English Language Staff Train Harvard
Undergraduates as Tutors

For several years now, Harvard College undergraduates have devoted their summers to working in academic enrichment programs for refugee children in the Greater Boston area under the aegis of the Phillips Brooks House Association. The Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment Program (BRYE) targets elementary school children, while the Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment Program (RYSE) addresses the needs of children in high school, particularly those who are planning to attend college.

A wide range of age-appropriate skills and strategies is transmitted in these programs, so that students from such diverse countries as Vietnam and Somalia have opportunities to learn American cultural and recreational customs during summer vacation, as well as spend time refreshing their previous year's schoolwork or getting a headstart on testing, advanced coursework, or college application procedures.

Clearly aware that mastery of English is of paramount importance to the future success of refugee youth in America, the student administrators of these programs approached the Institute for English Language Programs (IEL) three years ago for advice and assistance in training their fellow undergraduates who would serve as tutors, especially those who would work in the RYSE program.

The result has been a fruitful collaboration. IEL staff help the undergraduate program-administrators test and group prospective students, conduct ESL-methodology workshops for tutors, and, as follow up, observe classes in session and participate in the graduation ceremony. With families and friends at graduation, each section performs a skit (in which the tutor is the butt of the merriment), receives certificates of participation, and exchanges tokens of appreciation--a truly unforgettable event that lasts for several hours!

The effect of the time and talent dedicated on the part of the IEL staff and Harvard undergraduates to this outreach effort is tremendous. Not only does the program serve the academic needs of refugee youth, but it also orients, and often recruits, to the teaching profession many an idealistic undergraduate who wishes to enhance the academic opportunities of new immigrants to the Boston area.