Dear colleagues,
Here in Boston we are working on a new initiative to coordinate and get funding for ESOL classes for small business owners and employees. A small business association or group of small businesses (hair salons, small markets, etc.) would partner with an experienced ESOL provider, similar to how many workplace ESOL classes are structured, but very small scale. The businesses are immigrant-owned and have very few employees, and/or are family businesses. We've had one successful class already and are hoping to do more. My questions are:
1. Do you know of other examples of workplace ESOL classes for small businesses, models we could talk to?
2. Do you know of any textbooks or curricula specific to ESOL for Small Business owners/employees?
Thanks in advance,
Lee Haller
Program Manager
English for New Bostonians
(617) 982-6862
Comments
Hello, Lee,
What a great initiative! Congratulations on your first successful class. In my experience, this kind of teaching (and curriculum design) is quite rewarding, but also challenging because of the disparate needs of the learners. I'd be happy to talk with you about some effective approaches that I've used.
You may also find some of CAL's free resources useful in your overall planning. You can find them under Workplace ESL in the resource list here: http://www.cal.org/caelanetwork/resources/digests.html
I look forward to hearing more about this initiative in the future.
Deborah Kennedy
Associate Vice President, Adult English Language Education
Center for Applied Linguistics
Direct: 202-355-1572 and 603-293-2402
I am serving on a state-appointed task force in New Jersey that is examining the educational needs of immigrant entrepreneurs and skilled immigrants, so I would be very interested in learning more about what's happening in other states in this area.
Nick Montalto
President
Diversity Dynamics, LLC
201-320-1669