ESL classes project for Sudanese refugees

Date

2010

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Southern New Hampshire University

Abstract

This ESL Classes Project was designed for the Sudanese refugees aged between 21 to 44 years old living in Manchester, NH. The objective of this project was to provide Sudanese refugees with the English skills that would enable them to advance closer to their educational, vocational and personal goals. Moreover, acquiring these skills would enable each participant to become an active contributor to the social, political and economic richness of the American society. This Project was implemented in partnership with the International Institute of New Hampshire (IINH) and Sudanese Community Center (SCC) at Manchester, NH. The ESL center at the IINH has a long history of helping refugees in learning English Language. Based on IINH broad experiences in this field, the project greatly benefited from their partnership and support. Sudanese refugees in Manchester were culturally and linguistically diverse. Most of them were deprived from formal education as a result of long years of conflicts, violence and civil wars. Therefore, many of them were at a low starting level. Sudanese refugees came from a highly oral cultural background; they have developed informal learning skills that help them in learning English language. Therefore, our project team developed a unique curriculum for the Sudanese Refugees learners, so as to match their skills in the classroom. All participants enjoyed the classroom; and the monthly cultural activities, and were successfully able to pass all exams. Three of them were employed before the end of the program.

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