Part 1: Lisa Herrera (ISSofBC, Canada)
Since 1992, the Canadian government has funded a national English language training program that is offered free to immigrants and refugees called Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC). The LINC program teaches task-based settlement-focused English for social integration and access to employment, with outcomes to connect newcomers to the community and prepare them for Canadian citizenship. This brief presentation will outline:
- the Canadian government response to the current refugee situation (Operation Syrian Refugee), and the structure of the Canadian model
- the LINC program structure and approach to increasing the English ability and Canadian cultural knowledge of immigrants and refugees
- unique language programming responses from one non-governmental organization, ISSofBC, to further welcome, engage and connect newcomers, including refugees, directly to community members and institutions.
Part 2: Andrea Godoy Zamur, Jennifer Anyuli Pacheco Alvarez, Vera Lúcia Benedito (Prefeitura de São Paulo)
In 2017, the Municipality of Sao Paulo implemented the Project “Open Doors: Portuguese for Immigrants”. The initiative is developed by the Municipal Secretariats of Education and of Human Rights and Citizenship (SMDHC). The course is free of charge and aims to offer Portuguese language for migrants in schools with teachers from the Municipal Education Network. The Project has the technical support of the Reference and Service Centre for Immigrants (CRAI-SP), a department of SMDHC, to promote awareness about issues related to immigration among people working in the project and also to support the social demands of migrants.