Southern New Hampshire University ESOL Community Needs Analysis

The Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research (LZC) at the Institute for Community Health is partnering with Southern New Hampshire University’s Center for New Americans (SNHU) and the New Hampshire Equity Collective (EqColl) to conduct an analysis of English language instruction needs and aspirations for immigrants and refugees in Manchester, New Hampshire. The project will also explore if and how SNHU can play a role in generating and/or leveraging new resources in the future through their Center for New Americans to meet the goals of adult English language learners. LZC and EqColl will use a variety of community-engaged methods to conduct the needs analysis, including working with four community researchers with lived experience learning English as a second language; storytelling and focus groups with English language learners; and key informant interviews with ESOL providers and immigrant leaders. Findings from this needs analysis will be shared with NH ESOL providers and other community members and will be complemented by a regional survey led by SNHU looking at what adult learners need compared to available resources