ESOL

‘Western industrialized countries must look beyond their own sunny backyard and recognize the economic imbalances between north and south globally, between east and west in Europe, and, indeed, between the rich and the poor within many industrialized nations’; Stefano Marzano ‘Chocolate for breakfast’ International Design Congress, 1993.

On the 4th May 2004 the European Union opened its doors to ten new accession countries in Eastern and Central Europe. The United Kingdom was and still is one of the few nations, which opened its labour market to the citizens of these countries. This initiative brought a huge wave of immigration to the UK. Hundreds of thousands of people embarked upon a journey in search of a better life and new opportunities.

The problem with accepting such a large number of immigrants into the UK without English language skills is a real challenge for British society. Recent research has identified that the UK
Government spent at least £100m on translating and interpreting for immigrants in the past year, but the true figure is likely to be much more.

The UK aims to support immigrants via a range of social projects and
in order to reduce costs the government set up the programme “English
for speakers of other languages’ (ESOL). Courses are free of charge and have proven to be very popular, clearly language is considered as the basis for integration into the host society.

‘Language is more than vocabulary; it is an enabling mechanism which explains why and how people behave. It is more than what you say but how you say it.’ Janice Kirkpatrick, ‘City culture pays’ International Design Congress, 1993.

Every person has a history and a story to tell and their own reason to migrate. Mine, in moving from Vilnius (Lithuania) to London and then on to Swindon is probably very similar to thousands of others’, however what is particularly interesting is observing how people respond to the opportunities presented to them.

Swindon College has been running ESOL as an evening course since 1996 and not surprisingly it has become particularly popular in the past three years. In the classroom it soon becomes evident how diverse peoples’ objectives are. Well-educated individuals rarely miss a class even after a hard days work. Whilst those whose sole purpose is to earn as much money as possible soon lose interest and drop out. It is fascinating being a part of and working with just such a group and the attached photographs aim to show something of this experience.


[697x127]

[699x502]
[699x466]