Abstract
This paper explores tutor perspectives on ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners in the UK. Government policy towards ESOL is increasingly driven by an ideology in which citizenship is conflated with the acquisition of English language skills. Underpinning this way of thinking are concepts of Othering and deficiency. My research aimed to investigate how tutors “make sense” (Spours, Coffield, & Gregson, 2007; James & Biesta, 2007) of ESOL policy in the UK, how this informs tutors’ attitudes towards English language learners, and to understand the potential impact that such attitudes could have on learners. The study demonstrates that tutors are influenced in their attitudes towards their learners by the persistent external issues of funding and the contradictory discourse implicit in ESOL policy. Such attitudes can have a tangible effect on learners.
Highlights
Immigration has always been a part of UK history, raising questions pertaining to language use and citizenship; in the contemporary climate, the topic has become the subject of heated debate
Successive governments have made explicit the way in which English language skills are related to issues of social cohesion (Blackledge, 2005)
The overarching aim of ESOL policy is to enable migrant learners to become part of British society, to support their families and show a commitment to the wider economy. This may be seen to be undermined by the ways in which ESOL learners are often framed as ‘Other’ and deficient, by both society and their tutors
Summary
Immigration has always been a part of UK history, raising questions pertaining to language use and citizenship; in the contemporary climate, the topic has become the subject of heated debate. One way of assessing this is through individuals’ commitment to the acquisition of English language skills; this conflation between language learning and citizenship can be detected in much of government-funded ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) provision Underpinning such policy are ideologies which position immigrant learners of English as Other and draw on paradoxical notions that migrants are simultaneously deficient and “a threat” to society (Brine, 2006). My Master’s study, conducted in the summer of 2013 in language centres in a large city in northern England, aimed to investigate tutors’ perspectives on ESOL policy and how their understanding of it informs their attitudes to the English language learners they are teaching This current paper draws on interviews conducted with ESOL tutors. Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature. 10.2 (May-June 2017) ISSN 2013-6196
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
