Literacy: Spanning North America
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Nation needs to support
critical literacy programs
Times Chronicle: 10.10.2018 by Linda George
“Speak
English!” a fellow customer implored my student, a woman from Costa Rica, while
she conversed with her sister in a supermarket line. This scene, epitomizing
the “you don’t belong in America” sentiment, typifies the rising pressure on
immigrants to communicate in English — all while funding for programs that
teach English disappears.
Three
years ago, I began volunteering at the Adult Literacy Program at the Abington Free
Library (ALPAFL). The program aims to help adults — some from all over the
world — improve their literacy and academic skills so they can provide for
their families and become fully integrated into our community. My director
paired me with a delightful, ambitious middle-aged woman with a sixth-grade
education who mostly spoke Spanish.
I
also teach an English as a Second Language (ESL) class at ALPAFL, where
attendees improve their English while learning about U.S. culture. A sampling
of students includes a young mother from South Korea, who wants to read to her
children; a grandmother from India, who wants to fill out medical forms without
relying on her physician son; and a Romanian woman with a huge smile, who
simply wants to communicate with the people she meets every day, such as her mail
carrier, dog’s veterinarian and neighbors.
As
students in my ESL class introduce themselves to each other, I roll out a worn
world map on a broken easel to show them the location of their country of
origin. From the front of our tiny classroom in the library’s basement, I note
their rapt attention as they take notes and eagerly raise hands to ask
questions — qualities most teachers would envy in any classroom. Despite its
huge success, this program’s minimal public funding for a part-time director, books
and supplies will soon run dry. READ
MORE >>
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Older
New Yorkers Have Huge and Growing Need for English Classes
City
Limits: 10.10.2018 by Dorian Block
Yumei
Wang, 79, has a modest dream. She would, for the first time in her adult life,
like to open her mail and understand what the words on the paper mean.
Wang
came to New York from China when she was 18 years old and worked as a nanny for
many years. She relied on her husband’s English, and then later her son’s,
otherwise staying in Chinatown herself. Wang’s son is now grown and lives
independently, and her husband died last year. On top of Wang’s grief are piles
of worry about accomplishing daily tasks like writing her rent check and paying
her cable bill without understanding them or knowing how to write in English.
Similarly,
Eliena Wong, 72, has a basic hope. Wong wants to be able to call the police or
to ask for help in an emergency.
“I
go outside and take the subway. I feel so nervous,” Wong says. “If I make a
mistake and something broken (in the subway), I need to get home. If something
is wrong, how can I call someone to help me? I do not understand.”
There
are 1.6 million people over age 60 in New York City, which is about 19 percent
of the city’s overall population (or the size of the entire population of
Philadelphia). Demographers expect that New York’s population 60+ will have
increased by almost 50 percent between 2000 to 2040.
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Back
at the Manny Cantor Center, on a
recent Thursday, 20 people come from all boroughs of the city traveling by
subway and bus, to one of the few places that has an evidence-based intensive
English class (two three-hour sessions a week) with all older students. Many of
the students have low levels of literacy in any language and never went to high
school in their home countries. READ
MORE >>
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Central
Coast Literacy Council Spelling Bee to raise money for literacy programs
Lompoc
Record: 10.12.2018 by Razi Syed
The
Central Coast Literacy
Council is hoping community members will put their spelling skills to the
test during the 25th annual Adult Spelling Bee, which aims to raise community
awareness about literacy issues in Santa Barbara County.
In
2017-18, the center served 133 people in Santa
Maria and 59 in Lompoc. “We
make it fun while we’re raising money for our organization,” said Laura
Arteaga, executive director of the Central Coast Literacy Council.
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One
of the main purposes of the Spelling Bee is to raise community awareness of the
literacy need that exists in the county, Arteaga said, adding that based on our
last census, there are 76,000 people in Santa Barbara County who are
functionally illiterate, with around half of those residing in the northern
part of the county. Functional illiteracy refers to reading and writing skills
that are below the proficiency needed to manage daily living and employment
tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level.
Arteaga
said one in four children in the United States grows up to be functionally
illiterate. “We have adults going through the educational system and either
they had an unidentified disability or, perhaps, an identified disability and
just went through the system without learning how to read.” READ
MORE >>
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Adult learners in Fort St.
John get literacy skills
News: 10.12.2018
Literacy
programs in Fort St. John are giving adult learners the opportunity to connect
with their community, calculate interest on a car loan, read labels and fill
out forms.
“Developing
stronger reading, writing, math or computer skills can help people transform
their lives and explore the possibility of higher education,” said Melanie
Mark, Minister
of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, who visited the Fort St. John Literacy Society.
“Investing in literacy skills in communities like Fort St. John and throughout
the province unlocks the potential in people's lives and shows them a whole new
world of possibilities.”
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“The
programs we offer to people respond directly to their learning needs so they
can move forward, unlock their potential and contribute to our community,” said
Jessica Kalman, executive director and literacy outreach co-ordinator with the
Fort St. John Literacy Society. “It’s exciting to see literacy in our community
improve and people achieve their goals, whether it’s getting a driver’s
licence, writing an exam or just building up their confidence.”
It
is estimated more than 700,000 people in B.C. have significant challenges with
literacy. READ MORE >>
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