Just as the University of Connecticut”™s Stamford campus discontinues its English as a second language program, Bridgeport”™s Housatonic Community College is stepping up with an expansion of its ESL, noncredit courses.
For $150 dollars, students can now chose from a selection of ESL courses at HCC, ranging from early beginner to advanced English.
“As a community college our main job is to serve the educational needs of the community,” said Denise Bukovan, dean of community outreach at HCC. “It happens, for a whole variety of reasons, that we live and work in an area where a third of the population is non-English speaking.”
Living in a country where you don”™t speak the primary language has its obvious problems, whether it”™s cultural, educational or in the realm of career advancement, Bukovan said. Launched earlier this month, HCC”™s four new courses begin with a basic understanding of English and move into the kind of complex skill sets needed to advance a career or pursue a degree. Each course helps students develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
About 35 students are currently enrolled, some working as far away as Greenwich.
“I like everything about the class,” said Nelson Fernandez of Bridgeport. Fernandez is in HCC”™s advanced level course. “I feel so comfortable and relaxed. I enjoy learning.”
Bukovan said school officials decided to expand its noncredit ESL courses after launching a program to help employers teach their employees English last year. After employees spent about 80 hours of classroom time learning work-related words in English, managers at Lex Products in Shelton said they saw a big increase in employee productivity. Employees were more confident and many expressed how much the coursework helped at home, too.
“Following on an excellent experience with Lex, we decided we should be doing more to serve the English language needs of the surrounding community,” Bukovan said. “We feel like it”™s kind of an obligation.”
It remains to be seen why the UConn discontinued its ESL program in Stamford this spring. As of press time, UConn Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said only that “in these days of tight budgets” programs are sometime scaled back or discontinued after evaluation. The school still operates an accredited ESL program in Storrs, however.
Bukovan said running the program can be expensive, as it requires instructors and staff. But she was quick to qualify the statement, saying the school is fortunate that community members have recognized the need and are willing to pay for it. HCC”™s program is funded in part by a $50,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation.
“It costs money, it does,” Bukovan said. “But people think it”™s worth paying for. It”™s an investment in your future. We try to offer it at a reasonable cost.”
In addition to the four basic courses, the college also offers an ESL course for families, who might not otherwise go to a college campus for lessons. The school presently is arranging one-on-one programs for six families to practice every day discussions about school meetings, doctor visits and car problems.
Often non-English speaking families will use their children who know English from school as their sole interpreters, Bukovan said. It makes the parents dependent on their children for most errands.
“The effect is to change the roles where the child is the head of the family for practical purposes,” Bukovan said. “The child can become the center of the family. They”™re the one that interprets everything ”¦ This course is very near and dear to my heart. It”™s pretty special.”
