The 2014 A-Z Blogging Challenge is only two days away, so today, as I prepare for the challenge, I just wanted to share this story with you.
It was written by one of my students, nicknamed Bill, who is 18 and from Thailand. He has recently completed Year 12 year and is studying with me, working on his English language skills, until he begins a course at TAFE.
Bang where are you?
This story takes place in Spain and is an adventure and drama story. It's about a young girl who was looking for her pig that had been kidnapped by a stranger.
Her name is Alice, she is Spanish. A week ago Alice took her pig named 'Bang' out for a walk at the park in the morning around 7am. She met an old looking man with a big back pack. The man walk toward Alice and asked her to sell Bang to him. Alice was very upset and refused, and then the man walked away.
After that Alice and Bang went back to their house. Alice leaved Bang to play in her courtyard. Then Alice went inside to get soem food for bang. But when she came back she saw Bang was taken away right before her eyes. That man ran on to the train. Alice tried to chase him.
Alice had been walk for a week on the railway. She was very feeble. But finally she found that train. The train was docked at the station. This station was 200km-400km away from her town. Alice went into the city and walking around and asked the people about her pig. But unfortunately there was no clue. So Alice decided to fill her guts before continuing and search for bang. Alice stopped at a restaurant called "The Bob" that's probably the name of the owner.
Alice sat down and ordered "grill pork with three seasoning". When the food was ready! Someone come to serve the food. But when Alice looked up at his face it happens to be the same guy who took Bang. Alice grabbed his neck then shakes his and asked for Bang. But Bob said "Bang is right in front of you!! (Alice shock.)
If you speak and/or are literate in a language other than the one you learned from your parents when you were a child - then you will understand. If you are monolingual then you won't. If you were pulled out of school after only a few years, or never even started because your parents could not afford to have you not working, or because there was no school due to a marauding militia burning it to the ground and murdering your teacher -then you will understand. If you started school around the age of 4 or 5 and completed at least 10 - 12 years of uninterrupted education, then you won't. If you fit into the first of those categories, you will understand how difficult it can be to move to a new country, learn the language and find employment. If you work in a government office in one of those nations which receive refugees and asylum seekers, then you won't.
In Australia, one of the services we provide to migrants is English language training. The government operates two main programs. The Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) and the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program (LLNP). The AMEP focuses on new migrants and offers 510 hours of free instruction. The LLNP focuses on employability skills and the hugely important role of literacy. It offers 800 hours of free instruction in four 200 hour blocks.
In order to progress from one block of training to the next in the LLNP, students have to demonstrate improvement in two different macro skills. For example, reading and writing. For each of these outcomes students must supply two pieces of evidence from two different text types. In other words, to show that they can write, they might have to write a recount and a letter. To prove they can read that might have to read a description and an information text and answer questions on both.
This can be incredibly hard work both for the student and their teacher, especially for older students who have never been to school and who are not literate in their native language, but also for students with learning disabilities. Throw in a range of medical problems which result in memory and concentration problems, as well as frequent visits to doctors. Add some attitudinal problems related sometimes to culture and other times to personality, and you will begin to get a clearer picture of what goes on in English language classrooms around the country.
The system, the LLNP, is quantifiable results based and driven by the bottom line: you guessed it, money. It is largely incompatible with the needs and abilities of low level English learners. It is apparently run by bureaucrats with little understanding of people, nor of any principles of language learning. The fact is that no matter how adept the teacher is or how hard the student tries, anything more than extremely modest improvements in English language skills will remain elusive for a large number, even a majority, of refugees. The insistence on a certain level of improvement is a denial of reality.
