4 Ha ee erg Working with ESL students: November Forum Douglas College isn’t unique with its in- creasingly multilingual, multicultural student population. Many Lower Mainland schools and other post-secondary institutions face the same situation. And it’s not just Vancouver. Post-secondary institutions in cities across North America, many of which have from 30% to 70% of their student populations coming from homes where English is not the first language, are being challenged in the delivery of course material. Douglas College English as a Second Lan- guage Instructor Cecil Klassen says that diversity is easily recognized, but the prac- tical and often conflicting day-to-day realities faced by students, faculty and staff members are harder to identify. "The challenges include not only adapting to the changing requirements of a multicul- tural student population, but also finding ways to incorporate into college programs the wealth of backgrounds and experience the students bring with them. ’ESL’ is a misleading term in some ways because stu- dents of many kinds are too easily lumped into one category; as in any multicultural context, the reality is far more complex than the categories used to refer to indi- viduals," says Klassen. To foster dialogue, the ESL discipline in conjunction with the Douglas College Pro- fessional Development program will be organizing a number of initiatives this year aimed at helping staff and faculty identify and consider ways of approaching ESL-related issues they encounter. In Oc- tober, ESL faculty will visit different areas of the college to begin gathering in- put. On Tuesday, November 23, from noon to 1:30 p.m. an Open Forum will be held to allow faculty and staff to discuss issues and to share ways different indi- viduals and departments have been working with ESL students. The diversity we encounter in terms of stu- dents from different national, cultural and language backgrounds is immense, says Klassen. Added to this diversity are the many different school systems (from supe- rior to almost non-existent) that the students come from, while another level of diversity occurs because of status: inter- national students are not the same as Design a logo! and win lunch for two The Nursing Education Consortium of the Fraser Valley, The oh Open Learning Agency, Douglas College, Kwantlen College and edd pp, che University College of the Fraser Valley are collaborating y to develop a baccalaureate curriculum in Nursing. Your logo design could be the winner. The closing date for entries is October 29, 1993. Entries must indicate the designer's name, address and phone number. All entries become the property of the Consortium and will not be returned. This contest is open to students, staff and faculty. Submit entries to: Director, Health Science Kwantien College P.O. Box 9030 Surrey, B.C. NECI V NURSING EDUCATION CONSORTIUM OF THE FRASER VALLEY immigrant students, and most refugee stu- dents face everyday realities that are much different than what other immigrants face. "Ways of dealing with these complex real- life situations often cannot be generic or applied on a college-wide level. Specific departments or even specific courses often require practical approaches that are appro- priate only to those specific settings and situations," says Klassen. "ESL faculty can provide an important level of expertise on cultural, language, and pedagogical issues, but faculty and staff from various areas also tend to have a wealth of practical experience to share about what has been working and what has not in their specific disciplines. In highly compartmentalized and autono- mous college systems such as ours we tend not to know what is happening next door, yet often some of the most practical and creative approaches are learned from each other once opportunities for dialogue are provided." : For further information, please contact Julia Robinson, Jan Selman, Cecil Klas- @ sen, or Barb Coward. A Did You Know... The Co-operative Education Program in Commerce and Business Administration successfully placed 41 students in various positions this past summer, the highest fig- ure in any semester since the program started in 1986. The first placement semes- ter for the Financial Services Studies program saw 3 students placed at a credit union in Surrey. A Marketing student was placed in Thailand working as an Eng- lish/marketing Assistant at an international hotel. Another placement involved a Com- puter student converting curriculum, for a professional accounting association. The Computer Information Systems program placed many students in government and private firms providing technical support, as well as analytical and administrative support. The program is looking forward to more successful placements in coming semesters. If you have contacts that Co-op Education could approach for potential stu- @ dent placements, please call Marian Rossell at local 5446. A