vi. Who Are Your Learners?
Immigrants often initially see Canada as the land of
opportunity where “you can be anything you set out to be”. Unfortunately, many fail in their attempts
to achieve the equality of opportunity that a high school education supposedly
offers. For many, there has been a lack
of recognition of their previous education or experience. This is often compounded by working
lower-paying, time-consuming jobs which limit the primary resources - energy
and money - required to put into upgrading.
For most adults, the creation of a family and a home
take priority over further training and, for immigrants, this struggle is even
more time-consuming if, for instance, they are supporting family “back
home.” They may dedicate their free
time to work in their ethnic communities to support those that have come after
them. Unless they feel personally
motivated to improve their English on their own, they may stay at the same
benchmark.
The children of immigrants make up a second group
among the Canadians who seek help through the Mature Student Programme. They may have dropped out of school in frustration
because of the difficulty of studying in a new language. As newcomers, they may have felt rejected by
others in the school system. Saddest of
all, they may have obtained high school ‘certification’ without having attained
a fraction of the skills they need to continue with their lives.
Language is not the only barrier to A/ESL
learners. Adults enter the classroom
expecting it to be an experience similar to their own schooldays in their own
country. Learning styles differ greatly
and, teaching styles and strategies applied in the Mature Student programme,
may be surprising, not to say shocking, to immigrant learners. Newcomers who want to benefit from a high
school education will be expected to understand not only our history, geography
and contributions to the arts, but our underlying value system as well. See previous table, Expected Classroom Participation.
The principal barrier, and the most easily
identified, is language. Adult
newcomers who learn English tend to plateau at level 5 or 6 of the Canadian
Language Benchmarks. This level allows
them to function comfortably in the community and workplace and, as other
responsibilities take over their lives, their language learning slows down and
perhaps fossilises.