ESOL, integration and immigration

Abstract

This paper is about the ideologies that inform the provision of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other
Languages) for adult migrants in England. In policy and in public discourse there is an insistence that
migrants have an obligation to learn and use English, for social integration and to comply with
immigration requirements. At the same time, policy support and funding for ESOL is lacking. The
argument here is that the learning and use of English by migrants has become centrally implicated in
debates about immigration and social integration associated with an ideology of monolingualism that
informs language policy. With reference to political discourse and policy documents, I maintain that
this over-attention on the learning of English in debates about migration distracts from the purpose
of ESOL as a key dimension of adult education. An indication of this neglect is the lack of direction for
the field at national government level.