It is six years since NIACE published the findings of its Committee of Inquiry on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Its report, More than a language, made significant and wide-reaching recommendations aimed at addressing the quality of provision, unmet demand and the structure of ESOL teaching qualifications. While much has changed in six years, the report’s statement of the importance of ESOL and its critical role in addressing a wide range of social and economic policy objectives, remains as relevant today as it was then:

A challenge we can’t afford to shirk Welsh ministers have an opportunity to look again at how best to coordinate efforts to meet the needs of ESOL learners. Concerns raised by practitioners in the field suggest they need to take it, writes CERYS FURLONG

Effective ESOL is critical to empowering adults to gain independence and control over their lives, to increasing social inclusion and cohesion and to the country’s skills agenda. It is also of increasing importance to a wide range of key government policies, including community regeneration, combating racism, improving health and housing, as well as the obvious areas of education and skills.

The recommendations made in More than a language were aimed at and accepted by the then UK government for delivery of ESOL in England. While many, if not all, the challenges presented in the report were applicable to both England and Wales, responsibility for ESOL in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Government and differences remain in the way ESOL delivery is planned and funded across the UK nations. Reflecting that, and the broader devolution of education policy, the Welsh Government has taken its own approach to the delivery of ESOL in Wales. ESOL has historically developed alongside adult literacy and numeracy in Wales as part of the basic skills agenda, empowering and enabling the local population. Since 2006 there have been a number of significant reports on ESOL provision in Wales, highlighting the challenges for learners and providers. In 2008, education and training inspectorate Estyn published a report on the impact of increased demand for ESOL, largely as a result of the significant numbers of migrant workers entering employment in Wales. Whilst a significant proportion of those workers from EU accession countries have since returned home, many

34 ADULTS LEARNING SPRING 2012