Proceedings of the First National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color - 135

for state-administered programs. The Center for Adult English Language Acquisition reveals that 60% of those who speak a language other than English at home speak Spanish and that “the number of Spanish speakers is more than 10 times the number of individuals who speak the second most prevalent language, Chinese” (2005, Center for Adult Language Acquisition) [2]. Of the United States foreign-born population, 16.1 million come from Mexico and other Latin American countries, and represent 52% of all immigrants. Details on current immigration trends are available from both the United States Census Bureau’s website (United States Census Bureau, 2006) [3] and from the website of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, 2006)[4], formerly known as the INS or Immigration and Naturalization Service. “The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2003” indicates that people born in Latin America represent over 53% of the 33.5 million foreign-born in the United States (United States Census Bureau, 2006). The Office of Immigration Statistics estimated that there would be 11 million immigrants not legally present in the United States by the beginning of 2006. The leading source country was Mexico, with an estimated 6 million undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States in 2005. Perhaps 400,000 people from all areas enter the United States annually. Numbers of undocumented persons in the United States – both current and projected – are all estimates since no national survey or other official instrument exists. Suffice it to say, that there are many existing and potential users of library materials for learning English and that these numbers are likely to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Certainly community colleges have seen a big demand from both English-speaking United States resident and foreign-born persons whose first language is one other than English. According to a report from the United States’ Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (United States Department of Education Office of Vocational and Educational Education, 2005) [5], 1,118,504 of the 2,581,281 adults enrolled in stateadministered adult education programs in 2004-2005 were Hispanic or Latino (some of these enrollees are Adult Basic Education students studying for the GED or to generally improve their basic skills, as well as learners of English). Undeniably demand for English as a Second Language instruction represents the largest growth area of the community college curriculum. About 42% of participants enrolled in stateadministered adult education programs are ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners (National Center for ESL Literacy Education, 2003). Of course, not all adults who are working to improve their English language abilities speak Spanish as their first language, but the vast majority of these learners are native Spanish speakers (in 2001, 39% were Hispanic/Latino). International Students Learning English Another class of adult language learners is the college and university student. If you are a librarian at an academic library your second language learner population will be comprised mostly of students, international students learning English or American students studying a language other than English. International students may arrive with or without a level of English proficiency which enables them to attend English-based classes. Most colleges and universities require international students to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL) and the Test of Spoken English before enrolling in their mainstream classes. TOEFL is divided into 4 sections which measure the ability to listen, structure, read and write. TOEFL is a trademark of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). 135

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Proceedings of the First National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color

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