The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), through its Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development is offering an innovative educational model that combines English language instruction and A+ certification training?two skills that lead to real jobs in computer repair, and sustainable career opportunities.
Industry-recognized, A+ certification opens doors to information technology (IT) jobs often starting at $ 20 an hour. Rather than study English for months, then prepare for the A+ exam, immigrant New Yorkers who want to learn English as well as a skill, can accelerate their journey to employment by focusing on both areas at once at BMCC?taking apart PCs, handling motherboards, juggling cables?and practicing English vocabulary and conversation at the same time.
The new class, ELLA+, is designed along the lines of the highly touted Integrated Basic Education Skills Training or I-BEST model funded now in adult education programs across the country. When money for I-BEST training came through New York State, Tom Orsini, the New York State Education Department?s (NYSED?s) Director of Adult Education and Workforce Development, made it available to BMCC.
Learning two skills at once
?I know there are challenges,? says Orsini, ?but I think this is what we have to do with our ESL (English as a Second Language) population?we have to open these kinds of doors for them, in order for them to have family-sustaining jobs and career opportunities.?
Denise Deagan, Director of Adult Basic Education at BMCC applied the funding to create the innovative class?English Language Learners? A+ training, or ?ELLA+??pairing two instructors, John LaFortune, an IT professional with several computer certifications, and Jessica Wolvek, a seasoned instructor with a Masters in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Language (TESOL) degree, who happens to have taken A+ training herself.
Both LaFortune and Wolvek are in the room at the same time, which buzzes with English pronunciation and practice while students gather around PCs to unscrew the casings and identify components inside.
?The two teachers should dovetail in almost everything,? Wolvek says, ?and that?s worked great for us. One teacher takes the lead in each lesson, but the other is always there supporting it.?
?We do go over idioms and expressions,? she says, ?but a lot of this stuff is very oriented to learning the A+ topics. I think the students get a real sense of gratification that they?ve accomplished something very tangible that will help them get job, and a job that has growth potential.?
The new tech workforce: A global phenomenon
The ELLA+ students at BMCC emigrated from the Dominican Republic, Cote d?Ivorie, Haiti, China, Russia, Vietnam, Brazil and other countries, and reflect a growing number of immigrants seeking to upgrade their employment skills and standard of living. According to the New York City Department of City Planning, 46 percent of NYC?s total eight million residents speak a language other than English at home, and immigrants comprise 43 percent of the City?s labor force.
The bottom line: A better job
While the new class is thriving, the real measure of success will be in what happens once it ends: Will students pass the online A+ exam, with its profusion of tech jargon and maddening, multi-choice language conventions (?which is least likely to?,? ?which is most likely to??)?
And once the test is passed, will they find employment on a Help Desk, or repairing computers in a corporation, school or other setting?
According to the New York State Department of Labor, New York City?s unemployment rate was 10.3 percent in October 2009, and the job outlook is bleak. On the other hand, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment of computer support specialists is expected to increase by 18 percent from 2006 to 2016.
BMCC enrolls over 21,000 degree-seeking and 10,000 continuing education students a year. The largest community college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system, BMCC has students from more than 155 countries and awards Associate in Science (AS), Associate in Arts (AA), and Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degrees in over 25 fields.
Contact:
Lynn McGee
(212) 220-8501
lmcgee(at)bmcc(dot)cuny(dot)edu
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