Education

IINE offers refugees and immigrants a range of essential English language training from literacy, basic vocational vocabulary, and cultural orientation instruction to advanced English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Each IINE site serves a diversity of clients with a range of educational and professional backgrounds, including those with no literacy and few skills to those with intermediate English proficiency and advanced degrees. The faster immigrants learn English, the more quickly they can obtain a good job, advance in their careers, participate more fully in civic life, and become more integral members of the larger community.

For over 100 years, IINE has been working with refugees and immigrants from more than 67 different countries to help them grasp a working understanding of the English language through contextualized vocational English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and more traditional ESOL and EFE programming.  With beginning literacy to advanced adult basic education language classes offered at each IINE site, we make linguistic skill learning accessible to over 500 adult students each year.  We are also currently the only provider offering evening ESOL classes in downtown Boston, complete with a college and career readiness component and active Student Council. IINE’s ESOL programs are extremely successful in providing:

  • Immigrant and adult learners with quality English language skills to increase their ability to communicate effectively and confidently in English while simultaneously deepening their generative skills (i.e., communication, decision-making, interpersonal, and lifelong learning skills).
  • English language instruction with a focus on educational and career goals to help learners gain entry to better jobs, vocational training, and/or higher education.

By 2030 more than one in five U. S. workers will be an immigrant. IINE’s programs that teach English language skills are therefore critical in preparing New England’s future workforce. The stronger new Americans’ English skills are, the more likely they will achieve a career pathway that supports their family, provides genuine potential for advancement, and allows for their indispensable economic contribution to the cities and communities in which they live.