Hello,
I would completely agree with Julie.
I moved from teaching ESOL to teaching Key Skills, which were
then replaced by Functional Skills. Many of the criticisms of using the Adult
Literacy qualification as part of the ESOL exams are equally relevant here too.
E.g. functional skills exams test decoding reading skills assuming that
the person reading the paper will know the word, as English is their first or
main language. The contexts, vocabulary etc are those which should be familiar
to most people born and educated in the UK, but are most unlikely to be familiar
to ESOL students, particularly those fairly recently arrived here.
Another issue is the difference in allocated Guided Learning
Hours –although things may have changed, when I was teaching,
students only got 2 hours a week for Key Skills/ FS, but their ESOL
counterparts were receiving 13 hours a week tuition! As Julia says, ESOL
learners will often need much longer to learn the skills required for FS
English, and my main concern is that the teaching hours that will be allocated
will be totally insufficient, leading to pressure on teachers and falling pass
rates.
Ros Wright
From: ESOL-Research discussion forum and message
board [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Julie Furnivall
Sent: 18 May 2012 10:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Advice on distinctions between ESOL and functional skills
Hello Dominic
I have taught functional English at levels 1 and 2 as part
of an apprenticeship programme, and all of my learners had the characteristics
of ESOL learners. I have also taught ESOL for around 30 years, and I have
been a consultant and trainer under the Functional Skills Support Programme and
the Skills for LLN programme.
The biggest issue (in this context) is that Functional
English isn't an ESOL qualification. It is designed for native speakers,
and this is very obvious as soon as you look at the sample assessment materials
from any of the awarding organisations. My learners needed a
long time to learn the skills required for Functional English - much longer
than a native speaker would need. This is a very obvious statement to
make, but for some reason it isn't obvious to policy makers and funders.
Having said that, my learners enjoyed the challenges of the
qualification, and gained a great deal from the speaking and listening aspects.
Hope this helps, Dominic.
All the best
Julie
On 18 May 2012 07:59, Dominic Clarke <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
Hello everyone
I am an ESOL teacher working for a provider in
a community centre. I am seeking to discover
the distinctions between ESOL and functional skills.
I will have a look at Excellence Gateway and the
C&G materials, but I wonder if anyone out there
would like to share their experience of moving
from ESOL to functional skills.
Regards
Dominic Clarke
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*********************************** 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
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