Susan Bleyle, ESL instructor for DeKalb Tech, reviews a lesson with a student. (Photo/Bread & Butter Studio) |
ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE PROGRAM IS THE KEY TO A BETTER LIFE FOR IMMIGRANTS. By Beverly Cox Clark Argentina, Bosnia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Mexico, Somalia, Vietnam, Zaire. The list reads like a roll call of the United Nations. Instead, these are among the 43 countries represented in DeKalb Technical Institute's English as a Second Language program, the largest in the state. During the past 15 years, Georgia has become home to more than 600,000 immigrants. Many come in search of better economic and educational opportunities. Others are fleeing political persecution or war-torn strife in their own nations. More than 35,000 refugees have settled in metro Atlanta since 1983. In the late '70s and early '80s, DeKalb Tech's ESL program served a large number of immigrants from Vietnam and Cambodia. The latest wave of immigrants is arriving from Somalia and Bosnia. "Wherever the current hot spot is in the world, that is where our students are coming from," said Jan Craig, dean of adult literacy programs at DeKalb Tech. |
Many immigrants have left everything behind: careers, homes, friends and family. When they arrive, many speak no English, know no one in Georgia and are unfamiliar with American customs. So they come to DeKalb Tech's ESL program to learn the language that will unlock the doors to better jobs and a better life in America.
Many Challenges for Students
Teaching English to a person with no grasp of the language is not as difficult as it may seem, DeKalb Tech ESL instructors said. Students are eager to learn and catch on quickly through various means of communication, including pictures, drawings, gestures and facial expressions, as well as the traditional pencil, paper and books.
ESL classes help students develop skills in speaking, writing, reading, comprehension and pronunciation so they can get jobs, advance professionally or pursue further studies.
The instructors love the challenge of teaching English to the international mix of students.
"I like interacting with people from different countries," said instructor Susan Bleyle, who traveled extensively before joining the ESL program at DeKalb Tech two years ago. "This is a job that utilizes so many different skills and a lot of creativity. You're acting and drawing and miming a lot. It's very hands-on and makes a difference in people's lives so fast."
The program is available year round, and classes meet daily Monday through Friday. Students can choose from six levels of instruction and progress at their own pace. "That helps make the students more successful in the program," Craig said.
Educational background and innate ability play a large role in how quickly students advance. Some have never before set foot in a classroom, while others were highly trained professionals in their homelands.
For example, Lily Nie, a physician in her native China, studied English as a schoolgirl. But she said she had little opportunity to use the language until she came to the United States, where her husband is doing research in an Atlanta hospital.
"I forget most of the English," Nie said with a laugh. "The pronunciation is different. It's American English. Sometimes it's challenging. If my English was good, it would be easier here."
One of the biggest challenges for immigrants is being able to find time to study and hold down a job.
"They are struggling with the need to learn English and find a job," said Gail Mayfield, lead teacher for the DeKalb Tech ESL program. "Even when they acquire a job, many students will come back to class, if only for one class a week. We see them come back at every opportunity."
Makara Mao was barely 20 years old when he came to the United States eight years ago to escape Cambodia's political tensions and seek a better education and job. With limited English skills, his only employment options were menial, minimum wage jobs. He wanted more than that. After a year and a half in DeKalb Tech's ESL program, he has progressed to the most advanced level, while working nearly full-time at a nearby ware house. Mao has ambitions to continue his education and earn a degree in business administration.
"We work hard and study hard in our country," Mao said. "It is easier here. I feel comfortable."
Meeting the Demand
About 20 years ago, DeKalb Tech offered just two ESL classes. The 55 classes it now offers at various locations make the program more accessible for immigrants. In addition to sessions at DeKalb Tech, classes meet in public housing locations, public high schools and Clarkston Baptist Church, which has offered its facilities for several years to help meet the demand for space.
Despite the growing number of classes, the waiting list for immigrants and refugees desperate to get into the program gets longer each day. In 1997 alone, DeKalb Tech served 7,500 ESL students and, in only the first five months of this year, the numbers already had climbed to almost 9,000 students.
"English as a Second Language is our fastest growing program and where our biggest need is," said Marilyn Shaw, program manager of Adult Literacy Operations for the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education.
An estimated 20 million people will need ESL instruction in the United States in the next two years, according to U.S. Department of Education figures. In Georgia, ESL accounts for nearly a quarter of all adult literacy classes. Statewide, growth in the program has been explosive — from 4,175 students in 1989 to 21,236 students in 1997. And the need continues to increase.
"We see an increased demand on a daily basis. If we open a class, they will come," Craig said. "These are very ambitious and focused people."
Yosef Bogle is living proof of that. The 19-year-old Ethiopian immigrant arrived in Atlanta earlier this year to join his mother, who fled their homeland several years ago to escape ethnic and political strife. Bogle does not know when or if he will return to Ethiopia. In the meantime, his goals are clear-cut. "I must get my GED and a college education," he said. "I must."
Bogle studied English during most of his schooling in his native country. But, like Nie, picking up the way Americans really speak was challenging.
"The way the American speaks is so different from how we learned in my country. The ear is not used to it. I am coping with that problem and learning to speak like a native American," Bogle said.
Despite Bogle's language proficiency, the ESL program has given him a tremendous boost.
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At DeKalb Tech, Dean of Adult Literacy Jan Craig (right) chats with ESL teacher Anne Topple (center) and her students (left to right) Makaro Mao, Lily Nie and Yosef Bogle outside the adult learning center in Clarkston, Ga. (Photo/Bread & Butter Studio) |
"This English class has helped a lot. I like the diversity of people here from different nations and we enjoy the company of different people. The teachers try their best to understand our problems," Bogle said.
The DeKalb Tech program does no advertising and very little marketing because information about the program spreads quickly by word-of-mouth in Atlanta's diverse immigrant community.
"They often come to us saying, 'My brother went here,' or 'my friend went here.' They know this is a place where they can come and learn English," Mayfield said.
During a break between classes, students mingle in the hallway, temporarily turning the corridor into an atmosphere resembling an international bazaar. Muslim women in floor-length black chadors, Hindu women in colorful saris, and others dressed in Western style jeans and T-shirts mill around, speaking a blend of their native tongues and hesitant English.
This mix of cultures and religions creates an air of mutual respect for the differences among people, teachers said.
"We try to teach them all with dignity," said ESL teacher Jolene Davis, a longtime public school teacher who is now in her fourth year at DeKalb Tech. "Teaching English is challenging, but it's so exciting the challenges are not a problem."
And the students are motivated and interested in learning about American life, Davis said.
"They love personal stories. They like to learn what we do and what we eat, and they learn English during the process," Davis said. Teachers incorporate instruction about American customs, work ethic expectations and a little history of the United States. "Many of them have come here because America is the legendary land of freedom, and they want to know more about it," she said.
Needs Differ Across the State
The need for ESL services is increasing rapidly in areas of the state where immigrant populations are growing.
At Dalton College in Northwest Georgia, for instance, demand for ESL classes has tripled in the past decade, said Sherry Riley, adult literacy director at the college. Dalton's burgeoning carpet industry has attracted a high percentage of Hispanic immigrants as well as people from China, India, Russia and Vietnam.
"The increase in our ESL enrollment is absolutely due to increased job demands," Riley said. "We also have a lot of adults who want to learn English so they can communicate with their children's teachers or go shopping for groceries and have the community and life skills they need to survive."
Dalton College works closely with other community agencies, such as the local chambers of commerce and public school systems, to help provide the complex services immigrants need.
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"The huge increase in our immigrant population initially caught us all unaware, but we have made great strides in recent years," Riley said. "There is a big collaboration of community agencies here because no one has enough resources on their own to meet all the needs."
At Albany Tech, the scenario is quite different. The fairly large Hispanic population, mostly migrant farm workers, doesn't stay around long enough to attend an ESL class on a regular basis, said Linda Coston, director of Albany Tech's adult literacy program. Albany Tech offers an ESL evening class and serves the handful of day students through regular adult literacy classes where teachers instruct them using ESL materials. "It's challenging, but when they come to us, we do our best to meet their needs," Coston said. And meeting the needs of today's immigrants is an important job. The United States, a nation of immigrants, continues to benefit from the influx of newcomers. But times have changed. The immigrants who tramped down the gangplank onto Ellis Island or Angel Island experienced a vastly different America from that of today. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. economy was mainly agrarian. Jobs required few skills, so fluency in English was not as important for new settlers. Today's immigrant strolls off a plane into technology-age America where knowledge of English is essential to becoming successful.
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Jolene Davis (standing), ESL instructor at DeKalb Tech, assists students with a writing assignment. (Photo/Bread & Butter Studio) |
By teaching the newest Georgians about our language and culture, ESL classes play a critical role in helping immigrants become assimilated into American society.
And, as Bogle said, "English class equips us with the courage to speak to others."
Beverly Cox Clark is a free-lance writer in Athens, Ga.
©1998 Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education. All rights reserved.