Immigrants’ perceived benefits of participating in English as a second language courses at a neighborhood resource center in Jupiter, Florida

• In Event: Poster session 2

Proposal

As Dempsey, Bramley, Power, and Brown (2011, p. 289) argue in their work on urban social sustainability, although modern definitions of sustainability contain an anthropogenic focus, there has been little attention given to the definition of social sustainability. Moreover, there is considerable overlap between aspects of social sustainability and concepts such as the ‘sustainable community’, which is underpinned by, among other factors, social equity and justice (Dempsey et al., 2011, p. 290). Likewise, the concept of sustainability of community “involves interaction between community members; the relative stability of the community [...] the existence of, and participation in, local collective institutions, formal and informal, levels of trust across the community, [...] and a positive sense of identification with, and pride in, the community,” (Dempsey et al., 2011, p. 293-94). Furthermore, as Dempsey et al. (2011) states: “Within an urban context, social equity is related to social and environmental exclusion. An equitable society is one in which there are no ‘exclusionary’ or discriminatory practices hindering individuals from participating economically, socially and politically in society (Pierson, 2002; Ratcliffe, 2000). Such practices may manifest themselves as social exclusion such as racism and ageism (Kellaher et al., 2004)”.
Bearing this concept of the sustainable community in mind, analyzing a community’s ability to successfully integrate all of its members, including immigrants, into its society is vital to ensuring the community’s suitable levels of social equity and, accordingly, the community’s overall sustainability efforts. Thus, this poster presentation will consider how the availability of English as a Second Language (ESL) courses throughout the past six years in a community in Jupiter, Florida has, or has not, benefited the immigrants in that community. More specifically, this poster presentation will demonstrate the perceived benefits, if any, of the participation in ESL courses for Latin American and Caribbean immigrants at a local neighborhood resource center in Jupiter, Florida known as El Sol, Jupiter’s Neighborhood Resource Center.
The poster will display the results encountered through responsive interviews that have been conducted since October of the present year with past ESL students from El Sol as well as information surrounding the immigrant demographics of the town of Jupiter, FL. The importance of this research is to better understand how participating in ESL courses can contribute to social inclusion and and how this concept can be integrated and conceptualized through the concept of community sustainability. All in all, this poster will display information regarding whether or not the immigrants who have taken classes at El Sol believe that they benefited, socially or otherwise, from taking these ESL classes as well as whether or not taking such classes has improved their sense of belonging in the Jupiter community.

Authors

• Melanie Oates, Florida International University Graduate Student

• Andressa Scussel, Florida International University Graduate Student