Actually, language also plays a very important role in terms of family dynamics, because most immigrants, when they come here, they don't pick up English very fast. Their children go to school, and they become translators for their parents and have a controlling role over their parents. It also creates a problem between kids and the school, because the parents don't have the language skills to go to school and talk about what's happening in school.
That's very important, especially for the women. It's mostly women. In the first year of arrival here they don't go to school because they're taking care of their families and all. One of the barriers to the language programs is the criteria for attending English classes for ISAP and government-funded programs. Once they become citizens, they don't qualify for the language program. That's very important and it plays a role.
In terms of employment, when a newcomer goes to interviews, they're looking at the presentation, how they articulate themselves. They might have lots of skills and knowledge, but it's not being taken into consideration because there is a bias that they don't speak good English. They may not even speak English. The ELT language program is helping, because it's helping them to prepare for employment. For the citizens, this is a big barrier. As an organization, we do English conversation circles and all, but it doesn't help that much.