Literacy Professionals News – Languages International https://www.languages.ac.nz English Courses in Auckland New Zealand Tue, 31 Mar 2020 04:23:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.languages.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/cropped-li-favicon-32x32.png Literacy Professionals News – Languages International https://www.languages.ac.nz 32 32 Workplace Literacy and Numeracy Fund (WLN) https://www.languages.ac.nz/workplace-literacy-fund/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/workplace-literacy-fund/#respond Fri, 28 Jun 2019 03:05:40 +0000 http://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=699 Read more » -->]]> The funding stream we work with is the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy Fund which is administered by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Under this fund, literacy providers, such as ourselves, have pre-approved places they can allocate to businesses they are working with. This funding method allows us to engage with businesses and get programmes up and running without a massive time delay. For businesses, it means that the initial financial investments into setting up support for employees is lower. Other investments such as release time or cover for learners, learners’ wages for training times, still need to be met.

It is also possible for larger organisations to apply for their own Workplace Literacy and Numeracy funding. To follow this route, see more information on the Skills Highway website. Application windows open from time to time through the year so it pays to be planning ahead and have an application ready for when one of these windows opens – they close again pretty quickly and the fund tends to be oversubscribed. We’d be happy to help any businesses put together an application.
See this TEC web page to find out more about the fund and to see if your learners and programme could be eligible.

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OET Premium Preparation Provider Announcement https://www.languages.ac.nz/oet-premium-preparation-provider-announcement/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/oet-premium-preparation-provider-announcement/#respond Tue, 07 May 2019 12:27:23 +0000 https://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1921 Read more » -->]]> We are now the first official New Zealand OET Premium Preparation Provider and we do our best to help you succeed in your exam. You can see us listed on the OET website and find our OET course in the official OET Shop.

What is an OET Premium Preparation Provider?

 

OET quote
OET has developed the Premium Preparation Provider Programme (PPP) to give OET preparation providers the knowledge and tools needed to run high quality OET preparation courses. Choosing an OET Premium Preparation Provider gives OET candidates the assurance that they will get quality teaching and learning to help them succeed in OET and their future goals in their medical registration, and career.

The OET teachers at Languages International have completed the in-depth OET Premium Preparation Provider training, to ensure that they produce high quality, relevant, easy to follow lesson content, and to know how to support OET candidates, while they prepare, in the best way possible. Our teachers are also highly qualified, with master’s degrees and have extensive teaching experience. By achieving OET Premium Preparation Provider status, it means that OET has endorsed us at Languages International, to teach our OET Intensive Course.

What is OET?

OET preparation course in AucklandThe Occupational English Test (OET) is an international English language test that assesses speaking, reading, listening and writing skills of healthcare professionals. The key benefit over IELTS is that it is contextualised around communication skills that are relevant to work in healthcare. So, test-takers are able to use skills that they have developed in the course of their work.

It is currently recognised by the following professional bodies: Nursing Council of New Zealand; Pharmacy Council of New Zealand; Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand; Veterinary Council of New Zealand; Dental Council of New Zealand; Council of Occupational Therapists Registration Boards (Australia and New Zealand); Australia and New Zealand Podiatry Accreditation Council (ANZPAC); Medical Council New Zealand (since Feb 2014)

The Test measures the language competency of health professionals who are seeking registration and the ability to practice in an English-speaking context. It is designed to ensure that language competency is assessed in a relevant professional context.

 

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Each label tells a story – workplace communications in a dairy factory https://www.languages.ac.nz/each-label-tells-a-story-workplace-communications-in-a-dairy-factory/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/each-label-tells-a-story-workplace-communications-in-a-dairy-factory/#respond Mon, 06 May 2019 13:52:18 +0000 https://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1912 Read more » -->]]> Cow to cafe in 24 hours

So much language, literacy and numeracy in these labels. Product lines, different overseas export markets, all produced with slightly different ingredients, fat and protein levels, organic certification or not etc. The product’s story is how milk gets from a cow wandering around the fields of the Bombay Hills to a flat white served up in Beijing 24 hours later – a story involving milking, mixing, bottling, labelling, transporting to the airport and away…. and that’s just the first half of the distribution story.

Communication skills work at the dairy factory

We’ve just finished a course with operators working in a dairy factory.  Part of the course was about helping employees to see the big picture – how the bottling process they work on fits in with all the other operations happening in the dairy. There was also quite a lot of focus on the details – understanding the technical English in the SOP for a bottling machine; working out the implications of a particular procedure and what that actually means in practice. Verbal communication skills are key – making yourself heard above the noise of machinery, spotting a problem early and preventing serious wastage, contamination or an accident; understanding and checking instructions so you are clear about the job you’re supposed to be doing. Numeracy for some was a focus too – working with volumes, measurements and weights and the English words used to report and document them.

Building communication skills, belonging and staff retention

The other key area in the course was on developing the culture of multi-cultural teams and so much of this is about communication. The staff come from a wide range of backgrounds. Many are recent migrants but lots have lived in New Zealand all their lives. Communication skills are critical in terms of building a sense of belonging and team spirit in this group, helping people build their skills and building the confidence of individuals at work. As well as the more “formal” learning, the group shared a lot of food and food brings people together. Yes, some people leave after training but if you’ve gone to the trouble of employing people, you want to do everything you can to retain them. Breaking down the mysteries of workplace communication and building teams is a great starting place.

Links

Workplace Literacy Fund. Most of the learners on the course were funded and this paid for our services and the programme development. It’s an incredibly flexible fund and can be use to deliver tailored courses to meet the learning and development needs of an individual business, as long as the main focus is on building communication skills (English language, literacy or numeracy) and the learners are eligible.

Employer guide for employers recruiting migrant workers for dairy farms. There’s a good chapter on communication. The guide emphasises how language builds social cohesion. A great starting point.

From the Skills Highway website, here’s a template to start planning the outcomes you want from a programme.

And FYI, here’s a example of an SOP for making cheddar cheese. It’s extremely complex in terms of vocabulary level: Words like “coagulant”, “rennet functions”, “curd” and “enzymatic reactions” are technical words. They have technical meanings and are quite hard to pronounce! On the course, we took similar SOPs and learners reworked them to make them much easier to follow.

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Are you an accredited employer? https://www.languages.ac.nz/are-you-an-accredited-employer/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/are-you-an-accredited-employer/#respond Fri, 03 May 2019 05:02:21 +0000 https://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1898 Read more » -->]]> We’re amazed how many businesses we talk to are not familiar with the Immigration New Zealand Accredited Employer scheme. In short, once you are accredited, the process of hiring from overseas is significantly streamlined. For example, it means that you no longer need to test the local labour market before hiring someone offshore and processing times for visas are improved. In order to become accredited and maintain accreditation, you need evidence of things like a diversity policy and good pastoral practices for helping new migrant staff and their families settle into New Zealand.

A key aspect of this is language at work – helping new staff gain confidence with the kind of Kiwi English used in workplaces – on their construction sites, or in the factory or the lunch room. And this might be very different from the kind of English they have learnt at school. Words such as smoko, dwang, Gib, and ute might be completely new to them. They may lack confidence with their pronunciation and be scared of talking on the radio, for example. They may actually have very good English but are just very hard to understand, especially when the heat is on. They might be alarmed when other staff appear to shout at them – whereas actually… that’s just the way it is when you’re working on a scaffold. The actual communication style might also be problematic. They’re new. They don’t get the jokes. They wait for instructions. They might appear not to take the initiative. They may say they understand but actually are just too scared to check what they’re supposed to be doing. They take a suggestion as an instruction. They miss the instruction implied in “You might want to take another look at that.” Awkward? Yes. Potentially dangerous? Absolutely

Providing some initial support with language here is a great way of helping your new team members settle in and can also provide evidence that you are investing in learning and development and will go a long way to helping your new staff make connections and feel like they belong. With our background in English language and experience in workplaces, we’re in a good space to help.

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Literacy, Numeracy, Digital Skills and Healthy Food! https://www.languages.ac.nz/literacy-numeracy-digital-skills/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/literacy-numeracy-digital-skills/#respond Sat, 16 Dec 2017 22:39:45 +0000 http://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1748 Read more » -->]]> We made a recipe book. Here’s a link to download your own copy. If you try any of the recipes, please tell us how they went. Multi-cultural recipe book (PDF 2MB).

Communicating cross-culturally with food, literacy and numeracy

We have been working with The Selwyn Foundation for over 3 years, providing Business Communication Skills Courses through literacy and numeracy for their staff. To date, we have delivered training to over 200 Selwyn Foundation staff.

The Selwyn Foundation’s new model of care, where care is planned and delivered with residents, encourages a sense of being at home through smaller community groups in a ‘household’. As in our own homes, this household model enables individuals to make decisions, build relationships and develop a sense of belonging. The move towards a new model of care, sparked the idea for an Advanced Business Communication Skills Course, to include digital literacy, financial literacy and further upskilling in communication skills to support the success of the ‘households’ and to reflect this sense of belonging for staff.

Once the course began, the learners took the initiative and organised a schedule for staff working in the same ‘house’ to bring afternoon tea to the course, on a rotation basis. As a result, food became an integral part of our lessons, where our eating time became an opportunity to talk through various aspects of the lesson and how that applied to our work and our lives.

Our course also had a project focus which the learners would present at the Graduation. So when the project decision-making started, it was an obvious choice that food and health would be included.

The Selwyn Advanced Business Communication Course Multicultural Recipe book emerged as our project. We wanted to encourage a healthy lifestyle, including healthy eating, and since our group was multicultural, we decided to make a recipe book that included foods from our individual cultures, and adapted our traditional recipes to be low sugar, low fat and low salt. Creating, designing, deciding, discussing and editing the recipe book incorporated many aspects of the course: computer, numeracy, literacy, vocabulary, speaking and writing skills.

Food is a good way to communicate cross-culturally and we wanted to share this with The Selwyn Foundation. At the Graduation, the course participants brought the dish that they had included in the recipe book, and everyone at the Graduation sampled the food and took a recipe book home.

The recipe book included dishes from Tonga, Fiji, Niue, Ethiopia, Samoa and New Zealand.

Joining a literacy and numeracy course that focusses on our individual communication skills and abilities (spoken, numeracy, written or digital), makes us step out of our comfort zones and allows us to be vulnerable. Being able to work together to build on our existing skills and develop and improve our skills further, improves confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Learning by working together reminds us of the quote by Benjamin Franklin:

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

We think we were able to achieve this on the course.

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Literacy, Numeracy, Communication across the whole organisation https://www.languages.ac.nz/literacy-numeracy-communication-across-the-whole-organisation/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/literacy-numeracy-communication-across-the-whole-organisation/#respond Mon, 13 Nov 2017 15:15:07 +0000 http://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1736 Read more » -->]]> As an organisation, Countdown recognises that people across the whole organisation can benefit from upskilling in language, literacy, communication and numeracy. It has been great working with people in the Countdown Support Office over the last couple of years. Our learners have been merchandisers, logistics people, people in property maintenance, payroll, IT, business support people and a couple of store managers. For these people their whole job is about timely accurate communication keeping stores across the country full and profitable, sorting out problems and thinking of better ways of doing things. Course content has focused on building confidence with clear, accurate written and spoken communication.

This was part of a much larger initiative for which Countdown were shortlisted for the Skills Highway Award at the recent 2017 Diversity Matters award night at the Langham Hotel. The little video of their programme is really inspiring. Enjoy and be moved.


Countdown Skills Highway on Vimeo

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“Passing OET, I am now eligible to sit NZREX which is the final step in the process of obtaining the registration to practise as a medical doctor in NZ.” Dr. Wasani https://www.languages.ac.nz/oet-nzrex-doctor/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/oet-nzrex-doctor/#respond Fri, 19 May 2017 14:52:58 +0000 http://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1691 Read more » -->]]> Over the last couple of years, we have helped hundreds of medical professionals develop their language skills and prepare for the OET test. We are running workshops and one-to-one tutorials during the day and the OET Intensive course in the evenings.

Passing OET is an important milestone in someone’s career but because the test is based on real, medical communication, it also helps candidates develop their skills for work:

“I was an overseas registered nurse and I tried IELTS several times before to get registration in NZ. So I decided to take OET. To become a NZ registered Nurse I wanted to fulfil the English language proficiency and so passing OET has helped me to attain my dream of getting an RN job. It has also given a lot of confidence when conversing with people especially in my work.” (Reema Mathew)

“It helped me a lot to continue and pursue my nursing career. It has shown me a clearer path for my future.” (Mary Sonza)

“I am a registered nurse from India. I came to NZ in 2015 to persue my career in nursing. As per the requirement I needed to go through the English test. OET is a best option for medical professionals to continue their careers overseas that’s why I select the OET. After passing OET now I can go for my nursing registration in NZ and Australia.” (Shivanjli)

Here is a selection of other feedback we’ve received on the OET preparation at Languages International.

“My experience in attending the classes at Languages International help me a lot in all the subtests. I learned the strategies on how to answer correctly and they also taught us everything that we need to know. It helped to develop my english communication with the patients” (Hannah Aberin)

“After the orientation and review, I then understood the oet process. Also, the immediate feedback helps a lot to get all B in one sitting.” (Jennifer Palacpac)

“I had a wonderful experience,. Derene, as my tutor was very helpful and approchable. I did a few one-on-one writing sessions with her and she did an awsome job in preparing me for my upcoming exam.” (John)

“I took the IELTS exam several times but I could not pass the writing subtest so I took OET instead. It was frustrating and I wasted energy, money and time by taking the IELTS. A friend sent me OET files to study and answer but I knew it in myself that I also needed the foundation of OET. With Language International, they taught us out with the basics first such as grammar and tenses then eventually lecture proper and drills.” (Dawn)

“Very supportive and motivating classes. Helped me to identify the areas need to be strengthened.” (Chris Thomas)

“The tutors are really supportive and hands on in teaching us.” (Mary Sonza)

“Classes were great. Teachers here help candidates to learn about their mistakes and area where they are lacking and then teaches the way to correct it which is of great help to clear exam. As of there help, I got A in writing and B in speaking. Thanks alot for all your help. It was a great learning experience.” (Rupinder Souza)

The new OET Intensive is proving useful support for people who want to focus on all parts of the test.

“Everything was perfect, I was waiting for something like this. This course was perfect for me because of time and whole schedule and also perfect for people new for OET.” (Navreet Kaur)

We are taking bookings for the next OET Intensive Course. There are still a couple of spaces left if any readers are interested.

Apply for the OET course

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Embedded Literacy and Numeracy Resources Published https://www.languages.ac.nz/new-embedded-literacy-and-numeracy-resources-published/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/new-embedded-literacy-and-numeracy-resources-published/#respond Fri, 18 Dec 2015 03:12:49 +0000 http://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1655 Read more » -->]]> Our Workplace Team have had another very busy year. We have run projects with ADHB at Auckland Hospital and The Selwyn Foundation across their North Island sites as well as a number of smaller projects in a range of businesses. We were involved in a project producing some embedded literacy resources for the healthcare sector for NCLANA (the National Centre of Literacy and Numeracy for Adults – now Ako Aotearoa). The resources are focused on two key areas:

  • Firstly building effective care relationships at work
  • Participating in meetings

Both of these areas focus on improving workplace performance by supporting learners’ skills development in speaking and listening. They are suitable for use by workplace tutors working with learners (staff) who lack confidence in their speaking and listening skills and need encouragement to have more meaningful interactions at work with their colleagues and clients. There are resources that tutors can use with learners in a training situation and detailed teaching and learning sequences, which are like a lesson plan with ideas and procedures. The resources feature video footage.

Here is the link to view the resources on the NCLANA website.

There are lots of other useful resources on the AKO Aotearoa site including embedded resources for agriculture, engineering and core skills. Also recently added are some induction resources for tutors who are new to the field. It’s really important work– helping to raise awareness and skills amongst people in industry who have the power to really make a difference with the skills of the people in their workplaces.

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A Strategic Approach to OET Preparation https://www.languages.ac.nz/oet-strategic-approach/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/oet-strategic-approach/#respond Tue, 17 Nov 2015 15:00:07 +0000 http://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1642 Read more » -->]]> Yvonne, a doctor from China, popped in this afternoon with coffees. She recently recently passed OET, the Occupational English Test, so we asked her some questions about the approach she took.

Why OET?

“I’m a doctor from China and am working in New Zealand in a research position. I had previously taken IELTS a couple of times. My latest results were Writing 6; Speaking 6.5; Listening 8 and Reading 7.5. So I knew I was OK with reading and listening but needed to improve the other skills. I decided to do OET because it was more relevant and I could use all my medical experience and my years of training and medical education. The writing was more relevant to my role and more interesting.”

How did you prepare?

“I took a strategic approach to the test.  It took me two months.  I went to the classes at Languages International, taught by Dérene and Nick and worked hard outside these classes.  I made friends with two other doctors and a pharmacist who were also coming to the classes and this was great.  We shared resources, met up in the café to practise speaking and gave each other lots of encouragement, motivation and support.  All four of us passed first time!  The classes were useful  and I learnt some great ways to approach the test.

The classes that helped me most were the ones about reading which provided strategies to approach Part A and Part B of the test.  The speaking classes helped me to think about how I structure a consultation.  This helped me in the test and will help me in my future work.  But the classes aren’t enough on their own – you need to put in a lot of work outside the classes.”

Do you have any advice for other people preparing?

“The thing that really helped me was doing lots of listening.  I used ABC Health Report and listened everyday to the interviews that were interesting to me.  This was really helpful to get me used to listening to Australian accents and people talking about different topics that I hadn’t had as much exposure to.  I didn’t do a lot of extra reading – I already have to read lots of medical  papers for my role.  But if you are in a position where you don’t have to read much, it would be a really good idea to read something everyday – maybe from a website with general health topics – maybe a newspaper site like  the Guardian Health and Society pages.

I passed!  Now I’m onto the next step to getting medical registration.”

Links:

  • To find out about OET Preparation at school, click here.
  • To find out about the OET test, click here.
  • To read The Guardian Health and Society Pages, click here.
  • To listen to ABC Health Report, click here.
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Designing tasks to transfer learning to and from the workplace https://www.languages.ac.nz/workplace-learning-designing-tasks/ https://www.languages.ac.nz/workplace-learning-designing-tasks/#respond Fri, 30 Oct 2015 03:49:54 +0000 http://literacyprofessionals.co.nz/?p=1662 Read more » -->]]> One of the things we try to implement in our workplace literacy and numeracy courses is creating opportunities for learners to transfer the skills they are practising in our classes to their workplace.  We believe that if transfer opportunities are set up explicitly in class and learners leave the classroom with permission and direction to try things out at work and make changes, then there is far more chance of transfer actually happening.  Other things that are important are that learners feel confident that what they are doing is right and they are good at it.  Practising in class and getting feedback really helps this.  It’s also helpful if the people at work (supervisors and colleagues) understand what the course is about and are supportive!  We also see it as a cycle and we see ‘trying it out at work and talking about how it went’ as a really important learning process. So, this is how it works…

  • In class, reflect on workplace practice.
  • Get some input, some feedback and develop skills.
  • Then go back to the workplace and make a change.
  • Think about how it went.
  • Come back to class and talk about it.

We presented examples of some of the transfer tasks we’ve designed for our current classes at The Selwyn Foundation at the 2015 National Centre of Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Symposium at the Wellington Stadium in early July. Yvonne Bruce from The Selwyn Foundation co-presented. She gave some background from an employer’s perspective and then in the workshop, participants considered issues around encouraging transfer and looked at the tasks. The tasks we featured focus on a range of aspects of workplace practice in a residential care setting: speaking up at meetings, measuring and recording fluid intake, reading policy documents, observing and noting behaviour and reading graphs and charts at work.

Photo: Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA

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