Success of Teacher’s ESL Class Speaks for Itself : Language: Despite difficulties, immigrant students manage to attend and complete the course, moving up to higher levels of instruction.

Little fanfare marked the end of the trimester for teacher David Barrett’s San Pedro adult school English class. But for Imelda Ruvalcaba, and a large percentage of her classmates who passed final exams, the day was special. They had cleared a first, significant hurdle toward further studies, better job prospects and greater self-confidence.

The class was among Barrett’s most successful. In all, 40 out of 50 students passed the exam in March, which Barrett said was the highest passing percentage of any class he’s taught, and enrolled in more classes last month.

The course is one of an increasing number of such classes, officially called English as a Second Language, or ESL, throughout the South Bay. Like many other areas of Southern California, the rapid growth in the region’s immigrant population has led to a growing number of students attending such programs, school officials say.

Barrett surmised that his students’ success rate on the final exam was directly related to their reason for enrolling in the first place: They wanted to learn English.

“They were there because they wanted to be,� Barrett said. “They were a real enthusiastic group.�

Ruvalcaba, who was afraid to leave her San Pedro home when she first arrived from Mexico more than a year ago, said the class gave her a measure of independence. Feeling more confident about her English abilities, she said, has allowed her to venture out on bus rides, trips to the grocery store and walks around the block.

“I am not so dependent on my friends to translate for me,� she said, in Spanish. “I do things for myself now. Before, I needed a friend for everything.�

Ruvalcaba still is more comfortable speaking in her native Spanish. But she did well enough on Barrett’s exam to move two course levels higher.

Thirty-one students began the 12-week course early this year at the San Pedro Community Adult School. Four nights a week, they gathered for their English lessons. Attendance ebbed and flowed, peaking at about 90 in mid-February when the class was combined with another teacher’s group. Some dropped the course because of job conflicts, family pressures or lack of interest.

Considering the challenges in just getting to class, Barrett said his group’s attendance wasn’t as spotty as in other trimesters. Lack of transportation is a fact of everyday life for many of Barrett’s students.

The school’s ESL program offers five levels of instruction. Barrett’s class was at the beginning level. Instruction consisted of equal part survival skills (how to dial 911, for example), vocational preparation (how to fill out a job application) and basic English (“My name is . . . “).

Barrett praised the program and its effects on his students, many of whom have children who are also experiencing American schools for the first time.

“I think it is an exceptionally wonderful thing that is happening,� Barrett said. “We get a plethora of people from different countries, and they have their own expectation of what school is about. When they leave here they have a much better understanding of what our whole educational system is here in the United States and also what (teachers) are doing with their children.�

Ruvalcaba’s 6-year-old son often speaks to her in English, and she is taking a conversational English class at a nearby recreation center in addition to the night course at the San Pedro school.

A hairdresser in her native Mexico, Ruvalcaba said she hopes to learn enough English to become a licensed beautician in the United States. Her goal is to complete the fifth level of ESL.

“I’m not going to stop attending school,� she said.