Refugees and English Language Teachers

1
Refugees and English Language Teachers Training
Needs in Sudan
2
Outline

• Background Information
• Facts about refugees
• Statement of the Problem
• Study
• Results of the Study
• Observations

3
Background Information 1

• Sudan has been historically both a north-south
  and an east-west migration crossroad. The
  constant population movement as a result of
  drought, famine, civil war and emigration from
  neighbouring countries has always made Sudan a
  hosting country for refugees.

4
Background Information 2

• Sudan used to be the largest country in Africa up
  to 2011, whereby the country broke into two
  countries.
• The Republic of Sudan
• The Republic of South Sudan
• Up to 2011 Sudan used to have its own problems of
  displaced population due to internal strife in
  different parts of the country

5
Refugees in Sudan

• In recent years even after the end of the
  Eritrean-Ethiopian war refugees continued to
  arrive in Sudan.
• It is estimated that 1,600 Eritreans and
  Ethiopians cross the border every month to seek
  refuge in Sudan.
• This influx of refugees has become one of the
  UNCHR largest and most intractable refugee
  problems.

6
Refugees in Sudan

• Refugees exist in four distinct areas Khartoum
  the Protocol Areas eastern Sudan and Darfur.
• The population of concern includes around 2.3
  million internally displaced persons (IDPs), some
  140,000 refugees, 7,000 asylum-seekers and an
  estimated hundreds of thousands persons at risk
  of statelessness.
• Most are refugees from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad,
  the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and
  Somalia.
• UNHCR works in cooperation with COR to support
  the refugees.

7
Refugees in Eastern Sudan

• In 2012 UNHCR successfully launched the
  Transitional Solutions Initiative (TSI) with UNDP
  and the World Bank, in close partnership with the
  Sudanese Government, to promote self-reliance
  among some 77,000 long-staying refugees in
  eastern Sudan. UNHCR also began to implement a
  project with IOM and the local authorities to
  address the trafficking, smuggling and kidnapping
  of refugees and asylum-seekers in eastern Sudan.

8
Refugees in Eastern Sudan

• Refugees and the local community in eastern Sudan
  face acute poverty and lack of access to health
  care, education and employment. Refugees also
  face difficulties in integrating locally, and
  there is no possibility of voluntary repatriation
  at this time. Persistent drought has degraded the
  land and shrunk pasture lands, leading to
  malnutrition among refugees and host communities.
  Meanwhile, the 1,800 new refugees and
  asylum-seekers arriving each month brave often
  violent traffickers, smugglers and kidnappers.

9
Statistics

• Eastern Sudans refugee population, November 2010
• Nationality Number
• Eritrean 75,5723 94.6
• Ethiopian 4,197 5.3
• Somali 46 0.1
• Sudanese 28 0.0
• Other 4 0.0
• Total 79,847 100.0

10
Statement of the Problem

• In recent years the profile of the refugees has
  changed, they are younger and move mostly with
  their family. They emigrate for economical
  reasons.They take Sudan as a transit country in
  which they stay for a short time to move then
  northwards. English language, as the lingua
  franca of the world, plays a very important role
  in future life of these refugees especially for
  the asylum seekers who mostly go to Europe and
  United States.

11
The study 1

• The presentation is based on a study carried in
  the year 2011/2012 to investigate the training
  needs of English language teachers who work in
  refugee schools in Gedarif State in the Eastern
  State. The UNHCR funds education in refugee camps
  through its implementing partner, Sudanese
  Commission for Refugees (COR).

12
The Study was carried in 9 refugees camps with a
total 14 schools.
13
The study 2

• The study was carried in Gedarif State
• Two tools were used in collecting the data
• The first tool was a questionnaire disturbed to
  30 English language teachers working in refugee
  (Eritrean)schools for basic level.
• Interviews of key personnel in COR (Sudanese
  Commission for Refugees)

14
The results 2

• Nationality of teachers
• Sudanese 25
• Eritrean 5
• Academic qualification
• Secondary School 20
• University degree 9
• Postgraduate 1
• 100 of the students are Eritrean

15
The results 1
16
The results 3

• Type of training (single short training courses)
• Teaching Readers 3
• General English Language 18
• Spine 4 (The Sudanese English language text
  book)

17
The results 4

• Training needs
• CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning)
• Teaching the language skills and sub-skills
• Classroom management skills
• Teaching literature /Readers
• TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test)
• Teaching in low resourced classrooms
• Raising Students Motivation
• Teaching English Primary Essential

18
Teachers Comments

• The majority stated that they
• need more than one or two short training
  courses.
• English should be taught in earlier
  grades(currently is taught in grade 5)
• Teachers were not qualified enough to teach
  English for refugees.
• Special programmes designed for teaching refugees
  English are needed.

19
The results 5Interview

• There is no specific curricula or training
  programmes for refugee schools.
• The Ministry of General Education is responsible
  for the training programmes for the refugee
  schools.
• No special curricula for refugees school.
• COR is responsible for supervising the schools.
• UNHCR is responsible for funding

20
Observations

• 75 of the teachers are Sudanese while 100 of
  the students are Eritrean.
• Cultural differences present a huge obstacle in
  the classroom
• English is a third language for the refugees.
• Training of the teachers is not built on real
  needs.
• Coordination between the different bodies is
  nil.

21
Observations 2

• Arabic language is essential for survival
• English language is also essential for survival
  and occupational success.
• Due to the fact that no plan or policy was
  developed for English language teachers training,
  the results of the study can be very informative
  in leading to better planning and good practice.
•  Identify ways of improving provision based on
  the needs of refugees.
• Develop better ESOL services at the transitional
  country.

22
Final comments

• Shields and Price
• We found that English language speaking fluency
  is the second most important determinant of
  occupational success, after possession of a
  degree.
• Our most statistically reliable estimate
  suggests that being fluent speaking English
  language raises the mean occupational wage by
  16.5 .

23
Questions???????????? Thank
you gamar6_at_hotmail.com halasalih64_at_gmail.com