This year BBC Radio 3 and ‘Serious’ have commissioned a set of ESOL materials aimed at raising awareness of World Music and the Awards for World music among Britain’s refugee communities.
Education Project: ESOL Reaching a diverse new audience.
Historically, the British world music audience has, in its ethnic make-up, been somewhat less diverse than the background picture of the UK. It is far from unusual for the musicians on stage to significantly outnumber their compatriots or ex-compatriots in the audience. When Youssou N’Dour, who enjoys enormous success in his homeland of Senegal and indeed across Africa, played WOMAD in 2005, even he failed to draw an audience that was proportionately diverse.
Plans for the 2007 Awards
As a response to this situation, BBC Radio 3 aims to use this years’ awards as an opportunity to better engage BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic Groups) communities in the British World music scene and industry. By delivering a programme of English for Speakers of Other Languages, Radio 3 aims to shape an environment in which there are conditions that enable ethnic minority groups to engage with the Awards and the sector’s development.
The program looks at issues of identity and culture, thus strengthening the voices of the cultures that created the music in influencing future programming, as well as in making record companies and other stakeholders more aware of their audiences.
ESOL Education Programme
The ESOL programme consists of materials designed to inform, enthuse and provoke thought about World Music and the 2007 Awards in particular. The materials are designed at NQF levels Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2 and are fully mapped to the ESOL core curriculum; there are lesson plans, as well as games and audio activities.
To access and download the ESOL materials, visit the BBC website.
Early respondees showing an interest in the programme will receive a free CD, otherwise audio clips are available from the Radio 3 website (note the final activity at level 2 requires access to a CD or a copy of Jordan by Bellowhead).
All queries to helene.rammant@bbc.co.uk
