18/01/2019

KL was advised by the JCP to take this course as he has been out of employment since 1981 and leads quite an insular life. He has very limited use of the English language when speaking and has difficulty interacting.

KL has been in the UK since 1974, he came at the age of 13 from Hong Kong. He attended school for two years but did not go to College or embark on any further education programmes; because of this, he has very little social skills and limited use of English when speaking. He lacks confidence when speaking and does not have any family here in the UK or back in Hong Kong. He had a job as a waiter/assistant back in 1981 for one year but has not worked since. At 58 he wanted to gain some confidence when speaking so he can interact with others with ease. Despite not attending College or working, KL is very bright and is one of the most capable in the group. He is methodical and excels at all tasks set, especially written work, he has begun to engage more with the other learners and often ends up helping them with their own work. He does find role-play activities difficult as this involves lots of speaking but has shown improvement.

KL was able to complete the majority of the diagnostic assessment and showed a good understanding of the questions. He has some difficulty with spelling but, overall, shows a good level of English understanding on paper. Because of the language barrier, he does get some words back to front and has trouble articulating. KL had regular 1-2-1 sessions with his advisor in order to help him build on his confidence when interacting without the class presence. KL participates in various classroom activities which as a result prevent him from retreating into himself. KL also enjoys taking work at home to complete.

When KL began the programme, he would not speak and hardly answered any questions asked. Through some coaching and encouragement, he has begun to come out of his shell and now engages in conversation, often laughing and joking with other learners. His speech is slowly improving and as a result of the regular classroom interaction, his social skills have greatly improved.

KL would like to enrol on some further courses going forward, something to further enhance and improve his English level.