An overview of recent research with adult Learners with limited literacy

In August of this year I attended the LESLLA conference in Pittsburgh, USA to show findings from a 2-year research project conducted in my hometown in New Zealand. Hamilton, a city of 178,000, receives regular intakes of former quota refugees through UNHCR. My research was with 60 of these learners who had limited or no print literacy in their L1. The participants came from Wintec, a tertiary educational institution, and a partner organisation, English Language Partners New Zealand, who provide tutoring in homes and ESOL Literacy classes for their 7000 learners. The research investigated whether there were differences in rates of learning between two groups of adult former-refugee participants: refugees that had 0-2 years of prior education and those that had 8 plus years of prior education. An online digital assessment, developed by the Tertiary Education Commission New Zealand, tracks students’ learning progress and was administered at the beginning and end of every programme. Learners’ receptive/listening skills and recognition and selection of 30 familiar vocabulary items were captured over four sessions over 18 months. The results showed that those who had more years of prior learning learned at a slightly faster rate than those with little or no prior education

ALANZ handbook

Co-edited Handbook for participants at December ALANZ Symposiu

Can we learn anything from China about Education in Mathematics?

Some countries in South East Asia do better than us in international mathematics tests. This would appear to indicate that their children are more able mathematically than ours. Our government is very keen to explore this further and in 2014/15 funded a National Shanghai Exchange Programme, involving teachers from the newly formed 34 National Maths Hubs. This opinion piece reflects upon the practices in Shanghai and explores whether we could actually learn anything from them which might improve our own teaching and learning in mathematics, and the impact this might have for HEIs

What helps me to read in English: Students’perspectives about the factors that have assisted their reading development (Poster)

Poster presentation at ALANZ-ALAA conference, November 201

What did you read today? Reading habits of newly arrived refugee background adult students as they commence their tertiary education in New Zealand.

The link between the ability to read well and students’ performance, career potential and personal success is well understood (Kearsley, 2002; Lo Bianco & Freebody, 1997). When discussing curriculum principles in a reading programme Grabe (2011) argues for ‘consistency and variation in teaching as well as resources that are interesting, varied, attractive, abundant and accessible.’ As cohorts in English language programmes in NZ tertiary institutions are increasingly educationally, linguistically, and orthographically diverse, a reading programme that acknowledges students’ diverse needs and educational backgrounds seems to be an appropriate response. This classroom-based research interviewed students from mainly refugee backgrounds and attempted to understand the underlying factors that contributed to their uptake when re-starting their tertiary education. This talk asserts that teachers benefit from gaining insights into students’ educational backgrounds and the factors in their countries of origin that influence their learning. In an effort to understand what students read routinely, students were interviewed at three points during the academic year. The TEC literacy assessment tool Starting Points, which was administered initially, enquired about students’ educational background and their reading routines. This study further investigated the students’ reading habits at the mid and end point of the one year course. Students discussed their reading behaviours both at home and at the institution. The findings revealed that they were engaging with a wide variety of reading experiences and routines, and to varying degrees they were reading L1, L2 texts and using digital media as they responded to their social, functional and educational needs

An enquiry into the time taken for L2 literacy development

“Worldwide there are about 774 million adults who lack literacy skills. One in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of these are women.” Many of these individuals are L2 learners sometimes learning not only one, but two or more languages. (Tarone, 2009). However, there is still a paucity of literature about the process of second language acquisition with illiterate or limited literacy adult L2 learners. In Aotearoa New Zealand there are many of these L2 adult immigrant learners learning English language in our classrooms in government funded programmes, as they commit to improving their literacy skills. The goal of these programmes is enhanced literacy/communication skills, which in turn may improve their employment opportunities. There is an on-line assessment tool to measure learners’ progress over time. This two-year project enquires into the time taken by learners with migrant and refugee backgrounds to make progress. A group of forty learners with 0-2 years of prior education is compared with a group of thirty learners who had 8-10 years of prior education. These seventy participants speak in ten first languages from nine different countries. Their rates of progress in L2 literacy gains will be compared. A mixed-methods approach is being taken. Early findings will be shared from initial interviews where participants shared their early educational and social backgrounds. Results from TEC online assessments and portfolio collections of naturally occurring evidence will also be shared, as well as early findings from classroom observations

Approaching language learning with adult L2 writers with emergent literacy

New Zealand is welcoming 500 more former quota refugees in 2020, many of whom are adults with minimal or interrupted formal education. Ten years ago, Tarone, Bigelow and Hansen (2009) informed practitioners that “researchers have not singled out for study L2 learners who are illiterate or have low literacy levels.” In 2017, a 2-year enquiry was begun which asked former adult refugees to relate some of their experiences learning English, what helped and what hindered and to think of strategies that had worked for them. The collaborative study between two large organisations consisted of 60 adult former refugee participants with 0-2 years of prior learning who had lived in New Zealand for less than five years. Data was collected using pre and post interviews with first language interpreters, and two 6-week classroom observations. The results confirmed that first language assistance helped to bridge the gap initially, that learners’ rich and long traditions assist their learning, as do use of digital technologies. Learners assets include aural awareness, oracy and abilities with memory which they can use as tools for learning. The key constraints to learning were health concerns and stresses associated with dislocation. Although these impacted on attendance participants sometimes attended class in spite of these difficulties, suggesting perhaps the classroom was meeting well-being as well as learning needs. As learners with little prior former education present in adult classrooms teachers may become aware of the strengths and assets they bring with them. A flexible interactive curriculum based on enquiry and negotiation can, given time, draw learners into the first steps of L2 literacy and become a rewarding experience for both learners and teachers

General Practitioners' perceptions of the route to evidence-based medicine: a questionnaire survey

Objectives: To determine the attitude of general practitioners towards evidence based medicine and their related educational needs. Design: A questionnaire study of general practitioners. Setting: General practice in the former Wessex region, England. Subjects: Randomly selected sample of 25% of all general practitioners (452), of whom 302 replied. Main outcome measures: Respondents' attitude towards evidence based medicine, ability to access and interpret evidence, perceived barriers to practising evidence based medicine, and best method of moving from opinion based to evidence based medicine. Results: Respondents mainly welcomed evidence based medicine and agreed that its practice improves patient care. They had a low level of awareness of extracting journals, review publications, and databases (only 40% knew of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), and, even if aware, many did not use them. In their surgeries 20% had access to bibliographic databases and 17% to the world wide web. Most had some understanding of the technical terms used. The major perceived barrier to practising evidence based medicine was lack of personal time. Respondents thought the most appropriate way to move towards evidence based general practice was by using evidence based guidelines or proposals developed by colleagues. Conclusion: Promoting and improving access to summaries of evidence, rather than teaching all general practitioners literature searching and critical appraisal, would be the more appropriate method of encouraging evidence based general practice. General practitioners who are skilled in accessing and interpreting evidence should be encouraged to develop local evidence based guidelines and advice

Satisfiers and dissatisfiers for international vocational education students: A case study using narrative frames

While the satisfaction of international students is frequently surveyed, much of this research is based on a very limited range of closed-item data collection methods, producing findings that partially reflect the researchers’ assumptions in designing the survey items. Recognizing the potential value in using methods that are more open-ended and qualitative analyses, the present study employed narrative frames and follow-up interviews to explore the satisfiers and dissatisfiers for international vocational education students at one institution in New Zealand. Reporting on perceptions of the class, institution, and community, the findings identify the participants’ top-of-mind (dis)satisfiers and complement the existing literature by identifying seldom-reported themes. Discussion of issues in analyzing narrative frames is also provided