Interview with Sarah Barnard Manager of Special Programs and Literacy at the International Institute of St.

Louis February 22, 2013

Classes All classes are taught at the Institute. There are about 30 students in a class. Free classes attract people to them. They are free for adults learning ESL. Our placement test is very intense. It has an oral test, a writing test and a longer reading test in addition to an interview. There is not homework for the classes. If the students ask, they can sometimes get extra work. Mostly we refer them to texts to buy. Students get one-on-one time as literacy level clients. Those are for citizenship classes. There is not one-on-one time for students in normal English classes. The Institute has many classes. The attendance policy sometimes keeps them away. The state enforces the attendance rules to make them come frequently. If they dont, we have to refer them to other places because they cannot attend at the Institute. We cannot accommodate different classes if our schedule doesnt work. Classes are all taught in English to serve everyone equally. For example, if a teacher were to help a Hispanic immigrant because they know Spanish, the people from other countries would not have the same opportunity to learn as the Hispanic person. Teachers use a variety of activities. They use dialogues, picture stories, body language, charades and other workbook activities. There is a predetermined curriculum for morning and evening classes, but not for afternoon. Books are provided for teachers to pass them out for the day to the students.

The times of classes affect who attends. For example people who work or who have spouses will attend different times of classes. The Institute does not offer certification programs, but we can give immigrants job interview practice. We stopped TOEFL classes about 6 months ago because of attendance records, but they can do TOEFL activities in our computer lab. Our services are discovered because most are refugees that come through the Institute get classes while they are here.

Goals It is expected for students to have different levels of student experience with English. There are different education levels and professions. We are considered a life success school. We dont focus on academic success. We are helping people be successful in their day to day lives. After our classes, they are functional. They can know how to use basic graphs and instructions. It is rare for people to know English fluently if they didnt study at a young age. Usually slang is difficult for them to learn. The highest level is that an individual can function independently and function in a social and work atmosphere. Slang and cultural references are not taught. More specific situations are harder to know, but they can apply their English to communicate. They can understand radio and television on familiar topics. Most can know common software and technical instructions.

Difficulties and Reasons to Know English Some wouldnt want to know English because of culture values. For example, if an older family member has younger family members to help them, they wont want to learn it. If they just stay at home or dont have any outside connections, they wont want to learn. However, with people losing jobs, they are starting to want to learn it because they need it for work. The most difficult part of learning English is the experience with the language. It also depends on the person. If someone has many distractions, health issues or other stresses, it will not allow them to learn English as easily. Also, tonal languages like some Asian languages rely on pronunciation, so Englishs irregularities are confusing. Slang is often very difficult for immigrants. Teachers It is preferred teachers have studied language acquisition or a second language. They have to speak another language or have experiences abroad. It is preferred they have experience with the local populations. They also have to have a bachelors degree.