The evolution of the Workplace Education Service that operates in South Australia is chronicled. Begun as a single program designed to integrate workplace literacy, English as a Second Language, and literacy education for both native and non-native English-speakers in an automobile plant, the project grew into a network of programs and services in…

A description is provided of the Lower Merrimack Valley Workplace Education Project (WEP), an educational project that offers English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and job-specific education classes to hourly employees in the Semiconductor Division of Alpha Industries. The challenge of the project was to create a WEP that could accommodate the…

The Massachusetts Workplace Education Initiative was established in 1986 to create 6 model workplace literacy education programs and later expanded, with state and federal funding, to more than 20 programs at over 40 worksites. The initiative was developed in response to the growing recognition of functional illiteracy in an increasingly complex…

This guide describes the process used by the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, and Altron, Inc., a local manufacturer, to design, establish, and operate a workplace literacy program. The first chapter outlines steps and considerations in setting up the program, including the establishment of a successful collaboration,…

A survey of workers participating in a manufacturing plant workplace English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program resulted in these suggestions: schedule classes during the work day, with class time paid for, replace a cash incentive program; hold lessons in a meeting room, not cafeteria; and involve greater number of employees and employer in…

The Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) in Industry Project was designed to develop and implement a competency-based VESL curriculum to be used with industry-linked VESL language training. Language needs for limited-English-proficient workers in companies in the greater Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma areas were identified through a…

This handbook capsulizes the many steps in developing, implementing, and evaluating a workplace literacy program, and is written from the perspectives of both the educator and the employer. The handbook has been written for business leaders and for adult basic education and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) educators. While the suggestions in the…

Anodizing, Inc., Teamsters Local 162, and Mt. Hood Community College (Oregon) developed a workplace literacy program for workers at Anodizing. These workers did not have the basic skill competencies to benefit from company training efforts in statistical process control and quality assurance and were not able to advance to lead and supervisory…

An 8-week English in the Workplace course was conducted by Portland Community College (Oregon) at Leupold & Stevens, Inc. for workers with limited English proficiency (LEP). The curriculum for English as a Second Language focused on job-related support skills and not primary job skills, since job performance was not a concern. Objectives were…

Interviews with managers and other staff were used to assess the communication and language development needs of limited-English-proficient (LEP) workers at Lattice Works of Oregon (LWO) Corporation. Task analysis was used by Portland Community College (Portland) to develop a curriculum for twice-weekly classes held before or after shift changes.…