More communication and integration among UNM's three English as a second language programs will benefit each of the colleges the separate programs are in, directors say.
Though it would be difficult to get all three programs under one administrative structure, such a concept could streamline the teaching of ESL at UNM, said Larry Smith, academic director at the Center for English Language and Culture.
"I know we've got the right people here," said Marisa Clark, director of the ESL writing program within the English department. "Tapping some of these other resources would certainly make sense."
The ESL writing program teaches 100 level English classes to students whose first language is not English.
The language literacy and sociocultural department, within the College of Education, offers programs for graduate and undergraduate students who want to teach ESL to adults, elementary and secondary school children.
Ann Nihlen, department chairwoman, said increased contact between her department and the English department would strengthen ESL overall at UNM.
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"We're always looking to work across colleges in an interdisciplinary fashion," said Holbrook Mahn, an assistant professor in the language, literacy and sociocultural department. "Integration would be very helpful. But it's a question of funding. It gets into departmental and college budgets, and I have been away from that arena for too long to speak to how that could work."
The Center for English Language and Culture offers intensive English programs that prepare students for college-level courses. About 45 of the programs' 60 students are taking pre-University, non-degree classes, but plan to eventually attend UNM, Smith said.
He has seen integration in the University's ESL programs at work, he said, because students who study at the center often go on to the ESL writing program in the English department.
"I think communication between the programs is good," Smith said. "I talk to students and to instructors and I'm not aware of any problems."
Teachers who graduated from the literacy and sociocultural department have also taught at the center, Smith said.
"In fact, about a third of the 10 teachers here are from that program and two of them are the best we've got," he added.
Scott Sanders, chairman of the English department, agreed that integration among the programs is a worthwhile goal. He added that discussions are underway to encourage interdepartmental cooperation for ESL.
With the recent retirement of a rhetoric, writing and composition professor, Sanders said, the department has been cleared to search for a new tenure-track faculty member - and ESL competency is one of the secondary interest categories for the job.
Clark said the English writing program, which has struggled recently with staffing and resource constraints, is receiving additional support from the English department that wasn't as apparent in years past.
Improvements in the entry-testing process and the department's decision to leave one of the 102 sections open after the normal cutoff date for late-arriving students have helped the program, she said.
Clark said she has about 20 students this semester and the other two teachers in the program, Renee Faubion and Andrea Mays, have about 15 and 12, respectively.
