As I’ve spent time volunteering at the library, one of the biggest structural inequalities I’ve become more attuned with within my community is the lack of adult education opportunities within my hometown, primarily beginning resources for newer immigrants.
Initially, I started my experience by helping with the intermediate level classes, but after Week 3, I worked with the beginner classes. Many of the students attending the beginner session have freshly immigrated to the United States, some having been in the United States only for a few days, and they are sent to the volunteer-led English classes that the library provides. The classes provided by the library are a great way to learn English for a beginner with some English background, but unfortunately the library is short on volunteers who are willing to help make the English classes more intense and geared towards new immigrants to the U.S. This discrepancy makes it difficult to accommodate to the large numbers of people that want to learn, and to find the specialized help they need to learn English and become accustomed to the country.
Another inequality is the lack of resources for people of different ethnicities. The majority of the students are from Spanish-speaking countries, but there is a large population of Haitians and Chinese/Taiwanese people who attend the classes, and they are not represented by a volunteer in the class. Luckily, I serve as a bridge for the Haitians that attend the classes, but the others are left to fend for themselves.
The subject I want to do for my CapStone project is how language plays a role in community. I primarily want to focus on how I’ve observed language playing a part in connecting (and separating) members of a community.
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