FREIRE REVISITED: DEVELOPING AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING PROGRAM FOR AND WITH LOW- OR NO-PROFICIENCY REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS

How do we go about meeting the needs of the least-served, in terms of second language support, members of our refugee and immigrant communities? How can we attract, and more importantly, retain adult learners at this level, those who are already overwhelmed by their adjustment to life in an unfamiliar country and culture? As practitioner-researchers, we sought to explore these issues and deliver appropriate instruction to primarily Guatemalan refugees and immigrants in a mid-sized city in the Midwest of the United States through a local social service agency. Using a Freirean, critical approach, community members were involved in project development, from identifying the need for the program, conducting a thorough needs analysis, and ongoing identification of topics and tasks.

Students' prior knowledge in English (minimal), Spanish, and Indigenous languages supported instruction throughout the program and was viewed as an invaluable resource. As in all critical pedagogy, students' lived lives were the focus of instruction, which therefore included topics such as tenant rights, dealing with the police, avoiding ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and applying for government assistance. Students who participated in this program, as well as the associated Spanish-language high school equivalency (GED) preparation courses, were encouraged through an agency-community college alliance to continue into higher education. The presenters will discuss the curriculum development process, share examples of lessons, outline the challenges inherent in community language teaching and learning, and provide a list of references that would be of value to participants involved in refugee/immigrant education.