English for Speakers of Other Languages: ESOL - case studies of provision, learners' needs and resources
January 2003 - September 2003(Contact: Professor Mike Baynham or Celia Roberts - KCL or David Barton - Lancaster or Philida Schellekens - Consultant or Cathy Wallace - IoE)
Funded By: DfES/National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy
The language, literacy and numeracy needs of students from linguistic minority backgrounds are distinctive in many ways and yet adult basic education does not always address these differences effectively. The literature review Adult ESOL Pedagogy (Barton and Pitt 2002) indicates that there is relatively little research in this area in the U.K. as compared say to Australia or North America.
The Adult ESOL Case Study project thus had a dual focus:
- To examine practices in a wide variety of ESOL classes
- To establish some of the distinctive features of ESOL learners and provision to inform literacy and numeracy research
Five case studies were selected to show the diversity in types of provision and learners and included both dedicated ESOL classes and other provision: numeracy classes and a bridge to work course. Case study methodology was used with a focus on ethnographic research methods. The detailed descriptions of the case studies are illuminating in their own right. In addition, the comparison and contrast between the different case studies have helped to draw out concepts and insights transferable to other research settings.
The project was directed by Celia Roberts of Kings College London. A case study on ESOL and Numeracy classrooms was carried out in Leeds by Mike Baynham and Shelly Whitfield.
The report of the project may be downloaded as a PDF document from the NRDC website.
Contact details:
This project last updated by Karon McBride on 5th October 2005.