Publication Date
1981
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)
First Advisor
Ruthanne Brown
Abstract
This paper describes the creation and first year of development of a three-component conversational ESL and acculturation program for Soviet Jewish immigrants. The project was designed to meet the needs of a private social service agency engaged in resettlement in Long Beach, California. It consisted of reorganization and development of a newly formed volunteer tutorial project, and the creation and development of a weekly class program and a series of cross-cultural communication gatherings.
Of special note are selections which discuss the orientation, on-going training, and problems relative to the employment of non-professionals as tutors and teaching assistants. Approaches, methods, and materials are evaluated with respect to both adaptability by non-professional staff and effectiveness with students. learner-centered, non-book-based oral/aural activities are emphasized in both the tutorial and class components.
Although this project deals solely with Soviet Jews, it is hoped that it may be used as a model or resource for the development of programs seeking to serve the linguistic and acculturation needs of any recent immigrant group, regardless of ethnicity.
Disciplines
Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching | Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Teacher Education and Professional Development
Recommended Citation
Wachman, Robert Charles, "Developing a Conversational English as a Second Language and Acculturation Program for a Social Service Agency Engaged in the Resettlement of Soviet Jewish Immigrants" (1981). MA TESOL Collection. 318.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/ipp_collection/318
Included in
Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons