A bridge toward change: A qualitative exploration of how beginning, intermediate, and advanced ESOL women learners experience learning in a worker education program

This dissertation examines the learning/life experiences of 13 women students at three levels of English proficiency (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) who are enrolled in the Harvard Bridge to Learning and Literacy, an English for Speakers of Other Languages program for hourly workers at Harvard University. Research Questions: (1) How do 13 ESOL women learners across three levels of English language proficiency describe and understand their learning needs and goals at the Bridge? How do their learning needs and goals compare and contrast across three levels of literacy? (2) How do 13 ESOL women learners across three levels of literacy describe and understand their experiences of being supported and challenged in their learning at the Bridge? How, if at all, do their descriptions of support and challenge at the Bridge differ, depending on their level of English?;Qualitative data collection included: (1) participant observation, (2) in-depth interviews, and (3) a focus group. Analysis included (1) coding interview data using inductive and theoretical codes; (2) finding themes related to my research questions; (3) writing narrative summaries; (4) creating cross-case analyses; and (5) examining data using the lens of constructive-developmental theory.;Findings. First, similarities and differences do exist across three literacy levels in terms of the students' needs/goals for learning, and how they experience the supports/challenges offered by their teachers. As students move through levels 1, 2, and 3, they experience an increased need and capacity for self-expressive communication rather than purely transactional communication.;Second, a skills-based learning program for developing English language proficiency, when students are given proper supports and challenges, can also become a transformational learning program, enabling students to feel more able to express themselves and to have more autonomy in their roles as workers/mothers.;Implications. All ESOL learners are not a monolithic group of people with the same needs/goals. Therefore, students require different supports and challenges, and programs must be designed accordingly. I suggest programs may help to develop the whole person, focusing on students' informational learning (gaining new skills) as well as their transformational learning (gaining a new perspective).