The overlap between adult literacy and ESOL

Anne McKeown29 March 2011

Convergence

• UK context, reflected in other countries• How and in what ways have literacy and ESOL

come together?• Why?• What is distinct to literacy or ESOL?• What does it mean for practice?

Historical context

• Different literacy and ESOL (ESL) student groups

• Taught separately and by different teachers• Different aims / focus of provision• Of little interest to policy makers

1960s / 70s onwardsLiteracy ESOL

“Native speakers”, first language users of English or expert in spoken English

Migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, coming to the UK with the intention to settle

Some practitioners transformative, inspired by Freire - reading and writing “empowering” individuals

“survival English”, functional approach

Reliance on volunteers and casual part-time tutors

Self-expression and creativity Communicative use of English in everyday settings

1980s free writing and student publications

Critical discourse analysis – of power relations in texts, authors/readers

Discourse analysis – linguistic and other interactional features in spoken and written texts

Genre approach

Language experience approach Influence of EFL / international ELT

Over-simplified views

• Reality more complex• Shared principles – language and literacy

practice in relevant and meaningful contexts• Mediated by teacher beliefs, experience,

education• Regional variation - urban/rural settings

Skills for Life strategy 2001

• Response to Moser report (1999) on low levels of basic skills (literacy and numeracy)

• ESOL included in 2000• Investment in literacy, numeracy and ESOL

provision• New standards and qualifications for learners• New standards and qualifications for teachers

Skills for Life strategy 2001

Learning infrastructure for literacy and ESOL

Literacy ESOL

National adult literacy standards

Adult literacy core curriculum Adult ESOL core curriculum

Certificate in Adult Literacy, Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Level 1, Level 2Units in Reading, Writing

Certificate in Adult ESOL, Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Level 1, Level 2Units in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening

At Level 1 and 2, Multiple choice test of Reading and some Spelling

At Level 1 and 2, test of Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening

Diploma in teaching English (literacy) in the lifelong learning sector

Diploma in teaching English (ESOL) in the lifelong learning sector

National qualifications frameworkNational levels Literacy and ESOL

SfL levelsSchools Higher education

Level 7 Post-graduate

Level 6 Undergraduate degreeLevel 5

Level 4

Level 3 A levels

Level 2 Level 2 GCSEs

Level 1 Level 1 Key stage 5

Entry 3 Entry 3 Entry 3

Entry 2 Entry 2 Entry 2

Entry 1 Entry 1 Entry 1

Skills for Life 2001- 2010

• Expansion of provision and providers• FE, adult education, workplace, offender

learning, community settings• Free tuition• ESOL classes over-subscribed• From 2007 removal of free tuition for ESOL,

except for those receiving identified benefits• Increased emphasis on skills for employment

Skills for Life strategy 2009

Post-Skills for Life 2010 - • Literacy and numeracy still a government priority

– economic imperative• Proposed removal of free tuition for ESOL in 2011

for all but a few on “active job-seeking benefits”• ESOL in the workplace not funded - employers

expected to cover full cost• About 70% current ESOL students not eligible,

75% women http://hackneypost.co.uk/?p=4727• ESOL linked negatively with integration, social

inclusion (or lack of inclusion)

Multiculturalism

Invisible ESOL and literacy?

• ESOL students taking literacy qualifications• Introduction of new Functional English

qualifications, more rigorous assessment at L1 and L2, could be either literacy or ESOL, measure competence on skills

• ESOL students on numeracy courses• ESOL and literacy learners on employability

and other vocationally-focused courses

Literacy and ESOL learners

• Traditional distinctions challenged for quite some time

• Bilingual learners with both literacy and general language needs

• Placement in literacy or ESOL not a comfortable fit

• Linguistic factors – oral fluency• Non-linguistic – cultural and contextual

knowledge, education background

Ismail’s story• Ismail is from Somalia and has been in the UK for 12 years,

since his early teens. His spoken English is fluent, and he speaks with a Somali-London accent ... He mixes in a multicultural multilingual group of young people, using English as a lingua franca.

• Ismail had an interrupted education in Somalia due to the civil war. He arrived in England speaking hardly any English and writing none. However, within a year he was fluent and he left school with 4 GCSEs, although the teachers had not been optimistic about his chances:

Simpson and Cooke (2008)

Ismail

• Some of the teachers …were predicting me like I’m not going to leave with no grades. My head of year. For the first of all they were saying this guy is going to leave with no grades. And he was shocked. Four GCSEs. (Laughs)

Placement in literacy or ESOL?

On leaving school, Ismail eventually got voluntary work which required him to write a report, so he decided to go back to study. He was eventually enrolled in an Entry 3 ESOL Literacy class in the ESOL department of a further education college.

Multilingual BritainLearner Profile – ESOL landscape in London 2009170 languages spoken610,000 Londoners with no qualifications 1 in 5 Londoners literacy levels below that expected of 11 year old(employment rate 45%)Refugee employment rate 33%Heterogeneous group with complex needs and barriers to progressionHuge need at pre-entry level – generally

From London Development Agency data 2009

Research study of learners attending adult literacy classes

Classes across England

•341 learners participated•30% did not have English as a first language•85 learners reported 44 different first languages between them•Found many learners in literacy classes who might have been better placed in ESOL

Grief, S., Meyer, B., Burgess, A. (2007) Effective Teaching and Learning: Writing. London: NRDC

Placement challenges

• Geographical location or time availability• Self-identified literacy or ESOL• Progression from ESOL to literacy?• Teacher and learner attitudes to literacy and

ESOL• Literacy is more “mainstream”• Funding issues - need for vertical progression

through the SfL levels, ESOL not free

ESOL learners with low levels of literacy in their first language

• Very diverse backgrounds and learning needs of people in ESOL provision

• ESOL Effective Practice Project – data from 40 ESOL classes and 509 learners countries

• More than 10% reported they could not read or write in their first language

Baynham et al 2007 Effective Teaching and Learning ESOL, London: NRDC

ESOL basic literacy• Generally placed in low level ESOL classes• ESOL teachers may / may not have trained in

supporting basic literacy• Learners may have specific needs“…learners of basic literacy in ESOL face different

challenges to those of English born or schooled adult literacy learners, Though they may speak some English, they will not have the instinctive knowledge of English syntax, vocabulary or idiom that people reading their mothertongue would have and will not always have the cultural awareness needed to understand texts.”

Spiegel and Sunderland p.17

Example from ESOL curriculum with low level literacy breakdown

For ESOL basic literacy learners, starting to work towards Entry 1

For ESOL learners, literate in another language, at Entry 1

Follow a short narrative on a familiar topic or experience

Follow a short narrative on a familiar topic or experience

• Respond to print as a source of meaning• Be aware that words on the page

represent words that can be spoken• Read texts for information and enjoyment

• Read texts for information ands enjoyment

ExampleA language experience text the learner has composed themselves and the teacher has written down, a very simple notice, or one simplified by the teacher

ExampleA very simple book, notices, maps, biographies,e.g. Nelson Mandela is from a village in South Africa. He was president of South Africa for five years – from 1994 to 1999

From Helen Sunderland and Pauline Moon presentation at NATECLA Conference 2009 “Not beginner thinkers, towards a policy for ESOL basic literacy http://www.natecla.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=490

Pedagogical approaches in literacy and ESOL

From the curriculum documents:Relevant learning contextsIntegrate text, sentence and word level

Practice varies.

Professional development

Guidance on application of the teaching standards to literacy and ESOL, produced by Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK), Sector skills council for lifelong learning

Understand how language varies and changes and how this influences language and literacy use.

Analyse the phonological features of language

Understand how language varies and changes and how this influences language and literacy use

Both literacy and ESOL teachers understand that English is a dynamic and constantly changing language and that changes in language, texts and conventions impact on language use

Literacy teachers understand that literacy learners may not value their own variety of English or understand that it is systematic, and perceive their difficulties with reading and writing to stem from the fact that they do not “speak properly”

ESOL teachers understand that ESOL learners may have difficulty distinguishing between forms which are features of particular accents and dialects and varieties of English and those which are features of Standard English,. They also recognise that ESOL learners may hold a range of attitudes to English, depending on their experience of it as a global language

LLUK p.34

Analyse the phonological features of languageBoth literacy and ESOL teachers understand how individual sounds are produced and the relevance of this to their practice.

Both literacy and ESOL teachers understand how the phonemes of English relate to its graphology.

Literacy teachers understand the debate about the role of phonics in teaching people to read and write …

ESOL teachers understand the benefits and limitations of using a phonics approach of using a phonics approach with ESOL learners …

ESOL teachers understand how the relationship between sentence stress and rhythm in English differs from other languages, and …features of connected speech…

ESOL teachers … intonation for … conveying attitude, highlighting new information…

LLUK p.45 ESOL teachers … concept of comfortable intelligibility…

References DfES (1999) A Fresh Start: The Moser report. DfES•DfES (2001) Adult Literacy Core Curriculum. DfES•DfES (2001) Adult ESOL Core Curriculum. DfES•Simpson, J., Cooke, M., Baynham, M. (2008) The Right Course London NRDC •Grief, S., Meyer, B., Burgess, A. (2007) Effective Teaching and Learning Writing London NRDC•Baynham,M., Roberts, C., Cooke, M., Simpson, J., Ananiadou, K., Callaghan, J., McGoldrick, J., Wallace, C. (2007) Effective Teaching and Learning ESOL London NRDC•Spiegel,M. and Sunderland, H. (2006) Teaching basic literacy to ESOL learners LLU+•LLUK (2009) Literacy and ESOL: shared and distinctive knowledge, understanding and professional practice London LLUK

Questions

• How far is there overlap between literacy and ESOL?

• What are the issues for learners’ placement / funding

• What are the issues for teacher education?