Supporting Newly Arrived Students in Community College

In this last episode of Season 10, our host Sakura Hamada expands the discussion of newly arrived students to include the community college level. Her guest is Kathryn Long from Clackamas Community College, who explains that adult newly arrived college students may not be actually newly arrived in this country because of registration timelines. They often differ from K-12 students, too, because of financial and work-related challenges. Educators should be aware of the students’ wide variety of backgrounds, some with previously earned degrees from other countries and others lacking any higher education experience.

Even though she is a teacher of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), Kathryn teaches much more than English language skills, also helping her students to navigate American conversation, including cultural norms surrounding questions, compliments, and requests. She suggests several ways to converse with adults from other cultures with respect and understanding. 

 

Resources

Immigrant Students in Oregon Higher Education 

ESOL at Clackamas Community College

Kathryn suggests OER (Open Educational Resources) texts to reduce financial hardships on students. Also see the Open Textbook Library.OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network