Charting A Course:
Responding to the Industry-Related
Instructional Needs of the Limited
English Proficient

Responding to Learners’ Needs for Industry-Related Instruction

How can Adult Education effectively respond to the many needs of its limited English proficient adult learners? The answer is complex, since Adult Education is but one player in the workforce development schema. But Rider 82 tasks Adult Education with the development of demand-driven workplace literacy and basic skills curricula, and efforts are already underway in response to this challenge.

Rider 82 also requires one of Adult Education’s partners, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), to provide resources, industry-specific information, and expertise identified as necessary by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to support the development and implementation of the curricula. The collaboration between TEA/ Adult Education and its partners must serve as change agents in linking English language services and job training opportunities for the limited English proficient - services not historically linked in Texas.

The blueprint for success in response to Rider 82 requires all members of the workforce development system to seek innovative solutions to meeting the targeted population’s education and training needs. TWC is being asked to exercise its state leadership capacity to help workforce development communities – local workforce development boards, postsecondary education and training providers, employers, and other stakeholders – bridge the gaps in services to the limited English proficient. Obviously, curricular efforts alone will have little impact and learners will be shortchanged without access to a continuum of services (Texas Workforce Investment Council, 2003).

Recommended curricular components
While it is universally accepted that today’s job seekers are at varying levels of employment readiness, it is also common knowledge that many individuals transitioning into the workforce suffer from a common set of skill deficiencies– skill deficiencies that adversely impact their employability.

Employers are obviously concerned about low basic skills, inadequate technical training, limited English skills and their impact on the quality of services and products they can provide. In addition, employers are concerned about employees’ lack of job readiness skills (e.g., punctuality, interpersonal, problem solving, and teamwork skills), personal life management skills, and an understanding of appropriate workplace behavior. Many of these skills are often collectively referred to as life skills, soft skills, and/or pre-employment skills.

It stands to reason that the worker with enough technical ability and/or experience to function generally in an industry and/or occupation fares better in the job market than one still struggling to communicate in English. The challenge: to provide English language learners with opportunities for vocational and technical training while their English language skills are still developing. This is where Adult Education’s partners play critical roles.

According to a 2004 study by the Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL), the most successful career-related training programs offer support in a number of related areas. It is recommended that these components also be considered in response to Rider 82:

1. Orientation activities aimed at improving individuals’ understanding of career options and how to pursue them, these activities are also designed to help learners make a firm commitment to participation and to minimize barriers to successful participation. An orientation should always precede student enrollment into industry-specific ESL training. An introduction to healthcare occupations, for example, should give learners a preview of the work and commitment required.
2. Work readiness skills to prepare individuals for employment and help them balance their roles as workers, family members, and citizens, and to orient them to the culture of the workplace. Job specific skills vary by occupation, but almost all jobs require minimum competencies in both social and technical skills. Common skills required for nearly all the jobs in today’s growth areas include:
   • Problem solving
   • Good job-related communication
   • Decision making
   • Comfort working with numbers
   • Good basic academic skills
   • Ability to follow instructions
   • Ability to work with a team
   • An understanding of safety rules and work procedures
   • Punctuality
   • Computer literacy

   To many educators, prerequisite employability skills are closely aligned with the life skills integral to every adult education program. However, TWC Commissioner Ron Lehmann finds the use of the term “soft skills” sometimes misleading. Too many workers lose their jobs or can’t advance, he points out, because they do not understand that insubordination, disrespect, absenteeism, tardiness, the inability to communicate with others and work as a team, and to understand deadlines are critical employability skills. “Those are not soft skills, folks. If they’re going to get you fired, they’re not soft; they’re hard.” (Texas Workforce Commission Meeting, November 18, 2003).

3. English as a Second Language and basic skills instruction in reading, writing, and math. These seem to be most beneficial to both worker and employer when offered as contextualized courses and in conjunction with work skills training, technical training, or both. This, however, requires an innovative approach to instruction and requires collaboration among educators and trainers at several levels. Instructors must be prepared to balance language skills development and work skills development in work-related ESOL instruction.

   Basic skills instruction also includes helping learners develop the critical thinking skills (application, analysis, synthesis, and ability to evaluate) necessary to improve their basic skills and study skills, as well as their knowledge about employment options to levels that will enable them to take successful steps toward technical training.

4. Assessments to measure learner progress and document outcomes/ changes in work-related performance and behavior. Assessment of work-related skills is closely tied to the language and basic skills needs identified as essential to a specific workplace or industry. The instructional objectives are based on these needs and can be further articulated via a language task analysis conducted prior to instructional delivery. In addition to assessment with a standardized, commercial instrument such as the Basic English Skills Test (BEST), program developed, performance-based assessments are needed to measure a learner’s ability to apply what has been learned to specific, real life tasks.
5. Technical skills instruction to prepare adults for entry-level positions or to help incumbent workers take steps forward on career pathways. The most basic skill sets needed, in terms of technical training, are computer literacy and basic applications, the ability to read and understand technical manuals, and when possible, familiarity with technical equipment and processes.
6. Next-step technical instruction – a link or bridge to post secondary education and/or training leading to career opportunities that require certification or licensure in healthcare, manufacturing, and sales and service industry clusters.

The challenge for local workforce development networks and education / training providers lies in discovering ways to integrate services when addressing the language, literacy, and workforce-related needs of limited English proficient adults. Because Adult Education cannot provide occupational training itself, collaboration between Adult Education and post secondary education and training providers is critical to providing components 5 and 6 in this continuum.

Lessons Learned From Those Who’ve Gone Before Us
With other states facing similar challenges in meeting the work-related needs of a limited English proficient workforce, information about what seems to work or doesn’t work abounds:

• Cost and time are certainly factors in integrating education and training programs, but perhaps the most daunting task is to arm individuals with a commitment to lifelong learning that will sustain them in their pursuit of the first rung and beyond. The goal then is to create bridges so that adult learners can move from one job to better paying jobs as their language and basic skills improve and a GED certificate or a work readiness credential becomes attainable.
• A lesson learned by the programs included in the CAAL study: education services must be intensive, integrated, and supported by the institutions offering the services as well as partnering employers in the community. Without commitments from the healthcare, sales and service, and manufacturing / trades industries, the best curriculum will fall short of the real objective: gainful employment. The CAAL report describes several instructional approaches that can guide program development:
• Vocational English-as–a-Second-Language (VESL or VESOL) Programs.These courses are offered to students with low levels of English language ability. They are usually of quite high-intensity (meeting up to 20 hours per week) and of short duration (three to four months). Most of the examples in the programs reviewed are either general orientation courses for specific industries and occupations, or courses that provide students access to entry-level jobs and opportunities to receive hands-on training.

  Some professional ESOL professionals take exception to these courses, arguing that they do not follow standard language learning theory nor do they provide students with portable English language skills. However, the completion rates of these programs are usually high, and the employers contacted by CAAL believe they provide real value.

• Longer-term contextualized ESOL courses.These ESL programs are based on the same principles as short VESL programs, but the program is essentially open-ended. Students can continue to improve their English following a curriculum based on industry-related tasks until they reach a level of proficiency adequate for employment or further technical training. Sustaining these over time, however, is a financial challenge.
• A Modular approach to curriculum development. High intensity, short duration courses are needed. The window for training is often limited by both time and funding, plus unemployed adults must find ways to support themselves and their families. Short duration courses seem to reduce attrition, and high intensity programs familiarize participants with the very real pressures of the work environment.
• Guidance/coaching/case management. Most of the programs included in the CAAL study offer some form of career guidance for both low-skilled and other participants. The nature and duration of this support differs from program to program and among program components, but the common goal is to support and sustain low-skilled workers while they incrementally improve their basic and technical training skills. Quality instruction by itself will not necessarily lead to a successful program. Program design, management, and support systems are equally important underpinnings in work-related initiatives.
• Focus. The old adage, think big but start small, has valuable application for programs seeking to integrate English language instruction and vocational skills training. Ambitious goals are commendable, but programs attempting to offer multiple components face increasingly complex managerial and financial challenges. A scattering of effort and the temptation to try to be all things to all people can adversely impact the quality of the program.
• Technology solutions. One program included in the CAAL study (Owensboro Community College) uses instructional technology to allow incumbent workers to improve their basic skills at their own pace. The program is based on the WorkKeys job skills assessment system and aligned instructional courseware (not recommended for use with most low level English language learners). It centers on a learning laboratory at a hospital. In principle, workers at any skill level can use the learning laboratory and targeted instruction from a resident trainer to upgrade their basic skills in their spare time, and at their own pace, until they reach levels identified as suitable for promotion or further technical training.

Technology solutions of this kind may be a way for low-level incumbent workers to reach the proficiency to enter career ladder programs in a cost­effective, user-friendly way, provided employers are willing to finance technology solutions. At the very least, technology may give workers without standard academic credentials (such as a high school diploma) a way to demonstrate their skill levels and thereby qualify for promotions within their job categories, lateral moves, or training programs.

Varied Approaches to Delivering Work-Related ESOL instruction
Adult education programs differ in their capacity to deliver workforce-related instruction to English language learners. Decisions about delivery will be influenced by local collaboration within workforce development systems as well as by local businesses and industries. Instructional delivery may incorporate one or more of the following configurations (Hanson, 2005):

1. The coordinated approach – two separate classes are offered but they are jointly planned and coordinated. Example: An ESOL teacher provides English language instruction related to workforce issues, topics, and terminology; a vocational or occupational training instructor provides technical instruction. The teacher support one another by reinforcing the use of work-related concepts and terminology to ensure as much integration as possible. In some instances, one class is offered morning and one afternoon, or on alternate days, and the number of hours of ESOL instruction and vocational/occupational instruction may fluctuate in response to the needs and language proficiencies of the learners. As the title suggests, this approach requires extensive coordination by providers.
2. The integrated approach – Two instructors (one ESOL and one vocational) team teach one class. This is a challenging approach in that the instructors must be totally committed to and capable of implementing a team approach to instruction. The advantage: having two instructors in a classroom provides opportunities to do small group learning activities focused on learners’ specific language and vocational needs, and language and work skills are reinforced continuously. This innovative, unprecedented approach requires education partners to think totally outside the box while still adhering to course requirements set by the sponsoring institutions. Again, coordination is key.
3. The book end model – Vocational content is preceded and followed by ESOL instruction. English language skills are addressed in the first phase of instruction, occupational training follows, and additional ESOL instruction is the final phase of instruction. This configuration is sometimes necessary when partnering providers are unable to coordinate or integrate instruction to the extent described in the first two approaches. However, some joint planning and coordination are necessary if learners are to benefit from this approach to instruction.
4. The stand alone model – either a vocational teacher or an ESOL teacher delivers all of the instruction. Either way, it requires considerable preparation and cross training, which can be costly and time consuming.

An ESOL instructor working with any of the suggested approaches must acquire a requisite, basic understanding of the workplace and can do so by taking advantage of the following opportunities:

• tour a manufacturing plant or worksite
• job shadow a worker with limited English language skills
• interview both native and non-native speakers of English employed in the workplace
• discuss with frontline supervisors the perceived challenges faced by workers with limited English language proficiency
• review environmental print workers are expected to understand and use

Hanson makes a number of suggestions to ensure success with these four approaches:

1. Student cohorts should be formed for tutorial purposes. There is strength in numbers, a support system develops, and cohorts can be tracked.
2. Mentoring by employer partners promotes buy-in and commitment.
3. Commitment and close coordination between adult education and vocational / occupational training departments or programs are critical to each approach.
4. A study skills module is an absolute must (can include cultural issues, which can be particularly critical when dealing with health matters).
5. It is important that any integrated program continue to develop language and study skills during the course of training: practice, practice, practice!

The Case For Use of Learners’ Native Language in Workplace Instruction.
There is one last but important consideration to be made in the course of curriculum development for Texas’ English language learning adults seeking employment and opportunities to advance in the workplace. Use of the native language in workplace instruction, particularly in worksites where workers share the same native language, can minimize miscommunication and can accelerate learner comprehension of difficult concepts (Katz, 2000; Moore, 1999; Taggart & Martinez, 2003).

This requires a judicious choice of which language to use for which purposes, and bilingual teachers may need explicit criteria as to when to use the native language and when to use English (Taggart & Martinez, 2003). Taggart and Martinez suggest that the learners’ native language be used to teach the difficult content that they need to know in order to do a task. Then the English vocabulary and structures they need to listen, read, write, and talk about the tasks should be taught. Ana Huerta-Macías (2003) offers a model for using the two languages:

• The topic is introduced in the native language
• Key English vocabulary items are taught
• Hands-on activities (such as those involving workplace machines) are carried out in English and assessed in English
• Technology activities follow, with discussion in the native language
• Final discussion and question/answer activities are carried out in whichever language each individual student prefers
• If a class has speakers of several different languages, Huerta-Macías suggests dividing the group into same-language small groups for discussion of the workplace issues in the native language
• Each group then, in English, frames questions about the workplace issues for the teacher

It is important to remember that curricula being adapted and/or further developed must be replicable in other parts of the state where industry needs are similar but native languages are different or may be too numerous to make instruction using native language feasible.

The Balance Between Content and Language Skills Development
Equally important in selecting, adapting, or developing work-related curricula is the answer to the following question: does the product provide a balance between content (work-related contextual learning) and English language skills development? In a recent pilot study (November 2002 –June 2003), learners in four adult education programs participated in the piloting of a retail sales curriculum for English language learners. Participants’ observations emphasize the critical balance between content and language skills development:

• 57% felt they were well prepared for a job in retail sales by the end of the course
• Only 12% felt they were well prepared to speak English on the job

What happened? The course design employed an excellent integrated model: the course ran for eleven weeks, 25 hours per week, for a total of 275 hours, including class-based instruction and store-based internships. Class-based instruction decreased but was not discontinued as hours spent in internships increased.

The Equipped for the Future Center for Training and Technical Assistance (University of Tennessee at Knoxville) posed appropriate questions in regard to pilot results:

1. Was the material in the six week core curriculum appropriate and adequate for preparing ESL learners for the retail sales industry?
2. Was the duration of class-based instruction sufficient?
3. Was the duration of the internships sufficient?
4. How useful was the course overall in preparing students for retail sales work and for speaking English at work?

All but the last question was answered positively. Participants themselves recognized the need for additional, ongoing English language instruction. They articulated what we already know about language learning: it takes time, and practice, practice, practice. A number of variables may have contributed to the limited attainment of English language proficiency:

• Mastery of the retail sales content did not translate to fluency in the English language. Both instructors and participants felt that additional activities to develop communication skills were needed.
• True integration and reinforcement of work-related content and English language instruction require careful planning and thorough preparation of both instructional staff and employer mentors (one participant remarked that her retail sales mentor spoke only Spanish to her, insisting that the participant would be able to practice her English with customers).
• In some instances, learners’ English language proficiencies fell far below the levels recommended for participation in the pilot.
• Instructors using participants’ native language to facilitate English language learning may not have been well equipped in determining when native language use facilitated English language learning versus when it became a crutch and might have hindered learning of the second language.
• Work-relevant approaches to ESOL can result in high degrees of language transferability while ensuring the development of occupation-specific language only if there is a balance between content and language skills development, with an understanding that the development of one will not necessarily proceed at the same pace as the other. Clearly, there must be a focus on communicative competence for sustainable success.

Collaboration with Employers
Another critical lesson learned from others’ efforts: All programs of this sort involve collaboration between educational/job training organizations (community-based organizations, community colleges, unions, or employer-sponsored training programs) and one or more employers in the industry. This collaboration are essential because employers are the customers of these training efforts.

Ideally, collaboration extends well beyond good working relationships with human relations managers to include informed and active buy-in by CEOs, frontline supervisors, department heads, physicians, and others. All levels of an employer’s staff should be involved in planning the program, refining it, and participating in it by mentoring, coaching, or tracking the progress of trainees.

Furthermore, not all entry-level job opportunities are created equal but must be adapted to local circumstances. This requires the active participation of employers. Without their involvement, training programs will not result in jobs or improvement in job performance. Employers that gain confidence in programs of this type can be substantial sources of financial and in-kind support.

A large number of American corporations already contribute to literacy on an occasional basis, but only a small number have established adult literacy as a major priority for their philanthropic activities. Many support programs that benefit children or promote reading generally; some also support programs in such areas as health literacy, financial literacy, or computer literacy. Generally, this is an impressive corporate track record, and while contributions to adult literacy may be modest compared to those made to literacy in general, modest contributions can have a significant impact on adult literacy. For example, with corporate support, local adult education programs can often expand their programs to include technology otherwise unaffordable.

Most corporate donors want to be able to determine the impact their contributions make. Workplace literacy initiatives should be able to provide some measures of impact, such as increases in numbers served, increases in hours of service, and numbers of adult learners who qualify for employment. Corporate donors must bear in mind, however, that their contributions represent only a percentage of support, and the relationship between their funding and the outcomes may not always be clear (Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy, 2005).

Collaboration Among Service Providers
With adult education funds being used to respond to Rider 82, it is only logical that adult education providers must be prepared to take the lead in workforce-related instructional programs. But some have no history in providing such programs. Adult Education’s successful response to Rider 82 requires a strengthening of collaboration with other members of the workforce development system, particularly those with well established employer contacts. Too few adult learners can make the transition to post secondary education and training without support beyond what Adult Education can provide. Community colleges provide a vital gateway to postsecondary education and training. Regarded and funded as two separate service systems, establishing links between adult education programs and community colleges is often a challenge. Among community colleges that already serve as administrators of adult education programs in Texas, some have discovered ways to narrow the gap between adult education and post secondary programs. To expand these already successful efforts, assistance is needed from Adult Education’s partners in the Texas Workforce Development System’s Strategic Action Plan – the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Specific needs include:

• a strong commitment to creating “bridge” or “gap” programs to post secondary education, training, and career opportunities for the population being targeted, i.e., English language learners with minimal formal education and without the employment skills needed;
• managerial flexibility that allows for entrepreneurial solutions to workforce needs, and institutional support in terms of staff time, facilities, and support services such as tutoring and diagnostic testing;
• opportunities for cross training of instructional staff so that programs can provide authentic and meaningful work-related instruction;
• identification of funding sources for collaborative, innovative partnerships

A good example of a successful partnership among adult education providers and the community college is the Health Career Pathways’ Bridges Program at Shoreline Community College in Seattle. Designed to be taken concurrently with upper level ESOL instruction, this health care training initiative could possibly serve as a model for a partnership between a local adult education provider and a community college, and with the support of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Without a “bridge program” designed to help learners access the additional education needed for healthcare careers, for example, most entry-level employment begins and ends with Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training.

Collaboration among education providers would not be complete without the mention of funding. How does one finance bridge programs? With both adult education and community colleges underfunded at both state and federal levels, policy makers must examine their responsibility for gaps in services (Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy, 2005).

What Will Make This Initiative Unique and Successful?

The proliferation of instructional materials already available may cause one to question the need for Texas to craft its own unique response to the work-related needs of English language learners. This is a legitimate question. The success of this initiative will be closely tied to the investments made by all members of the workforce development system. The blueprint for success, above and beyond curricular responses to Rider 82, is a framework that identifies all services that must be included in a successful, industry-related initiative for the limited English proficient. Without critical collaboration among adult education providers, post secondary providers of vocational training, local workforce boards and their one-stop operators, and local employers, one more addition to the curricula already out there can have no significant impact or remarkable outcome. Simply put, the nuts and bolts of this initiative is collaboration that extend well beyond the efforts of the past.

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