skills improvement.
RECOMMENDATION 14: FE Colleges should institute specific induction sessions for ESOL for new staff. Employers and professional bodies should also consider holding in-service training sessions and CPD during working hours.
RECOMMENDATION 15: There should be an agreed national criterion based on length of residence for eligibility for free CE classes.
RECOMMENDATION 16: More time and resources need to be allocated for the revision of the SQA ESOL NQ Units, for the development of support materials and for benchmarking to CEF levels and for the wider dissemination of information about the Units, especially to CE teachers and institutions. The production of a Higher course external assessment should be a priority.
RECOMMENDATION 17: The Scottish Executive should set up a working party to develop principles for a national curriculum framework for ESOL.
RECOMMENDATION 18: Teaching and learning materials with a Scottish "accent" should be developed for Beginner and ESOL Literacy classes.
RECOMMENDATION 19: The Scottish Executive should consider ways of providing more opportunities for students to practise English in safe, stimulating environments outwith the classroom, following the example of refugee support organisations. Volunteering can offer such opportunities, although granting asylum-seekers the right to work would be most effective.
RECOMMENDATION 20: Colleges should consider spending some of the income from full fee-paying international students to improve classroom accommodation for all ESOL. students.
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