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I would like to thank Diana for her patience with me

during this PLAR. The mark of a true professional gives more

than they get...(Robert Kirkby)

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I would like to make four recommendations:

1. Team teaching is a consideration for the following academic year to continue this effective method of bridging the gap for those moving from ESOL to FS.

2. A further PLAR is established and funded to ascertain if our initial assessment process is fit-for-purpose within the current context. I would like to question whether we just give our current ESOL learners a generic pathway or if a bespoke pathway, tailored to their needs, more productive. In this, I would need to consider if the current funding strategy allowed us to give a personal pathway?

3. As an organisation, we continue to share teaching ideas so that we can improve our teaching and learning ideas.

4. Teaching and training should become multi-modal.

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The lack of time was a very great restraint. Hence, no comments from the learners as yet.

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PLAR results for 2014 and pilot - Sheet1

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Questioning the initial assumption that ESOL learner would be disadvantaged by moving on to FS, I can only challenge that thinking as the results of the pilot have contradicted the initial hypothesis.

From reading and observation, I believe that the term ESOL can become the barrier. For thirty years, ESOL has been part of the curriculum to support learners who came to Britain mainly from Commonwealth countries. Today, we have an extremely diverse intake of ESOL learners. (AOC, 2014).

Allemango (2013) concurs with the interviewees one size does not fit all because of the diversity of our ESOL learners. For example, the pilot consisted of well educated, working, Eastern European learners and therefore, this has been the correct pathway for them. Their success has followed. However, the comparison group and the one of the non-achievers (to date) from the pilot made up of a more diverse cohort where perhaps their learning experiences were more limited; thus bringing about a different result. It also concurs with the results from the qualitative data where interviewees believed that ESOL learners would not have the confidence, reasoning and reading skills to work at speed. These results must call into question the initial assessment process and the necessity to make changes.

The team teaching pilot was valuable, enlightening and it was extremely beneficial to pool two areas of expertise to ensure equal opportunities for learner who were perceived as disadvantaged. The results were strong and the retention was very gratifying.

What has changed since the PLAR began is that we have a good achievement rate for Functional skills ESOL learners, delighted learners who have now engaged in Level 2 English and maths. Personally I have gained confidence in talking about ESOL learners as I have travelled their pathway with them. Currently, I now think of ESOL not as a label but an opportunity to question the correct pathway for that learner.

Sadly my research into dual teaching has not been adopted for the forthcoming year.

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The majority believed that there are assumptions made about FS learners. Firstly, the learners will understand terminology: ratio, area, path. Secondly, that t he learner will have the confidence to use own data to move through the maths problems. Finally, the learners will have sufficient reading and reasoning skills to complete the activities at speed.

Some colleagues believe that FS assumes one size fits all approach.

There is a belief that the disadvantage comes because the FS topics might not be the learners cultural experience particularly with maths, grammar and inference in reading. However, one interviewee contradicts this as they believe that the FS topics focusing on daily activities are easier than those that support citizenship.

Interviewees also thought that a bridging course might span the gap.

An overwhelming response from my colleagues was that ESOL methods should be used. Although I believe there is now evidence from the pilot to contradict this belief. It has been proved that a collaboration is a better approach.

Finally the teaching methods and resources could encourage more realia.

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When comparing achievement rates from 2014 with those of the pilot, the % had increased 24.43%.

Furthermore, while the non achieved % remains similar to last years data, there is sufficient guided learning hours for the learners to achieve.

It was interesting to note that one of the two learners who are still to complete the full qualification, because they failed the writing element, are not engaging in the same daily activities as those who have passed already.

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Initially, I found it difficult to formulate a hypothesis.So from basic research, I changed the question to an assumption.

When comparing achievement data, it was interesting to note the differences between withdrawal (those who drop out of the programme)and continuers (those who needed to carry on after the end date for achievements) .

This sample was small but these were the facts available at the time. For true validity, the process would need to be repeated many times.

The data from the pilot suggested that retention had improved. It also implied that all candidates are expected to achieve. The non-achievers are marked thus because they failed writing despite passing reading and speaking and listening. However, what is interested to note is that the two learners who are non-achievers on the pilot, still have time to complete before the end of July 2015. Potentially this could mean 100% achievement and retention rate.

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Every week from October to the present day, I have piloted team teaching with a colleague who is an e xperience ESOL teacher.

Together, we have facilitated learning to a group of seven ESOL learners at Level 1 in English FS, which is different methodology from the normal practice of one tutor teaching the whole qualification.

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Over the period of the PLAR, 5 colleagues were interviewed and the findings were entered into a table.

Four questions asked:

1. Do FS make any assumptions?

2. How are ESOL learners disadvantaged?

3. How can we adapt our teaching methods?

4. How can we adapt our teaching resources?

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Initially, an action plan was created. From this, primary and secondary research was undertaken.

I used achievement quantitative data from the academic year 2013-2014 and then compared it to the outcomes of the PLAR pilot.

The primary research included team teaching with an experienced ESOL tutor, gathering qualitative data by interviewing peers and recording comments from learners.

A systematic approach was used to understand a question about practice; asking tutors, learners and observations. Sachs (2003) says collaboration in PLAR is key.

I asked questions of my colleagues and then entered their responses into a table and then looked for recurring themes.

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For our organisation, it was very important to ensure that the Government's prescribed progression route of Functional Skills (FS) for  ESOL learners was without prejudice and disadvantage.  Additionally, on a personal level, as the Equality and Diversity Champion, it was very important that I could engage with disadvantaged learners and address any equality issues. Our achievements 2013-2014 supported an assumption that ESOL learners who engaged in FS do not achieve at the same rate as indigenous learners.  Therefore, this Practitioner Action Research Project (PLAR) needed to challenge the assumption and pilot a method of bridging the gap.

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For our organisation, it was very important to ensure that the Government's prescribed progression route of Functional Skills (FS) for  ESOL learners was without prejudice and disadvantage.  Additionally, on a personal level, as the Equality and Diversity Champion, it was very important that I could engage with disadvantaged learners and address any equality issues. Our achievements 2013-2014 supported an assumption that ESOL learners who engaged in FS do not achieve at the same rate as indigenous learners.  Therefore, this Practitioner Action Research Project (PLAR) needed to challenge the assumption and pilot a method of bridging the gap.

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Swimming Against the Tide?

Teaching functional skills to higher level ESOL learners in England

This article is about the changing needs and aspirations of the ESOL learner and the changing demands on the ESOL teacher. It explores the overlap between teaching ESOL and literacy and I draw on my personal experience as an ESOL teacher, now teaching E3 Functional Skills English to L1 ESOL learners in a further education college.
Who is ESOL for?
ESOL classes started over thirty years ago to support people who had come mainly from Commonwealth countries to settle permanently in this country. In 2001, the British government boosted ESOL funding and introduced an Adult ESOL core curriculum. Since then, significant numbers of people from EU countries have come to the UK and joined either the ESOL or the EFL[1] student community. For several reasons, the language and literacy needs of EU and non-EU students are quite different - here the focus is on learners from outside the EU, or 'third country nationals'. [2]
Employability
When people emigrate, they usually want to speak the language well enough to carry out daily activities and get to grips with the culture. Now, acquiring new skills and knowledge is essential to surviving in the global economy and here accreditation has become the watchword. The government wants further education colleges to take the lead in up-skilling the workforce and education is being steered towards finding work. A large proportion of ESOL learners, male and female alike, also have employment as a main aim. Many want to progress from ESOL to mainstream and vocational courses and may have come with skills, experience or professional qualifications. So how are we to equip ESOL learners in meeting their work or career aspirations in the UK?
Functional Skills (FS)
Along with the 20% of natural English speakers in the UK who were found not to have a sufficient level of literacy and numeracy to function effectively as an adult[3], ESOL learners need effective English language skills. In England at least, many ESOL learners are now finding themselves on FS courses, where the fact that they are designed for natural English speakers presents a challenge. Many of the exam tasks are demanding because they are culturally specific, like entering a talent contest or a competition to win a boat trip; or formal, like asking a tutor or manager in person for time off or writing a letter of complaint to a gym, restaurant, etc; or work-related, such as reading half a dozen classified ads and then writing a report and make a booking for a large group with multiple needs. Moreover, there is no option to pass one language skill at a time and build up to achieving a full level certificate - here it's all or nothing in one go.
Teaching Literacy and Functional Skills
In my experience, learners have always been keen to improve fluency, but now they see that reading and writing skills are important to compete for jobs. As ESOL teachers, we are sometimes so pleased when a learner communicates successfully that we may overlook the issue of accuracy. This is not so easy to do in FS, especially in writing, where even the smallest error stares back at you. It's not just the grammar either - it's also spelling and punctuation. How many of us stop teaching the use of capital letters and full stops to the higher levels, when the use of this basic level of punctuation has not yet become established? Of course, subject-verb agreement, correct use of tenses, word order, coherence and cohesion are all very important, so as ESOL teachers maybe we need to raise our game in the area of literacy.

This year I have delivered an E3 FS English course to L1 ESOL learners. The importance of accuracy in FS has led me to focus on teaching reading and writing skills, using more texts that have a practical function, such as letters, leaflets and adverts. Just as we drill pronunciation and have spelling programmes, a 'drill' for accurate punctuation, subject-verb agreement, tenses and lexical chunks can also be effective. It might seem like a backward step to ask intermediate learners to write just four or five sentences, and concentrate on a higher level of accuracy, but it works and asking the learner to proof-read their own work and rewrite corrected work on a regular basis becomes more feasible. Abdi, from Somalia, who studied L1 ESOL last year and E3 FS this year, says 'I'm much more confident that what I'm saying makes sense now, and my writing is more accurate as well because my spelling and punctuation have really improved and I have learned a lot of grammar, especially all the tenses and word families.'

Layout features and images are another aspect involved in understanding and responding to a text but these are not common to all cultures. In addition to teaching comprehension skills, we also need to teach visual literacy. In FS courses, the text choices to promote functional reading and writing sometimes feel a bit dry, but it is essential stuff when it comes down to operating effectively in society and, more specifically, finding and keeping a job.
What next for the Adult ESOL curriculum in England?
The difference between teaching ESOL and literacy is not huge, but I have altered my practice. I have increased the amount of practice, revision and recycling for each new language point, to help second language learners achieve accuracy on a par with natural English speakers. I have also placed a stronger emphasis on teaching literacy skills and discovered this can increase learner confidence and even out their spiky profile across the language skills. But the jump from E3 to L1 is already troublesome within the existing ESOL curriculum and in FS English even more so. With the uncertain future of the ESOL curriculum, now is possibly a good time to take stock and combine the best of both curriculums to meet the changing demographics and aspirations of ESOL learners.
Further reading
Hughes, N and Schwab, I (2010) Teaching Adult Literacy Institute of Education

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Teaching functional skills to higher level ESOL learners

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Swimming Against the Tide? Teaching functional skills to higher level ESOL learners in England This article is about the changing needs and aspirations of the ESOL learner and the changing demands on the ESOL teacher.