Swinburne University of Technology - Melbourne Australia
Language the bridge across a strange new world
Story by Catherine Norwood
A look inside the Adult Migrant English Program offered at Swinburne University of Technology shows a microcosm of the issues migrants and refugees face after arriving in Australia.
Learning English is not just about learning the words, it is about learning how to survive in a foreign culture, and to achieve what is for many that most highly prized reward - Australian citizenship.
Adult Migrant English Program team leader Lois Gijsbers says the program has been operating for about a decade at Swinburne, under contract to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. Students have traditionally been migrants, many with qualifications in their own countries, or at least with reasonable levels of formal education. They generally take classes for six months to a year and, because of their skills, often find employment relatively quickly or pursue further study.
However, refugees are making up an increasing proportion of students enrolled in the English program offered at Swinburne TAFE's Croydon and Wantirna campuses. The influx of Sudanese and Burmese refugees to Melbourne's east has seen enrolments grow from 50 in 1997 to more than 400 in 2008.
Classes are run full and part-time, with the Federal Government funding up to 510 hours of classes. However, this can be extended for refugees, particularly if they have suffered trauma or torture.
"When people arrive in Australia they need English skills to find accommodation, to get around Melbourne, to handle money and go shopping," Ms Gijsbers says. She describes a chasm between where many of the refugees have come from, and the new world they are dropped into in Australia.
"When they come to classes, some have never been in a classroom before; they may have had no formal education at all. Some don't even know how to hold a pen. When they move into a house here they may never have cooked with gas or electricity, or had heating in their homes."
Despite that, she says people quickly grasp new technologies they are exposed to. "They are really excited when they walk into a room full of computers, and they've all got mobile phones; it's like they've leapt a few generations."
Computing is an integral part of the English program because, apart from being an almost indispensible living and work skill in modern Australia, gaining citizenship requires the successful completion of a computer-based, multiple-choice test. "It's a very difficult couple of years. When they first arrive we try to direct them to whatever Swinburne support services we can, such as the health service, student counselling and financial counselling."
Other services include Foundation House, which offers support to survivors of torture and trauma, and the Migrant Information Centre, in eastern Melbourne, both of which provide a visiting service to Swinburne's Croydon campus. "We find it's important to use the services in the community to help improve the situation for our students."
Swinburne is a member of the Migrant Settlement Committee convened by the Communities Council on Ethnic Issues (Eastern Region) to identify and address the needs of refugees and other migrants moving into the area. Ms Gijsbers represents the university on a number of the committee's working groups, including education and employment.
She says the Migrant Settlement Committee has been instrumental in providing direction and networks to support initiatives for migrants. For Swinburne this has included an increasing focus on employment and workplace issues as part of its English program. It has developed 'taster courses' - short courses that focus on particular employment areas - usually those industries where there is a high demand in the eastern suburbs. Current taster courses include automotive, welding, aged care, childcare, office work, IT and accounting.
The general classes also include workplace language, occupational health and safety issues, how to apply for a job and go for an interview. As part of this program they also coordinate work placements for students, which have been well supported by councils and businesses in the area.
Ms Gijsbers says while many people leave the program when they get a job, a growing number of students have completed the English program and gone on to get further qualifications through Swinburne and then found work in their new field.
"We've found our students very keen learn, and very keen to give back to the Australian community; they want to get a job and make a new life here," she says.
