The Ofsted report, published on Friday 3rd October 2008, on the quality of provision of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) found that provision has improved steadily and only 1 of the 16 colleges visited were judged less than satisfactory.

The survey evaluates the quality of provision of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) offered in the post-compulsory learning and skills sector and reports on the programmes available to learners.

Recognising the vital role that English language training plays in promoting economic prosperity and community cohesion, over the last 9 months the LSEB has been engaged in significant work on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in London.

As part of this work, the Board commissioned research to understand and explore the critical issues for ESOL in more detail. The purpose was to identify what progress was already being made in creating more effective ESOL, and the key blockages that continue to prevent this progress from being rolled out.

Citizenship education is essential for ESOL learners who are having to become familiar with a different culture and political system. Citizenship can give ESOL learners the confidence and skills to become integrated members of communities, which become more socially cohesive as a result.

This pack of resources focuses on the needs of learners aged 16-19 and contains activities which can be used with learners as part of a citizenship programme or in free-standing ESOL classes. The teaching and learning activities in this pack are also available as amendable Word documents below so that you can adapt them for your own sessions.

A group of practitioners from Lancaster University are starting to put ESOL material on mobile phones.

The idea is to get teachers to collaborate on lesson creation using web based tools and to provide a repository of multimedia material to use. Once created the website would generate PowerPoint slides for classrooms but also a program that would display the lessons on mobile phones. This program should be able to be run on any mid-level mobile phone not just high-end smart phones and pocket PC devices.

NIACE broadly welcomes the proposals set out in the consultation document Focusing English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) on Community Cohesion, supporting its intent and the overarching approaches proposed. Particularly welcome are the:

• intention to prioritise access to state funded ESOL for the most excluded adults
• rediscovery of the importance of learning for wider social and community benefits
• recognition of the importance of outreach work
• recognition of the role of the voluntary sector
• references to volunteering
• value placed on local planning of ESOL to allow effective responses to local circumstances

NIACE believes, however that a number of aspects of the paper need to be addressed in more detail or revised to ensure that the government is able to realise its intentions.

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills' consultation Focusing English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) on Community Cohesion outlines proposals for national priority groups to guide ESOL delivery at a local level. The Refugee Council's response provides recommendations for better supporting ESOL learning and provision. While welcoming aspects of the consultation, our response includes a number of concerns around how ESOL is linked to community cohesion, those groups currently excluded from mainstream provision and the need to strengthen funded ESOL delivery through the voluntary and community sector.

The Refugee Council is concerned that people applying for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK or British Citizenship are paying for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses that are not recognised by the Home Office.

This short briefing provides further information and advice. Its aim is to make sure the ESOL with Citizenship Context course you take is recognised by the Home Office and accredited by an awarding body approved by the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).

This collection of ESOL, case-studies, recognises the importance of English language skills in determining both an individual''s ability to integrate and progress in life and work in the UK, and the associated benefits to employers; with wider gains for a cohesive society and the economy as a whole.

These case studies demonstrate advantages to employees, employers and society in addressing English language teaching needs. It showcases the achievements of those employers, unions and providers who have created English language learning opportunities for workers, across a range of sectors and industries, and in a variety of ways.

Their best practice reinforces the point that we need a two-way approach to integration. In other words, just as employers, whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, need clear information on the impacts of ESOL at work, and choice, relevance and flexibility in options for contribution; so too do learners, whose skills, aspirations and abilities bring shared benefits to us all.

OCNW's newsletter for practitioners and subject specialists to share best practice and provide a channel to supply the latest information to centres. As their portfolio of ESOL qualifications and centres continues to grow OCNW intends to increase the amount of support that it provides to centres.

This publication reviews all the literature used to inform the groundbreaking More than a language… report of the NIACE inquiry into ESOL. It illuminates the changing demographic profile of adult speakers of other languages. It then examines whether contemporary ESOL equips these adults with the English language they need to make life choices and contribute fully to the economic, social, cultural and political life of the nation.

This report concentrates on ESOL in the context of the Skills for Life policy in England. It is relevant for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are also experiencing increased migration with consequent population shifts and demand for English language development.

There are clear lessons to be drawn from the history of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) in the UK on the role, function and funding of post-school and community education, as well as the particular position of language learning and basic skills, and their relationships with each other.

This authoritative historical survey of the teaching and learning of ESOL for adults (in this text defined as individuals over the age of 16) resident in the UK from 1870–2006 covers five major themes:

• Language: the effects of changing theories and practice of language teaching and learning; and the increasing hegemony of English as a world language
• Government attitudes to and provision for immigration, refuge and settlement
• International economic, social and political factors
• Central, local, community and voluntary organisation responses to meeting the needs of ESOL learners
• The adult basic skills campaign in the UK from the 1970s and its relationship to the funding and provision of ESOL

Drawing on her own personal experience, and that of established and respected practitioners, Rosenberg critically evaluates adult ESOL provision over time and across sectors, aiming to contribute to and widen current debates about adult education, citizenship and entitlement, and inform future policy in the development of ESOL provision.

Alongside long-established and award-winning range of multimedia learning for adult literacy and numeracy, Tribal has also now produced the first package developed specifically to support the UK's Adult ESOL Core Curriculum.

English in Action is an ever-growing suite of multimedia learning, which combines ICT-based learning resources with extensive use of realistic video scenarios in authentic settings.

As well as non-native English language speakers, these resources are also being used successfully with literacy, citizenship and life-skills learners.

FAQs is a DVD made by researchers at Kings College, London (funded by Jobcentre Plus Leicestershire/Northamptonshire District with Deprived Area Fund (DAF) Provision) to help teachers and trainers support speakers of other languages who are facing the challenges of job interviews in the UK.

The DVD evolved from a research project, Talk on Trial: Job Interviews, Language and Ethnicity by Celia Roberts and Sarah Campbell (DWP 2006) which analysed the linguistic processes of real interviews in organisations such as factories and mail companies.

The research found that compared to UK born candidates, those born abroad faced a 'linguistic penalty' produced by the largely hidden demands to talk in institutionally credible ways and from a mismatch of implicit cultural expectations. The DVD addresses some of the issues in the research such as reading between the lines of the interview questions and understanding the competence framework of the modern job interview.

The DVD will be useful for anyone working with people born abroad who is currently looking for work or intends to do so in the future. The DVD and accompanying notes for teachers and trainers is now available by emailing Lorraine Bassett

This letter from Bill Rammell MP, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education answers Paul Mackney, Associate General Secretary points on his request for a moratorium of one year on the funding changes for ESOL provision and also covers the following:

• Commission on Integration and Cohesion
• Legal Advice
• Race Equality Impact Assessment (REIA)
• Migrant Workers

Tribal CTAD is involved in developing an online solution for ESOL learners. The 'English for Life and Work' portal is currently being trialled with hundreds of learners across the UK. The portal contains a host of world class learning materials, which users can access for free for 3 months.

The Portal offers support in three languages: Urdu, Polish and Mandarin, as well as English, and is a great opportunity for you and your learners to get involved and take an active part in shaping the future of this fantastic new resource.

To find out more, and to give your feedback, register at: www.englishforlifeandwork.co.uk

For any further details please e-mail: info@englishforlifeandwork.co.uk

The Southwark ESOL Providers' Network is a new network which enables ESOL providers in Southwark and the surrounding postcodes to: remain informed; share good practice; build the capacity of local provision; and improve links between providers, referral agencies and organisations offering wider support services to ESOL learners in Southwark.

NIACE welcomes the proposals announced on Monday 26th March by Bill Rammell MP, on the changes to the eligibility for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and changes to the eligibility to FE funding for asylum seekers.

Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE, said:

"These are really welcome modifications to the government's proposals but there is a continuing challenge to recognise that people need access to learning skills from the day they arrive."

"The outstanding economic and social benefits from investing in ESOL must, in our view, be addressed urgently in the Comprehensive Spending Review."

On 26th March 2007, Minister for Further and Higher Education Bill Rammell published the Race Equality Impact Assessment (REIA) on the changes to the eligibility for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and changes to the eligibility to FE funding for asylum seekers.

He also announced a range of new measures to address the concerns raised around the changes to ESOL, including £4.6m in 2007-08 to support vulnerable learners through the Learner Support Hardship Fund.

The new measures stay true to the original principle behind the changes which is to ensure the funding available for ESOL provision is prioritised towards those learners most in need of English language skills. The REIA is designed to ensure that equal opportunities are embedded in policy and is a part of the process of good policymaking.

On Wednesday 7th March 2007 at a special conference in London, Bill Rammell MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, announced significant changes to the Government's proposals on ESOL including decisions to:

• investigate measures of support for workers on low wages
• reinstate ESOL provision for asylum seekers after six months
• make provision for those who have special leave to stay
• make provision available for spouses

Significant work will be undertaken across government departments - including the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Work and Pensions and the Home Office.