Placement Practices Project
September 2006 - February 2007(Contact: Dr James Simpson)
Funded By: NRDC
Other project members:
Melanie Cooke - King's College London
Professor Mike Baynham
Overview
This project asked: How do ESOL or bilingual students get placed or place themselves in literacy and/or ESOL classes? While a college or centre might have well-developed ESOL provision, their literacy classes may also show huge linguistic diversity. Bilingual students might end up studying in either. What are the institutional and personal practices at play when the decision is made about whether an ESOL or a literacy route is taken?
The decision may be made at an institutional level, and one part of this research, Institutional placement practices for bilingual ESOL/literacy students, sought to understand how placement practices operate in particular institutions. But students position themselves as well; they may identify with either an ESOL or a literacy class, as they see themselves as ESOL students or as literacy students in the mainstream. The second part of the research, The experience of placement for bilingual ESOL/literacy students, included an examination of students’ views on whether and why an ESOL or a literacy path is followed.
The research used a combination of ethnographic observation and group and individual interviews in an in-depth examination of placement practices at two colleges, one in London and one in Yorkshire.
The project has now been completed, and will soon be published by the NRDC as: Simpson, J., M. Cooke and M. Baynham (2007) 'The right course?'.
This project last updated by James Simpson on 10th October 2007.