The Action for ESOL manifesto
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
On Saturday 3 March, 2012, the Action for ESOL Manifesto
launch took place at the UCU offices in London.
It was attended by approximately 30 – 40 people. The manifesto is
a statement of the beliefs and values of ESOL practitioners and is
the result of many hours of discussion and thinking amongst a large
group of committed individuals, particularly of discussions during two
seminars in June and September 2011.
It covers many different aspects, ranging from funding and the right
to learn English to community, diversity, identity, professionalism and
pedagogy: ‘ESOL Provision should be accessible, comprehensive and
integrated. It should reach out into the community and provide well-
constructed but flexible routes onto academic and vocational courses.’
The purpose of the manifesto is to support ESOL practitioners in
discussions with managers and providers, spark further debate and to
generate ideas which will help to shape the future of ESOL provision.
The launch provided an opportunity to celebrate the success of
the Action for ESOL campaign in 2011 and to look back at its
achievements. Speakers such as Mandy Brown from Lambeth College
and Kathy Taylor, UCU Vice-President, pointed out that the success of
the campaign was due in no small measure to the massive widespread
support shown by ESOL teachers and their learners, trade unions,
professional bodies such as NIACE and NATECLA, community groups,
MPs and many others. Demonstrations and events such as that at the
Westminster Old Palace Yard, petitions, publicity and press reports also
played a significant part in making the campaign such a success.
Heidi Alexander MP, a staunch supporter, praised the campaign and
manifesto and pledged her ongoing support. She talked about the
need for sustained funding and the importance of convincing policy
makers of the fundamental right for ESOL provision to be free to all.
The battle may be won but the war is not over yet!
Messages of support were received from Lilian Greenwood MP and
David Hughes of NIACE. Judith Kirsh, NATECLA co-chair, talked about
the key role NATECLA plays in representing and campaigning on behalf
of ESOL practitioners and their learners, and the networking and CPD
SCREEN EDITION Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 1 of 38
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Next page
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Previous page Next page
Heidi Alexander MP, a staunch supporter
opportunities offered through branches and conferences.
Melanie Cooke (King’s College, London) and Rob Peutrell (South
Notts. College) talked about how the manifesto came about – how
it emerged from the campaign, how it was drafted, the democratic
process of sending it round email groups, and questions that arose
regarding terminology and politics. The final version was designed by a
sympathetic supporter and printed by UCU. Dan Taubman of UCU has
been untiringly supportive throughout the campaign. So, what next?
Various suggestions were made as to how the manifesto could be
disseminated - it certainly needs to be publicised as widely as possible.
Copies will be sent to Westminster for Heidi Alexander to distribute to
other MPs.
The launch was rounded off by Tish Taylor (from Reflect ESOL) showing
the video of the event at the Old
Palace Yard, Westminster on 24
March 2011.
The manifesto is available as an
interactive on-line version which
can be accessed from the NATECLA
website or Action for ESOL website
http://actionforesol.org/action-for-
esol-manifesto Hard copies can be
obtained from UCU or from NATECLA
National Centre. Please contact
Chloe Hindmarsh (email:
[email protected] or tel:
07875 683254) to request copies
for yourself and colleagues – and
distribute it as widely as possible.
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 2 of 38What next for the Action for ESOL campaign? continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Mandy Brown of Lambeth College Rob Peutrell holds a copy of
the manifesto
For a copy of The ESOL Manifesto
email Chloe Hindmarsh:
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Action for ESOL is a partnership of NATECLA, UCU, the Refugee Council and many other organisations
Previous page Next page
photo: Richard Chambury
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National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
On Thursday 2 February 2012 the ESOL Department at
Greenwich Community College was visited by group of civil
servants from BIS, DWP, The Home Office, DCLG and the SFA.*
All of these departments deal with ESOL from different angles (pre-
employment training and English for Work, ESOL for job seekers, for
citizenship, for community cohesion etc) and they can often make
conflicting demands on providers
and students.
The visit came about as the result of a meeting between members of
NATECLA Management Council and Bill Hallahan from Pre-employment
Training at BIS in December.
The purpose of the visit for the civil servants, many of whom are new
in their posts, was to gain an understanding of ESOL in a diverse urban
college. Their impression will certainly inform future thinking about
funding and provision.
The purpose of the visit for us at the college was to debunk some of
the myths about ESOL prevailing in government: that provision is poor
quality, with poor outcomes and progression. So no pressure there!
We put together some information about our provision (including
progression and quality), nationalities and the languages spoken by our
students (over 70 first languages and nationalities were declared
Continues on following page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 4 of 38BIS visit to Greenwich Community College
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Thea Edwards, DCLG meets ESOL students at Greenwich
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
on enrolment forms this year). Our
visitors seemed quite surprised
at the diversity of our learners
and we spoke a bit about the
impact of educational background
on progress and the barriers our
learners face.
In the morning they visited several
ESOL classes. Some joined in and many commented on the degree
of enthusiasm and the standard of language the students were able
to produce. Needless to say our teachers put on a good show and
lessons were relevant and engaging and classrooms decorated and
welcoming. There was a brief working lunch hosted by Gary Chin,
our principal, at which we raised the plight of age-contested asylum
seekers, the problems we’ve encountered around setting up courses
with Job Centre Plus and a range of other issues. This was followed by
a learner meeting.
The meeting was really well attended and included some alumni (Egle
who now works at the college in the Finance department and Dorata
who now works for a fashion outlet), some of the stars of last year’s
Action for ESOL campaign (Juan and Idil, to name two), students who
have progressed through the ESOL levels and into level 3 courses and,
of course, current ESOL students of every age, nationality and level, all
really keen to demonstrate how much they value the classes and how
important these are to their lives.
Afterwards Gary said that he felt very proud of the very positive
impression and message our students presented to our visitors. And
Bill Hallahan, the civil servant at BIS with responsibility for ESOL wrote,
‘Please pass on our thanks to all the staff and students for giving up
so much of their time to see us. I know from speaking to everyone
that came along that they had found it really worthwhile and insightful.
It was really beneficial to see ESOL being taught, to speak to the
teachers and to hear directly from the students’.
We hope we have contributed to a fair and positive future for our
provision and our students.
Jennie Turner
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 5 of 38BIS visit to Greenwich Community College continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
It was really beneficial to see ESOL being taught, to speak to the teachers and to hear directly from the students’.
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
In this article about digital literacies, Nicky Hockly explains in
more detail what they are and why we should be integrating
them into our language teaching. This article was first published
in IATEFL Voices 226, May-June 2012.
It’s a wired world. In our increasingly connected society new skills are
needed. So-called ‘21st century skills’ are making an appearance
in curricula the world over as governments and educators recognise
the need to educate children (and in many cases adults) in how to
effectively navigate an increasingly digital world. In most UK schools
new media literacy skills now supplement the more traditional
3 Rs (reading, writing and ‘rithmetic). In Australia schools teach ‘digital
literacy skills’, and in the USA there is a growing awareness of the
importance of ‘new media literacies’. In Spain and Norway there is talk
of ‘digital competences’ being a necessary part of the curriculum. In
short, digital literacies are being recognised as fundamental skills for
today’s and tomorrow’s citizens.What are digital literacies?
An umbrella term for the media literacy skills and digital competences
which appear in national curricula, digital literacies refer to our ability
to effectively make use of the technologies at our disposal. We are
not just talking about a checklist of technical skills but also about
the social practices that surround the use of new media. So not just
knowing how to create a blog entry, but knowing how to use this to
connect with a wider community of readers and writers and what sort
of online persona one projects though one’s post. Not just knowing
how to upload photos to Flickr (a photo sharing site), but knowing
whether to publish them under a Creative Commons license and what
this implies in terms of digital rights and usage.
Why digital literacies in the language classroom?
What has this got to do with language teaching, you may be asking
yourself? Well, everything. Quite apart from the emphasis put
on lifelong learning and the acquisition of ICT skills in all areas of
education in the UK, we are teachers of the language of global
communication. And that communication is increasingly digitally
mediated. If our learners are to be fully functional citizens in the
twenty-first century, they need digital skills. We can promote these
skills in parallel with teaching English. Indeed, one could argue that it
is our duty to do so.
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 6 of 38Digital literacies - an overview
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
?
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Four main foci
Mark Pegrum (2009) proposes a useful way of conceptualising digital
literacies. He envisages four main areas: language, information,
connections and (re)design.
A focus on language: these are key digital literacies which focus on
communication via the language of text, image and multimedia, and
include:
• print literacy: the ability to read and produce online text, such
as blog entries, tweets, emails etc. This is clearly related to traditional
print literacy, but includes an awareness of online text genres.
• texting literacy: an awareness of the conventions of texting
language (abbreviations, acronyms, symbols etc), and of knowing in
what contexts to use or not use it.
• hypertext literacy: understanding how hyperlinks in online
text work, and being able to produce texts with effective use of
hyperlinking. Here we could include knowing how many hyperlinks to
include in a text and why, what to link to, understanding the effects of
over- (or under-) linking in a text, and so on.
• visual, media and multimedia literacy: the Internet is a
multimedia medium par excellence, and we need to understand how
images and multimedia (audio, video) can be used to supplement,
enhance, subvert or even replace text communication. We also need
to know how to produce multimodal messages ourselves, from sharing
our photos on Facebook to creating video clips for You Tube. In the
age of Web 2.0 we are no longer passive consumers who need to
learn how to sit back and critique mass media (although this is still
a key skill). We are now ‘prosumers’ (producers and consumers) of
multimedia artefacts.
• gaming literacy: a macroliteracy involving kinaesthetic and
spatial skills, and the ability to navigate online worlds (such as Second
Life) or use gaming consoles such as the Wii. Although this may seem
like a literacy unconnected to education, there is a growing interest in
serious games for education.
• mobile literacy: an understanding of how mobile technology is
transforming our world, from issues of hyperconnectivity (always being
connected to the Internet), to understanding how to use geolocation
and augmented reality.
• code and technological literacy: apart from basic technical
skills (such as knowing how to use a word processing program, or
how to send an attachment by email), a basic knowledge of html
coding can help us understand how online tools and products are put
together- and more importantly, enable us to make changes to these
to overcome limitations. As Rushkoff (2010) puts it ‘If we don’t learn to
program, we risk being programmed ourselves’. We are not talking here
about becoming fully fledged computer programmers, but rather about
developing an awareness of the basics. Very basic coding skills can
help one customise the elements in one’s blog for example, or route
around censorship (for good or bad).
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 7 of 38Digital literacies - an overview continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Focus on information
• search literacy: the ability to search for information effectively
online. This includes an awareness of search engines beyond Google!
• tagging literacy: knowing how to tag (or label) online content,
how to create tag clouds and to contribute to ‘folksonomies’ (user
created banks of tags).
• information literacy: the ability to evaluate online sources of
information for veracity, and credibility. In this age of information
overload, we also need to develop filtering and attention literacy so as
to know what to pay attention to and what not- and when.Focus on connections
• personal literacy: knowing how to create, project and curate
your online identity. This includes an awareness of issues such as
online safety or identity theft.
• network literacy: the ability to take part in online networks and
to leverage these to help you filter and find information. For teachers,
their PLN (Personal Learning Network) - online professional contacts
- can be useful as a means of tapping into ongoing professional
development.
• participatory literacy: closely aligned to network literacy,
participatory literacy involves contributing to and participating in online
networks. So not just reading professional development tweets on
Twitter, but contributing your own tweets. Not just reading blog posts,
but leaving comments - or even writing your own blog.
• cultural and intercultural literacy: understanding digital artefacts
from other cultures, and interacting effectively and constructively
with people from other cultures take on even more importance in our
global world, where intercultural contact via digital communication is
increasingly possible and increasingly likely.Focus on (re)design
• remix literacy: the ability to repurpose or change already-made
content in order to create something new. Literal videos on You Tube
are a good example of this - see the Harry Potter literal film trailer here
for just one example:
Not surprisingly, teachers may feel overwhelmed at the thought of
needing to be up to speed with such a wide range of digital literacies.
In many cases, teachers may feel uncomfortably illiterate themselves,
due to a lack of training or a low tech comfort level. And how then
can we help our students acquire these skills? That is what we are
addressing in this series for NATECLA news.
Editor’s note. We hope you have been finding the articles in this series useful. Please give your feedback at <to follow>
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 8 of 38Digital literacies - an overview continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Further reading• Dudeney, G., N. Hockly, and M. Pegrum (Forthcoming 2012): Digital Literacies.
Harlow: Pearson.
• Pegrum, M (2009): From Blogs to Bombs: The Future of Digital Technologies in Education. Perth: UWA Publishing.
• Rushkoff, D. (2010) Program Or be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. OR Books.
• See this list of resources about digital literacies: www.theconsultants-e.com/resources/ToolsResources/DigiLit.aspx
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
In this article, Nicky Hockly considers how we might explore
‘texting literacy’ in the classroom.
Put your hand up if you own a mobile phone. Say this to a group of
teachers, or a group of English language students almost anywhere in
the world, and the vast majority will put their hands up.
Mobile phone penetration in high resource contexts is near the 100%
mark, and in lower resource contexts, it’s catching up. For language
teachers, this means that your students are carrying around a device
that they use on a daily basis. And depending on the demographic of
your students, they may be sending far more text (or ‘sms’) messages
than they are making phone calls.
Sending a short but intelligible SMS message is, as we know, a skill.
Although there are still those who insist on sending text messages
in fully formed grammatical sentences with capitalisation and
punctuation, the trend is in fact towards using text speak, or ‘txtspk’.
Knowing how to formulate appropriate messages in text speak (texting
literacy) is clearly a 21st century digital skill. It’s one that many of your
students already master in their first language.
But what about text speak in English? For students living, working or
studying in the UK, they may well need to use text speak in order to
communicate by mobile phone.
They may also need text speak to participate in online conversations
in social networking sites, or even on public websites where the use
of text speak is encouraged or even fundamental to understanding
the genre (e.g. LOLcats - www.lolcats.com ). And even for students
not resident in the UK, it’s fun to learn about and compare text speak
conventions in English with their first language tech speak conventions.
Here is a lesson you can try out with your students to gauge their
awareness and use of English text speak:
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 9 of 38Digital literacies - texting literacy
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Warmer: Put the following emoticons on the board and ask students
what they represent:
:-) [smiley face] :-o [surprise]
:-/ [‘hmmm’ or non-committal] :-D [big grin]
What other emoticons do they know? See a complete list at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emoticons . Are emoticons the same
in their language as in English? Where and when do we use emoticons
(emails, online communication, text messages...).
1. Ask students about their mobile phones. What do they use them
for? How often? Do they send SMS (text) messages? What are the
advantages of using text speak in such messages (e.g., speed, cost,
informality, playfulness)? Can they give an example of a text message
in their mother tongue?
2. Put the following mobile phone text message on the board:
Thx 4 gr8 eve & dinner :-) Gd 2 c Steve&Jill 2. C u soon. xxx Sue
Tell students you recently received this message from a friend. What is
it about? Can they decipher the text message in pairs?
Give feedback, pointing out some of the features of text messages in
English, such as
• common abbreviations (Thx=thanks, gr8=great, gd=good)
• acronyms and numbers (c u=see you, 2=to)
• emoticons (e.g. :-) denotes a smiley face)
• symbols (xxx means kisses, &=and)
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 10 of 38Digital literacies - texting literacy continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
3. Put the following text messages on a handout, or on the board. Put
students in pairs to decipher and write out each message in standard
English:
• Wot u doing 2nite?
• Had gr8 time w John on hols
• Pls send me info re: ur Eng courses 4 nxt yr
• OK, 8pm good. C u there!
• i want 2 apply 4 job in ydays nwspaper
4. Conduct feedback and ask: What is the context for each message?
Which two messages are not appropriate as SMS?
5. Ask pairs to choose one of the appropriate text messages, and
compose a reply in text speak. They write their replies on the board.
6. The same pairs then try to decipher all the text speak reply
messages now on the board, and match them to the original message
from stage 3 above. Provide feedback.
7. As a round up, ask students to discuss some or all of the following
questions in small groups, or as a whole class:
• How many text messages do you send per day in your mother
tongue? Per week?
• Who do you text? When and why?
• Can you give an example of an emoticon which is the same in
your language as in English? Can you give an example which is
different?
• Can you give an example of a textspeak abbreviation which
works in the same way in your language as in English? Can you
give an example which is different?
• In what situations is text messaging considered OK in your
mother tongue? Do you think this is the same in English?
• In what situations is text messaging not considered OK in your
mother tongue? Do you think this is the same in English?
8. Homework: Ask students to send you a text message in English
telling you what they thought of the class!
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 11 of 38Digital literacies - texting literacy continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
The author:Nicky Hockly is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E, an online training and development consultancy. She has written several books on ELT and technology and is currently working on a book about digital literacies.
Further info at www.theconsultants-e.com
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
‘Scratching beneath the surface: exploring issues of
integration and learning’
Fusion Centre, South Birmingham College, November 2011
The autumn day conference this year was held in the West Midlands
and what had been planned as a local event became a national
one. Despite in the end being arranged at rather short notice, it was
attended by 35 delegates, whose feedback was very positive. They
came from all round the UK, including Scotland, some with an interest
in starting branches or in other ways working with NATECLA. This
included investigating ways of promoting professional development in
local areas.
The day ran from 10.00 until 15.00 with lunch provided. The venue
was a new one for NATECLA, although still part of South Birmingham
College which hosts our national headquarters. In general the facilities
were excellent and in particular its central location is a huge asset.
Four workshops were offered with the opportunity for each delegate to
attend three of them. Karen Dudley repeated the workshop which she
ran at the national conference on the ‘Welcome to the UK’ project. This
covered a number of areas including volunteer training, the operation
of the European Integration Fund as well as programme design and
delivery. Amongst the many positive comments was an appreciation of
the way the project handed power to the learners.
John Sutter’s workshop, called ‘Deep versus Surface Learning in
Language and Literacy’ took us through a number of fascinating
tasks on how language operates at deeper, conceptual levels, the
commonalities between languages and some particularities of how
English speakers use the language and make unconscious choices
in systems and lexis. ‘Stimulating’ was a word much used in the
evaluation and the tasks around metaphor in everyday language use
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 12 of 38NATECLA Day Conference
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Judith Kirsh addresses the Day Conference
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
were picked out for particular appreciation.
Mary Osmaston provided some wonderful ideas for tools we can use
to help more advanced learners to develop in order to assess and
improve their own writing especially when working towards literacy
exams; the approach could clearly be slanted to all kinds of writing at
a number of different levels and was impressive in its systematised
approach to making learners genuinely independent through relatively
easily applied ‘noticing’ techniques. Comments in the evaluation
referred with approval to the stimulating hands-on techniques in the
workshop and the focus on raising the awareness of learners.
Judith Kirsh’s session looked at issues involved in choosing ESOL
materials, stimulating participants’ thinking and also providing an
exhaustive list of really helpful websites. She also managed time to
bring participants up to date on the British Council Nexus project.
Amongst other specific comments the help in personalising materials
was much appreciated.
This element of giving independence to learners and learner groups in
all sorts of ways but particularly by
raising awareness, whether of language, of learning tools or ways of
dealing with political and social systems, was for me a significant
theme in the approaches taken by all four workshop leaders.
For all the delegates the great variety of the workshops was hugely
stimulating. In this as other NATECLA conferences delegates were
working in a number of different contexts in the community and
colleges and with the full range of levels. The workshops offered
practical help and tips for all levels in organisation, materials and
teaching approaches and in addition
a chance to luxuriate in the fascination of language and languages. No
mean feat in a matter of 4 or 5 hours or so.
Jane Arstall and Chloe Hindmarsh as ever worked tirelessly to ensure
that things ran smoothly and Chloe had even dragooned her father into
attending with a camera to record the event and the people at it. The
Ruth Hayman Trust was also represented, raising awareness and funds
to support ESOL students.
We are extremely grateful to South Birmingham College for allowing us
to use their great new centre and for the support and help they
provided on the day.
Brigid Bird, NATECLA Midlands Chair
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 13 of 38NATECLA Day Conference continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
NATECLA National Conference
6-8 July 2012
Liverpool Hope University,
Hope Park, Liverpool L16 9JD
We have chosen ‘The Mystery and Magic of Language’ as the theme
for NATECLA’s thirty-fourth National Conference to highlight the
fascinating process of acquiring, learning and using language. Learning
to distinguish patterns and make associations – the magic moment
when we realise that everything has a name – is all part of the
journey to communication and the mysterious bond that ties humanity
together. Come to the Liverpool conference and explore these themes
and much more besides.
This year promises to be one of the most stimulating and ‘magical’
conferences yet. The programme offers a varied and exciting choice of
workshops at every session during the weekend, covering all aspects
of practice and research, delivered by presenters with a wealth of
experience to share. There will be an opportunity to network with
colleagues, discuss the ‘Action for ESOL’ campaign and manifesto,
browse and buy at the resources exhibition and relax in pleasant
surroundings with delicious food and excellent company.
We are delighted that Marina Lewycka has accepted our invitation to
give the keynote address on Friday evening. Marina is a successful
author and her books include: ‘A Short History of tractors in Ukrainian’
(which has sold over a million copies in the UK), ‘Two Caravans’
and ‘We are All Made of Glue’. Being a writer links in well with the
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 14 of 38The Mystery and Magic of LanguageNational Conference 2012
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Phot
o co
urte
sy o
f Ben
Mac
mill
an
Marina Lewycka, writer and Friday’s keynote speaker
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
conference theme - Marina says she started writing because it was
‘the sounds and rhythms that captivated me - it was like creating my
own magic spells.’
On Saturday and Sunday there will be a diverse range of workshops on
offer, delivered by both new and familiar faces to NATECLA on themes
ranging from taking the fear out of phonology to international ESOL,
from practical teaching tips to web-based homework.
On Saturday afternoon, Bill Hallahan, Skills Directorate, Department of
Business, Innovation and Skills will give a presentation about his work
in relation to ESOL, which will be followed by a question and answer
session. This is a wonderful opportunity to find out about government
policy and explore key issues.
New for this year, there will be a pre-dinner reception and an award
sponsored by the British Council – details to be announced at the
conference. The British Council’s ESOL Nexus Project will provide an
update and introduce their online portal, designed to provide easy
access to resources for learners, teachers, providers and policy
makers.
Following the workshops on Saturday, there will be a film showing in
the lecture theatre with state-of-the-art audiovisual facilities. There will
also be alternative entertainment organised by the North-West branch
of NATECLA - to be announced at the conference.
On Sunday, following the final workshop session, the conference will be
rounded off with a closing panel session.
Whether you are coming for the whole event or just for the day, you will
be most welcome. And of course attendance at NATECLA conferences
can count towards your continuing professional development
requirement.
Hope Park is an attractive 30 acre landscaped campus, four miles
from Liverpool city centre, one mile from the end of the M62, with
links to the M6 and the M57. It is easily accessible by road and public
transport and there is ample car parking on site. There are good
facilities – excellent en-suite accommodation with Internet access,
well-equipped seminar rooms, shops and cafes.
‘The Mystery and Magic of Language’ is the ESOL event of the year.
Whether you are coming on your own or with a group of colleagues,
for the whole event or just for the day, the conference offers you the
chance to discuss the latest developments, air your views and take
part in networking opportunities. You can be sure of a welcoming and
friendly atmosphere – take advantage of the Early Booking rate and
book your place now.
To book online please go to http://natecla2012liverpool-eorg.
eventbrite.co.uk/?ebtv=C
For booking, bursaries and more information please go to
www.natecla.org.uk.
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 15 of 38The Mystery and Magic of Language continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
In these target-driven times, it’s very easy to find ourselves gearing
every session towards tasks that will help learners achieve exam
success, particularly when it comes to writing. Consequently, we teach
how to write letters, reports, articles, etc, on topics that are likely to
arise in the exam. It can become formulaic and depersonalised.
But sometimes it’s exciting to deviate from that path, to wander off
down a different track to an unknown destination – and that’s where
a journey into creative writing can come into its own. I find that some
of the most interesting, inspiring and linguistically-competent writing
emerges on these journeys.
There are countless tasks that can be undertaken in the classroom to
encourage learners to write creatively and on the following page are
the outlines for two that I find effective. The first results in a poem, the
second in autobiographical or fictional prose.
Poetry writing can be a daunting task in your first language, never mind
in your target language, and when I presented this task to a group
of ESOL teachers in a recent workshop, the horror was apparent.
However, by guiding learners through some gentle steps, they can
create a poem of their own. The true beauty of poetry is that language
doesn’t have to be used correctly. Look, for example, at Lewis Carroll’s
Jabberwocky. There is freedom in poetry.
Another activity that I use to good effect is based on the chapter entitled
‘Alien’ from the novel the novel A Chinese - English Dictionary for Lovers
by Xiaolu Guo and encourages learners to produce either a (semi-)
autobiographical or fictional piece of writing. The novel is written in
‘beginners’ English and can persuade learners to overcome fears of
having to get their writing perfect. After all, writing has to be written
before it can be worked on. The process has produced some very
moving pieces and the procedure is outlined in the second box.
These are just two of the activities that I have used to encourage
creative writing in the ESOL classroom. There are infinite possibilities,
as a browse through any creative writing handbook will demonstrate.
Away from the restrictions of exam task-based writing with the focus
on getting it right, learners have freedom and permission to use the
language in their own way. The balance of power shifts in their favour.
Finally, what better way to showcase this writing than in a ‘magazine’?
The ESOL department at my college publishes annually a collection
Words and Memories, in which ESOL learners’ writing is presented,
giving them a feeling of satisfaction and pride.
Continues on next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 16 of 38The importance of being creative
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Whilst I won’t deny that we need to prepare our learners for exams,
I feel it is important not to overlook the rewards of introducing more
creative-based writing into the classroom.
Marina McGovern
Writing a poem
1. Choose a short, rhythmical, rhyming poem. Most recently I used
After the Lunch by Wendy Cope, which has an AA, BB, CC, etc,
rhyming pattern.
2. Present the poem as a running dictation, with the rhyming word at
the end of every other line gapped, ie at the ends of lines 2, 4, 6, etc.
3. Learners complete the running dictation and then work together to
complete the gaps. They can also decide on a title.
4. Learners listen to recording of the poem from Youtube and compare
their version to the original.
5. Provide a copy of the poem with alternate lines deleted, leaving a
space where the line was.
6. Learners write their own lines in the spaces.
7. Learners re-write their lines of the poem on a new sheet of paper.
They now have their very own poem, which they can title, modify and
share if they wish.
Writing prose
1. Show a photo of the author of a novel and ask learners to speculate
about him/her and his/her life.
2. Read a short biography of the author as learners make notes.
3. Learners recreate the biography together (either orally or in writing).
4. Read a chapter from the novel. I use Alien which is about arriving in
the UK.
5. Discuss the character’s arrival and compare it to their own
experience. Obviously, sensitivity is required here and it will be up to
teachers to decide how to handle this based on the circumstances of
their learners.
6. Write about their arrival in the UK or write a fictional piece of an
imagined character’s arrival.
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 17 of 38The importance of being creative continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Xiaolu, G. (2007) A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers: Chatto and Windus
Cope, W. After the lunch: available in various anthologies and on YouTube
Lewis Carroll. Jabberwocky from Alice through the Looking Glass
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
We have a long history in ESOL of subject specialist teacher training,
with qualifications such as CELTA and the Trinity Cert TESOL stretching
back a long way. However, these have never been recognised as being
sufficient for teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Since the subject
specific ESOL, Literacy and Numeracy teaching qualifications were
introduced as part of the Skills for Life strategy, many ESOL teachers
have become ‘fully qualified’ by taking an integrated ESOL teaching
qualification or a separate ESOL Additional Diploma, previously known
as the ESOL Level 4 certificate. The focus for these courses has
always been on developing both ESOL subject knowledge and specialist
language teaching skills, so that our students have the best possible
language learning experience.
Initially, many courses were developed and demand was high, as
many experienced teachers, as well as new teachers, needed the new
qualifications. Over the past couple of years demand has decreased,
as more teachers are now qualified and some ESOL teaching posts
have disappeared. But are these the only reasons for the decline in
numbers on ESOL training courses? Probably the shift in national focus
away from Skills for Life has meant that colleges and other providers
are more able to ignore the regulations on teacher qualifications, and
as more courses close, it is harder for prospective teachers to find
a local one. The NATECLA teacher training working group has been
working to raise awareness within the government of the continuing
need for high quality training, and for strategic planning to ensure that
courses remain available.
What do we want from employers?
We need to persuade employers to demand subject specialist teaching
qualifications and support their staff in obtaining them: ESOL teachers
are not ‘fully qualified’ without a subject specialist qualification,
whether this is the old ‘Level 4’, an ESOL DTLLS or an Additional
Diploma, and cannot apply for QTLS without this.
Continues on next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 18 of 38Where next with ESOL teacher training?
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
ESOL Additional DiplomaIntegrated ESOL
specialist DTLLS
DTLLS/ Cert Ed/ PGCE
CELTA/ Cert TESOL
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
What would help?
We would like Ofsted to ask providers about staff qualifications,
including subject specialist qualifications for ESOL, Literacy, Numeracy
and Functional Skills teachers, to show that they consider these to be
important. In last year’s annual report, Ofsted said that:
‘Overall, the provision of literacy, numeracy and language support relies
too much on teachers and assessors who lack the specialist expertise
to make a significant improvement in learners’ understanding and skills
development.’ (Ofsted Annual Report 10-11 p.98)
Although the regulations don’t require that teachers of Functional Skills
have these qualifications, this finding from Ofsted suggests that more
of them should have one, as they are often the teachers providing
language support to students in a variety of curriculum areas.
What do we want from the government?
• There should be strategic regional planning to ensure that
subject specialist ESOL, Literacy and Numeracy courses are more
widely available. At present, many prospective teachers don’t have
access to one.
• Trainees who want to teach ESOL, Literacy or Numeracy in the
Lifelong Learning Sector need better advice about what is required and
should not be accepted onto generic teaching courses where there is a
subject specialist one available.
• The quality of all subject specialist training should be inspected
by Ofsted: Additional Diplomas should be included by Ofsted in Teacher
Education inspections, as most teachers take this route rather than the
integrated courses. This would help to improve the status and quality of
the training.
We have sent our requests to BIS, the government department
responsible for the Learning and Skills Sector, and also to Ofsted, and
hope that we can keep up the pressure until some steps are taken. At
the very least, it would be logical for Ofsted to take an interest in this
issue, as their role is to raise standards in education and they have
identified a need for this in ESOL.
Mary Osmaston for the NATECLA Teacher Training Working Group
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 19 of 38Where next with ESOL teacher training continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
I am a part-time ESOL tutor with a DTLLS qualification. I combined studying for my DTLLS qualification with looking after my children, who were both under 5 at the time, and working evenings and weekends. This shows my commitment to becoming fully qualified and gaining the necessary training to give my students the best possible experience and opportunities. I am frustrated to find that having shown such commitment and having made such sacrifices I am now unable to find a subject-specialist course which would enable me to become fully qualified. The nearest course available to me would require me taking a day off work, arranging and paying for childcare and travelling for up to 3 hours!
Sam Clark SCOLA
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
NATECLA is holding its first Greater London ESOL Networking event for
all ESOL practitioners in London and south-east.
This is a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded professionals, find
out about the latest news and developments in the sector and discuss
future London meetings.
The event is being sponsored by the British Council and will take place
at their superb premises near Trafalgar Square.
The morning session (10.00 – 12.30) will be followed by lunch and the
launch of the new NATECLA website.
Places are limited so book now at
www.eventbrite.co.uk/org/2016274813
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 20 of 38NATECLA GLEN event London: Friday 4 May FREE
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Busaries for National conferenceIf your employer cannot fund your place at conference and you
are an individual member of NATECLA you are eligible to apply for
a bursary. To find out more look at the booking information on
our website www.natecla.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=468 or
contact [email protected]
Deadline for applications is 4 May.
For more information about NATCLA National Conference
The Mystery and Magic of Language please return to
pages 14 and 15.
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
ESOL is being undermined by policy as never before. Current
confusion and proposed cuts to ESOL funding put students’
learning and teachers’ livelihoods in serious peril. Here I take
one example of how policy and its enactment can impact on
practice, as I examine the conflicting advice emanating from the
Skills Funding Agency.
You might suppose that the course on which a student is enrolled is
a matter for their institution, depending on an assessment of their
needs. And this is indeed one view from the SFA, who maintain that
‘Providers should do what is right for the learner, and there is no steer
from the Agency on this’ (SFA, online).
Yet this contradicts a directive from the same agency, FACT SHEET 2 –
Ensuring learners with literacy and language learning needs are placed
on the most appropriate provision - Updated May 2010.
This document suggests that SFA auditors, rather than tutors and
institutions, decide what counts and what doesn’t as appropriate
provision for multilingual learners of English.
This deserves critique not least because it directly involves SFA
interference at classroom level.
The Fact Sheet articulates a policy which aims to rigidly delimit areas
of provision that in reality – because of the nature of the student body
– have indistinct boundaries. Its true purpose, though, is to provide
justification for discriminating against multilingual students.
This intent runs like a thread through the document.
Paragraph 6 of the Fact Sheet reads:
The Skills Funding Agency does not expect the number of Skills for Life
ESOL enrolments within individual providers to decrease due to this
policy change [i.e. the requirement that certain categories of student
are no longer entitled to a free ESOL class]; neither do we expect to
see any notable increase in Skills for Life literacy enrolments.
Continues on next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 21 of 38The undermining of ESOL
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
In addition to this we do not expect
to see ESOL learners being enrolled
on to literacy provision but being
taught ESOL.
Skills for Life Literacy classes are
free to all adult learners who are
felt to need them, but since 2006
‘demand-led’ education has not
applied to ESOL: certain categories
of student are not entitled to a free ESOL class.
To offer free Literacy classes but to make ESOL students pay blatantly
discriminates against ESOL students. But the idea that ‘we do not
expect to see ESOL learners being enrolled on to literacy provision but
being taught ESOL’ has nothing to do with learning, and has the sole
function of shoring up an unsound policy.
Firstly, students are not ESOL students/learners unless they are on an
ESOL course.
Secondly, and more importantly, teachers in all classes, including
Literacy classes, should attend to their students’ language needs,
including their oral language needs, as a matter of course.
Migrants who are learners of English have very specific learning needs,
not shared by local-born students. These needs might be met in an
ESOL class, but for some students other areas of provision will be
appropriate.
The SFA conflates the distinctiveness of English language learning with
a crude over-emphasis on the difference between ‘ESOL’ and ‘Literacy’.
By doing so, it uses this difference as a tool for segregation, to exclude
some students from learning opportunities by maintaining that they
don’t ‘belong’ in the funded areas of provision.
The means of discrimination encroach even on classroom method and
technique. Paragraph 11 of the Fact Sheet reads:
The Skills Funding Agency’s in-house or appointed auditors will look
at a variety of evidence and documentation to gain assurance that
literacy is being taught in literacy classes and ESOL in ESOL classes
and that learners are following the correct provision according to their
needs. This includes:
• teaching plans
• initial assessment and/or the training needs analysis
• individual learning plans and their relevance to the syllabus for
ESOL or literacy
• shifts in provision and monitor any changes in trends….
In other words, auditors analyse lesson plans, ILPs etc. to ensure that
the ‘correct’ kind of learning is happening in classes. We might as well
install CCTV cameras in classrooms and be done with it.
Continues on next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 22 of 38The undermining of ESOL continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Since 2006 ‘demand-led’ education has not applied to ESOL: certain categories of student are not entitled to a free ESOL class.
The SFA conflates the distinctiveness of English language learning with a crude over-emphasis on the difference between ‘ESOL’ and ‘Literacy’.
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
This mad level of policing is a disgrace and should be challenged
by asking auditors who exactly an ‘ESOL learner’ (as opposed to a
‘Literacy learner’) actually is. If the SFA definition is ‘someone with
English language needs’, then it could be pointed out that (a) in many
areas that definition applies to the majority of people; and (b) that
students in all sectors of education – not just ‘ESOL’ – have a range
of learning needs, including English language ones, that have to be
addressed.
Why does this matter? Because a document such as the SFA Fact
Sheet can, as one of a wave of policy moves, have a profound effect
on learners’ lives, to the extent that they are denied fundamental
education. Documents which give voice to flawed policies need to be
held up as a mirror to policy-makers, and to those who enact them.
It is crucial to continue to defend the sector against attempts to
use ESOL as a dustbin of policy into which inconvenient multilingual
learners can be dumped. But if the government continues to
undermine ESOL to the extent that only people with the ability to
pay are entitled to enrol on an ESOL course, the SFA should not be
surprised to see pedagogically-justified mass enrolments of multilingual
students onto Functional Skills, Literacy and GCSE English courses.
James Simpson. University of Leeds
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 23 of 38The undermining of ESOL continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
ReferencesSkills Funding Agency (2010) FACT SHEET 2 – Ensuring learners with literacy and language learning needs are placed on the most appropriate provision - Updated May 2010. http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/SFA/SfL-Factsheet_2-Literacy_and_Language_.pdf
Skills Funding Agency (online) Skills Investment Strategy Briefings - Provider Questions and Answers.
http://skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/providers/SISBriefings/sisbriefings.htm
Note: An earlier version of this article appeared in Post-16 Educator (issue 66, Jan-Mar 2012).
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Two centuries after slavery was outlawed in the UK, there are still
people working under forced conditions, often forcibly constrained
from moving. Many of these cases involve foreign individuals who have
either been trafficked into the UK or who have arrived independently
but have ended up in the grips of exploitative employers. Migrants
are especially vulnerable to labour exploitation due to a variety of
factors, including lack of immigration status or visa with restrictions;
debts accumulated in the process of migrating; lack of knowledge of
British employment laws, rights and support structures; and in some
cases the threat of criminal gangs. Importantly, without sufficient
knowledge of English, migrants depend on others to provide them with
information, and can fall prey
to individuals that deliberately
mislead and misinform them.
The UK has introduced a forced
labour offence which has
facilitated the prosecution of
those involved in exploitation,
and has set up a National
Referral Mechanism that aims
to protect victims of human
trafficking.
While these measures offer
significant protection for the
worst types of abuses, many
migrants in the UK face work
exploitation, but not to a degree
where a clear case on forced labour can be brought or where the
protections for trafficked people apply. Common issues are payment
below the minimum wage, retention of documents (which is a criminal
offence in its own right), withholding of salaries, work without a written
contract, and being pressured into working long hours.
Continues on the next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 24 of 38Migrants and labour exploitation in the UK
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
Short-term workers will be needed to cope with visitors
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
English Language and exploitation
In many cases migrants may feel pressure to put up with exploitative
working conditions because they may have an uncertain immigration
status, they may not be aware of regulations in the UK or simply
because they fear they will not manage to find further employment.
Another key issue flagged up by migrant-support organisations is
that poor English language skills may prevent migrants from finding
out about employment rights and taking action to address their own
situation.
In this sense, English language tuition can play a major role in helping
migrants become aware of their rights and giving them the confidence
to address some of their issues.
The Olympics
The 2012 Olympics will attract people from across the globe into
London this summer. There has been a high level of oversight of
employment conditions for those working directly in the construction of
venues or for the games. There has also been a considerable degree
of attention paid to particular forms of exploitation, and preventative
measures put in place, especially with regard to sex trafficking.
However, there will be lots of employment opportunities in the capital,
including an increased demand for labour in leisure and hospitality
services such as hotels, restaurants and bars. To meet this demand,
short-term, temporary workers will be required, but there is a risk
that unscrupulous employers and rogue agents may look to employ
people under conditions of exploitation. The influx of people expected
this summer may also be seen as an opportunity for criminal gangs
that specialise in trafficking children and women for begging and pick
pocketing. In other cases, people-smuggling rings could allure people
into paying fees to be smuggled into the UK by giving the impression
of an abundance of work opportunities. Migrants may then be forced
to find employment in areas of work that are already notorious for
exploitation.
Due to the nature of exploitation, there is limited data or information
on the scale of these issues or whether it is increasing due to the
Olympics. However, it is important for those working with and in close
contact with migrants to be aware of what constitutes exploitation,
the signs that someone may be in that situation and the reporting and
support mechanisms for victims.
To find out how you can get involved visit
www.antislavery.org
www.migrantsrights.org.uk
Juan Camilo, Migrants Rights Network and Klara Srivankova, Anti-Slavery International.
Full article on NATECLA website includes list of indicators
of exploitation. www.natecla.org.uk
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 25 of 38Migrants and labour exploitation in the UK continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
‘Fresh Challenges: new ideas, ESOL, learning and change’
Huddersfield, March 2012
This was my first conference as a member of the Y & H NATECLA
committee and my third year as a member of NATECLA. Since joining
NATECLA there have been some obvious, and some less obvious,
benefits to my career. Attending conferences is as much about the
networking opportunities as it is about attending workshops, and it
was attending my first regional event that set off a chain of events that
led to gaining an NRDC grant, which allowed me to buy several mobile
devices that were used by ESOL teachers and trainers on the DTE(E)
LLS course at Kirklees College, that led me to write the case study
for LSIS, a second case study for ESCalate and presenting at my first
international conference in Morocco.
It is this networking with fellow ESOL practitioners, who are all so
committed to supporting their learners, that has been so beneficial for
me, whether it has been about being informed of the Action for ESOL
campaign and being confident enough to promote this campaign to my
CELTA trainees, or more directly about my classroom practice.
At my first committee meeting last September everyone was very
clear that the focus of our next event should be practical, with ideas
that ESOL teachers can take away and adapt for their own classroom
practice. With this key focus in mind, a venue, a date and workshop
leaders followed and the practicalities of organising such an event were
in full flow. Committee members, as volunteers, worked extremely hard
to organise this and it is a real credit to their commitment and team
work that evaluations from the 63 delegates were so overwhelmingly
positive.
There were lots of suggestions and ideas shared during the day, and
here are some of the links that were shared via #cpdnatecla on Twitter
or by workshop leaders:
Continiues on the next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 26 of 38Fresh challenges
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
A day to share ideas and experiences
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Resources shared by @amandalanguages for the
BC Nexus project
Typewith.me– a collaborative document. Below are two
documents that have been created for ESOL teachers to share
CPD ideas and ESOL resources.
CPDideas – a collaborative document where ESOL teachers are
asked to share ideas on their CPD activities.
ESOLresources - a collaborative document where ESOL teachers
are asked to share resource ideas
Resources shared by @harrisonmike and @pysproblem81 in their
session on differentiation for mixed levels
http://vocaroo.com - voice recorder
Bit.ly/cpdnatecla This links to a PDF file where there are resources
and links shared during the Differentiation workshop.
Telescopictext – a writing tool to make expandable stories
www.telescopictext.org
Resources sharing in the Functional Skills workshop led by
Caroleen La Pierre
teachit – a library of English teaching resources www.teachit.co.uk
A lesson about Drugs – a blog update by @samshep who
attended this workshop http://samuelshep.wordpress.com
Additional links shared outside of the workshops
Ruth Hayman Trust
Moodle Forums for ESOL students http://classroom201x.
wordpress.com/2010/01/04/moodle-forums-for-esol-students/
As the new Chair of the Y & H branch I am really excited about working
with such a dedicated group of ESOL practitioners and how we as
NATECLA members can support each other as ‘teachers-as-learners’.
As well as face-to-face conferences I am interested in exploring how
NATECLA members can be supported in engaging with the ever growing
ESOL twitterati and blogosphere, which provides a huge wealth of ideas
and activities from not just the UK context but around the EFL world.
I can be found @cathywint or email me at [email protected]
Cathy Clarkson
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 27 of 38Fresh challenges continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Being part of a local branch isn’t the only reason to join
NATECLA but it can be a real opportunity to meet other
practitioners and get more involved.
All branches have their ‘ups and downs’ but when a group is going
well it can make a real difference. In Yorkshire and Humberside we are
very lucky to have an active committee and to have been able to hold
a good mixture of events. Our next event is going to be at a football
stadium and our last was at the National Media Museum in Bradford
(which provided the venue free of charge)!
Our committee is usually made up of between 10-12 members and
this really helps when it comes to planning events. Since I have been
involved the committee has changed slightly each year but has always
had a core of people who are prepared to put in the time and effort
to make the branch work. The mix of people is great – some have
years of experience and others are relatively new to ESOL but everyone
has really valuable contributions to make. Our meetings are usually in
Leeds and we have people coming from as far afield as Rotherham,
Sheffield and Hull.
We recently had our first fully ‘virtual’ meeting to help plan our latest
event and this was really successful – I’d recommend it to others who
find it hard to make the time for regular face to face meetings. We
used http://sync.in/ a really easy online word-processing document
which allows up to 8 people to contribute at the same time. It was a
very effective way of covering a lot of ground without having to travel
Continues on the next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 28 of 38A thriving NATECLA branch
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
A branch event at Calderdale College
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
to meet up face to face.
When we do have face to
face meetings we usually
find that that we have
plenty to discuss and enjoy
catching up with colleagues.
We now meet in a local cafe
as it was cheaper than the
room we used to hire, so we can discuss issues over a latte in a fairly
convivial atmosphere.
Cathy, one of our newer committee members, says, ‘As a new member
to the committee I have really enjoyed being involved in organising the
regional conference and I’m really excited about providing and taking
part in, what I’m hoping will be fabulous, CPD opportunities for ESOL
teachers across the region’.
I certainly wouldn’t want to mislead people into thinking that organising
events doesn’t take a fair amount of time and effort but it is also
hugely satisfying. Many ESOL practitioners say that they have relatively
few good CPD and networking opportunities and many also work in
small teams with little support. What is great about the events we have
held is the enormous variety of people who attend and all the different
experiences they bring. We only organise one or two events each
year but these do make a real difference to people. Here are a few
comments from our ‘Museums and Learning’ event in Bradford in June,
which was attended by about 30 people
‘You have converted me to museum visits!’, ‘A nice integration of
theory and practice.’, ‘An interesting and inspiring session’.
It was interesting to see the museum and the staff were very helpful
and led a session on the ESOL workshops they offer. I’ve taken my
students to do one of the workshops since and they are still talking
about it two months later.
It can be difficult to find venues for events but is always worth asking
around. Most of our events have been in colleges in our area and they
are often happy of the publicity. Public buildings can also be good as
they often have a remit to engage different groups in the community. It
can also be nice to get out of a work environment sometimes.
If there are just a few of you then the best thing to do is probably
to start small and simple and see how it goes. If you need support
then you can contact the National co-ordinators and they will try and
put you in touch with another branch to share ideas. Please don’t be
scared to get involved – it really is worth it!
Diana Tremayne
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 29 of 38A thriving NATECLA branch continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
The mix of people is great – some have years of experience and others are relatively new to ESOL but everyone has really valuable contributions to make.
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Diana Tremayne -
proposed new Co-Chair
Management Council is
very pleased that Diana
has agreed for her name
to be put forward for
Co-Chair alongside Judith
Kirsh. She has been
involved with NATECLA for
a number of years and
has just stepped down
as Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber branch (see article
‘A thriving branch on page 28). Diana is an ESOL lecturer
and Advanced Learning Practitioner at Calderdale College
in Halifax. She has been teaching ESOL for about 10 years
and finds it ‘fulfilling and also frequently challenging with the
constant changes to funding etc.’. Prior to her ESOL career
she was a MFL teacher while also running a community café-
‘we were into using fair-trade/organic ingredients before they
became trendy and were extremely child friendly’. Her current
work is mainly with 16-18 year old learners and, in addition,
she teaches ICT Functional Skills. She is also a local town
councillor.
New look for NATECLA website
Not only is this newsletter appearing in a new electronic
format, we are also pleased to announce that we are
undertaking a redesign of our website, which should be
completed by the end of March.
The new site will allow you to share and interact with
NATECLA in new ways. In addition it will be easier for our
administrators to keep up to date membership records,
provide user profiles, better access to publications and
to process payments through paypal. If you have any
recommendations to make about how you use the website,
please get in touch by emailing Chloe at
Electronic version of NATECLA News
We hope that you are enjoying reading NATECLA News in
its new, electronic, format. Some of the benefits include
more articles, active hyperlinks and a print only version.
And you can do your bit for NATECLA by passing this edition
on to colleagues. The more members we get, the stronger
we become. The plan is to produce our autumn and spring
editions this way and to have a hard copy for the summer.
When the new website is ready the newsletter will be
password-protected for members only. Please let us have
your views at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V3THHYB
NATECLA Vision and Values
We are currently drafting a statement of the vision and values
of NATECLA and we would like as many members as possible
to contribute.
Initial suggestions are:
• Independence and professionalism in
language education
• Support for ESOL practitioners and learners
• Support for community languages
• Provision of relevant, high-quality training
opportunities through national, regional and
local events
• Respect for diversity, multilingualism and
multiculturalism
• Provision of expert advice to government bodies
and other agencies
• Campaigns on behalf of practitioners and learners
to promote ESOL and community languages
throughout the UK
Please feedback your comments and suggestions to Chloe:
[email protected] by the end of June as we intend to
present the final version at the conference in July.
Continues on next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 30 of 38Management Council
Previous page Next page
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
NATECLA meets BIS
In December 2011 four representatives from MC had a
meeting with Bill Hallahan at the Department for Business,
Innovations and Skills (BIS). Bill is a part of the FE and Skills
Directorate and heads up policy for ESOL and LLDD.
All the reps reported that Bill was both knowledgeable about
and sympathetic towards ESOL and is keen to foster good
communications between all the stakeholders in ESOL. He
was eager to find out as much as possible so Jennie Turner
(ESOL manager at Greenwich Community College) invited
him to visit ESOL provision at the college (see page 4). He
also agreed to be interviewed for the summer edition of this
newsletter and he will be attending our conference in July.
Bill listened to our concerns and agreed that he would
facilitate contact between NATECLA, Ofqual and the Skills
Funding Agency as well as those responsible for teacher
training.
Ruth Hayman Trust
A new event appeared in the City & Islington College
enrichment calendar for 2011-12: Ruth Hayman Trust week.
This was marked enthusiastically by ESOL students, with
successful fundraising events at two college sites raising a
total of over £450.
Judith Nicholson, ESOL teacher at the Camden Road site,
reports: I had just started teaching a new E2 ESOL course
leading to an NCFE work skills qualification. One lunch-time
we spread our stalls over the college reception area to sell
books, toys, clothes and – the undoubted star of the show
– food prepared by the students. The spring rolls made by a
Vietnamese student are now legendary.
Continues on next page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 31 of 38Management Council
Previous page Next page
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
The event involved many “employability” skills – planning,
organisation, teamwork, customer service, dealing with
money and so on. With this experience, the students were
easily able to complete the unit on “Communication in the
workplace” for their NCFE portfolio. They also appreciated
their certificates from RHT.
But most of all, the students loved running the sale. They
seemed so happy to give something back, leaving aside
their own problems. The words of one student expressed the
mood on the day: “Can we do this every week?”
Maybe not, but I hope at least every year!
Meanwhile, at the Finsbury Park site, teacher Shweta Otiv
reports:
Building on the enthusiasm and success of last year’s
student fundraising event, I invited Frances Weinreich from
the Trust to meet my groups and run a reading and speaking
activity on the Trust’s work and ways to raise funds for it.
Having already done a lesson on charities, this really brought
the topic alive for them and they related very well to the
beneficiaries of this particular trust for obvious reasons!
Being involved in the discussion to choose an event and
divide responsibilities to make it happen involves all the
language skills they will need to demonstrate later on in
their OCR Functional Skills English Speaking, Listening and
Communication exam, which CIC is offering to advanced
ESOL learners for the first time this year. These are skills
which will also increase their employability.
The event at Finsbury Park was a Bring and Buy sale,
involving four classes. Once galvanised, students in my class
got to work on writing their personal stories and even typed
them up themselves (or with help at home) and together
produced a booklet, which they sold on the day of the event.
It was amazing to see even the shyest of students approach
both students and tutors they didn’t know in the atrium to
sell around 120 copies of their booklet at 50p each.
All the students who took part were presented with a
certificate from the RHT, which are also valid to include in
Citizenship applications.
Students’ comments included:
‘I enjoyed the fact that I knew I was raising money for a good
cause.’
‘I was very happy that I sold some items. This can help
people. I would like to repeat this experience to raise money.’
‘I learned how to work with other people.’
On behalf of the Ruth Hayman Trust, I’d like to thank
students and teachers at City and Islington College for their
magnificent fundraising efforts. We hope their example will
inspire others – do have a look at the teaching materials on
our website (the speaking and reading activities that Shweta
refers to) www.ruthhaymantrust.com/material.htm to help
prepare your students to raise funds.
Thanks also to those of you who supported the sell-out
concert in aid of the Trust at South Africa House in October.
We made over £3,800; a few weeks later we gave away
most of this money at one of the five grant-giving meetings
we hold each year. This included grants of over £1,000
to eight students on ESOL courses who otherwise would
not have been able to pay course and exam fees, and for
the first time we supported a student on a ‘watchkeeping
course’, an essential qualification for those who keep watch
on board ship.
The acknowledgement letters we receive show that even
relatively small grants (£300 is our maximum) can make a
huge difference to a student’s life.
Sheila Rosenberg and I will be at the NATECLA Training Day in
Huddersfield so we look forward to seeing some of you there.
Mary Simpson Ruth Hayman Trust
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 32 of 38Ruth Hayman Trust continued
Previous page Next page
Copies of the booklet written by Shweta’s students are available on request (50p per copy plus p&p) from [email protected] proceeds to the RHT.
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Nexhmije Krasniqi escaped the conflict in Kosovo over a decade
ago. Below are extracts from her account of how she escaped
and settled in the UK. She was encouraged to write of her
experience by her tutor, Barbara Jacquess, who has not altered
Nexhmije’s expressive way of writing her experiences.
It was in December 2000 month when I decided to abscond from the
people I was surrounded by. That day the weather was wicked, goblet
of heaven was covered in black clouds, rapid rain, and thunders.
I flew through the air between of heaven, to discover a new world,
a new social life and a European culture. The journey was lengthy
and tedious!
In the country where I lived the sun had gone before I was even born.
There was only darkness and the life was very poor. Religion and
politics was killing people everyday. I was living like I lived in hell.
There I could not breathe freely and I did not have the right to
speak my mind!
In hoping to cross the border for England, we had to wait a month in a
polluted house… there was around 30 foreign people cramped in one
room. We were fed once a day, the lack of sleep was exhausting and
becoming a nightmare, the mice would crawl around our bodies.
I sensed a tingle on my finger, I was shaking and all of sudden I
started crying. I could not understand where I was coming from and
where I was going.
The night I had been waiting for became a reality on 3rd of January
2000. Continues on nest page
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 33 of 38Nexhmije’s story
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
That same night with us there was a mother with two children from
Kosovo, and I couldn’t ever forget this woman. It was a battle to
survive, no whispers and no breathing. The young mother was tightly
pressing with her hand on her little baby’s mouth, so the crying would
not be heard. The lorry was heading towards England, inside there
were human beings. I prayed in silence, the darkness covered me with
her black veil. My body was turned into ice like I was not alive, I was
holding on tightly to my daughter. Soul was wondering to infinity, with
tears gently falling more than ever I was calling out to my mother. On
my shoulders I felt the tender hand of the Kosovan woman touching
me; she was trying to calm me. Her kindness gave me more pain, I felt
compassion for her.
At last we arrived in the land of our dreams England, half alive and
half dead. The signs of depression appeared immediately, loss of
confidence, loss of brilliance. Months and years passed, my daughter
started school, and I continued feeling crazy. I didn’t worry when they
referred to me as that, because my incredible soul didn’t belong to this
world so-called ‘normal’.
In 2004 I started to return to the normality of life. With the help of
doctors and social workers, who willingly were helpful and kind, I
gradually recovered. The psychiatric doctor unleashed me from the
chains of the past
In 2005 I was blessed with the most joyful news I had ever received
since being in England, I was granted indefinite leave to remain in the
United Kingdom.
My life has begun to return
to normal, from all the
difficulties I was rewarded by
my daughter’s achievements
in life, she continued
her studies and has now
graduated from university,
and at the same time I am
going to college to have a better knowledge for myself.
At every moment I am grateful and very thankful to God, my personal
counsellor, and my dear friends who have supported and stayed by
my side.
I feel privileged and very lucky to be in England!
Nexhmije Krasniqi June 2011
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 34 of 38Nexhmije’s story continued
Previous page Next page
CONTENTS
Action for ESOL manifesto launch 1
BIS visit to Greenwich College 4
Digital literacies - an overview 6
Digital literacies - texting literacy 9
NATECLA Day Conference 12
The Mystery and Magic of Language 14
The importance of being creative 16
Where next with ESOL teacher training 18
NATECLA GLEN event 20
The undermining of ESOL 21
Migrants and labour exploitation 24
Yorkshire and Humberside event 26
A thriving branch 28
Management Council 30
Ruth Hayman Trust 31
Nexhmije’s story 33
Review: Phonetics for Phonics 35
Contact information 36
Diary dates and Noticeboard 37
In the country where I lived the sun had gone before I was even born. There was only darkness and the life was very poor.
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
When first flicking through the pages
of this easy to hold, slim, A5-sized
text book, you may feel as bewildered
as you would glancing at a foreign
language guide for advanced speakers;
no pictures, no nonsense. However,
don’t be fooled, this clever little book
packs a punch, as it will leave the
reader feeling confident and content
with regard to phonetics. Designed specifically for adult
literacy teachers, it has all the background knowledge and
support one would expect in order to teach phonetics within
the classroom.
There is a clearly laid set up to this book which guides you
through the reasons behind phonetics, their usage and the
role of phonetics within the core curriculum. Burton begins
by educating the reader as to why phonetics is important for
adults when learning English as a foreign language, marking
phonics as ‘the most reliable method of word identification’.
This is no mere paragraph, a generous two chapters are
devoted to this, before the reader is then introduced to The
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
The ‘basics’ of phonetics are explained in a detailed chapter
made up of various ‘tasks’, giving examples of how ‘word
sounds’ are expressed, formed and identified when using
phonetics. Two very useful chapters are included which
focus on how phonetics are mapped to the core curriculum
for spelling and reading. Burton explains the importance of
phonetics and their relationship to the curriculum indicators
for Entry Levels 1 – 3. A chapter discussing ‘accent’ and
influences is discussed in detail before providing detailed
references, a thorough glossary and impressive appendices.
As an ESOL tutor, I will be able to use the knowledge and
guidelines revealed in this book to enhance my learners’
understanding of phonetics. There are a multitude of
activities that could be developed based upon the content
of this book. All in all, a ‘must-have’ for any practitioner who
intends to use phonetics to support learners.
Sharon Hepburn
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 35 of 38REVIEW: Phonetics for Phonics – Underpinning Knowledge for Adult Literacy Practitioners
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Phonetics for Phonics – Underpinning Knowledge for Adult Literacy PractitionersMaxine Burton: NIACE £9.95 ISBN 10: 1862014531
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
CO-CHAIRS Judith Kirsh [email protected]
Diana [email protected]
ADMINISTRATION National Co-ordinator: Chloe Hindmarsh [email protected]
Assistant National Co-ordinator Jane Arstall [email protected]
South Birmingham College, Hall Green Campus, Cole Bank Road, Hall Green, Birmingham B28 8ES Tel: 0121 688 8121 Mobile: 07875 68 32 54
NATECLA receives support from South Birmingham College.
MIDLANDS Brigid Bird [email protected]
Anne Mills [email protected]
Cheryl Thornett [email protected]
NORTH THAMES Dawn Stafford [email protected]
Chloe Hindmarsh [email protected]
NORTH WEST AND NORTH WALES Lynn Murrell [email protected]
Caroline Helal [email protected]
Tina Fry [email protected]
SOUTH THAMES Alison Blair [email protected]
Ireni Thalassinos [email protected]
YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE Cathy Winterbottom [email protected]
Barbara Jaquess [email protected]
Naeema Hann [email protected]
To see the full list of Management Council (MC) officers, co-opted MC members and MC Branch representatives go to www.natecla.org.uk/content/474/how_we_operate/
They can be contacted via National Centre.
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Follow NATECLA on Facebook www.natecla.org.uk
East Anglia, Home Counties and South East, North East, Scotland, South Wales, West of England
If you are a member who lives in one of these areas please contact National Centre to see how you can get involved.
NATECLA News is published three times each year by the National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults.
Articles in this newsletter are edited only for length or clarity, not for style or content. Submissions of articles and pictures are welcomed, text on disk or via email please to National Centre as on opposite page.
Pictures will be returned but please be sure to supply a return address.
Views expressed within this newsletter are not necessarily supported or endorsed by NATECLA.
Articles may be reproduced with acknowledgement for non-commercial purposes only. ©NATECLA 2012.
To join NATECLA or renew your membership contact Jane Arstall at National Centre: [email protected]
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 36 of 38Contact information
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Judith Kirsh
Diana Tremayne
National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
Management Council Meetings
Sheffield, Saturday 21 April 2012 Freeman College, Sheffield
Liverpool, Sunday 8 July 2012
Liverpool Hope University
NATECLA GLEN Event
Friday 4 May 2012
The British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN
10.00-12.30, followed by lunch and the launch of the new
NATECLA website.
This new networking event is for all ESOL practitioners in the
Greater London area. To book, go to
www.eventbrite.co.uk/org/2016274813
Adult Learners Week
Saturday 12 - Friday 18 May 2012 Register interest in the
campaign at www.alw.org.uk/register
ESOL Nexus project: reflections
Saturday 12 June 2012
The British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN
18.30-20.30. Further details to follow.
Innovate in ELT Conference 2012
Saturday 5 May 2012
Christ Church University, Canterbury
Cost: £40.00 (Concessions £20.00) for three workshops,
refreshments and lunch. Speakers and workshops to choose
from: Nick Bilbrough, Jeremy Harmer, Luke Meddings, Russell
Stannard, Tessa Woodward
For further details, contact Mark Almond:
Phone: +44(0)1227 782308
Pay Online: www.shop.canterbury.ac.uk
NATECLA National Conference 2012 - The Mystery and
Magic of Language
Friday 6 - Sunday 8 July 2012
Liverpool Hope University
Keynote speaker: Marina Lewycka
On Saturday and Sunday there will be a diverse range of
workshops on offer, delivered by both new and familiar faces
to NATECLA on themes ranging from taking the fear out of
phonology to international ESOL, from practical teaching tips
to web-based homework. For booking, bursaries and more
information please go to www.natecla.org.uk
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 37 of 38Diary dates and Noticeboard
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National Association for Teaching Englishand Community Languages to Adults
The NATECLA ESOL Forum is a space where members
can discuss any aspect of teaching and learning of ESOL
and Community Languages. Information, updates and news
will be passed on through this group too. Once a member,
you may wish to visit the group or read emails that come
straight to your usual mailbox. NATECLA members can email
the group at [email protected] and
received responses directly to their inbox.
For more information or technical queries, please email
Chloe on [email protected]
Skills Investment Strategy Briefings -
Provider Questions and Answers
ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), updated
24/1/2012
More information is available at
http://skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk
The Ruth Hayman Trust has signed up to the Give as You
Live website. www.giveasyoulive.com
It is a way of donating to charity as you shop on-line shop.
They are offering £5 for every person who signs up (and
spends at least £10) before Saturday 31 March, provided
there are 25 in total. Please sign up yourself ASAP and
encourage as many of your family and friends to do the
same. You will need to download the software, and then
specify the Ruth Hayman Trust as the recipient. For
information on the trust, go to www.ruthhaymantrust.com
Re-launch of the Excellence Gateway In February 2012,
following their email stating ‘Using the new Excellence
Gateway will be faster, simpler and more effective, due to
fully redesigned navigation and improved search technology.
These innovations, together with a sleeker look and feel,
have enabled us to develop a site that is truly fit for the
future.’ Try it at www.excellencegateway.org.uk
Report from Dr Philida Schellekens ‘First and second
language speakers: one size does not fit all, says
language expert’ available at: www.cambridgeesol.org
The British Council’s ESOL Nexus project is focused
on developing a web portal for third country nationals and
their teachers to support teaching and learning ESOL in
the UK. The website is currently being built and materials
being developed include: lesson plans, self access activities,
materials for specific vocational contexts and online CPD
modules. Follow developments via @ESOLNexus on Twitter
SCREEN EDITION
Spring 2012 Issue 97 Page 38 of 38Noticeboard
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