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Stayton Academy offers ESl classes.
Local resident plans to teach English to Spanish-speakers---at his home.
This article appeared on page 1C,
the front of the local section.
Thelma Guerrero Statesman Journal Tuesday June 19, 2007
Spanish speakers in the Stayton area, wanting to to avoid waiting lists and costly English as a Second Language classes could soon have an alternative. "There is no ESL program in east Marion County," said David Long a Stayton resident. "I want to change that because there is so much need for it."
On Monday, Long will begin classes to teach English to Spanish speakers. The program is called Stayton Language Academy. The classes, which are non-accredited, are a grass-roots effort targeting people who simply want to learn English, without having to attend a college program.
During the past decade, U.S. educators and policymakers have focused on increased attention to the role of the parents in their children's education. Experts say adult ESL programs help parents become their children's primary teacher. But too often, Spanish-speakers are placed on waiting lists to get itno classes. Until a spot becomes open for them several months or years later, they take ESL classes at churches or community centers.
A 2006 survey of 184 ESL providers in 22 cities around the nation, conducted by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Educational Fund, found that 57 percent pf those providers maintained long waiting lists. The only alternative is paying for private ESL school, the researchers said. But the cost of attending private language centers is out of reach for most new immigrants. "Its not easy to do that because people don't always have the money," said Araceli Ambrosio, 32, who immigrated to Stayton from Mexico City 18 months ago and is signed up for Long's class.
"Many people start but stop the classes because they don't have the money to continue." Ambrosio, a cannery worker, said she's taking the class because she wants to learn to speak, read and write in English so she can get a better job. In a 2005 study, the Nationall Assessment of Adult Literacy.found that the median weekly earnings of proficient English-speakers was 225 percent higher than those at a bow-basic level.
Long, who will hold classes at his private residence until he finishes negotiating a deal with a facility in Stayton, plans to provide students English-language development from pre-literacy to conversational levels. Three separate 1 hour classes will be held on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, and two 2 1/2 classes will be held on Tuesday and Thursday. The teachings will incorporate learning materials that inlcude books, videos, computer language programs, visual aides and interactive activities.
To provide opportunities fir students to use their language skills and to make it less intimidating for them to do so, the classes will consist of samll groups to start, Long said. such need for adult ESl is expected to explode in the next year or so if immigration legislationnow stalled in the Senate were to become law. Under the legislation, illegal immigrants would have to show proficiency in Englishto qualify for legal residency or a green card. But even if that effort fails, any future immigration legislation is expected to require proficiency in English.
The majority of undocumented immigrants currently in the nation are believed to have limited English skills or lack of English all together. Critics of illegal immigration oftern argue that Spanish-speakers foreigners refuse to learn English. "The problem isn't that immigrants don't want to learn English," Long said. "It's that they often can't afford the classes."
Details
Adult ESL classes are scheduled to begin Monday.
The cost is $50 for a 10 week course.
Applicants can register online at www.oocities.org/staytonlanguageacademy/main.html
For information, call (503)-769-7515
Spanish-speakers in the Stayton area wanting to learn English could soon have an alternative. On Monday, David Long will begin holding classes to teach English to Spanish-speakers. The program is called Stayton Language Academy.
The classes which are non-accredited, are a grassroots effort targeting those who simply want to lern English without having to attend a college program. "Many Spanish-speaker immigrants want to gain fluency or at least learn enough to dialogue with English-speaking friends and neighbors." said
Long who holds a degree in Social Science History from Corban College.
During the past decade, U.S. educators and policymakers have focused increased attention on the role of parents in their childrens' education. Experts say adult ESL programs help parents become thier childrens' primary teacher. But all too often Spanish-speakers are placed on waiting lists to get into classes. Until a spot opens up for them several months or years later, they take ESL classes at churches or community centers.
A 2006 survey conducted by the National Association of of Latino Elected officials Educational Fund of 184 ESL providers in 22 cities around the nation found that 57 percent of those providers maintained long waiting lists. The only alternative is paying for private ESL school, the researchers said.
But the cost of attending private language centers is out of reach for most new immigrants. "It's not easy to do that because people don't always have the money," said Araceli Ambrosio, 32, who immigrated from Mexico City18 months ago, and is signed up for Long's class. "Many people start but stop the classes because they don't have money to continue," she added. Ambrosio, a cannery worker, said she's taking the class because she wants to lean to speak, read, and write English so she can get a better job.
In a 2005 study, the National Assessment of Adult Literacy found the median weekly earnings of proficient English-speakers were 225 percent higher than those at a below-basic level. Long, who will be holding classes at his private residence until he finishes negotiating a deal with a facility in Stayton, plans to provide English-language development from pre-literacy to conversational levels. Three separate one-hour classes will be held on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, and two one and a half hour classes will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The teachings will incorporate materials that include books, videos, computer language programs, visual aides and interactive activities.
To provide opportunties for students to use their language skills and to make it less intimidating for them to do so, the classes will consist of small groups to start, Long said. Such a need for ESL classes is expected to explode i nthe next year or so if immigration legislation now stalled in the Senate were to become law. Under the legislation, illegal immigrants would have to show proficiency in English in order to qualify for legal residency or a green card. But even if that effort fails, any future immigration legislation is expected to require proficiency in English. The majority of undocumented immigrantscurrently in the nation are believed to have limited English skills or lack English all together. Critics of illegal immigration often argue that Spanish-speaking foreigners refuse to learn English. "The problem is not that immigrants don't want to learn English," Long said. "Its that they often can't afford classes."
Details
Adult ESL classes are scheduled to begin Monday.
The cost is $50 for a 10 week course.
Applicants can register online at www.oocities.org/staytonlanguageacademy/main.html
For information, call (503)-769-7515
The following mistakes from the original newspaper articles in the Statesman Journal and the Stayton Mail. The tow articles are both the result of one interview. The Stayton Mail is owned by the Statesman Journal its featured article on Stayton Language Academy was an alternate version of the Statesman article. The corrections have been made to the articles Upon being posted on the Stayton Language Academy webpage.
1. The reporter referreed to Long's Degree as a Social Science History. Long's degree is in History which falls into the category of social sciences. Also, added to this internet version of the article was the point of fact that Long minored in Spanish. This helps state his credentials for teaching English as a Second Language.
2. A mistake was made in the original newspaper printed and Statesman Journal website version of the article. The reporter accidently referred to the program as Stayton Learning Academy.
3. Long's statement that there are no ESl programs in east Marion County referred to the absence of full ESl programs. Chemeketa Community College Santiam Campus offers one ESl class per term, however this is not a full ESL program. The context of Long's statement was not given in the orginal article.
4. In the original article, the class schedule was mis-stated. According the the original SLA class schedule, There are 5 classes that meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All are 1 hour and 40 min long. There are four classes that meet Tuesday and Thursday. They are all 2 hours 30 min long.
In total all classes meet 5 hours per week.
