Community Colleges and English Language Learners

Adult ELL face different challenges than younger students when learning English. Job placement, financial security, and education are essential to providing for their family and future. Success in these areas is often dependent upon one's skill in English. There are many obstacles these students must face in pursuing their dreams for success. As Stuart Tichenor explains in "Community Colleges and teaching English as a second language: Serving the limited English Proficient", community colleges can serve an important purpose in the education of an English Language Learner.

Tichenor begins the article by discussing the reasons why ESL students may require courses at a community college. Paraphrasing Kathleen Llanos, he says that just as with all those who attend community college, ESL students find themselves "on two tracks: the university bound and the vocational bound" (p 55).

Teachers of these ESL students must work to provide both the academic and vocational support needed. Conversational English is required; however, it can not stand independent of academic English and vocational opportunities. The curriculum that teachers in community colleges use must be designed in such a way that incorporates the need to learn a skill and the need to be able to communicate with English only speakers.

It is the need for communication that is the basis for the communicative method of teaching which Tichenor focuses on in his discussion of teaching methodology. Tichenor says that this method is "often used in vocational ESL classes, or in English for specific purposes (ESP) classes" (p. 56) and is ideal for exposing the student to English that is essential for their vocation. Scenarios and actual materials relevant to the job are

used in this method to teach the students the English they will need to know in order to perform their job-related tasks.