Location

Breakout Room E

Start Date

17-6-2021 12:40 PM

End Date

17-6-2021 1:55 PM

Abstract

Ontario's education system aims to improve children's literacy levels who hail from diverse backgrounds. Schools must tailor their program layout to their students’ unique needs. Immersion is one of them. As with submersion, instruction occurs in the second language (L2), but there are significant differences. ESL students experience linguistic barriers. According to Migration Matters (June 2017), by 2022, 78% of job openings will require some post-secondary training or university degree. Many immigrants do not have the skills necessary to succeed, and these percentages have not improved. There is a widening incongruence between the complexity of the needs of ESL learners and the availability of ESL [English as a Second Language] services in Canadian schools. School boards across Canada have steadily reduced ESL services over the years (Nichols et al., 2020). Schools are not meeting the language needs of immigrant youth in Ontario, where 29.1% of the population, the highest of any province, is foreign-born (Government of Ontario, 2017). In 2017, 63% of Ontario's elementary schools and 58% of secondary schools had English language learners (ELLs). However, only 38% of English-language elementary schools had ESL teachers (People for Education, 2017). 20% of elementary schools and 31% of secondary schools have no formal process for identifying ELL students (People for Education, 2015), which is the first step to placing students in ELL services. Students’ diverse needs must be met for them to acquire necessary literacy skills. Literacy is a civil right—no one should leave the school system as an illiterate person.

Keywords

Literacy, ESL, Social Justice, Pedagogy, Evidence-Based Literacy

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Jun 17th, 12:40 PM Jun 17th, 1:55 PM

Literacy Gatekeepers in the Ontario Education System. Why ESL Students Fail? A Bordieuan Perspective

Breakout Room E

Ontario's education system aims to improve children's literacy levels who hail from diverse backgrounds. Schools must tailor their program layout to their students’ unique needs. Immersion is one of them. As with submersion, instruction occurs in the second language (L2), but there are significant differences. ESL students experience linguistic barriers. According to Migration Matters (June 2017), by 2022, 78% of job openings will require some post-secondary training or university degree. Many immigrants do not have the skills necessary to succeed, and these percentages have not improved. There is a widening incongruence between the complexity of the needs of ESL learners and the availability of ESL [English as a Second Language] services in Canadian schools. School boards across Canada have steadily reduced ESL services over the years (Nichols et al., 2020). Schools are not meeting the language needs of immigrant youth in Ontario, where 29.1% of the population, the highest of any province, is foreign-born (Government of Ontario, 2017). In 2017, 63% of Ontario's elementary schools and 58% of secondary schools had English language learners (ELLs). However, only 38% of English-language elementary schools had ESL teachers (People for Education, 2017). 20% of elementary schools and 31% of secondary schools have no formal process for identifying ELL students (People for Education, 2015), which is the first step to placing students in ELL services. Students’ diverse needs must be met for them to acquire necessary literacy skills. Literacy is a civil right—no one should leave the school system as an illiterate person.

 

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