Migration Yorkshire (MY)

Who worked on the project

NATECLA and Leeds Beckett University were approached by Migration Yorkshire (MY) in 2019 to write a review of literature and provide expert advice which would inform a toolkit MY were producing for English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) providers. This was an 18 month project with Leeds Beckett leading on the literature review and NATECLA leading on expert advice for the toolkit. 

Leeds Beckett University

Dr. John Willott, Principal Lecturer J.Willott@leedsbeckett.ac.uk, Leeds School of Social Sciences

Dr. Naeema B. Hann, Senior Lecturer n.hann@leedsbeckett.ac.uk, Department of Languages

National Association for Teachers of English and Community Languages (NATECLA)

Jenny Roden jenny_roden@blueyonder.co.uk, ex co-chair and trustee, Natecla Management Council

Diana Tremayne dianatremayne@gmail.com, ex co-chair and trustee, Natecla Management Council

Dr. Nafisah Graham-Brown nafisah@elatt.org.uk, Co-chair, Natecla Management Council

What the project entailed

The project began with hybrid meetings with Dr Pip Tyler, Policy and Research Manager and Kate James, Research and Policy Officer at Migration Yorkshire. Five areas of focus were agreed on:

  • Initial assessment

  • outreach and referrals of refugees into suitable language classes

  • content and delivery models that focus on language both for social integration and for work

  •  linking formal and informal learning activities

  • overcoming barriers to learning and ensuring refugees have the right wider support

The first stage was researching and collecting relevant publications in an online space. Finding peer reviewed research in a UK context for some of these themes was challenging. We then shared out the five themes and began writing the literature review, working online in a shared document, adding papers as we found more. The bibliography and drafts of the review were shared with MY at several stages of the project. The final review was published in 2021 and was used by MY to inform the SEER toolkit. Expert advice on the toolkit was provided by Jenny Roden at NATECLA.

Illustration by Nick Ellwood