 |
 |
Thank you Sondra, the findings you shared are very valuable and yet another reminder of how under-used (under valued?) the new communities in Britain are. At an ESOL for Work class that I had taught on, one of the students had been the pianist for a Philharmonic at a major Eastern European city. He was packing greeting cards in Britain and in an ESOL beginners' class. What he needed was ESP with explicit grammar teaching as that suited his educational background. Instead, he was in a class with learners with educational backgrounds ranging from no literacy to 10 years of school and who were working as take-away workers and taxi-drivers with aspirations to continue to work in the same trade but at a slightly higher level. At the same time, to be fair, there wasn't a choice of other classes he could go to. I tried very hard to put him in touch with Church musical societies and ballet schools as well as other classical music groups so that he would at least be able to tap into the rich musical tradition we have in the UK. However, he didn't perhaps, at that stage, have the access and local social skills to get into networks which would allow him to draw on the educational, social and cultural capital he already had. A lot of Eastern European workers, particularly the men, were leading fairly isolated lives outside work. There have been a couple of very interesting articles in Language Issues (the journal of NATECLA) about similar themes recently. We do live in a global economy now and if only governments would realise what a wealth of talent and international networks we have right at our doorstep. Naeema Naeema B.Hann Postgraduate Research Student Representative University Research Committee ELT and Languages Lecturer Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds LS6 3QS ph. 0113-8129311 ________________________________ From: ESOL-Research discussion forum and message board on behalf of Cuban, Sondra Sent: Wed 31/03/2010 09:27 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: ESRC research brief Thanks for sharing this Phillippa. Here's more on exploitation issues of migrant social care workers: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7081849.ece Sondra -----Original Message----- From: ESOL-Research discussion forum and message board on behalf of Philippa Grimes Sent: Wed 3/31/2010 07:20 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: ESRC research brief This is an interesting and sad one. When I went to Pakistan, I realised that so many of the migrants in Birmingham were from the "higher echelons of society", whilst working as bus drivers and taxi drivers in the UK, and hugely looked down on. At the time, I was doing research for the health service on ESOL and health and had an argument with my boss about social class classifications, but got dismissed out of hand as talking nonsense. A lecturer at the Institute of Education said to me that it is a truism that the taxi drivers in New York are the best qualified people in the city. Philippa On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 8:26 AM, Cuban, Sondra <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > As part of the remit of my ESRC research, which ends on 31.3.10, I said I > would disseminate findings on various discussion boards, so here goes: > > My study focused on professional migrants who were being deskilled in jobs > for which they were overqualified for-- in this case, as social care > workers. I wanted to learn what the role of education, literacy, and > learning were in their opportunities to advance and their strategies for > moving ahead professionally. Many of the participants were former health > care professionals (nurses, midwifes, occupation therapists). Currently, > migrants (both European and non-European) comprise about 19% of the > population in this sector, which is expected to grow in the future, because > of the fastly ageing population. This group was found to have few > opportunities to improve their situations, the opposite of why they > initially migrated. Many of them initially believed, and were often told by > recruiters, that the social care sector was a stepping stone in to the > health professions and other careers, rather than an occupational dustbin. > > I'll briefly summarise some findings that may be of interest and if you > want to learn more about the study, please see the website under findings: > http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/homework/index.htm : > > . Employers in the social care sector confused accents with "language > problems" and many workers internalized these beliefs, especially when they > were new to a company, thinking they were poor communicators > . This group desired advanced level ESOL, focusing on grammar, and > business English, medical and technical English courses, as well as > International English Language Test System (IELTS) courses, most of which > were unavailable in their communities > . Workplace ESOL courses were regarded primarily as sites of social > bonding amongst learners as many already possessed the skills that were > being taught > . The Englishes this group appeared to need related to legal and > bureaucratic literacies around employment laws, immigration, and housing, so > they could better know and assert their rights. > . Newcomer migrant carers often picked up colloquial accents and > regional idiomatic expressions with ease and over a short period of > time---communicating well with clients once regular contact was established > and there were opportunities to practice > . Attendance at FE ESOL courses was episodic due to problems students > had with their work schedules and being short-staffed, although they > persisted to learn, and studied independently too > . This group appeared to handle workplace paperwork with ease, and > even helped their British-born colleagues with spelling issues > > This group, highly skilled migrants (those with tertiary education and > professionals in their former countries), are often not acknowledged as > such, and has been excluded from current policy discourses, especially with > regard to deskilling and brain waste. While the LSC reports that this group > is desperate enough to take on any kind of work while they "improve their > English language levels" this state leaves them vulnerable to workplace > exploitation and with little chance to move ahead. > > For more on practice, research, and policy implications/recommendations, > please see website above. For further enquiries, please contact: Sondra > Cuban, [log in to unmask] > > Thanks, Sondra > > *********************************** > ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest > in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by > James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of > Education, University of Leeds. > To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ESOL-RESEARCH.html > A quick guide to using Jiscmail lists can be found at: > http://jiscmail.ac.uk/help/using/quickuser.htm > To contact the list owner, send an email to > [log in to unmask] > *********************************** ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds. To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ESOL-RESEARCH.html A quick guide to using Jiscmail lists can be found at: http://jiscmail.ac.uk/help/using/quickuser.htm To contact the list owner, send an email to [log in to unmask] *********************************** ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds. To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ESOL-RESEARCH.html A quick guide to using Jiscmail lists can be found at: http://jiscmail.ac.uk/help/using/quickuser.htm To contact the list owner, send an email to [log in to unmask] To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://disclaimer.leedsmet.ac.uk/email.htm *********************************** ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds. To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ESOL-RESEARCH.html A quick guide to using Jiscmail lists can be found at: http://jiscmail.ac.uk/help/using/quickuser.htm To contact the list owner, send an email to [log in to unmask]