SUNDAY 1 JULY, 2018 – UWI TODAY
19
WORLD REFUGEE DAY
A unique eight-week long English language
course
for speakers of other languages began in June, and
will continue this month, to help some refugees and
asylum-seekers in Trinidad learn essential English
language survival skills. The project is teaching about
60 students. This is the second year that it is being
done, with some generous support from community
volunteers, a few local businesses and teachers who all
wish to lend a helping hand to a compassionate cause.
The project began last year as a small UWI
collaborative outreach project to help refugees
struggling to survive in T&T as well as to provide a
good learning experience for UWI TESOL Diploma
students. This year the programme continues with the
addition of a new faith-based partner in a Curepe-
based church, the St Augustine Evangelical Bible
Church, which is generously providing some resources.
On June 4, an evening workshop at the church
brought some community and academic stakeholders
together to hear about the project, called “The
Urban Refugee in Come-Unity Spaces.” With the
atmosphere of a town meeting, participants included
Dr Nicole Roberts, Head of the UWI Department of
Modern Languages and Linguistics, and immigration
consultant Dr Jehad Qudourah, who shared anecdotes
highlighting how refugees are treated within an
immigration system that does not yet cater to their
situation. There is a 2014 policy that has not yet
been implemented. Also present were Dr Cheryl-
Ann Boodram, UWI lecturer in Social Work, who
spoke about the need for empowering marginalized,
vulnerable refugees to help them rebuild their lives;
andMichelle Timothy Ellis, aUWI Adjunct Lecturer in
the TESOL Programme, who spoke about the specially
designed intensive English classes developed with
real-world tasks in mind, to develop immediate and
practical English skills for literacy, living and future
learning.
ShinelleHills, urban planner and architect, pointed
the audience’s attention to the potential of green spaces
that are already open to the public, as a pragmatic
way of responding and helping refugees and migrants
recover their sense of cultural identity, integration and
sense of place, despite an absent legal framework for
their integration in Trinidad and Tobago.
UWI Today spoke with UWI Linguistics lecturer
and the Coordinator of the TESOL Programme, Dr
Renee Figuera, to find out more about “The Urban
Refugee in Come-Unity Spaces” project, which was
her brainchild.
“The teachers are actually doing a teaching
practicum of 48 hours over eight Saturdays. It is the
final ‘hands-on’ practical course in a series of more
academic postgraduate courses to prepare them
to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages
(TESOL).The practicumexperience is the culminating
course in a one-year Diploma in TESOL. The
practicum is superimposed on part of a project. We
only accept documented migrants. This means they
must have a UNHCR Asylum-Seeker Certificate or
Refugee Certificate. Their ages range from children
to older adults, and most are Spanish speakers. Their
THE TESOL-COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TEAM with the Faculty of Humanities and Education, Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics
and St Augustine Evangelical Bible Church. Back Row (from left): Jerry Martin, Bicultural Interpreter, English-Spanish, SAEBC; Joe Caterson, Board
of SAEBC; Pastor Owen Boyce, Hagaion Ministries International; Dr Martin Hughes, Board of SAEBC, Darren Beckles, Final Year-Civil Engineering
Student, UWI, St Augustine. Front Row (from left): Dr Jo-anne Bridge, Lecturer Mechanical Engineering/Board of SAEBC; Jeanne-Alexie Elias, Ministry
of Education; Anna Levi, Postgraduate Student in Cultural Studies; Dr Renée Figuera, Coordinator TESOL Programmes and U, We and Refugees,
ProjectTeamLeader; Pastor FrancisWarner, SAEBCTeamLeader; Sahodra-AnnMangaroo, Early Childhood Educator; MichelleTimothy-Ellis; Adjunct
Lecturer, TESOL, UWI, St Augustine; Jeleana Griffith, MA student, TESOL, University of the West Indies/SAEBC.
English classes help refugees
B Y S H E R E E N A N N A L I
ages have ranged from 18 months to 59 years old –
childrenmay come along with their parents. Last year,
57 migrants graduated from the programme, and this
year, we expect about the same – about 60.”
Dr Figuera says the migrants are a mix of refugees
and asylum seekers, many of whomhave well-founded
fears of threats to their safety in their own countries.
They are here not by choice, but through desperate
circumstances beyond their control. Their English-
language speaking levels are often nonexistent – or
“zero to basico,” as Dr Figuera says.
The TESOL department this year is funding one
master teacher’s services for supervising the work of
the pre-service teachers who are conducting teaching
on behalf of the refugees and asylum-seekers. Nine
other people, all graduates from the UWI TESOL
Diploma programme, are also volunteering their
services free. And some local business sponsors have
stepped up to help in providing meals and other
needs. Sponsors this year include the Living Water
Community, the Glorious Bodies Glorious Minds
health and beauty spa, Sacha Cosmetics, Xtra Foods
grocery store, Bryden PI Ltd, Kiss Baking Company
Ltd, and Blue Waters Products Ltd. Massy Stores have
also provided help.
Dr Figuera said several of the TESOL Diploma
students subsequently decide to upgrade to a Masters in
TESOL after participation in the outreach programme.
UWI students also gain ideas for new lines of research,
such as one UWI student who is doing a project
exploring how refugees or forcedmigrants learn English
in an informal context. Learning a second language in a
conventional classroomsetting is a very different process
from learning English in outside informal settings in the
context of survival in a strange land and culture.
The uni que par tner ship with a church
arose precisely because of the church’s existing
commitment to social welfare and providing
outreach community services in a non-judgmental,
caring way. Several UWI lecturers also attend the
church, whose congregation is drawn from all social
classes, ethnicities and backgrounds who come to
share a space of peaceful prayer and community
fellowship and sharing.
Dr Figuera says that church volunteers are very
interested in doing a good job and are open-minded
and tolerant; they often ask her: “What can we do to
improve?” Congregation members have given help
in translation and interpretation services, and are
keen about linking their help to the English language
services outreach Practicum course in useful ways
that marry with their own desire for helping in social
welfare projects.
The actual English classes emphasize survival
issues, such as how to fill forms, how to speak to
access any social services that might be available,
and developing basic skills in active listening,
speaking, and understanding English. Classes can
involve role-playing, task-based assignments, drills
in vocabulary and pronunciation, and assignments
to develop reading and writing skills. How to learn
English in a creole-speaking island is also a part
of the course, because learning to understand
and negotiate different T&T language codes and
registers can be very tricky for newcomers.
Says Dr Fi guera , “The TESOL summer
programme for refugees and asylum seekers is
about empowerment, and about creating a bridge to
survival through language skills. And we are happy
to extend the UWI brand out into the community.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
on UWI TESOL courses and programmes
UWI TESOL Diploma web page:
Dr Renée Figuera, UWI TESOL Coordinator: (868) 645-3232, Ext. 83493
