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English as Second Language Programs Swamped: Teachers' Group

Lack of teachers, training, and funding said to be holding ESL learners back.

By Katie Hyslop, 29 Mar 2011, TheTyee.ca

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Support erased: ESL teachers spend over $1,000 of their own money for resources.

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Things have changed dramatically for English as a Second Language teachers since Sylvia Helmer left their ranks in 1997: there used to be set ratios for the number of students per teacher, there used to be money for extra supplies, and there used to be more ESL specialist teachers.

But starting in 2001, the number of ESL teachers and their resources began to shrink, according to the BC Teachers Federation. That was the year ESL services were removed from the teacher's collective bargaining agreements, leading to the cutting of 229.54 Full Time Equivalency ESL teaching positions, says the BCTF.

That merely compounded problems with school ESL programs that Helmer says go back to when she was still in the classroom, including a lack of teacher training and pushing kids out of ESL classes before they're ready.

"The kids who were about ready to cope on their own and could kind of understand what was going on in the regular classroom would be pushed off my caseload in order to bring in the absolute beginners, deer-in-the-headlights kind of kids who barely knew which side was up, because they needed me so much more," says Helmer, a member at large for the English as a Second Language Provincial Specialist Association, an ESL advocacy group under the BCTF.

"It's not that the kids at the other end didn't need me, they still needed help with the academic language and help with textbooks and so on, but they could manage."

Helmer says this conveyor belt system was the reason she left ESL teaching and returned to the regular classroom because she felt her caseload of over 100 ESL students was too much.

Fast forward to today, and cuts have made it even harder for ESL teachers to be effective, according to a professor who studies the field.

Bill 2008 at age nine

In 2002 the B.C. government passed Bill 28 -- Public Education Flexibility and Choice Act, removing guaranteed funding for educational services such as English as a second language, special needs, counselling, and school libraries, from B.C. teachers' collective bargaining agreements.

Almost a decade later school districts across the province are rolling out their 2011/12 budgets, many with significant funding shortfalls that could see further reductions to some of those programs.

When she presented the Public Education Flexibility and Choice Act, Christy Clark, then minister of education, argued the move would give districts the autonomy and flexibility to fund their individual needs, as opposed to forcing them to spend money on services they didn't need. The BC Teachers' Federation claimed it would undermine services needed for the most vulnerable students in the province.

Yesterday The Tyee looked at claims that teachers qualified for special needs students are too few to meet rising challenges.

English as a Second Language is the focus of today's story as it, too, is one of those budget items school trustees can be tempted to look at for cuts in order to fund other programs.

But University of British Columbia education professor Lee Gunderson says more resources, not less, should be poured into helping ESL students.

Provincial funding not enough: UBC prof

The provincial government funds ESL students for five years, after which they're put into the normal schooling stream. But five years is not enough time to fully comprehend the English language, according to Gunderson, who is professor of Language and Literacy Education at UBC.

"The acquisition of basic interpersonal communicative skills takes about two to three years, and the acquisition of academic language, the kind of language in text books and academic text books, the kind of language you use in secondary and post-secondary classrooms, takes maybe five to seven years, or more," he says, adding parents and even students themselves sometimes believe they can handle the regular stream because they speak English, but find they aren't able to grasp academic language and it holds them back.

The provincial government says ESL funding doesn't have to be used for five consecutive years, however, meaning students can do some programming, go into the regular stream, then go back to ESL programming later if necessary. But Gunderson says ESL students who begin school in kindergarten to Grades 3 or 4 will be put in regular classes, even though the district is receiving funds for ESL programming, because of the belief that younger children take to other languages much easier than older students.

"Which sometimes is true, except when you get into a classroom where there are 30 students and 28 are ESL, their English development is not as advantaged because they're not surrounded by the target language, which is English," he says.

According to government guidelines there is nothing to prevent school districts from continuing a student's ESL programming after the five years with their own funding: "If a board of education has received the full five years of supplementary funding for an English language learner, this does not preclude the continuation of ESL services through board allocation of resources, if assessments determine the student continues to need ESL support.”

But Gunderson says the lack of strict guidelines around ESL funding means districts can spend the money wherever they like, and ESL programs may not even see the money designated by the government for programming or extra supplies.

"Some school districts give some of it to the teachers, some school districts use it for purposes other than ESL, some support ESL teachers. So just because there's ESL funding does not mean that a teacher with ESL students is going to see any extra funding," he says.

Helmer says she had a budget of $300 for extra resources when she was an ESL teacher, but today's ESL teachers get nothing.

"There are no extra little bits like that for teachers anymore, so teachers pay it out of their own pocket or they don't do it," she says.

Indeed, Gunderson estimates from his own research that ESL teachers in the Lower Mainland pay up to $1,600 out of their own pockets per year for extras instead.

"The province doesn't pay for additional material, most school districts do not, so teachers have a choice: they ignore the problem, they invent their own material or they downsize it to different reading levels, or they go out and spend their own money," he told The Tyee.

The students go in, the students go out

Like most school districts in the province, Vancouver has a declining school enrollment, even though approximately 2,200 new immigrant students arrive in the city every year, all year. And Vancouver isn't the only district to see this in the Lower Mainland: last August alone 206 refugee students and 669 international students arrived in Surrey.

But because of the high cost of living in the area many families move away, making planning difficult for ESL teachers.

"Not only do we have classrooms that are filled with ESL students from vastly different backgrounds, zero English to fairly good English, from never having gone to school to having gone to school and have become literate, you have this incredible mobility where there are students leaving every month and students arriving every month, and this is a feature of all the school districts," says Gunderson.

This mobility has caused disagreements between educators and the government over whether or not ESL students are dropping out at a higher rate.

"The drop out rate is huge at the secondary level," argues Helmer.

"They don't show up in English 12 for the provincial exam because their English still isn't good enough, because they haven't been getting the specific support they actually need at the time they were in Grade 6 and 7, for example, when they sounded fairly fluent, orally, but still had trouble with reading comprehension and writing."

Gunderson argues the drop out rate is hard to determine. With permission from the Ministry of Education he tracked 1,300 ESL students who attended Vancouver primary schools in the early 1990s, but couldn't account for the whereabouts of 33 per cent of them by Grade 12.

"We don't know if they're drop outs, if they went back to their home country or whatever. Unfortunately, there's a huge discrepancy that one could account for by looking at socioeconomic status. Some students, Spanish-speaking refugees, for instance, have a huge disappearance rate compared to relatively affluent Mandarin-speaking students," he says.

Not all ESL students are immigrants, though. Many are born in Canada to immigrant parents, some of whom shuttle their families between Canada and their home countries.

"Sixty per cent of the kindergarteners [in Vancouver] are ESL. On the other hand, over half of that 60 per cent are born in Canada. So the situation is very, very complex," Gunderson told The Tyee.

ESL training not mandatory

Both Helmer and Gunderson believe all teachers in B.C. should be trained in ESL instruction, because it isn't always specialists who end up teaching ESL classes.

"What happens is somebody who is a social studies specialist, for example, and is teaching all the Grade 9 and 10 social studies, there are not enough kids to fill his time table, so we have one block that we need to give you and since you're a social studies specialist, you can teach ESL social studies. So we're giving you one block of ESL socials, and you just cope," Helmer told The Tyee.

"The specialist designation has been seriously eroded and, of course I'm wearing my ESL hat, but I know the same thing is true with other kinds of learning challenges -- the support isn't there, with the specialist skill you play Jack or Jill of all trades far too often."

The Ministry of Education doesn't see it as an erosion of roles, however, telling The Tyee in an emailed statement that by removing a standard number of ESL teachers "school districts have the flexibility and autonomy to make staffing decisions in order to meet local priorities." They also have firm guidelines for the designation of ESL teacher specialists, though nothing to prevent regular stream teachers from teaching ESL students.

The BC College of Teachers doesn't require ESL to be part of teacher training in this province, and currently only the University of the Fraser Valley has made it a mandatory element of their elementary teacher training, although UBC will be making it a mandatory part of their elementary curriculum in 2012. That means six other teacher training programs don't require ESL training for their students.

"It is unfortunate, I think, that we don't have more rigorous training requirements for people who want to be teachers, because a lot of teachers have told me 'I just don't know enough about ESL to provide programs for them,'" says Gunderson. [Tyee]

Katie Hyslop reports on education for the Tyee Solutions Society, and is a freelance reporter for a number of other outlets including The Tyee. To republish this piece, please contact Michelle Hoar here.

22 Comments:

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  • alive

    1 year ago

    Nanny state

    There was a time when people immigrating to Canada made it a point to learn the language before they arrived, and to speak it at home!
    Now we see kids who never heard a word in english at home, coming to their first class totally unable to communicate.

    Somehow that is the problem of the taxpayers?

  • warbler

    1 year ago

    Shared gov't responsibility

    I realize that education falls within provincial jurisdiction, but immigration does not. I wonder why Hyslop doesn't probe the reasons why the federal government isn't playing a bigger role in this issue. Should there not be federal transfer payments to the provinces earmarked specifically for ESL programs and the training of ESL teachers?

  • Spiritlifter

    1 year ago

    Welcome

    As an aboriginal, I am fully aware of the effects of losing my language. But I'm also aware of the powerfull effects of learning this language. I was illiterate until the age of 30. I now read everthing that I can get my hands on and my life is so much better. I am more confident and I am seeking training for more better/rewarding work. But now as i look back, i see people struggling with literacy as well and it's frightening. I think the best way to serve this country is to assist and help people learn one of it's languages. All my relations.

  • Jane

    1 year ago

    Critical

    Thanks to the Tyee and Katie for these pieces on critical issues facing public education in BC.

  • wcullen

    1 year ago

    Downlaoding responsibilities

    I teach in the adult education (AE) system in VSB, mostly in the DTES and Vancouver's inner city corridor.

    Many of us consider this a form of alternative education because we're so often faced with all of the holes in the K-12 system, holes, I want to be perfectly clear about this, that have been poked into that system by lack of appropriate government funding and a lack of political and, albeit to a lesser extent, social will.

    In essence, we modify the curriculum, while still adhering to the IRP's, to meet the needs of the students as they present themselves to us in our classrooms. That is, by definition, alternative education--IMHO.

    Many of my students we meet are the students who 'fell through the cracks' (pushed through is a more apt description). In addition, many of thee students, having been left to fend for themselves, come to us with co-morbid obstacles, not one obstacle.

    And, like the K-12 system, we're woefully under-funded, supported, and represented.

    In AE we have been involved with community hub--or neighbourhood Learning Hubs--for some time in the form of outreach programs. Very often, but not always, we are co-located in an elementary school.

    Here, teachers like myself--with a background in ESL and/or second language acquisition (SLA)--teach 'foundations' language courses (ESL) to the parents of students at the elementary and the larger community.

    What many people don't seem to understand is that my students are long time residents--citizens--of Canada.

    These folks have worked hard for decades to build a better life for their children; and, they have very often done so at their own expense. So, when they finally have the piece of mind, time, and financial disposition to do so, they can come to classes like mine to improve their skills.

    But our system, and these courses, are also in danger of being cut. My program at Seymour would have been cut if Seymour Elementary had been cut, for example.

    I need to remind people of this one point: many--if not most--of my students are long time Canadian citizen's. They've paid their taxes, raised their families, and contributed to society in ways that we can only understand if we do not take a discriminatory approach and judge them by their language ability.

    Finally, we--all of us--need to stop accepting a deficit based model of education. We need a stronger, publicly funded, inclusive model of education; a system that aims to catch as many people as possible, not excuse away the reasons why people have 'fallen through the cracks'.

    We can begin by being less callous and by trying to understand the myriad of obstacles that a society presents to those who don't conveniently fit into a mold.

    In health-care this is called the 'harm reduction' model. Perhaps, then, we need a harm reduction model of education...

  • wcullen

    1 year ago

    Katie

    Thank you for your depth and attention to education in BC, both here and elsewhere, including the many public forums where we've met.

    Easily, yours is the best reporting on education I've come across here and elsewhere (although getting the historical perspective from Crawford is helpful, too!).

    Thank-you.

  • dorothy

    1 year ago

    Interesting

    I tend to agree with Alive. If you want to come and make a buck here and plug into what you think is a better life, you take care of your own gear, including language skills. I take note of Spritlifter's sentiment and respect that his people should certainly come first, as they were not consulted, before other languages were made dominant around them, and this is their only home turf.

    My three children hit public school with the dubious benefit of knowing the official language better than many of their teachers, since we made a point of investing in their training. They subsequently yawned their way through years of other students being catered to for unofficial ESL training, while they were left with lame stuff like flash-cards.

    If ESL has to be done, there should be a cost attached, and it should not be crammed into regular classes. Successful immigrants may have been successful by putting essentials on hold. Bully for them. They cannot come later and ask for retro-fitting. Where is my payment for having made sure my kids came to school not being a liability for others?

  • wcullen

    1 year ago

    Dorothy and Alive

    Whether you're aware of this or not, you're operating within the deficit model assumption; as if things are just fine and therefore good enough.

    I think we need to operate within an optimum model where we build on successes, deal with short-comings, and reserve judgement on individuals or groups. Such judgements immediately fall prey to Levett's Law, and, worse, are exclusionary.

    Many of the people whom your excluding--intentionally or not--by your comments ARE Canadian citizen's and, so, its their tax-dollars, too.

    More importantly, wishing that people who do immigrate did so with better language skills (where you're ignoring the skills they come with--again, intentionally or not) doesn't--in any way--address the issues and circumstances that exist within society and the classrooms now.

    In essence, your point is moot at best.

    I'm not trying to be rude when I say this, but your views and alive's view are myopic, dismissive, callous, and not connected with the reality as it is.

    This is where the difficult work is. Casting dispersions is neither difficult nor helpful--however well intentioned and honest they may be.

    Again, in this day and age, with this amount of wealth and potential, we need operate more in conjunction with health-care's 'harm reduction' models, than this deficit model we exist (un-necessarily) under, a system you're promoting...food for thought...

  • frank2

    1 year ago

    Dorothy and Alive are wrong.

    Dorothy and Alive are wrong. If we welcome newcomers to Canada, we owe it to OURSELVES (not just the newcomers) to do everything possible to enable them to participate in this society. This may be costly. Especially for refugees who may come with far fewer "qualifications" than others. But some things are worth the cost.

  • kriscampbell

    1 year ago

    The issue of language disorders...

    Another issue to throw into this mix: the under-identification of kids who have difficulty expressing themselves in ANY language - i.e. those with developmental language disorders.

    When I worked in the schools, it was notoriously difficult to distinguish kids with a language disorder from regular ESL kids. Often, a teacher would think, "The reason this kid can't express himself very well is because he's ESL". The alarm bells would only go off if, after several years of ESL classes, he still wasn't expressing himself very well. All along, what this kid needed was the involvement of the Speech-Language Pathologist.

    If ESL teachers were able to have more training (AND if there were more school Speech-Language Pathologists), they might be able to identify and refer these kids earlier. Because by the time a kid like that gets to Grade 5, the school is really worried about his ability to cope academically. But all they can do is test him, say, "Yep, it's a language disorder", and sit back while lamenting the lack of available help.

  • khed67

    1 year ago

    Good immigrants and Bad immigrants

    Dorothy, while I will be happy to sign the petition to award you a medal for being such a shining example to all those selfish immigrants who don't learn English before they arrive, it seems you are proposing that we punish their children.

    And your "payment for having made sure [your] kids came to school not being a liability for others" is the advantages your children had over their illiterate classmates (and teachers).

  • Skywalker

    1 year ago

    I can't believe I'm reading some of this

    The first post by alive set the tone for me. I don't think people really get it.

    "There was a time when people immigrating to Canada made it a point to learn the language before they arrived,.." NO THEY DID NOT. Been there done that. "and to speak it at home!" NO THEY DID NOT. Not if the parents were also learning English.

    "Now we see kids who never heard a word in English at home, coming to their first class totally unable to communicate." That is exactly what happened before. The difference was that a 10 year old might be sitting with a bunch of Grade One students just to learn enough English to move on. What usually happened is they dropped out of school early as the embarrassment would be too much.

    "Somehow that is the problem of the taxpayers?" WELL YES. If the taxpayer wants immigrants to be functioning and contributing to society quickly it is imperative that they do this. Also the problem has become the problem for teachers as the government doesn't fund the service.

    So is this a Nanny State? Well, I submit that when you can blow millions on other things that don't produce half the financial returns, like constant tax cuts for big business, it might be a good idea to fund E,S. L classes and not rely on teachers to pay out of their own pockets. Duuh.

  • reality_check

    1 year ago

    As an ex-ESL learner, teacher, and an ESL teacher (part 1 of 3)

    Excellent --and timely-- article, considering Ms. Christy Clark is now the premier and was the one who is largely responsible (although I am sure it was a cabinet's decision) for the lack of support ESL kids have been getting for a decade now. As a classroom teacher, an ex-ESL student, and an ESL teacher, the situation in Surrey has been dire in the last 10 years and has deteriorated to become unbearable for students and teachers. The last 3 years have been especially unacceptable, as waves of cuts have taken their toll in conditions that were already dire (inner city schools).

    Excellent article, considering Ms. Christy Clark was the one who is largely responsible (although I am sure it was a cabinet's decision) for the lack of support ESL kids have been getting for a decade now. As a classroom teacher, an ex-ESL student, and an ESL teacher, the situation is grave and, in Surrey, has deteriorated to become unbearable for students and teachers. The last 3 years have been especially unacceptable, as waves of cuts have taken their toll in conditions that were already dire (inner city schools).

    The article errs a little, when Mr. Gunderson's comments' about the 28 ESL students in a class of 30. First, these numbers indicate an intermediate classroom. Second, the likelihood of the 28 students being all acute ESL learners is highly unlikely. Third, I have never seen 28 ESL students in one classroom (although in Vancouver this might be). However, it would be a rare event, as students (unless they are new immigrants or refugees) would have been receiving 5 year of support. I think the article or Mr. Gunderson misses the point, actually (although I am not familiar with ESL programs in Vancouver). In Surrey, students are put in the classroom not matter what, but real beginners are supposed to be getting a lot more group or one-on-one help. The issue is that the service have been reduced so much that one must create teaching and learning conditions that are TOTALLY unacceptable. I still remember that classroom. There were 5 intermediate beginner ESL students that I needed to service (0n top of all the other learning disabled, low IQ students, and more advanced ESL students). That group was especially challenging because 3 students were from Somalia and two were Spanish-speakers. Of course, they were not all at the same grade level (grade 4 to 7). I could not communicate with the kids from Somalia because they could not write or read in their own dialect. All of those kids probably missed their own safe environment they had left. They could have used some counselling, but, of course, that was not provided. They were getting a multicultural workers once a week for a few hours though. (part 1)

  • reality_check

    1 year ago

    part 2/2

    Naturally, I didn't have the material to help those kids. I had to create things. Not one student book or program. UNBELIEVABLE! Was I in third world country ? Students who were learning French had great programs (as they should) ! UNBELIEVABLE ! I had to find books that I was forced to photocopy (no money for those luxurious items!) to keep these kids busy (learning, if you can call it that) in the classroom when I was not servicing them. The cost of photocopy must have been prohibitive. Of course, I should not have been photocopying this material as it was illegal (so, I'm told). And, of course, this material was extremely boring. Of course, a language should not be taught like this, especially English, but who cares. Ms. Clark knows best! :) If I had my way, these students would have needed one month (more or less) of intensive ESL teaching in my classroom. In that one month, I would be able to assess if there are other needs that need to be met (Can the student learn easily? Are there emotional issues?). Then the students would be slowly phased in, depending on their grade level. Naturally, a grade 7 kid's program would necessitate a longer entry time, as the language he or she would need to acquire is much harder. None of those things occurred and don't occur. I fear next year will be even worse. Has Ms. Clark changed ?

    I agree with Mr. Gunderson about the added problem of mobility. It is hard to teach students who change schools within the school year. I know we live in a democracy, but children who move are extremely vulnerable and, especially, beginner ESL students. I was one of those. I was put in a Grade 10 class 30 years ago ! Within 3 weeks, a guy asked me if I wanted some « dope » ! Good thing I had never heard (literally and figuratively) of this term ! Things have improved since then (not around here). I was lucky I knew French since English is made up of many French words. I went to night school with my parents to learn English. That helped ! Good thing I liked learning ! I wonder how many immigrants know these programs exist and feel they are crucial for them and their kids.

    The ministry is going to say that all is fine in their perfect little world ! How do they know all is fine ? I know it is not so ! The situation is such that I feel like a surgeon who has been given 5 minutes to perform an operation with a dirty, Exacto knife ! It can be done, but we know the results are going to be disastrous.

    English is probably one of the hardest language to learn. I would love it if Ms. Clark and all of those great leaders would do what is right, but I highly doubt that will take place. They could make English easier to learn (http://reforming-english.blogspot.com/) or give adequate programs to do so. But, they are failing on both counts. Appalling ! (But, maybe they know that uneducated immigrants make great obedient workers, which should please those great capitalists!)

    (No part 3)

  • reality_check

    1 year ago

    Part 3, ... after some thought ...

    To come back to the story of the highly ESL group I had (in my first year of ESL teaching). Actually, the situation got better towards the end of the school year! I finally got some money and bought material, except that it was -now-- March! :) BTW, I hear from the high school that some of these students are not being ... the best of citizens! Oh! Well! I guess we can always build more gated communities or live in the Point Grey side of town or get more jails or police officers!

    BTW, I agree that the Canadian government and the provincial government are failing those immigrants, although it is true that some might not be willing to do their part. I would think that would be a minority though. I also agree that the demographics of immigrants is changing.

    Alive, YOU (and all the Cons and Libs out there) want cheap and educated labour (adults) to come to Canada to pay for your pension. Maybe it is time to pay more taxes to have decent school programs so that you wont have to pay more taxes at the end to pay for time ... or your life (or someone else's)! Up to you!

  • Buck Futter

    1 year ago

    Simple solutions

    First off, excellent article, Katie. Thank you for shedding some light on the issue.

    For brevity, I will add my two bits in list form.

    1.) Elementary classroom teachers cannot be experts in ESL, physical education, music, French, science, social studies, social responsibility, etc, etc, etc. The job of the generalist teacher is to teach to the masses and manage the day-to-day activities of delivering a diverse curriculum to a variety of learner types and abilities representative of the local community. Generalist teachers are spinning too many plates to adequately service every student with special needs, and desperately need the support of specialist teachers. Districts need to be adequately funded by the province to supply schools with teachers who have more specialized training. Period.

    2.) The BC College of Teachers must decertify Post Degree Professional Programs and enforce the 5 and 6 year BEds that SFU and UVic both offer. All too often, teaching becomes a fall-back for a student with a BA in history (for example), and students with thousands in debt who are facing a tough job market will bang off a teaching certificate in 12 months. Trying to cram the skills necessary for a 30 year career into 12 months or 4 semesters is irresponsible to both the prospective teacher and the students which he or she (at least for the first five years until the teacher has figured it out) will ultimately teach. Two years of a wide range of pre-requisites (sciences, maths, English, etc), two years of teaching methodology and practicums and one to two years of specialized training such as ESL, French, etc. will provide public schools with teachers who have intensive skills to assist students with special learning needs.

    3.) As stated, guaranteed numbers for money and teacher to ESL student ratios, like we had before Christy Clark stripped those items from the provincial contract when she was (shudder) the Minister of Education.

    4.) The federal government needs to chip in, especially given it’s immigration mandate. If we are expecting new Canadians to fill the projected holes in funding our aging population’s health care and pensions, they’ll need to be literate.

    As for Dorothy’s usual toxic spite... since you are already a perfect teacher yourself and seem to all of the answers, there’s always home schooling. I’m sure your kids’ school would be happy to see the door hit you in the arse on the way out.

  • zalm

    1 year ago

    A knotty problem

    ...and made no simpler by a witless post first out that promulgates a myth the equal of the Tooth Fairy.

    "There was a time when people immigrating to Canada made it a point to learn the language before they arrived, and to speak it at home!"

    I don't recall any French settlers learning Cree or Iroquois in France before they came over. Nor any English settlers the Algonquin or Beothuk before getting off the boat. Most French Hugenots spoke a dialect of French incomprehensible to native French speakers, staying that way for generations.

    When Upper Canada became English in law and lifestyle, Swiss, German and Dutch settlers from the 1870s onward spoke no English, and some still don't today, more than a century after Upper Canada and its English inhabitants passed into the mists of history. Chinese and Japanese spoke no English before they were imported with promises, then paroled to isolated ghettos in the undesireable parts of big cities where their intercourse with English speakers was limited. That some preferred to stay there was undeniable, but can one believe they all did?

    Greeks, Italians, Poles Russians, Ausländer, Swedes, Iranians - each had waves of immigration, each faced similar discrimination, because each spoke only their native dialect and learned whatever English or French they needed over here.

    My grandmother's the perfect example. Educated to grade three (interrupted by two Balkan wars which destroyed homes and schools) she escaped at 16 to Canada and did her best to learn English, but never got much beyond a few hundred words and some ill-chosen usage, all in the present tense. She persisted, despite passing atrocious usage along to her kids, because she thought it respectful to speak English as best she could. How could she know that the teachers would fail my father for two years early on because his grammar and usage was incorrect - a man who later became a history and English teacher, imparting a love of the Bard and basketball to thousands of students over 30 years?

    Your face should be red with shame, Alive. There may be issues of disrespect, poor practice, lousy policy or laziness out there, but you didn't present them. At all.

  • wcullen

    1 year ago

    Zalm

    Damn!

    Well said.

  • Skywalker

    1 year ago

    Yes, Zalm

    You said it much better than I did and my family experiences were similar.

  • cboo44

    1 year ago

    Alive

    "There was a time when people immigrating to Canada made it a point to learn the language before they arrived, and to speak it at home!"
    Must have been in a different world, certainly not in this one. Didn't happen.
    I'm old enough to remember the influx of "DPs" after WWII and after Hungary in '56. None of them could speak English. BUT, many, many spent their first couple of years LEARNING. Not ESL lessons supported by tax dollars, they were not "entitled", you see? They did it on their own.

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