Language, Literacy and Immigrant Integration

in the United States

Heide Spruck Wrigley, PhDLiteracyWork InternationalLas Cruces, New Mexico

LWI is a small social policy firm, focused on education and training of low educated adults and youth

Current projects:

• Youth at Risk (Vancouver, B.C.)

• Workforce ESL and workplace literacy (several projects)

• NAAL: Demographic profiles and language and literacy skills of low literate immigrants

• Professional development (ongoing PD Institutes)

• Training in integrating multi-media into teaching and learning

• MPI - National Policy Project

Literacywork InternationalLiteracywork Int

http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/

Research Questions:

• What are the language and literacy skills of foreign-born immigrants – with a special focus on

• Low achieving youth

• Low educated adults

• Non-literate adults

• How long will it take them to reach proficiency (6 levels)?

• How much would it cost?

• Where would the money come from?

• Report: What would a high quality system look like?

MPI –Center for Immigrant Integration Policy

The Big Picture: The World is Moving

Almost half of metro areas with 1 million plus immigrants are in the US

• 5.8 million permanent legal residents who are LEP

• 6.4 million unauthorized immigrants who are LEP

• Immigration reform provides an opportunity for change

• Legalization –(amnesty)

• Border control (the fence)

• Employer sanctions

• New emphasis on knowledge workers

• Fees ($ 5000)

• New citizenship test (patriotic assimilation)

The Socio-political Context

Immigrants are

• 12% of US Residents

• 15% of US workers

• 21% of low wage workers

• 45% of low skilled workers

Almost 50% of immigrant workers are LEP (limited English proficient).

Literacy and Work Work numbers

• Concerns about societal fragmentation and ethno-cultural divisions

• Concerns about an economic underclass (social substrata) of low skilled workers and their families.

• Concerns about youth-at-risk and intergenerational integration

• Need to bridge social and cultural distances between language groups and between English speakers and non-English speakers.

The Need for Civic Integration

• Humanitarian: We are inviting immigrants to come to the US and now should help them thrive (no more sink or swim models)

• Human Capital – Economic: Greater earnings with higher levels of L2 proficiency; greater taxes, fewer welfare $$$; greater global competitiveness

• Social: Literacy services promote social cohesion and civic integration

The Case for InvestmentThe case for investment

Federally funded program, focused on

• Life skills and civic knowledge

• Preparation for citizenship test

• Dimensions of civics

• Cultural knowledge (holidays, key people)

• Knowledge of history and government

But also focused on

• Community awareness

• Civic engagement

• Advocacy for self and others

• Leadership development

EL Civics

• Scenarios and Case Studies (The company gets busted)

• Virtual Visits (Visiting and documenting places, posting information and pictures on the Web)

• Inquiry Maps (Explore topics of interest to students such as health, college, domestic violence)

• Community Mapping (Illustrating through maps places and things that matter to students)

• Brochures (Brochures designed by students for students and the community)

Experiential Civics

CASE EXAMPLECLESE BRIGHT IDEAS

Just-in-Time Civics for Senior Immigrants and Refugees

The Students

• Refugees often must cope with extreme losses and hard memories.

• Provide opportunities for students to talk about things that matter to them.

http://www.clese.org

• Can Do list• Reading Demonstration • Civic engagement scale • Outcome Assessment

– BEST Test (pre-post)

– Competencies checklist

Pre- and Post Assessment

www.literacywork.com/readingdemonstration

The Story

www.clese.org

The Story

• www.clese.org

• Decrease social isolation.• Increase civic awareness and build

civic engagement.• Develop communication skills in

English.• Foster the “strategic competence”

needed to navigate systems.• Link elderly immigrants and refugee

communities with each other and with the wider community.

Instructional Goals

The Farm Field Trip

• Create with real life context

• Start with things that matter: food, vegetables, farms.

• Provide opportunities for genuine conversation.

Compare Farm Prices and Supermarket Prices

• Connect classroom to community.

• Prepare, practice and review to maximize learning from field trips.

Navigate Systems

• Provide hands-on learning experiences on how community institutions work.

• Encourage social interactions.

• Write the story

Connect to Other Communities

• Speak in English with other immigrants.

• Share cultures and appreciate diversity.

• Be part of a community!

• Take advantage of multi-media

• Put technology in the hands of the learners

• Invite them to become creators of knowledge, not just users of literacy (video, brochures, PP)

• Connect learners to the outside world

Promising Practices

Storyboard How To: Tortilla Making

Alphabet Books for Adults

"No matter what our attempts to inform, it is our ability to inspire that will turn the tides."

Holly Dilatush