Providing English Language Classes Through Partnership

Abstract

The Community ESL Project and the Language Teaching Practicum at Portland State University in the department of Applied Linguistics is possible because of the leadership of Maxine Thompson, Coordinator at the Leaders Roundtable and Lena Koessler, Intensive English Language Program faculty at Portland State University. Practicum supervisors Leslie Siebert, Regina Weaver, and Jenny Stenseth continued to provide leadership as the project expanded and changed. The partnership with Rose Schnitzer Tower is to the credit of efforts by Lena Koessler and Rose Schnitzer Tower service coordinators including Miley Stanton-Flowers and Natasha Pellechi."According to 2018 American Community Survey data, there are 25.6 million children, youth, and adults who speak English less than very well in the United States. Of those, 11.4 million are adults ages 18 and older. Data on the federally funded adult education system under the Workforce Innovation Act (WIOA) Title II show that programs have served fewer than one million of these adults in ESOL classes per year over the last 10 years." (Uvin et al., 2021