Community Based ESL: An Assessment of a Federal Pilot Initiative

Abstract

This article provides an overview of an assessment that TESL Canada undertook of Employment and Immigration Canada's pilot programme, the Settlement Language Training Program (198617). Ten projects in the programme in Ontario, Manitoba, and B.C. were studied. The programme was well received. Its community based delivery and the availability of babysitting and transportation supports were important to its success. Good needs assessment for outreach and curriculum proved to be critical. Special attention needs to be paid to the needs of learners with low levels of literacy. Implications for future initiatives of this type are drawn on the topics of needs assessments, decision making structures, delivery agencies, time-frames and funding levels, and programme models.