Tulsa Community College is expanding its English as a Second Language Program as more international students, immigrants and residents need to learn the language. TCC recently hired Daniel Chaboya to coordinate the program. In the past, the college has had only one full-time professor and a person to market the program. The intensive program prepares English language-learners for college and teaches the language to professionals in the community, Chaboya said. Parents also can enroll in the program to keep up with their children’s English skills.

To enroll in the program, students have to be documented residents or documented foreign students, Chaboya said, or they must have lived in Oklahoma for two years with a parent or guardian, graduated from high school or earned their GED, and enrolled in a public college in the state, according to Oklahoma law. In a reading class this week, the 24 students’ home countries included China, Korea, Japan, Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico. Professor John Warrior said many students last semester were from Russia. Chaboya estimated that a third of ESL students are Spanish-speakers. The number of Arabic speakers is growing in Tulsa, and Chaboya said he wants to reach out to them. Several students who spoke up said they want to go to college.

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