Wed. 12/22/10

Emailed Ann K. to let her know that my research is taking an interesting turn, and that I may in touch w/her about her referring to me a previous student (her "daughter") who could help me facilitate a focus learner focus group.

-Motivations
-Supports
-Barriers
-Recommendations for changes/improvements

Wed. 12/22/10

I wrote to Dr. Bryan yesterday and told her that I was not able to use the learners' interview data (solely-b/c of the language barrier) and that I want to add a focus group(s). I would like to perhaps still use some of this interview data that I already got but also add some focus groups. Perhaps one for the teachers and one for the learners. I would ask a neutral person (not a BCL English Cafe teacher) with ESOL teaching experience preferrably to translate.

Also what about adding a protocol where I interview family members of learners who are in the program, to further assess the sociocultural supporting element? I would do this in a focus group with the criteria that family members must be speakers of English. Or I would have on hand a bilingual translator? Would this person need to take the CITI training and be designated as a co-researcher?

See Chavez dissertation (USC, 2005)

Self-directed Learners in the Study, Sat. 12/18/10

Mika, Eugenia, Henrico, and Cruz are all self-directed learners as exhibited by several indicators. One indicator is their regular attendance in the library's English Cafe classes. Henrico, a retiree, is the only one who has not been regularly attending a library English classes except for the past few Wednesdays. He has been more committed to attending formal classes at the local adult education annex five days a week for the past five months. This is due mainly to the fact that he is retired now and has made learning English his primary goal. Also, the formal school board program is more intensive and it is a full-time program. It is also more in sync with his preference for morning classes. I met him when he began attending the library Wednesday evening class in Weston back in August.

Another indicator is the cluster of learning strategies that these learners have developed for themselves. Mimose talks about class habits she's developed on her own, "I like to sit in the front—always! The same place. I do that because I was a teacher in my country... I love my class...I come with one word or two words [whose meanings she does not know and wants to ask about]. I ask her to pronounce them for me and write them. Sometimes I ask her to write them on the board... When I ask my word sometimes, I have too many—too many questions! Teacher Nancy asks the other people first and then me last...When Nancy ask [s], Do you have a question? No questions? Everyone says, Mimose has [one], Mimose has [one]!..

She goes on to discuss a teaching technique of her teacher's. "We have books, dictionaries. Nancy brings these books. Last week, Nancy brought a book, about how to take notes. And she told me—I asked her, Where can I find [it]? I go to the library and I ask sometime and I got the same book."

It came time for Mika return the study skills book but rather than do that, she told me she renewed the book because it was so helpful to her. She continued and describe some of her own study habits:

"Sometimes I sit in the back of the library at 8:30 [am], in the quiet study [area]. I pass one hour, one hour and a half to read before I go to Nancy’s class."

Eugenia, 60, is a former Portuguese adult education teacher, and has taught at two different area night schools. She has attended the English Cafe regularly for the past three months. She talks about the value of repetitive listening as an informal strategy for learning a language as an older adult. She says that she enjoys listening to musical vocalists and books on CD. "I try to listen to the music in my car in English. Example: I love Natalie Cole and I have five CDs [of hers]. But I was in love with her. I was listening to her every single day. And I repeated the music, repeated the music. Repeat the music to understand the lyrics, no? And when she came here to Atlantic, I sang together [with her through] all the show b/c [laughing]I knew all the lyrics, all the music [laughing]. Oh my goodness, it was fantastic! And then I listen [to] books in my car, when I go to my job and return to my house.

Cruz--

Henrico--

Age as a Factor in Learning for 55 to 64 year old ELLs

I found that there was no significant difference or barrier (or rather no one chose to mention any signicant age-related barriers*) for those I interviewed in this age group. This is true no matter which end of the age spectrum I looked at,whether 55 year of age or 64 year old. In fact, I observed Janine (Jeanne's) class of nine learners where the average age of the class was 52.

She had them play a memory game and, in fact, one learner, Henrico (Hector), 62, did a superior job. I would like to know if he has any memory strategies he uses to help the others. I found that they all performed in this oral language memory exercise at about the same level with no one struggling anymore or less than anyone else. In fact, everyone displayed more than the normal level of nonverbal behaviors during this memory game exercise. Behaviors such as head holding, closing of eyes, concentrated, focused stares, and face scrunching were observed in most everyone, no matter their age.

Also, on 10/24/10, in my interview with Elida, 61, she told me that she did not experience anything differently as a learner at this age as compared to ten years earlier. She said, in fact, "In the library, I feel comfortable. It looks like I don't have age."

Sun. 12/5/10 Reflections about revealing others responses in an interview

I caught myself revealing what other people had said in their interviews. I did use names on some occasions, especially in Carlos's interview (I mentioned Mimose's and Ann's names). I must not continue that habit as it is breaking the anonymity of participants.

Sun. 12/5/10 Journaling and Learning Style inventories

In transcribing Carlos's interview, I realize from a conversation I had with Dr. Bryan this past Friday, that he may be telling me some things about his learning style, his personality, and his learning mood (lines 333-341).

I go on to encourage him to journal and write about his feelings and experiences with learning English (autographia). I am coming from the belief that his self esteem and confidence in his learning ability need to be worked on. Today, I heard from Hector on this very topic of writing about what one is learning. He writes: "A good idea is to have a diary where you record your daily experiences. [write and] read [it] aloud." This is autograpia and autologia (Lomb).

As Dr. Bryan said, it would have been good to give each learner a learning style inventory or perhaps a personality inventory (See Janine, lines 206-115) in order to assess the learners first.

However, Carlos says that for him, he gets quiet in class when he thinks or perceives that he is not the most proficient in the room (line 341). He goes on from there and talks about his desire to check out audiobooks and books so he can read and listen to the book at the same time. I realize that he is expressing a need to expand his repetoire of learning activities. That is, he desires to use some informal, self-directed auditory means of learning to support his overall language learning goal. Another way of saying this is that listening to audiobooks is an informal learning strategy.

Sun. 12/5/10, Consistent Feelings I had throughout the study

I was frustrated and concerned that the learners were not fully able to express their thoughts and ideas in the interviews due to their struggle with English language proficiency. The only learners among the eight whom I interviewed that were not very concerning were Hector and Elida. Both had taught before and both had a fairly good command of English. (Hector had been a submarine school instructor for the Colombian Navy and had studied English pretty extensively while working for the Navy. Elida had taught Portuguese in a South Florida community school setting.)

I was surprised that more learners did not opt to write their responses in Spanish. This leads me to ask for what reasons the learners were really participating. I have no direct evidence but I feel that it is because they wanted a chance to practice their English with me (which I mentioned as a benefit for participating in my study during my classroom recruitment talks with students). Only two students met with me in person for a second time to go over their transcripts (Mimose and Celina). The others were too busy and preferred for me to email them their transcripts which they all okayed with no corrections, deletions or additions.

RE: Interview Questions

Teachers:
Guy seemed to find some of the questions fuzzy, especially those about the two-prong questions about motivators and barriers. I think the questions were asked in combination, and maybe if I had broken the questions into two separate distinct questions, it would have been clearer. Also I think that Dr. G. may have confused me when she wanted me to distinguish between motivators in getting to class vs. motivators in keeping them in class.
Ann had asked me for the questions ahead of time because she is very conscientious. I found that it did help since she had already thought about her answers and come up with the basis of her responses before we actually sat and did the interview.

Learners:
All of the interviews were challenging for me, and I believe the learners as well. Because their English was more limited than mine and I did not speak Spanish, it made for communication difficulties. I used a lot of repetition of the questions and rephrasing of their responses. A recommendation is to conduct this study in Spanish with the learners (not the teachers). Although the learner interview process was difficult, I felt I got substantial answers. Holding the interviews with the teachers did help to validate the learner responses. Another reco is to interview family members.

Thurs. 12/2/10 Types of Interview Participants

First, the essays were not as popular as I anticipated. However, I was glad that it was available for participants who wanted to participate but otherwise could not have because their English was not as good.

Home Interviews:
Graciela (the 1st interview was conducted in the library and the 2nd interview was conducted in her home).
Elida (my only interview with her was conducted in her home).

Phone Interview:
Pam, c0-teacher of Ann

Co-teacher Participants:
Suzi-Sandi
Guy

Undereducated Learner Participant:
Celina (no high school diploma or GED)

PhD Learner Participant:
Olga

Couple Learner Participants:
Ernesto & Olga
Orlando & (wife)-Wife only came to help w/ a little bit of translation; she is not a student.

Participants Who Got Tearful or Sad:
Celina (lost several family members including her parents at a young age; has a handicapped daughter w/ musical talent but who has no schooling options at the moment due to her age, 22).
Ann (is widowed & lost most of her family)
Aida (sad, is divorced).

Limited English Speakers:
Maria
Lilia

Essays Only:
Maria

Wed. 12/1/10 Last interview completed (Sandi, NOR)

My last interview was completed last night. It was with a co-teacher (Sandi) of someone I already interviewed (Suzi). This interview allows me to confirm and validate what I observed in Suzi's class and interview (I did not observe the two of them teaching, however.)

She allayed my concerns about the fact that Suzi arrives late to class. Sandi let me know that she is one who comes early to class and stays afterwards. She herself suffered with rheumatoid arthritis since she was twelve. I think her physical challenges have a way of reaching the students affectively.

She highlighted a few stories about students who come early to class and stay later. It reaffirmed an earlier finding from at least three of the other teachers I interviewed: this is a learner strategy that they have which helps them to overcome the fear of embarrassment from making a mistake in the large group. In fact, she is the one who comes to class early and stays late. The class often goes past 12 and they often stay an additional 15 0r 20 minutes.

She also said that she tries to speak at a slower rate, she repeats infomation, she uses eye contact and she smiles and stays relaxed when she teaches. I was happy to hear this since I noticed that Suzi has a faster rate of speech that was a bit concerning. These are all effective ESL teacher traits.

She also uses the technique that Nancy uses a lot. She starts the class with students asking about word meanings and such, e.g. her "fasting" example.

She and Suzi are now also using children's materials in class (see Janine, Lisa, Ann, Myra, and Jimena).

Sun. 11/28/10 Teacher vs. Learner Findings

I will need to delineate "Teacher Perceived Motivations vs. Learner Perceived Motivations."
Also "Teacher Perceived Support Factors" vs. "Learner Perceived Support Factors."
And "Teacher Perceived Barriers vs. Learner Perceived Barriers."

Also there needs to be a section in the Findings on "Knowledge & Skills Sought by Learners," "New Services Recommended by Learners," "Teaching Approaches, Materials, Techniques & Strategies Used by Teachers," and "Sociocultural Factors Recommended by Learners."

THurs. 11/25/10 Formal & Nonformal Enrollees

I will probably want to discuss the students who dually enrolled in both nonformal and formal ELL. Mimose, Hector and Carlos are currently dually enrolled. Mimose and Carlos are unemployed and Hector is retired. Some have been previously enrolled in formal education prior to discovering the library's English Cafe: Elida, Orlando, and Aida. One has attended only several English Cafe classes and no other English classes yet she has lived in the U.S. for 25 years. As a mother of a 22 year old Downs Syndrome daughter, this may explain in part why.

Wed. 11/24/10 Interview w/Hector (Henrico)--Weston

Hector, age 62, had the best fluency of all the learners I interviewed so far. His wife is Colombian but she lived in the U.S. before and worked in Colombia as an English teacher. Interestingly from the comments he made in our interview, he is a self-directed lifelong learner! He taught me a word: autographia. I thought it meant spelling but when I went home, I went on the Internet and found out that it is one of three self-directed strategies originated by the Hungarian multilinguist, Dr. Kato Lomb.

Lomb died in 2003 at 94 years of age, having mastered 17 languages!

Three of her strategies are given below. Hector knew about them as well because he replied to a question I asked him via email, Tell me what you know about 'autographia.' This is what he wrote:

Autolexia: reading for myself.
Autographia: writing for myself, When I try to write about what I'm thinking about each situation.
Autologia: speaking with myself, Thinking in English and having English conversations with myself.

She also has "10 Suggestions for Language Learning" and "10 No's of Language Learning"
Reference: http://www.lingua.org.uk/lomb.alkire.html Originally published in The International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (Fall 2005) [not owned by Nova or FAU Libraries].

Her language learning research is "relatively unknown" in the SLA field. The article cited above correlates her strategies to documented strategies, and it can be seen that her work actually lays the foundation for the past 25 years of SLA theory.

Hector responded about what his obstacles are to learning English. He said that he believes it is better not to focus on learning the rules of English so much as learning to listen and develop an ear for English (See Jimena), (lines 465-492). This is in line with the thinking of immersing oneself in all forms of learning a language: informal, formal and nonformal. Also to write about what one is learning, Hector says. Hector epitomizes the ideal Third Age learner because he has the time to dedicate to learning now, and he is consciously aware of his need to incorporate all three forms of learning. He also is an active member of the South FL Astronomers' Association. I witnessed him asking students of the Weston English Cafe to come with him--and one did, I later learned!

Motivation:
An important reason for Hector to come to the E.C. is just to know people (line 552).

Moreover, it became clear to me that most of the participants attending the BCL's English Cafe are quite educated with a minimum of a college degree. This helps explain why so many are over age 50. Therefore, with classes comprised mostly of the young-old or middle-aged, it is appropriate to address their unique learning needs and to discuss andragocial teaching strategies with volunteer teacher and paid staff alike. With increased understanding and awareness of their language learning needs and supports as well as knowledge of their motivations and barriers, administrators and teachers alike will be better prepared and capable of meeting them.

Fri. 11/19/10 Interview over phone w/ Pam (SWR)

The phone interview was conducted using GoogleTalk and my digital recorder. (I debated about using an online phone recording company but realized that is wasn't necessary.) It went well except for when the reception got poor midway through. I called Pam back and things cleared up from there.

My interview with Pam was an overall terrific confirmation of my interview & observations of Ann on 11/1 and 11/15. I need to mention here that I should have asked Lydia her age when I was there. She heard my introduction and did not initially volunteer. Pam is not sure if she is older than 67 (Pam's age) or not, but she said that she will call her and suggest she talk with me. Her English is quite proficient and she has been in the class for three years.

This interview with Pam is giving me the idea that I should interview Sandy now, Suzi's cohort at NOR. I want to plan that for the first week in Dec.

Background on Pam:
She has taught since 2005 or 2006. She has been a widow for a couple of years. She is 67 and has 35 years teaching mostly high school English. She is one of Ann Kearny's assistants (Ann has 4 or so of them: Lydia [proficient English speaker now/3 yr. ELL student of the E.C., Mary Lou (hospitality); Pat (small group helper), and Pam (English grammarian)].

RE: Visit on Mon. 11/15/10 to Ann K's class @ SWR

I met two more of Ann's assistants, Pam and Mary Lou. Mary Lou helps with new student registration and putting out the snacks at breaktime. Pam is a retired high school English teacher who helps in the small group discussions. She also helps with recruiting learners for the Florida Literacy Coalition's Adult Learner Essay contest. She told me that last year, her students entered but her name was not listed as is was in the past in the booklet...

Ann invited me back to their Christmas potluck party on Dec. 13.

Follow up and ask Pam why...I sent her an email on Tues. 11/16 asking her to describe the adult literacy contest (with ipod prize, according to Ann) as well as the Dominoes social group.
I emailed her on Wed. 11/17 and no response yet. I will call her this morning.

Mon. 11/15/10 Comments on Jimena's interview

RE: Do the students tell you what they want?

Jimena teaches a lower ability group than most English Cafe classes. Her class is an Advanced Beginnner class that was formed in 2007 from a large class of 25 students. She has seven learners on average, half of whom have been with her since she started in 2007.

She says that her students are really not capable of telling her what they need (lines 316-323). She says that what they want is to advance from book to book. But they are not ready to move that quickly. She finds that they do come in with questions about words their English speaking co-workers have used as well as questions about word meanings and how to use the words (See Nancy and Lisa). Jimena also has two students who do want the conversation (330-331), but the rest need and want grammar and writing practice..


In a learner interview with Elida, she commented that teachers need to model first before asking students to read aloud. Correlate this to what Jimena said about teaching Spanish-speakers English (lines 108-113), which is that they need extra help with the pronunciation of the vowels. In fact, when I observed Ann Kearny's class today, I let the teachers know that modeling first before asking students to read aloud is very important for their pronunciation practice.


When asked, What types of resources are available to the learners through the library to help them with their language learning? and What about referring them to the library computer classes? Jimena responded that the teacher who teaches the computer classes now is not even a teacher, nor is his background in computers. He is a former real estate agent and yet he was hired through this grant to teach computers...She says that her students are aware of the U.S. Citizenship classes, but that, for example, she has privately tutored one of her students (who has a learning problem) for the exam and she passed.

She also talked about the lack of accessible dictionaries, thesauri and current idiom books available for teachers. There used to be books she could access up at the Reference desk where she signs in as a volunteer, but now those books are no longer there b/c the librarians have put many of them into circulation. Two years ago, those books were there and she had no problem accessing them. (Suggest that these materials be made available to volunteers in a place that is accessible to them--either in the classroom where they teach or at the volunteer sign-in area.)

For the past three years, she has been telling her students about the CDs and DVDs that they can check out. Except for one student (Rosa who has a learning problem and who Jimena hand holds), no others haibitually take them out.

Learning Supports:

Jimena's experience as a Spanish-speaker who has lived in Brazil, Venezuela and Chile have enabled and empowered her to help her students (lines 298-301). I will recommend that a future study research the assets and liabilities of Native English speaking teachers verses Non-native English speaking teachers.

Jimena says that she learned to master English by listening to English on the radio and TV. She says that her learners need to listen to the radio and to watch TV in English to "really open their ear" to the language. This coincides with what Janine said about what it took for her to master English.

Jimena is an assiduous teacher. She meets with two of her learners individually on a weekly basis to provide them with extra tutoring. Reina has some learning difficulties and Jimena has been coaching her on many things over the past three years, including phonics and the U.S. Citizenship exam, which she has now passed. "For example, Reina. I think she's kind of illiterate or dyslexic or both. I would take tapes or CDs for children, or for Spanish people learning Basic English. And I would spend the time--I would go through that once. And then, she would take it home for a couple of weeks. So she would get extra reinforcement. As I said, I don't want you to run behind the other students. I want you to be...So I try to help them stay on the same level."

"And then one of my students (Filipe) wants me to come here on Wednesday and meet with him one-on-one just to speak because he wants to learn, to communicate better in English. He's pretty good, but it's the same thing with most of the students. He does not listen to any television or radio in English. And I don't think he communicates with too many people in English."

She says that not only do her younger students need English to help them function on their jobs, but her older learners do as well.

Using children's materials (lines 132; 176-182) was also spoken about by Jimena on a couple of occasions. This coincides with Janine and Nancy's interviews.
She also uses Rock 'N Learn Phonics CDs and booklets to teach her learners phonics through catchy songs and rhymes. There are also DVDs that have an on-screen mouth to enable learners to check their progress as well as delayed answers so students have time to respond.

Motivators for learning:
Jimena says that she thinks it is very personal for each of them. But for half of them, they are working with English-speaking co-workers so they need English for functioning on the job (191; 196-197).

Since about half of the learners she began with in 2007 are still with her, she believes it is attributable to the cultural similarities she and her students share. Having lived in Chile, Venezuela and Brazil, Jimena can be that " intercultural bridge" for her students, spoken about by Han (2009).
Barriers to learning:
J. talks about the lack of value that the students place on the classes. If they were fee-based, she believes their attendance would improve. She says lack of motivation, lack of interest, laziness and tiredness also contribute to students' attendance problems.

She also talks about one of her older learners, Maria, who left class to help with her daughter's wedding. Then her daughter had a baby and Maria continued to stay away from class b/c she was taking care of her granddaughter now. There was also Ana, who stopped coming to class. According to Jimena, Ana said, "I'm tired of coming here for the past two and a half years. So I am going to take some time off." Jimena continued, "So she became a citizen. And she hasn't come back. Because for some reason, I guess she thinks that because she already got her papers, that she doesn't need to learn English. She doesn't need to apply herself anymore. I think it's being lazy--period. That's the way I see it. That they're not as interested in learning as they were before."

"To go to the library--we are ageless"

I asked Elida to talk about how the library could attract more older learners to the E.C. classes. She replied,

"Well, you know, people from my age [group]...To go to the library--we are ageless." Upon following up with Elida, I confirmed what she meant, which is that going to the library to learn has nothing to do with one's chronological age. "In the library, I feel comfortable. It looks like I don't have age." In fact, people who are advanced in age who attend Elida's English Cafe class, have the most regular attendance of all the learners. The approximate average age of all eight classes observed was_____ .

I wanasked Elida a follow up question which is, does she think Shayla and Silvio have improved the most? What is this a function of? Their regular attendance? Are they also communicating with other English speakers outside the class? Unfortunately, she did not know the answer. But she did say, "I think retired people have more opportunities to enjoy everything."

Hence, one finding I have is that age is not much of an issue especially when it comes to nonformal education (which includes coming to the library for classes, i.e., outside the formal educational system).

Another intriguing statement Elida made is that, if she had remained in Brazil, there would be prejudice against her due to her age. "In my country, I don't have the opportunity like I have here. Because in my country, I am an old lady. I'm a very, very, very old lady. After the forties, forget it," she said. Brazil values a very young workforce. She also said that much of Central and South American are the same way except Chile and Uruguay. The exception is also in her field of psychology where the older you are, the more valued you are for your experience.
***
Elida also said that in addition to feeling ageless in the E.C.class, she also feels welcomed and able to enjoy the conversations that her teachers facilitate in class (p. 3). In comparison, she described her McFatter Technical Center learning atmostphere as "very strict, very serious"(p. 6) and devoid of any conversation practice. Perhaps it is the library's lack of an attendance requirement and the two caring and patient teachers who are there first and foremost to support them in their English learning endeavor, rather than to evaluate them in their quest.

Wed. 11/10/10

Tonight, I heard from Jimena who told me she can check next Wed. on the name of the phonics program. I also sent her her take-home essay questions and told her that they are due next Sat. the 20th.

I called Elida last night to ask her to look over the transcript. She did and she emailed me back some answers about her in-laws. She also sounded very shocked about how lousy her English sounds!!! She thanked me for my patience. I will email her and tell that that is what EVERYONE says. She had no corrections for me.

JoAnn asked me about my research progress and invited me to a Spring FL Lit. Coalition conference in early May. She wants to do something on literacy tutors in the library and is working now on getting IRB. I agreed that I would be too "high" on graduation.

Wed. 11/10/11

I left a voice mail for Elida last night to remind her to look over her transcript and answer my follow-up questions. She is going to look it over tonight, she said (although I know that tonightis her cEnglish Cafe class)...

I will start transcribing Jimena's interview this week.

Sun. 11/7/10

I haven't heard from Aida re: getting together to go over her transcript (member checking). So I called Mimose Tuesday morning and she said that, due to Election day, they would not be having class. (so therefore she couldn't talk with Aida). She suggested that I call or email Teacher Nancy. I decided that I had best not because the study is voluntary and participants are told that they can drop out at any time. I need to respect that.

I haven't heard from Jimena yet either about some follow-up questions I have for her from our interview. If nec., I will wait till we get together again to do the member-checking.

On Fri. 10/29/10, after my interview with Guy at WR, I took the following notes:

These students represent several different constructs in the literature on adult ELLs:

Celina (60): the undereducated, unemployed, married end of the spectrum of adult ELLs.
Elida (60): the educated, employed, married end of the spectrum of adult ELLs.
Mimose (64): the unemployed, educated, and divorced end of the spectrum of adult ELLs.
Ernesto (65) & Olga (55): the educated, retired/unemployed, married partof the spectrum; also represent two different ends of this age cohort.
Graciela (65): educated, retired, married part of the spectrum of adult ELLs.
Aida: (58) educated, underemployed, divorced part of the spectrum of adult ELLs.

Tues. 11/2/10, Guy's Take-Home Essay

Guy raised a good point re: using higher level students as peer tutors (in class) for the lower level students. It's an idea he hasn't used yet, but is considering it for the near future (TEACHING STRATEGY).
Miriam mentioned doing this from time to time, when the opportunity presents itself.
Not having a an attendance requirement in the program can make this erratic at best.

Mon. 11/1/10, SWR Visit

See FIELDNOTES folder for Ann.
I GAVE ANN THE QUESTIONS AHEAD OF TIME SINCE SHE REQUESTED IT THAT WAY. THEN I PROCEEDED WITH THE INTERVIEW AS I WOULD NORMALLY.

Ann's background:
She was a medical librarian and high school media specialist for over 35 years. She has a chronic illness ( a diabetic for 56 years). When she was diagnosed at 19, she was given a 25 year prognosis. She is 74 today. She has a passion for health literacy and helping others with their health (lines 306-310).

SUMMARY OF ANN K.'s CLASS:
She teaches self-contained, stand-alone lessons. This is because not every student is able to come week after week.

She is clearly committed to the conversational focus of these classes (lines 266-67; 273-74). The way Ann does this is very unique. Her assistant teacher, a retired English high school teacher whom she co-teaches with, addresses these needs in the class.

Ann is very strongly committed to community building in the class, so she has a scheduled coffee break in each class. Again, she has an adult volunteer help her with it (who is not one of the students). This volunteer also handles all of the class registration of new learners.

Another unique thing about the class is that Lydia, one of the longterm learners (3 years now) started a Dominoes Club. This group now includes friends of class members who come to experience this "cultural exchange" group. Is English only spoken or is there an "exchange of language?

Plus, there is a lunch bunch that gets together after class about 4 or 5 times a year. There's also a couples' group that met in the class who also go out together socially.

She notes that the class is smaller, plus there is only one English Cafe class a week now since when she began eight years ago. As I suspected, this is cyclical and right now, Citizenship classes are more well-attended at SWR. There are three Citizen classes each week now at SWR.

When asked how she incorporates resources from the library into her classes, Ann says she tells her students about volunteering in the coffee shop and for Friends of the Library. Also, some volunteer in El Club (lines 336-351).

Question # IV-How are you informed in what you do? Uncover some rationales and justifications for what you do with your older learners.

Ann answered this question differently than the others. She is the only one who spoke about her own motivations for teaching. She shared about her own need for community, having lost her family and her husband, and for her own need for communicating with others. She also said that she has spiritual reasons for teaching. In doing so, she offered me insight into seeing alike teachers and learners are in these nonacademic classes.

She also answered several of the interview questions using health care examples. Being trained as a medical librarian, she makes an excellent teacher of Third Age ELL learners. Her example of the woman who came to class when Ann had a lesson on smoking was an example of how literacy education using the sociocultural approach (using the personal constrcuts of the learners, such as their culture, race, gender, including the learners' of a particular age cohort's health circumstances) was remarkable. Also, her example of the grandmother who was the caregiver of an intellectually challenged daughter who had a baby at thirteen provide insight into understanding the motivational and sociocultural needs to some Third Age adult learners.

Ann talked about the "shift going on" at SWR from English classes to Citizenship classes...

She talked about her own motivation to teach which dovetails that of her students--for community, a sense of family or belonging.

Fri, 10/29/10, 2:30-3:18 pm

Yesterday, Fri. 10/29/10, I interviewed Jimena at 2:30 and Guy Slack at 4:30. Both interviews went really well.

I met with Jimena after rescheduling once due to a bad rainstorm and the fact that Jimena told me that she and her students have been on a month and a half hiatus. They mutually decided that it was best to take this break since several of them, including Jimena, had sick family members or other life obligations that were taking their attention. It has worked out, and Jimena told me that she is ready to return in two weeks to teaching on Tues. nights at the Northwest Regional Library.

Jimena is a Basic English volunteer teacher whom I met her in Sept. 2007 when I was Literacy Coordinator. She is Chilean and has lived in the U.S. for years. She has been a U.S. citizen since . She was raised in Chili until the age of 22. She attended a bilingual British-Spanish school and got her high school diploma there. Since it was a British school, her accent was British. She was also fluent in English and Spanish when she graduated. She has an associate's degree from Broward College and a Bachelor's in Science from Nova. She then tried to be an addictions counselor but found the work too depressing.

She attended the North American Chilean Institute for two years in order to convert her British accent to an American one. She says it was hard to do this...Find out at what age she did this and what her specific reason for doing was...


Jimena, Ambar Colon, and Becky Thomas started together teaching Basic English at almost the same time. They became good friends through the library's ESOL class. It was the first time we had had a Basic English class at NOR. Jimena tells me that they started initially with 22 students. It was the right timing because both Jimena and Ambar are bilingual (Spanish-English) and they both felt strongly about teaching the basic level, i.e., they could see the need. I felt that having bilingual teachers in the Basic English class was an obvious advantage. After about six months the three teachers split the class into three different groups led by each one of them. Becky went on to teach her own small group of students using the Lauback Literacy Series. Jimena had her own plans fand began teaching her small group as well, and Ambar began tutoring students privately for pay. When I left the litearcy coordinator position at NOR in Sept. 2008, I stayed in touch with Ambar and Jimena, and let them know that one day, I would call on them to be participants in my dissertation study. Jimena is the one who has agreed to be a teacher participant!

Jimena is a self-described lifelong learner. She has had the fortune of living in not only Chili as a child, but later on, she lived in Brazil and Venezuela (5 years). She was the wife of a VP at the helm of a large company and so she spent her time not only raising her children but also entertaining her husband's business associates for many years. She correctly adds that these cross-cultural living experiences have enabled her to help her students in many ways. Not only is she their English teacher but she is also their cultural interloper and interpreter. She does much more than tutor them in English; she also acts as a firm but caring advisor to them as well as a personal mentor to them. She has been with these same students for three years now as they strive to integrate into American culture. In fact, Jimena tells me that Rosa is now in nursing school.

Now divorced, Jimena is not employed but she dedicates two days a week to her students for an hour and a half per class. She spends about hours a week in preparation. In addition, she tutors one man one-on-one for one day a week.

SEE FIELDNOTE FOLDER RE: JIMENA'S INTERVIEW RQ RESPONSES.

Fri. 10/29/10 Update Notes

Follow-up Notes:
Suka, Ernesto and Olga's daughter called me back to say that Sunday was not a good day afterall for her parents to meet with me to review their transcript. I will call Suka back to reschedule for possibly next Fri. at 4pm at WR.

I am concerned that Aida has not answered me at all (neither my phone call nor emails).

I did hear from Elida via email that she has attended the WR E.C. for two months.

I will interview Jimena and Guy this afternoon, two teachers in the program.

Thurs. 10/28/10 CEG, GIVE-AND-TAKE, etc.

In summarizing why I think that the library English Cafe has so many older learners in its ranks:

--Create a table of the average ages of all the classroom visits I made. This would be used to segue into talking about the fact that BCL English Cafe classes are indeed conducive to the learning needs and styles of older learners. Older learners in our English Cafe classes are coming because they prefer the intimate informality and supportive atmosphere of the setting. They come b/c of their teacher, who is often at the same point they are in the lifespan, and who can empathize with them and show patience with them regarding the learning obstacles that often come in learning a new language and culture. They also come for social stimulation as well as to belong to a "holding environment" (Kegan, Grabinski) and/or an "affinity group" (Formosa, 2002).

The English Cafe class size is smaller and allows older learners to feel more secure and confident than in the regimented community school and technical center classrooms. Attendance requirements are not an issue (unlike the teachnical centers which require no more than six consecutive absences). Teachers are less authoritarian, and like Laura/Lisa, Miriam/Myra, and Guy, they help create a give and take learning environment with their students, rather than one of blind following. This is an aspect of critical education where 'teacher-students' and 'student-teachers' are learner equals (Formosa, 2002). Learning is more life experience-based since conversations in the English Cafe center more on the daily events of the teacher and learners' lives (See Sally's obs.). Also, classes in the library are often offered in the mornings which is a good time for many learners according to the interviews, although not for all such as Elida/Edeli who are working full-time.

In the English Cafe classes that number 16 or fewer students, the focus is more conversational (about half of those I observed fit this size description: Sally/Susan; Guy/Trina; Lisa/Laura; Janine/Jeanne), where the teacher is leading the conversation and actively amplifying, paraphrasing and rephrasing student responses at select intervals. As in Lisa/Laura's class, this conversation/group discussion lasted for the first 45 minutes, and provided a great example of how older learners can benefit by instructional techniques which emphasize listening comprehension (over demand for immediate speech production) and aspects of culture, all within a supportive and safe (free from fear of making language errors)learning environment.
Lisa/Laura and Jeanne also made good use of the preferred learning style older learners of listening comprehension where again, students delay speech in order to listen to lyrics set to music and perform various learning activities with the lyrics (Lems, 2005; Scleppegrell, 1987).

On the Give-and-Take of Third Age Teaching and Learning:
As mentioned above, critical education speaks of 'teacher-students' and 'student-teachers' in a learning environment of 'education equals.' I coded this as "Give and Take." I first observed it in Laura and Jeanne's classes, and I heard Miriam speak about it (but I didn't observe it perhaps b/c of the large class size that day). Sally, Guy and Trina, and Guy and Harriet all incorporated this highly effective Third Age teaching-learning technique.

Wed. 10/27/10, Cognitive Factors as a Barrier to ELL Third Age Learning

I have found a range of responses from the eight teachers I interviewed about the specific differences in teaching older learners. From Suzi/Sandy: " I honestly find it difficult to differentiate between age groups. People in their 20s through 60s, I feel, all have similar issues...learning English to communicate in their new country, needing to find and keep a job. Perhaps asking the middle-aged to open up about their children and health issues...two things people much younger wouldn't be too concerned with...would be the only things that come to mind." From Myra/Miriam, "As a result of the interview, I am more aware of the 'challenges' facing the older English learners...A few students told me that their grandchildren make fun of their pronunciation of English. I now will address this problem more directly with a class discussion for suggested actions and remedies." And from Lisa/Laura, "Many of the students are having trouble understanding what is going on at work, are trying to find employment, are working on passing their citizenship tests, or want to communicate better with their children and grandchildren. They all say they need better comprehension and speaking skills, not reading skills. At their age, most of them have been speaking another language (normally Spanish in these classes) for well over 50 years, even if they have been in this country for a long time. All of a sudden they are unable to use Spanish as much as they have been, or find themselves unemployed and needing to go on interviews, or are constantly being corrected by thier children and grandchildren. Many of them havementioned being embarrassed at being corrected, or at not understanding what is going on in a social or family situation."

Ernesto is the only learner so far who has said that his overloaded memory slows him down sometimes. As 60 year old, Edeli, says, "We are ageless," reflecting the more prevalent attitude of today's baby boomer generation.

It seems that the facilitator's role of relating learning to real life (the Gonzalez's) as well as facilitation techniques such as offering prompt feedback (Monique and Edeli) are more important to learners in this study. Also mentioned by Jeanne and Guy/Gary, two of the library staff teachers, is the importance of the learning environment, i.e., providing a supportive, safe and less formal environment.

Wed. 10/27/10, MUSIC & ELLs

I found an article on the CAL website on the topic of using music to teach ELLs. In response to RQ2-What factors do Third Age ELLs perceive as supporting their learning? (Subquestion: What sociocultural factors do they anticipate to support their learning?), my finding is that in addition to information on American holidays and reading brief histories on the origin of American foods, e. g., pizza, musical lyrics are one of the most popular ways to teach American culture. "Quite simply, no better activity can be found as an overall in-class motivator. Put more colloquially, music rocks!" (Lem, 2005, 15). Lem submits that lyrics can be probed on three levels: reading comprehension, vocabulary building and culture. Also, ELLs' listening comprehension in a new language can be improved by listening to songs (Vygotsky, 1978, as cited by Lem, 2005).

Music received attention from teachers and learners alike. Lisa and Nancy spoke about using music in their classrooms as did learners, Graciela and Elida.
Reference: Lems, K. (2005), Music works: Music for adult English language learners. Television is an additional supporting factor for learners since it is both visual and auditory. Orlando and Mimose talked about their need for more listening practice. Orlando said that watching and listening to TV shows such as the History Channel and Animal Planet helps him the most and Elida said that she watches and listens to the morning news in English. Elida also said she memorized the lyrics of her favorite American female singer, Natalie Cole.

In Ch. 5, I will recommend that ELLs in the program be surveyed to see what sociocultural activities they most like. Three to four options will be given and learners will be asked to rank them using a Likert Scale, e.g., I learn American culture best when talking about popular topics in conversations; I learn American culture best by listening to popular song lyrics; I learn American culture best by completing grammar worksheets on cultural topics; I learn American culture best by listening to songs on CDs; I learn American culture best by watching video programs on culture and talking about them in class.

Tues. 10/26/10 McFatter Contact/Christine Wolf

Today Christine Wolf called me back from McFatter Tech. Center. She is the ESOL coordinator there. Over the phone, she was able to answer some questions I had about program. For example, I asked if Elida was correct in telling me that you can only miss two days (at least she said when she attended the program a few years ago, this is how strict it was) a semester. In fact, now you can miss no more than six consecutive absences. Classes are free and are offered in the mornings, afternoons and evenings (Nova community High School offers Saturday ESOL classes). According to Christine, students are taught in a "very structured" approach. Christine confirmed what Elida told me which is that students sit in rows and that speaking and conversation are not the focus. However, there is open-entry and open-exit, based on the learner's own individual needs. The seven levels of the ESOL curriculum include reading, writing, listening, life skills, grammar, pronunciation, and conversation. Practical language skills that are focused on the home, the community, and the job are offered. Students are given the TABE at the end of their time there and they must pass it for the school to earm completion points. A link to Broward County Schools can be found at http://www.browardcommunityschools.com/home/academic-programs/esol.aspx
English conversation skills, English grammar, and accent reduction are three fees-based classes for ESOL learners also available through Broward Schools. These three classes are approximately $80 each and meet weekly for eight weeks. The learners are offered 24/7 access to Rosetta Stone Language Learning software. As an ancilliary, approximately 4-5 Library locations provide access to Rosetta Stone as long as the individual has a library card and can come to these locations to access the software. Additionally, BCL has limited copies of the software available for check-out.

Christine said that she does tell students about the library's English Cafe program and she encourages students to attend both types of classes. She fully believes that the library's nonformal program has a niche and that we should essentially fight to keep it. Particularly since the technical centers offer no evening classes (they offer class Mondays through Fridays, from 8 to 11 am and from 11:30 to 2:30 pm); however, the community schools do offer night classes. The lack of evening classes at the tech centers is due to cutbacks. She urged me to visit on a Friday and see how the classes are. She also suggested that I observe Nova Community School's program.

Home Visit w/Elida & Graciela

Elida is a remarkable Third Age ELL. She has pursued English proficiency with a great deal of bravado and determination despite her physical, financial and readiness obstacles. She is someone who perceives no age barriers for herself or others. At the present age of 61, she still wants to pursue an as yet unknown new career in this country. Her prior education and career as a Brazilian psychologist surely have helped her to surmount many hurdles in America to this point. She and her American husband have lived in South Florida for 10 years, and she has been a U.S. citizen for six years.

Visiting Elida in her home today was a good experience in that I could meet her husband and see her in her own living space. It was, on the other hand, distracting too because her three dogs were barking a lot and we were tempted to have coffee and take an extended break to see her yard. It took me away from concentrating on the interview. But fortunately, I will correspond and ask for clarification via email and one more visit with her to review the transcript. Of course, I must realize that n the Hispanic culture, it is most important to establish the relationship with the person before attempting to conduct any other business.
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I still feel that I overdisclosed things about myself since I felt a little uncomfortable not knowing her native language and culture. I also did not want to have her feel that I was investigating all about her without sharing anything about myself. I don't usually do this, but I felt she was exceptionally articulate and interested in getting to know me as well. I told her about A.S. at work b/c I know that she was a psychologist in Brazil. I spoke about my college out-of-body experience to show her that I had felt out-of-place in college for a time. I was using self-disclosure but I must admit that I wasn't totally comfortable doing so. Part of me wanted to just come in and focus on Elida alone, without much if any mention of myself. But culturally, I knew this strategy would not do.
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Elida has attended the E.C. for two months. She came at the suggestion of a friend who moved away and called her from North Carolina and told her to go. Elida is one of the more advanced English speakers that I have interviewed. Perhaps aided by the fact that her second husband is an American (but the irony is that they both speak in Portuguese with one another), she has made considerable progress with her spoken English, taking on full-time employment as a telephone customer service representative. She is employed full-time and speaks from 8 till 2 everyday with English-speaking health care providers and for the rest of the day, she speaks with Spanish-speaking customers. Interestingly, she learned Spanish out of necessity during her ESOL class breaks at the community schools she attended. Brazilians in her section of Sunrise, FL are in the minority in these classes. Rather than stare outside at the landscaping in social isolation, as she says, during breaks, she challenged herself to communicate with the Spanish-speaking students and to make friends. Plus, learning Spanish for a Portuguese speaker is not as difficult, according to language authorities who say they are closely related and are mutually intelligible.

One learning strategy for success that she has devised for herself at work is that she is allowed to sit adjacent to a co-worker whose English she highly admires and wants to emulate. Whenever Diane says some new phrase that Elida likes and wants to try out with her own customers, she writes it down and tapes it inside her cubicle near her desk. When the occasion presents itself, she quickly employs the phrase. Elida has gotten so confident at her job that she now describes it as lacking much opportunity for growth and self-improvement. She knows though that she does have refinements in her speech that she can still make. Plus, she realizes that any job promotion or advancement will require more training.

She mentions her other English learning obstacles: Understanding her co-workers who speak the African American dialect as well as Haitian co-workers who speak in Creole. She has many challenges understanding these two dialects despite her efforts to try.

As a demonstrated and committed lifelong learner, Elida is plagued by the central question of which training to pursue? Already beset by student loans she accrued at Nova U.'s master's program in pscyhology for Spanish-speakers, she does not want to be disillusioned any further or go into any further debt. She had to drop out of Nova's program after six months b/c the school did away with the four ESOL teachers originally hired to assist the students. It was an experience that broke her heart, but not her spirit.

She then pursued work and got it with the school board as a teacher's assistant for an exceptional education class for physically-and mentally-impaired children. She worked there for six years until physically unable to do the work (due to a rotator cuff injury). Her shoulder injury began when she worked earlier as a stocker on her first job in the U.S. at Macy's. It was a job that required little English communications, but did take its toll on her physically as a then fifty year old woman. The experience, she says, prompted her to briefly pursue studies at Broward College in their physical therapy assistant program. She found that she could not handle it...why?

Follow-up questions:
Why did she drop out of the physical therapy program?
What is her current goal/purpose for remaining at her workplace right now?
What does she think of the medical interpretation program I shared with her by email?

Mon. 10/25/10, Elida Home Interview (WR)

I interviewed 60 year old Elida Cammer, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, at her home Sunday afternoon. She is someone who attends the English Cafe regularly on Wednesday evenings at WR for the past months. She has lived in the U.S. with her second husband (an American who lived in Brazil for 30 years) for 10 years. She is well-known and outspoken in the class. Ernesto, another of my interview participant, spoke highly of her English speaking ability.

She has been employed as a full-time customer service representative for Coventry Health Insurance for three years. She took the job with the intent of learning more English and to get away from any more physical labor which was affecting her injured shoulder.


Elida impresses me as someone who is definitely a lifelong learner. She has attempted several higher ed. programs in the S FL area, and none have worked out yet due to her lack of adequate fluency in English. She tried a master's program in psychology for Spanish-speakers at Nova (since she is a former psychologist in her native country of Brazil), but had to drop out b/c the program dropped their ESL classes that they had promised her. She also could not complete a physical therapy assistant program she started at Broward College a few years back (She was motivated to start this program b/c of her own experiences in physical therapy over her shoulder injury).

What motivates her to attend our class?
The small class size; the opp. for feedback with her pronunciation and accent. The comaraderie of her fellow ELLs (she mentioned David, a 25 year old Brazilian ELL in her class, and I also observed her interaction with him in class) as well as her caring and supportive teachers, the latter which is unstated but implied.

What does she like about the E.C. class?
The two teachers she has give her and the class lots of practice with conversation and they provide plenty of pronunciation feedback and correction.

What supports her learning?
Checking out audio biographies on Paul Newman and music by Natalie Cole. She listened to Natalie Cole over and over and learned the lyrics to most of her songs. Then she attended her concert at the Bank Atlantic Center and thoroughly enjoyed it. Her teachers are very good and she likes how they faciliate discussions on the history of regional dialects in this country for example. She referred to her teacher at McFatter who was excellent at bringing in brief histories on, say, pizza, the American Indian tribes, and other American cultural & historical phenomena.

What barriers to learning does she experience?
She says that her job has gotten in the way before. Her boss will not allow her to leave early from work in the evenings to attend more classes, or to teach Portuguese classes at the community night school.
Her student loans from her unactualized master's degree from Nova are preventing her from enrolling anywhere else for the moment.
Her English proficiency is coming along better than she acknowledges, but she is still not quite there in terms of readiness to acquire an American Master's degree.
She explains her difficulty understanding other American co-workers who speak in African American English and Haitian Creole dialects.

What would she like to change about the E.C?
Offer more night classes at the library (except that the library has cut back their evening hours).
Offer more interesting articles to read, e.g., NOT depressing newspaper articles.

What are some additional reasons she has for attending the library's E.C.?
She likes that there are no attendance requirements, unlike McFatter which only allows two absences (at least this was true when she attended) before dropping them from class. I did call the coordinator there and found that, in fact, now students cannot miss more than six consecutive classes.

A Comparison of Native and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers Beliefs about Teaching English as a Second Language to Adult ELLs, by Rosemaria Maum (2003).

I located this dissertation in the Linguistic & Language Behavior Abstracts (FAU database). It should help me answer one of my teacher questions: What is the research on native-language and non-native language English language teachers?
Questions asked included a.) the role of the teacher's sociocultural and linguisitc background; and b.) the importance of including cross-cultural issues in ESL instruction. The NLS (number of languages spoken) was significantly correlated to the teachers' beliefs about teaching ESL to adult ELLs.

I could not find this dissertation in ProQuest for some reason.

Sun. Oct. 24, 2010 Coding of Ernesto & Olga interview

I finished transcribing and coding the Garcia interview on Fri. and Sat. Some of the things brought out in Ernesto and Olga's interview are:

--There is a need for more Spanish-speaking library staff, even if they are not fully fluent. This was apparent when Ernesto described his experience of asking for directions to the English Cafe class while he was on the First Floor of the library.
--There are many valuable services in the library to new English speakers, but many of these services are lost. EXPLORE FURTHER [There is still not enough outreach to and partnership with the Latin and Haitian community service agencies (NOR, SWR and perhaps Weston are exceptions b/c they partner with Hispanic Unity).]
--There is a real need for the library's conversationally-based English Cafe classes b/c the community school ESOL classes are much larger as a rule and there is not the emphasis on everyday spoken English.
--Many Americans are very impatient with new adult ELLs, and they do not want to take the time to communicate with them in English and to try and understand them. This is especially so with teenagers, i.e., the Garcia's experience with their own son was "terrible"...(See Nancy and Myra). EXPLORE
--Immediate feedback with pronunciation is a real asset to the E.C.
--A support for learning that Ernesto mentioned is having the right mentality (or mental attitude).
--A support for Olga is the teacher herself/himself. EXPLORE
--Barriers to learning English (for Ernesto, age 64) include his memory, and the stress and distraction of everyday living.
--Olga said a barrier for her is time.

Re: SCREENING INSTRUMENT

The Adult Screening instrument allowed me a way to enter into the world of the more reticient (lower English-speaking ability level). For learning abou Celina, I used it as a springboard into asking her more abouther early educational experiences and her early family life. I feel that I gained a lot more understanding of her and her context. I took liberties with the instrument and asked many more follow-up and probing questions. Something told me to probe these early experiences b/c somehow they would help me understand her story more. With adult learners who have very little formal education, there is always so much that has preceded them, in terms of really understanding their current situation.

With the higher level students (particularly those with more education like the Garcia's), I did not spend as much time with it.

Friday, 10/15/10, WR interviews w/Ernesto & Olga

Sociocultural Benefits of Volunteer Work:
Graciela and Olga both have spoken about the benefits of volunteer work. For Graciela, the direct benefit has been improving and practicing her English conservsation skills (get quote). She was able to feel comfortable in Anglo culture b/e she had a sales ability and a love for people. She also was able to hold employment in the retail field in South Florida prior to the progression of her retinitus pigmentosa. Volunteering for Lighthouse Point for the Blind has offered her support as well as a way to cope with her disease. Her English communication skills are improved because of her volunteer work as well.
Olga, by comparison, only volunteers in service of Latino, Spanish-speaking people and speaks in Spanish rather than English with them. This helps her to address her social needs but not her linguistic isolation. Therefore, her English conversation skills have not improved significantly in seven years.

Wed. 10/13/10, HO English Cafe

I observed Sally who arrived to her class after having visited her sister (age 74) in PA. I knew that Carol Russo, the Literacy Contact, would not have a chance to tell Sally that I was coming, but b/c I could not make it to the class for another 2-3 weeks, I decided to make the visit today anyway. At any rate, the class today that I observed was well-attended and really very good. The energy was good and the rapport that the teacher had with the students was every good. It could be called a "model class" for anyone wanting to see a good example of how to work with older learners. There were eventually 11 learners in all, housed in an attractive but small classroom with windows on one side, looking out into the library.

Sally herself is a retired English college professor. She is not fluent in any other languages but she did have a great high school Spanish teacher in the 1950s.

Most all the learners were over 40, with the exception of one woman, age 24. The next youngest was female 44. The youngest male learner was 58. The oldest learner was 73, a very sharp Colombian man. However, one female, Meyda, did not put her age down. Six were Colombian, one Guatemalan, one Peruvian, and one Venezuelan (Meyda did not put her country down or her age). C0ny was age 65, and was pretty talkative and could have made a good participant. But I need to follow my sampling criteria...Rene from Guatemala, age 58, could have participated, but he did volunteer. He was there when I described the study. I actually didn't have the attendance sheet for about 45 minutes of the class, so I did not know anyone's age until the last few minutes. I missed identifying Rene because of that and also a couple of women students came up to me while I was also trying to speak with Sally before she too left the class.
It shows how it is better to arrange and announce my visit before I come to the class, in order to properly explain its purpose.

First, this is the first class where there was coffee made by one of the students, Meyda. Students got up on their own to get it (no scheduled break in the class) once it was made, and returned for more if desired (SUPPORT). Meyda even gave a cup to the teacher, which was a nice gesture and sign of a warm and positive rapport between these students and the teacher. Getting up and down to help themselves once the coffee was ready resulted in some tight maneuvering, but all in all, everyone seemed to manage. There are positives to be said about meeting in a smaller room such as this for older learners, such as it creates close proximity between the learners and their teacher (SUPPORTS).

I noticed that every student in the class had a notebook. I would have loved to ask Sally (had she granted me an interview) if this is one of her requirements and if she has taught them how to take notes. Two had electronic spellers and two had paperback Spanish-English dictionaries.
The teacher brought in her own portable whiteboard. Name tents were used in class,much like WR.

Overall, this class had a high level of oral language practice and teacher-student dialogue. She was also good at reviewing key vocabulary and grammar points after she had just introduced them--a very good technique for older learners. The teacher's rate of speech was also adequately modulated for ELLs. She used humor and teasing to help students loosen up and to create laughter and fun in the learning process. Mid-way through the class, she introduced each learner by name and she highlighted one aspect about them, e.g., Rafael likes museums and culture and Isabel has two young sons. This showed a focus on the learners and their own experience (Knowles).

The teacher began by sharing a story about her trip to PA to honor her sister on her 75th birthday. As she told them the story, she wrote down key vocabulary. Next, she reviewed the words; meanings. I thought that this was a well-supported way to teach language; however, at several points, she also gave them synonyms. This seemed to be too much for one lesson. I know how easy it is to do this b/c I have done so myself, but "targeting" only several key teaching objectives is better than trying to do too much in one lesson.

The second part of her lesson was having the learners share orally with the class what they did in the twoo weeks that there was no class. Rafael spoke up and talked about three movies he had watched o his computer, as well as a dominoes game he enjoyed with his pals (his words although he mispronounced 'pals' and didn't use the correct tense for 'enjoy'). The teacher corrected his verb usage and then offered synonyms for 'pals' on the board.

As part of the same LEA lesson, she had them orally practice the new vocabulary, each taking a turn, using the vocabulary she had introduced in sentences of their own. My suggestion to her would be to tighten up the lesson by only focusing on two skills per class. At least two students were getting overwhelmed and saying, "English is too difficult" (Cony & Carolina). I realize that not all students attend every week, and that a lesson almost has to be 'just for the day' or 'for the students of the moment.' Or, perhaps the teachers in this program can work on six key things (grammar and pronunciation-related)which they review in class each time, and then the rest is 'open conversation' about current events and health care topics.

The teacher did have a sense, from working with them over time, that they need help with certain things (See Ann). For example, with helping verbs; with the pronunciation of /i/ which is not /e/ and /s/ which is not /es/; with the present continuous verb tense; overuse of the verb /to do or make/--hacer in Spanish.

"Negative Part":
I'm not sure what this really was about, but Sally did not want to come back for any interview with me. I asked her if she was willing to stay for an hour right after class and she agreed to it (but a bit disgruntingly). M first question to her was what support did she need from the library if anything? And she replied that this was the most disorganized and basically kooky library she'd beeb affiliated with. Perhaps she was responding to the fact that she was not told about my visit (which is really my fault). Or perhaps, this is just one instance of many other failed attempts to coordinate her schedule and/or communicate her needs to the library. She said that she had taught in the English Cafe at this branch for three years. She said she enjoyed the students and the teaching very much, but that she wanted nothing to do with completing any paperwork. She had afterall had her share of it as a working career woman teaching at the college level. She reflected Myra's comments about why she enjoys teaching in this class so much. And it is also less encumbering than teaching in the adult community school setting.

So all in all, I am glad I did not pursue interviewing her any further there in the library. She would not have completed the take-home portion of the interview, I am sure.
She did accompany me out to the car. On our way out, she veered over to check on Rafael who was shopping for videos at the library's gift shop. We talked to Rafael about any good movies we could recommend from the cart. Then she and I walked out together while she shared about a few of her students and some of their issues.

We started with Abraham, a 67 year old Venezuelan dentist whom sally said is hard for her to deal with. Heis a know-it-all and sometimes gives the wrong answers to students in class. Heis also very macho and speaks much more than the others.

She spoke about Dilia, a 70 year Colombian woman, whose sister-in-laws whom she lives with, does not want her taking the bus to come to the English Cafe. It seems, according to Sally, that the sister-in-law is very fearful and doesn't think the world is a very safe place for a 70 year old woman who travels independently on public transportation. SEE CELINA.

Mon. 10/11/10 Addition of Learner Strategy Code (Mimose)

I have two new codes since reviewing & coding Mimose's transcript: LEARNER STRATEGY & IMPROVEMENTS/PUBLICITY. The following describes Mimose's own learner strategies developed as a result of her prior teaching career in Haiti.

In transcribing Mimose's interview, I see that she is the exception to the rule in her class. Being a former teacher herself for many years, she is familiar with the learning process and faces her tasks as a learner both confidently and in a self-disciplined and self-directed manner. Others in the class seem to be much more passive and seem to also believe that the teacher is the expert and they are there simply to absorb the knowledge. Perhaps this is cultural or the norm for this age cohort.

Mimose has devised some of her own unique learning strategies. As a former career teacher from Haiti, she knows what it takes to learn: review and repetition (lines 72 & 390); coming to class with her own questions to ask (lines 52; 168-169); taking notes (lines 215-216); has the teacher model correct pronunciation for her (lines 142-143); sitting in close proximity to the teacher (line 64); seekng individual feedback from teacher (line 103); has a tactile learning styles as evidenced by the realia she brings in from home for the teacher to identify (lines 186-189); is self-directed as evidenced by her study habits in the library before class (210-211; 217; 261-263).

NEED TO ADD DOC ANALYSIS BACK:
Get syllabus of "Healthy Living Online" computer class offered at WE.

Sun. 10/10/10 Add a Third Element to Study?

I am wondering if I need another element in my study since not many are using the essay option. ADDED DOC ANALYSIS BACK ON 11/19/10 since I got so many good hand-outs from Ann.

What I could really use is a focus group of teachers and/or learners. Perhaps with learners with a bilingual co-facilitator/co-researcher would be good. Like Jimena.

Questions to ask would be the same as in the interviews.

It has been bothering me throughout the whole study that I am not a Spanish speaker myself.

Fri. 10/8/10, WR with Celina

Field note

I came home and made a copy of Celina's signed consent form. I will mail it to her this week since she does not use email. On Sat. 10/30/10, I received her return-to-sender consent form in my mailbox. I will resend it one more time, this time not including the P.O. Box #.

I met Celina in class this week (See below) in the WR English Cafe class on Tues. morning. She came for the first time to class with her intellectually disabled 22 year old daughter. I found out in speaking with her after class, that her daughter only knows English since she was born in NY, as was her son (who is serving overseas in Japan with the Army Reserves). There is something very proud and intelligent about Celina, and also a sadness about her. The best is that she is still married to an employed husband. There is only one car in the family and since the husband drives it to work at the airport everyday, she sometimes has to use a bus to get to places, and to class. She described her husband as protective of her and her daughter, but fortunately, he does allow them to take the bus to get to the library's English classes (Is this in some way an example of machismo? I did meet the husband on the day of my member checking interview with Celina on 10/29/10. He was actually friendly towards me and commented to Celina in Spanish that I did not speak Spanish. His own English was seemed satisfactory.)


I met with Celina, age 61, today. She is from Cali, Colombia and is a U.S. Citizen (2006) living in NYC for 19 years and in Plantation, FL for 6 years. I met her on her first visit to Trina's Tuesday English Cafe class on 10/5/10. She never finished high school in Colombia (see below), and still has no GED.

During the Adult Screening questions, I asked about her marital status. She is married to a Colombian American who has U.S. Citizenship & works for the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport. He trained in Colombia as an engineer and has the equivalent of a university degree. I learned in our member checking on 10/29/10 interview that he works for the same boss as he had in New York at the Westchester County Airport. He has a very good relationship with his boss, mainly b/c he is very flexible and never turns down a shift change or last minute call to come into work. Celina describes his work as a fueler, i.e., he puts fuel into various tanks of the plane while they are on the landing field.

As we began the interview using the Adult Screening instrument, we were talking about her reason for not completing more than a year of high school in Colombia. She did not initially tell me why she did not finish high school, so I decided to probe this.

After breaking into tears, she told me that her parents both had died 6 months apart from each other of natural causes. They were in their 50s and 60s, leaving herself, 4 sisters and 3 brothers orphaned. She was in the first year of high school at that time, and so she was sent to live with a family in NY (who was this family?), and never has completed her GED. Since this time, she has lost 1 brother and 2 sisters as well.


What motivates you to participate in the English Cafe?
Celina spoke about the need she has to understand the doctors whom her 22 year old daughter must see. Up in NY, the doctors were bilingual, but not here in Plantation, FL, she says.
She has also always had jobs in NY, to her good fortune, i.e., she is actually "handicapped" having neither a diploma from her native Colombia nor from the U.S. Her first job in the U.S. was at a substance abuse rehab hospital as a patient care assistant with no formal training, only on-the-job training, when her son entered kindergarten. She helped patients to take their medication and brought them their meals for 6 years. Then her patient died. She got a job next in a hotel in the laundry and worked for 5-6 more years until she became pregnant with her daughter. Her husband insisted that she take time off for 6 months after her birth, since she was disabled and was in need of much medical attention and evaluation as an infant and young child. Her next employment was with a Saudi Arabian family who employed her three days a week as a live-in, and allowed Celina the flexibility she needed to schedule time off to take care of her daughter. She worked about six years for them until they moved to their home in Lebanon.
Then she moved with her family to Plantation, FL 6 years ago. This is b/c her husband got a transfer from the airport company he works for.

How has the English Cafe helped you learn what you wanted to learn [helped you to feel successful]? Celina had trouble with the wording of this question as have others. From now on, I will use the wording above in brackets.

What parts of the English Cafe do you like?
The speaking opportunities in class. Celina explained that she really benefits from the paired partner practice specifically using dialogue (e.g., like she did yesterday in class with reference to ordering food from an Italian restaurant) with guided practice help from the teacher.

She specifically mentioned the good explanations that her teacher provides in a slowly paced English speaking voice. When Celina did not understand one thing, she was careful to graciously repeat it for her.

She said that she liked sitting at the table (I did lead this question).

What parts of the English Cafe would you change?
"It's good."

What supports you to learn?
The way the teacher explains things about the holidays, i.e., Halloween. How the teacher individually helps students during dialogue partner practice.
Her son, who has a successful military career, is living at home these past two years and is employed with the local Army Reserve Office. He has served as a U.S. Marine for seven years and has been to Korea, CA, Iraq, VA, NY, Australia, and Germany. He helps with some of the family's bills and he is very supportive of Celina's efforts to learn English. She said that he even commented positively at how she is coming to meet with me and speaks to me in English only. He also only speaks to her in English.

Her daugher knows some Spanish words, but speaks mostly all in English with her. After all, both of her children were born in the U.S. and have graduated from Amercican high schools.
She told me that she practices about 4 days a week with Jennifer on her written English vocabulary. This helps Celina to learn English too. Consequently, is apparent to me that the ideal situation would be for both Celina and Jennifer to enroll in a family literacy program together. Unfortunately, Jennifer is no longer a student in Broward Schools so they cannot enroll in the Broward County Schools' family literacy programs.

What obstacles get in the way?
-Transportation--has no car, so she must take the bus.
-Childcare--her daughter has to come with her.
-Her husband and she speak only in Spanish.
-She does not work among any English speaking people.
-Her daughter's age of 22 is now making the task of finding social and educational support services difficult. Celina has signed Jennifer up (back in 2008 at the time J. graduated high school) on waiting lists with 5-6 agencies including a language center; but so far, no one has called her.

What improvements would she want to see?
-Add more conversational practice with the other women in pairs.
-Add more morning classes.

What can the library do to motivate more people in your age group to attend?
n/a

Conclusion:

I gave Celina three 3 essays in Spanish to take home and mail back to me (has no email address). She will decide whether to mail them back to me, or bring them with her to our meeting in three weeks for member checking. At the member checking interview on 10/29/10, she said she did not have time to look at the essays (yet I saw that she still had them in her purse).

Follow-up Questions:
How is her husband's English? I met him on 10/29/10 when he came to pick her up. He was friendly and came across as very hardworking.
Who did she go to live with in NY when she first came to the US? She said that she was 13 at the time and went to live with her 30 year old family friend after her parents died. The two of them then lived together on their own with no other family support.
What is her husband's job at the airport? He is a fueler of the planes while they are landed for service.
How many years did she work for the very wealthy Saudi American family? About six years until they moved to their other home in Lebanon. She explained at our second interview that the family had five vehicles and a very lavish lifestyle.
Why did she and her family move to S FL six years ago? Her husband got a job transfer through his company.
During the 10/29/10 member checking interview, Celina was there before I arrived. She had taken the bus to get there. She let me know that we had one hour b/c she must leave in order to vote downstairs (early voting). Her husband would be picking her up at 11:30. I was so flattered by her punctuality and her fearless attitude. Despite her limited English, she came to meet with me. This says a lot to me. I was also glad to learn more in this interview about some of the support she has at home through her 32 year son. He encourages her to watch only English TV (see Elida and Jimena).

Thurs. 10/7/10 Random Notes re: Procedures Section, etc.

-Made changes to Procedures section in diss. tonight (collapsed three interviews to one interview with one more meeting for member checking and follow up with the intent of building trust).
-Changed six to eight teachers.
-Changed letters to the Literacy Contacts and Lit. Coordinator (# of interviews, # of teachers).

-Started Mimose's transcription.
-Emailed and heard from Suzi re: her trip to see Lisa on 10/20. Also, she will be co-teaching with Sandy on Sat. 10/23.
-Will see if Mimose mails me back any essays. Same with Aida. So far, Aida has not replied to my email about when she graduated from Gold Coast.

In my Ch. 4 Findings, I need to note about the conflict older learners have gone through with their grandchildren, i.e., their negative attitudes towards their difficulty with English. This is a finding of Weinstein-Shr's (1995) about sociocultural factors that support older learners' language acquisition. One is the attitudes of professionals, a second is the responses of employers, and the third is families and communities. Fourth is the beliefs and assumptions of elders themselves. See Nancy and Myra's interviews.

Literacy for older age cohorts is enhanced when 1.) educators feel they have much to learn as well as teach; b.) they have actual job opportunities to advance, 3.) have a chance to break out of their isolation (see Aida's and Graciela's interviews), and 4.) they can spend time with peers engaged in learning (Aida, Graciela).

Wed. 10/6/10 WR Harriet/Guy's Observation

Tonight at WR, I met Harriet, a middle-aged teacher (50's, 60s) and co-teacher/Literacy Contact, Guy. There were eight l earners tonight, four men (Romuald, David, Silvio and Ernesto) and four women. Overall, the group was more talkative (less restrained) as compared to yesterday's noonday class of 16. Perhaps it is because of the "personalities" of the learners (see Janine/Jeannette's interview) or just b/c the class size was small enough to make for a workable "English Cafe" class (see Lisa and Janine's observations).

The composition of the class is: 3 Colombian (1 age 78; Ernesto, age 64), 1 Guatemalan (age 51, Lourdes), 1 Pole, 2 Brazilians (1 age 60, Elida), and 1 Indian woman (age 78). I will interview Elida and Ernesto and his wife. Elida and I will meet at her house on Sun. 10/24 at 4 pm. Ernesto and his wife (who normally comes
and this is his first class) will meet with me on Fri. 10/15 at 4:30 pm.

The lesson was very well-received by the class. They all agreed that they really NEEDED this lesson on "ed" endings, PLUS Guy had a handy worksheet with the actual rules on it--I have never seen a sheet quite as good as this one. At first, Harriet had the students try and identify the proper ending based on the rule sheet on their own (I might suggest a paired approach so students can collaborate ini English for their answers, later reported in the group). The students themselves expressed to her that this approach was not as good for them. So they asked Harriet to read the words aloud (for the proper pronunciation) and then they would write down the /t/, /id/, or /d/ sound. Guy also did a great supporting co-teaching job of describing how each rule works. Finally, students could tell why they arrived at their answers. In this class I noticed he was much more involved in the teaching of the lesson than he was with Trina. The worksheet came from the website, englishforeveryone.org

There was a great conversation at one point in the class about English word origins: moonshine, monkeyshines, cowboys, rednecks, hillbillies (cowboys and rednecks were discussed in a previous class, and Guy added hillbillies). Elida then asked about "white trash" and what it means. A pretty lengthy explanation ensued stemming mostly from Harriet but also guy as to its meaning. It was a very good example of the "give and take" aspect mentioned first by Myra (NOR teacher). This discussion made for a great way to teach American culture!
While describing "moonshine," I mentioned "till" as the word we use to describe the container in which it is fermented. The word, I later found out, is whisky "still." I believe this is what Guy called it in class.
The other cultural part of the class was the explanation from Guy about Ebonics (from the words 'ebony' and 'phonics.' A question from Elida asked about the vernacular of African Americans and why they speak English so differently than non-African Americans. It was pointed out that AAE (African American English) is a dialect. Ruth, another student, asked about Haitian Americans and how she has a tough time understanding them at work. Elida said that their native Creole "sounds like a drum beating." Harriet added how she feels about Southern dialects--that the sound of their dialects is "uneducated." This conversation tied into the question about "white trash, " and the negative social connotations.

There was a brief discussion about hand gestures and their meaning, i.e., how talking over the phone is difficult b/c for many ELLs b/c they cannot see the facial expressions and hand gestures that go along with our communications. But Ruth brought up how Skyping with a web camera (as can thenew video phones) can change that! She and I had a side conversation about the wonders of technology. Guy then said that he has considered setting a phone up in the back of the room and having a practice session with students in class.

I found Harriet's pace very good (as was Trina's), and she provided plenty of oral pronounciation practice once the learners told her how they wanted her to proceed.

I think it would help if the teachers encouraged those with the same first languages to sit next to one another, or at least encourage that & facilitate that for the (older) learners who may be coming for the first time (see Myra's interview). I thought is was great that Shaila sat right next to Harriet--I wonder how long Shaila has been coming to class...

Harriet's own age is conducive to learning for the older learners (see Myra). I found her to have empathy for them and therefore, she allowed for questions for clarification from the students and she repeated key points for them.
I found her style to be most like Lisa's and also a little like Myra's though she hasn't got the same length of relationship that Myra has (hasn't taught as long?).

The interaction and "give and take" in the class revealed that teacher and learners were very clearly collaborating together to build meaning (constructivism). Principles of andragogy were in play such as respecting the adult learners' own experience as a springboard for learning. Also the style of instruction was clearly nonformal and relaxed-- where mistakes are not only accepted, but also expected.

The feeling of a "support group" for learning was apparent too. I heard students expressing their fears and challenges, e.g. Ruth when she talked about her work as a nutritionist where she has co-workers whose English is difficult to understand, e.g. Haitian Americans. Elida too who said that she had a tough time understanding the English of African Americans and later, 1:1, she told me that it is not easy finding people who are willing to be patient with her and talk with her. her onw husband is American but lived in Brazil for 20 years. So his English is not too good; therefore, they speak Protuguese all the time. Elida does work f.t from 9-5, M-F, but I am not sure for how long she has worked there yet & what languages she is practicing.

Suggestions:
-Try some paired practice and small group collaborative work.
-Try some music with lyrics for students to decipher.
-Encourage students to talk about their fears and challenges in class, first as a way to relieve stress but also as a way to bond and begin to see them as "opportunities" (as Harriet would prefer me to call them).

Tues. 10/5/10, WR English Cafe w/Trina

I observed Trina and Guy in their 12:00 - 1:30 pm class. There were 16 learners and 2 of them were men, the rest women. The atmosphere was one of familiarity with one another, and most of the students seemed to be frequent or at least "repeat customers."

I found one qualified learner participant, and she is a Colombian and 61 (Celina R.) She brought her handicapped daughter with her, Jennifer, who is a graduate of a school in Plantation. Celina told me that Jennifer is quite musically talented and plays several instruments. Jennifer was bron in the U.S. and raised mostly in NY where the family is from. Not sure yet how long they have lived in South Florida. Celina also has a son who is in the military overseas right now.

I will interview Celina at 10 am on Friday and then Trina at 1 pm.

In observing Trina, I found her to have a nice way of addressing the class. She had a nice slow rate of speech and seemed to function well in the "whole class" format. I was hoping to see more paired learning time and oral language practice. Maybe b/c I was there, the students clammed up and didn't have a longer time with Trina at the start of class in "open conversation." It was Laura who made a comment at the start of class about how it felt very quiet in the room--like "assessment time." She could have been referring to the the assessment Trina said she was going to do with them on learning styles.