Refugee English Language Proficiency and Employment: A Vocational ESL Curriculum

Many refugees, upon arrival in the United States, lack sufficient proficiency in English to find a job, retain and advance in a job, and integrate into U.S. society. Thus, there is a need for an effective, concise vocational ESL curriculum targeted at refugees so that they can learn about working in the U.S. and American culture. Using Gardner’s Social-Educational Theory of Second Language Acquisition and Knowles’ Adult Education Principles and Theory of Andragogy as a framework, this project presents current research on the special challenges and barriers faced by newly arrived refugees to learn English and find employment. The project consists of a multi-level Refugee Vocational ESL Curriculum that has been developed for adult refugee students that acknowledges the diversity of refugees in educational and English language abilities. The curriculum introduces English Skills, Life Skills, Job Skills, Key Vocabulary, and Communicative Activities in a concise, 12-week format for use in a refugee employment program