There is generally a vast span of English proficiency levels of students in the Electronics VESL course. Students need only to demonstrate a basic understanding and verbal proficiency in English for admission to training. Frequently we have found that immigrants and refugees enter the country at this level of English proficiency or shortly attain it within a couple of months of ESL language training.

On the other end of the spectrum are students who enter training at high levels of English proficiency. These are a combination of people who have been in the U.S for five to fifteen or twenty years, many who are citizens, people who have had extensive English training in their countries, people who attended the U.S. school system from early ages, second-generation (citizen) children of immigrant and refugee families, and others.

High motivation seems to be a consistent factor for students attending training. Motivation is not so much to learn English, but to get a job, change jobs, have some money, support their family, make a better life, get off welfare, etc. In essence, students are not attending class to learn traditional English, but to get the necessary skills to obtain an electronic assembly or related job. Learning hands-on skills (EA), electronic terminology and English things to get and keep a job is what students are seeking. Such motivation is an asset for class retention, learning both assembly skills and the English the student perceives as important to apply these skills to obtain and retain a job.

The Electronics VESL Classroom. The classroom is located within the community from which most students come. The physical training area-classroom is set up with work stations and equipment similar to an actual electronic assembly work environment. All equipment and supplies are accessible to both EA and VESL instructors. Actual assembly equipment and materials are used by the VESL instructor for demonstration of procedures and as props for learning and discussion.

Close proximity of the VESL and Electronics Assembly instructors allows for daily communication, coordination and review between instructors. VESL materials are synchronized to procedures and materials being covered in EA. Both VESL and EA class sessions are tailored to individual abilities and areas of need as determined by instructors. Examples of this might be the EA instructor identifying a student, or students, having difficulty verbally relating procedures learned or the VESL instructor identifying a student.

Interfacing with companies for potential job placements is done approximately weekly by the EA instructor who passes information such as changing industry trends and requests on to the VESL instructor to be incorporated into both training components. Examples of this might be a company saying it would like more emphasis on surface-mount technology or preparation for employees to accept supervision from female supervisors (which may not be of similar ethnic backgrounds).

Scripted, Modular Sequence of Instruction . Because training is open entry/open exit, students begin and complete training at various times throughout the ten weeks. Use of scripted, sequenced, modules of instruction allows students to arrive before or during a module that will be repeated for them at the end of approximately eight weeks. Students know where they are at any given time during the training process. The final stage of each module is a written test , called a quiz to keep test anxiety low. The quiz is a culmination of individual quizzes given for each section of the module. It is usually posted, without answers, two to three days ahead of time. The goal is not for a quantitative measure of what has been retained, but rather as a vehicle to get students to study on their own to learn the answers and successfully complete it. Taking a quiz that anybody can pass encourages review of the material while students' high success rate reinforces the individual student's sense of accomplishment. All quizzes are corrected at the student's workstation immediately upon completion. The first one to two students who complete their own quizzes with all correct are often asked to assist the instructor in moving around the class correcting other students' papers.