ESL PSA English as a Second Language Provincial Specialist Association

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Welcome to the English as a Second Language Provincial Specialist Association*
The ESL/D PSA is an organization of professionals striving to:

* Improve the quality of ESL/D education in British Columbia
* Promote a greater awareness of ESL/D and the needs of ESL students and educators
* Stimulate improvement and quality ESL/D education throughout the province

Canada is one of the top countries in the world in terms of numbers of immigrants and refugees accepted annually. BC and, in particular Vancouver and the urban areas that surround it, receive the second highest numbers of such “new Canadians” in Canada. One direct result of this is that English as a Second Language [ESL] learners in BC public schools are rapidly increasing. ESL learners now constitute the majority in the larger urban school districts, and are rapidly increasing in numbers in all other jurisdictions of the province. It is, therefore, critical that we support these new learners, our future citizens and tax payers, as effectively as possible. This mandate has become increasingly challenging for a variety of reasons.

This document first summarizes the core issues, makes some recommendations for action, then explores the underlying complexity that has helped to create what we are calling a “crisis in ESL education” – a crisis for the students and their teachers.

Detailed analysis on “A Crisis in ESL Education” is available here on either MS Word or PDF.

* ESL learners include English Second Dialect learners. ESD describes the language of students who speak a dialect of English that is significantly different from the Standard English used in schools. In BC many of these students are of aboriginal ancestry. The community dialects of some aboriginal groups contain elements of both aboriginal languages and English. As such, these dialects reflect aspects of aboriginal identity and communication styles. Support for ESD students usually focuses on increasing capacity in the academic language favored by school discourse and texts and also on helping students make links between their cultural knowledge and school subjects.

Marlene Eccles
SD #27
Williams Lake
250.398.7192
marlene.eccles@sd27.bc.ca