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Funded Innovative Projects

The following reports are the products of various innovative projects funded by the government and others.

Public Report: Business for Professionals Bridging to Employment Program (pdf): The Business Communication for Professionals program was offered to 45 newcomers to Canada who presented previous training and experience in accounting, management or human resource management professions, and Canadian Language Benchmarks of at least 6 in all four skill areas. This 28-week program, developed their communication, cross-cultural, employability and professional skills to a level at which they could access employment opportunities, or specialized training, appropriate to their previous training and experience in accounting, management, or human resources.
Connecting ESL Communities and Professionals: A Project of Alberta Teachers of English as a Second Language to assess emerging immigrant language needs and recommend best practices in the province of Alberta, and to provide a mechanism for bringing together expertise in the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) to immigrants that exist in the province of Alberta.
This project was conducted by ATESL with funding and support from Alberta Human Resources and Employment and additional support provided by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Stepping Stones to English (pdf): Calgary Chinese Community Service Association Project
Funded by Alberta Learning
Public Report
Summary of Project Objectives, Activities and Outcomes
Submitted by Maria Macminn; The main goal of this project was to provide an alternative learning option for learners that would not or have not been successful in a traditional ESL program. Our objective was to introduce a bilingual ESL model into this alternative ESL option.
Public Report: Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks (pdf): With funding in 2004 and 2005 the CCLB was able to:
- Develop and enhance the comprehensive national assessment system that supports the use of CLB in the adult ESL community, education, training and labour market, including a system of recognition of CLB assessors and assessment service providers.
- Strengthen public awareness and image of the Canadian Language Benchmarks and encourage the practical, fair and reliable use of this national standard.
Using the Canadian Language Benchmarks Assessment for Placement and Admission to Health Care Aide programs at NorQuest College and other postsecondary institutions in Alberta (pdf): Public Report
Submitted by Anna De Luca
Coordinator, English Language Training
October 22, 2003
Canadian Language Benchmarks: Formative Assessment Resource (pdf): Kit Phase II
Final Public Report
Organization: Tara Holmes & Associates Inc.; The purpose of the project was to support classroom teachers to develop effective formative assessment strategies. The project resulted in a resource package, entitled Integrating CLB Assessment into your ESL Classroom. The package presents a planning framework and a series of classroom examples to help Adult ESL teachers develop assessment practices based on their everyday classroom lessons.
Canadian Language Benchmarks Working for Alberta (pdf): Submitted by: Pauline McNaughton
Executive Director, CCLB; The CCLB recognizes that for Alberta as elsewhere, access to employment is an increasingly significant aspect of the process of settlement for newcomers to Canada. Immigrants come to Canada with many skills to contribute to Canadian society, but may face unfair barriers in securing employment. This delays or prevents them from reaching their potential in contributing to Canadian society. These economic realities have led federal and provincial policymakers and decision-makers to explore new avenues to facilitate the entry of immigrants into the workforce.
Communicative Competence - From Comprehension to Production (pdf): Language Training Programs Final Report 2003/2004
Calgary Immigrant Educational Society
Public Report Submitted to Alberta Learning; The objectives of Communicative Competence - From Comprehension to Production were met for the 2003 - 2004 year. Students were provided with a framework in which to learn and utilize the English language. Adaptation and integration skills were developed through the use of various subjects that reflected daily living and employability skills.
The Learning Exchange: Enhancing Communication Skills (pdf): CULTURAL CONNECTIONS INSTITUTE – THE LEARNING EXCHANGE
Language Training Programs 2005-2006
Public Report
Submitted May 31, 2006
by Elaine Boychuk (Interim Executive Director); The Learning Exchange Program (LEX) is an innovative program funded by Alberta Human Resources and Employment (AHRE) which addresses the language learning needs of ESL learners in Edmonton. The project objective is to deliver an open access program for ESL learners ineligible for LINC or other ESL programs and unable to access responsive programming at a time and cost that match their needs. Along with language services, a further LEX objective is to provide a valuable focus for community development. As its name implies, this program provides an environment in which an exchange of learning can take place between ESL learners and volunteer teachers. LEX attracts volunteers who are looking for the opportunity to engage in the dynamic, multicultural community represented in Edmonton.
ESL Enrichment for NorQuest College’s Practical Nurse Re-entry Program for International Students (pdf): Donna Anderson, NorQuest College
The project was funded by Alberta Learning, Community Programs.; The Practical Nurse Re-Entry Program for International Students at NorQuest College assists foreign trained health professionals to fast track into the Canadian health care workplace by becoming Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). It is one of six practical nurse programs at NorQuest. Originally, the Practical Nurse re-entry program was designed with the Canadian-trained Licensed Practical Nurse in mind; the target student population consisted of nurses who had been out of the workplace too long to maintain their accreditation. It was not designed with the foreign-trained professional in mind. However, over the years a large number of these professionals have chosen to participate in this reentry program and have done so with a rewarding degree of success.
ESL Multimedia Resources Project (pdf): Public Report
June 2005; The purpose of the ESL Multimedia Resources Project was to disperse ESL online course materials and digital learning objects previously developed by the Calgary Board of Education with support from Alberta Learning and to provide workshops to ESL instructors, tutors and coordinators associated with Community Adult Learning Councils and Literacy Councils in Alberta.
English in the Workplace at Performance Apparel Canada (PAC - formerly Prof Canada) (pdf): Edmonton Mennonite Centre For Newcomers (EMCN)
Prepared by
Geralyn St. Louis for MCN
Language Training Programs Public Report; The purpose of this project was to be innovative in its provision of contextualized English language training in the workplace to multi-barriered immigrants who have had little or no opportunity to access regular LINC or ESL programs in the past. Its aim was to provide an environment in which learners could acquire and/or improve essential everyday interpersonal communication skills, the lack of which has previously prevented them from becoming more active and successful participants in the workforce, at home, in their communities, and in Canadian society in general.
Conference on Immigration, Integration and Language: Final Report to the Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Industry (pdf): Immigration, Integration and Language
University of Calgary; Immigration, Integration and Language: A Public Policy Conference on Living, Learning and Working in Canada was hosted by the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Education in October 2006 and was specifically designed to bring together invited participants and experts from a broad range of sectors in order to identify and prioritize current issues in social, educational and occupational immigrant integration. In addition to discussion, however, the express purpose of this collaboration was to articulate policy-oriented principles and feasible strategies that could improve the integration of immigrants, in particular those who choose to work and live in Alberta. The ultimate goal of the conference was to generate a document containing the conference proceedings, the panellists’ papers and presentations as well as an Immigrant Integration Action Plan to inform future decision making and suggest areas where more information is needed to make informed policy decisions.
Industry Specific Pre-employment Language Development for Immigrants in Rural Alberta Communities - Phase One (pdf): Public Report Submitted by: Bow Valley College
Funding Provided by: Alberta Learning/Alberta Human Resources and Employment, Language Training Program; This project evolved out of an earlier project, also funded by Alberta Learning, delivered in partnership by Bow Valley College and NorQuest College. The first project, which included the development of ERPAC (ESL Resource Package for Alberta Communities), involved mentoring two rural Alberta communities. While the consultants were working with these communities they discovered that often immigrants come to a community because of available jobs. However, the job that originally attracted them was not necessarily something they wanted for long-term employment. Once they got settled they started to search for other, more satisfying employment. They often found that they were limited by their lack of English language skills. In an effort to find both work and English language training they migrated to larger urban centres.
Industry Specific Pre-employment Language Development for Immigrants in Rural Alberta Communities - Phase Two (pdf): Prepared by: Lorene Anderson
March, 2007
Integrated Bridging Program for Internationally Trained Accountants and Auditors - 2004 (pdf): Public Report on the Developing Integrated Programming for Immigrant Professionals Project
EDMONTON MENNONITE CENTRE FOR NEWCOMERS
Public Final Report on Developing Integrated Programming for Immigrant Professionals-2004
Karol Adamowicz; The Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, a community-based non-profit organization serving immigrants and refugees since 1981, received funding under the Integrate Language Training Program in 2004 to refine and develop the methodology and processes employed in its enormously successful Engineers’ and Technologists’ Integration Program (ETIP). The resulting (conceptual) model was then applied to the development of an integrated bridging program for internationally trained practitioners in the financial accounting profession. The first phase of this project consisted of the development of a conceptual model or template that could be used as a guide for the creation of a bridging program. The second phase included application of the model to the financial accounting profession, and development of all of the components required to implement the program. The third phase was the actual implementation of an integrated bridging program for internationally trained accountants and auditors.
Integrated Career Skills / ESL Training Pilot: Computer Repair Technician / ESL Program (pdf): Public Report - December 2003
Bow Valley College
Funding Provided by: Alberta Learning, Language Training Programs; This Integrated Career Repair Technician/ESL Training Pilot was offered to assess the efficacy of the model to integrate technical skills with ESL to provide training leading to employment for immigrants wishing to pursue careers related to education and experience gained in their home countries. Specifically learners were to be provided the opportunity to acquire A+ Certification, improve their English language skills and obtain Canadian work experience leading to employment.
Exploring and Facilitating a Process of Intercultural Training For ESL Students, Instructors and Employers Project, Phase I (pdf): Public Report
NORQUEST COLLEGE, LANGUAGE TRAINING AND ADULT LITERACY
December 2003 - May 2005; The goal of this project was to research available models and to customize a process for intercultural training that would include a set of exercises and experiences that will have practical applications and be directly relevant and easy to implement in the ESL classroom as training for instructors and for companies that employ immigrant workers.
Literacy and Basic English Program (pdf): Public report
April 1, 2007 - March 31, 2008
Submitted to Alberta Employment and Immigration
Prepared by Calgary Immigrant Educational Society; The Literacy and Basic English program, which started as a pilot project in 2005, addresses the identified need for adult English literacy instruction in Forest Lawn and surrounding communities. It is designed to enhance the socio-economic well being of adult immigrants who are marginalized and close to the poverty level because of their extremely limited language skills. Most of these immigrants, both men and women, fall under low-income or working poor category. Our target group consists of adult immigrants, both men and women, who are non-literate in English language, or had CLB Literacy Assessment done at ILVARC and received pre-benchmark scores on their tests. Some of them had no prior schooling experience before joining this program while others had just a few years of education in their home countries. Some of them were non-literate in their first languages, too. Even those who possessed a limited knowledge of their own alphabet struggled to recognize and understand English alphabet. Consequently, these adult learners required extra instruction that concentrates on recognizing and understanding the formation of the English alphabet.
Post High School ESL Literacy Research and Development Project, Phase I (pdf): Public Report
Prepared for Alberta Learning
by Diane Hardy
Bow Valley College, ESL Department; The Post High School ESL Literacy Research and Development Project - Phase One researched issues surrounding young immigrants exiting high school without a diploma due to low literacy skills and/or because they are too old to study in a high school setting, but demonstrate a need for further educational opportunities. The project investigated the learning and language-training needs of young ESL adults with low literacy skills.
Post High School ESL Literacy Research and Development Project, Phase II (pdf): Public Report; Phase Two of the project ran from 2003-2004, and involved the delivery of the pilot program, development of career plans for each individual learner, and the revisions to the curriculum based on the pilot program results. Fifteen young adult learners with reading and writing Canadian Language Benchmarks literacy levels between Foundation and Phase III and listening and speaking proficiency levels between CLB 2 and 6 were accepted into the program. They attended part–time small group classes for a total of sixteen hours per week. Classes ran for two eighteen-week sessions from fall 2003 to summer 2004. Clients also met with a career advisor to discuss future education and career plans several times over the course of each session.
Rural Routes – Language Tools & Resources for Local Trainers (pdf): Public Report
Advanced Education
Alberta Human Resources & Employment
Prepared by: Anna DeLuca
August 2006; Over the past four years NorQuest College has worked with Alberta Advanced Education and Alberta Human Resources and Employment to assist rural communities and smaller urban centres in offering quality and effective ESL training.
Summative Assessment Manual SAM CLB 1-4 (pdf): Learner Benchmark Achievement
Report Tools
FINAL PUBLIC REPORT
March 2004, Edmonton
Submitted to: Carolyn Dieleman,
Language Training Programs, Alberta Learning
Pauline McNaughton, Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks
Gayle Taylor, Citizenship & Immigration Canada Edmonton
Submitted by: G.P. Smith Consulting Inc., Edmonton; Work has been completed on SAM (Summative Assessment Manual) for Canadian Language Benchmarks Stage 1, a project funded by Alberta Learning, the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks, and by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in Edmonton. At the moment, the SAM CLB 1-4 manual is in the pre-publication production phase.