2. 2010 ALLIES
Learning Exchange
May 2010 - Halifax

3. The Nuts and Bolts of
Developing a Successful
Bridging Program
Anna De Luca
Dean, Language Training and Adult Literacy

4. NorQuest College
• public post-secondary college in Edmonton
• comprehensive community college serving
Edmonton region and surrounding communities
• 10,000 p/t and f/t students annually
• sixty percent of NQC students born outside of
Canada

5. Bridging Programs – an expanded
definition
Bridges leading to:
- further education
- credential recognition or acquisition
- employment

6. Bridging Programs at NQC
• Health Care Aide – 400 hrs α certificate
• Intro to Comm & Culture for Nursing – 400 hrs α PN, national
exams, RN refresher
• PND-IEN – 19 mos. α employment
• ELT for Pharmacists – modular course - α other bridging
programs, language proficiency test, employment
• Day Home Provider – 10 mos. α employment and/or self-
employment
• Business Careers – 400 hrs α certificate or employment
• Youth in Transition – 10 mos α complete HS & enter PS education
• Transit Operators – 400 hrs α exam, TOJ, employment

7. Key Ingredients
Needs Assessment
Understanding the language demands of the
workplace
Ex: observe rate and type of language interactions
and tasks; review authentic texts

8. Key Ingredients
Occupation-Specific Grouping
Grouping based on the identified needs of a single
occupational group versus more generic bridging programs
that bring together a variety of occupational groups

9. Key Ingredients
Occupational Language
• Content-context specific
• Language Levels (CLB 6/7)
• Curriculum referenced to CLBs and WES
• Clear, measurable language outcomes

10. Key Ingredients
Intercultural Communication Skills
• Orientation to what the individual will encounter
in the workplace
• Builds awareness and skills in how English
language communication occurs in a workplace
context, e.g. common pitfalls, barriers and
miscommunication
• Provides insight into norms and expectations

11. Key Ingredients
Partnerships
• Content experts and language experts working
together towards a common goal = a well-
constructed bridge
• Opportunities to observe, participate, and become
familiar with the workplace

12. Challenges
• Trained instructors who are able to work across
disciplines
• Enrolment numbers and financial feasibility
• Financial burden for students
• Adequate language levels and the time factor
• Diversity of background experience in one
classroom

13. Success Statistics
• 50 PN graduates since 2006. All are either
employed or enrolled in RN refresher
• 77% of Transit Operators graduates employed in
driving jobs; 43 % as transit operators
• Youth in Transition - 88% of graduates are still
enrolled in HS and PS programs 2 years after

14. Success Stories

16. Neju Bekri Ali arrived in Edmonton with
her husband and three children in April of
2000. Bekri Ali had a nursing degree from
Ethiopia.
When the time came to return to work,
she found that her qualifications from
Ethiopia did not meet qualifications here in
Edmonton. She had to start all over again.
In September of 2006 she returned to the
Practical Nurse Diploma for Internationally
Educated Nurses with government funding.
“I really miss working in a hospital,
giving medications and taking care of
patients,” she says. “Now my dream of
being a nurse again are coming true.”
Bekri Ali graduated in 2008 and went to
work full-time for the Capital Health
Authority.

17. Communication binds
us together, but proper communication
in the workplace can save jobs, money and
even lives.
Fiacre Gakosso came to Canada from the
Congo as a refugee and attended Andre
Laurendeau in Montreal to receive his degree
in nursing.
Because he received all his training in
French; upon moving to Edmonton, Gakosso
needed to relearn courses such as medical
terminology in English.
Gakosso says NorQuest was an easy choice for this type of training as it is the only
institution in the city that offers a program like this, and he is eager to learn Canadian culture
in the medical field.
“I will respect your culture and you will respect mine, but in a professional setting, we only
have the same culture,” says Gakosso.
Gakosso completed the PNDIEN program in 2009 and has since applied for the RN
Program at Grant MacEwan University.

18. In Canada, people want a bus
driver to say hello and they want you to
smile, says Sabera Razak, one of 13
graduates of NorQuest College’s new
bridge to transit operators pilot project.
At the end of the 16-week course,
students were offered the chance to take
the pre-screening test with Edmonton
Transit.
Eleven students passed. “She was the only female student in the course.
“Razak was an elementary school teacher in Sri Lanka.
“The bus driving is a piece of cake, they say, but let’s see. I’ll have to try to let you
know.”
Customers always have many questions, but “I have a lot of patience. That’s part of the job,”
she said. “They say just be positive and everything will be fine.”

19. Thank you
anna.deluca@norquest.ca
our website: www.norquest.ca
CEIE website: www.norquest.ca/cfe/intercultural
Allies Website: www.alliescanada.ca