Kathleen Vance (left) was the guest expert at a conference held'in Terrace to examine the
needs of new Canadians living In our area. The conference material was based on a survey
completed this past fall. Mary Bowering was one of the Terrace Women’ s Centre represen-
tatives who played a prominent role in the project. |

Survey results pondered

Ata conference held in Ter-
race recently, English as a sec-
ond language was one of the

topics discussed. The conference,
“(Where do we go from here?”’,

resulted from a needs assessment
survey for new Canadians earlier
in the year. The survey assessed
the need for English as a second
language (ESL) and health care
for new Canadians,

by Betty Barton

Forty-five people from the
Terrace and District Multi-
cultural Association, the Terrace
Women’s Resource Centre,
Northwest Community College
and other agencies, individuals
and groups, attended the one-
day conference. Participants
gathered to discuss the results of
the survey and to formulate
plans of action to meet those
concerns, -

Erlinda Okano, coordinator,
of the needs assessment survey,

invited Kathleen Vance from

Vancouver to speak at the con-
ference. Erlinda and Kathleen’
had met at an AMSSA ‘(Affilia- .
tion of Multicultural Societies
and Service Agencies of B.C.) .
meeting. At that time, Kathleen
‘had doubts about the feasibility
- of the needs assessment survey.
When she: arrived for the con-
ference over nitie months later,
she asked forgiveness for’ doubt.
ing. |

She attributes the success of
the survey to the people ‘involved
in planning and carrying out-the
project. They were immigrants
themselves and had first-hand
knowledge of the. barriers to
integration. The reseach was

well-focused. The survey had
not tried to study all of the
potential problems of im-
migrants, but focused on two.
Kathleen Vance is an ESL anc
non-ESL (written skills) instruc-
tor at BCIT. She is president of

’ the all-volunteer ESL forum and

is an associate member of
AMSSA to advocate for more
and better ESL and of the Na-
tional Teachers of ESL Associa-

. tion. She is an ESL consultant

and has developed courses for
the Canada Employment and
Immigrant Commission. She has
put together an instructional
manual on how to teach ESL
classes. The manual has been
sold to school boards
throughout the province, and
she does day-long workshops on
how to use the manual.

Vance advocates ESL classes
as an arena within which
students can learn about the job
‘market, culture and customs of
Canada, resume writing, as well

‘as the spoken and written

language. She instructs teachers
on the best methods by which to
do this.

She teaches English for the
work place, particularly for
vocational or technical subjects
or training. In the needs assess-

ment survey done in Terrace,

this was one of the needs iden-
tified.

At the conference, Dr.
Aranas, Manny San Luis, Silvia
Morales and Jessie Gowe shared
their personal experiences of im-
migration to Canada, All four
stressed the importance of
cultural and community services
orientation, as a component of

the ESL classes.

A suggestion was made to
combine English as a second
language (ESL) classes in a
Jowntown location, with an of-
fice, staffed by a Multicultural
coordinator. The need for a
drop-in center for immigrants to
come to with questions, prob-
lems or just to stop and chat,
was identified in the survey.
Funding is the main barrier to
this need. With 1990 being de-
clared the International Year of
Literacy, funding could con-
ceivably be found to commence
this service. Letters of support
from different multicultural
organizations for this proposal
would be appreciated.

Application for funding for
this project and a multicultural
coordinator will be made
through the City of Vancouver,

‘United Way, and two provincial

fotindations. The funding would
assist with a permanent store-
front location, childcare facility
and advertising in as many
languages as necessary to pro-
mote ESL to non-English speak-
ing immigrants. CEIC (Canada
Employment Centre) and the
Ministry of Advanced Educa
tion will be aproached to spon-
sor students to take the courses.

It was pointed out that ESL
classes require more oral
language training than current
courses contain, Many different
levels of education and ex-
perience may be present in par-
ticipants. ESL classes should

begin with a needs assessment of

the class members.
Contents of pamphlets adver-
tising the programs should be re-

Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 10, 1990 B13 |

viewed by members of the target
group. Kathy Vance mentioned
the tendency of professionals to
create their own language. They
must move beyond their profes-
sions to bridge between com-
munity groups. The very

qualities which make them com- -

petent in their jobs sometimes
prevent them from being able to
communicate without assis-
tance.

Following Vance’s presenta-
tion, small groups met to discuss
health care recommendations
and general recommendations.

The health care study recom-
mended:

@ That a comprehensive direc-
tory, including health care ser-
vices available, be printed, and
available in many languages, as
well as health care brochures in
several languages. Presently,
prenatal information is available
in Punjabi and English only.

@ That health courses for new
Canadians (available upon re-
quest through the Skeena Health
Unit) be more effectively com-
municated to interested - par-
ticipants.

@ That prenatal classes be made
more culturally appropriate to
new Canadians. For example, to
mention in advertisements that
the support person at the classes
does not have to be the father, It
could be the mother of the preg-
nant woman. Palwinder Thandi,
representing the. Terrace and
District Multicultural Associa-
tion, is now sitting on the Peri-
natal Committee, as a result of
this recommendation.

@ Improved cultural awareness

of health care providers. Sugges-
tions included a

general sen-—

here do we go from here? —

_ Heaith — language — education — awareness

sitivity to rituals including.
bathing, meals, provision of in- -
formation ahead of time when
possible, as in the case of
surgical procedures. |

e Interpreters should be con-
tacted to determine if they are
willing to interpret for health
concerns. Mills Memorial
Hospital and the Skeena Health
Unit could work together to pro-

. vide in-service training regarding

confidentiality, etc. Recognition
must be given to interpreters,
and although they all willingly
volunteer this skiil, the possi-
bility of payment will be in-
vestigated.

The general recommendations
were:
@ The school board should be
more involved both at a
municipal level and a provincial
level regarding a race relations
policy, ESL classes for children
(program expansion) and a
homeschool coordinator who
would help educate new Cana-
dian parents about the Canadian
school system.
@ The Canadian government
needs an improved immigration
policy, especially in the area a7
family sponsorship. The group
agreed that we need recognition
from the federal government
that Canada needs immigrants.
@ There will be advantages in
an outreach cooking class which
would orient new Canadians to
Canadian food and provide an
opportunity fot new immigrants
to interact with Canadians.

An eight-member steering
committee was struck to oversee
the follow-up on these recom-
mendations.

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