Assessing the literacy skills of adult immigrants and adult English language learners

Abstract

Most adults who are new to English manage to find work, raise children, and act as informed community members and citizens (Castro and Wiley, 2008). However, proficiency in English, particularly the ability to read and write the kind of English that educated adults use, goes hand in hand with access to a much broader range of information and affords a wider set of opportunities, particularly economic opportunities. Millions of the foreignborn come to the United States to find work and are a substantial and growing segment of the workforce. However, most immigrants are concentrated in entry-level low-wage jobs that cannot sustain a family (Wrigley and Powrie, 2008), and many end up working two or three minimum-wage jobs.English proficiency is an important factor affecting wages and opportunities. Some studies (Martinez and Wang, 2006) report a 46 percent wage differential between immigrants who speak English and those who do not, even after adjusting for education and work experience. Other recent studies make it clear that English proficiency and level of education function together. One analysis, for example, showed that the mean annual earnings of immigrant workers with no more than a high school education rose steadily with their self-reported level of English-speaking skill (Sum, 2007). 5 1

North American adult literacy programs and Latin American immigrants: how critical pedagogy can help nonprofit literacy programming in the United States

“…When Latin American immigrants are able to enrol in such programs, long waiting lists, difficulties in transportation to and from classes and myriad work and family demands on immigrants' time make participation difficult (Wrigley, Chen, White, & Soroui, 2009). For all of these reasons, adult literacy and ESL services are essential, and existent programs are often in need of reform.…”

Training dilemmas and recommendations with volunteer instructors in small, faith‐based adult ESL programs

“…Community‐based programs attract a diverse range of ELLs; depending on the program location, student profiles may include refugees, new arrivals, long‐term residents, lawful permanent residents, unauthorized immigrants, or immigrant youth (age 17–24) who have a variety of educational, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds (Center for Applied Linguistics, ). These populations all bring varied levels of English language proficiency and literacy (Wrigley, Chen, White, & Soroui, ). Student dropout rates can be high and proficiency gain rates low in these programs, with some 20% of learners attending less than 12 hours of instruction (Schalge & Soga, ) and reports of only 40% of participants across the nation advancing in proficiency each year (Kennedy & Walters, ).…”

The Use of Human Capital and Limitations of Social Capital in Advancing Economic Security among Immigrant Women Living in Central Alberta, Canada

“…This could be because employers admit that they assume having a name that doesn't sound English means that the potential employee has poor communication skills, so they do not even bother asking them for an interview (Oreopoulos and Dechief 2011). When they do obtain employment, Spruck-Wrigley et al (2009) found a 46% wage differential between immigrants who speak English fluently and those who do not. This puts immigrant women at a disadvantage because they typically lack the time and energy to learn English once in Canada because they have the double burden of paid and unpaid employment (Boyd 1984;Stewart 2006).…”