Many immigrants find learning English to be a stumbling block in the path of pursuing U.S. citizenship.

That’s why Morton College is joining forces with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to offer free classes of English as a second language to permanent legal residents applying to become citizens of the U.S.

Karla Avila from the coalition said knowing the language is essential for integration.

“Learning English is one of the first steps that need to be taken for immigrants to be fully integrated into this country, and that’s one of the priorities of the ICIRR,” Avila said.

Applicants for naturalization must be able to read, write, speak and understand words in ordinary usage in the English language, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Screening begins this summer for the classes called the We Want to Learn English Initiative, a part of the coalition’s state-funded New American Initiative.

The coalition is giving $50,000 of state money to Morton College for hosting the pilot program and is providing similar funds to five other participating groups, such as the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago based in the Edgewater neighborhood on Chicago’s Northside and Family Focus in the far west suburb of Aurora.

Morton College was targeted for the English initiative because of the large legal resident population in Cicero and Berwyn, Avila said.

Latinos, many who are designated English Language Learner immigrants, make up 77 percent of Cicero’s total population, according to a 2006 report of the Pew Hispanic Center and the 2000 Census data.

Jim Young, the dean of adult education at Morton, said the college is serving a particular need of the community.

“For many of the residents in the community we served, speaking English is an issue,” he said.

Morton College will provide the classrooms on campus and instructors for about 60 people in two to four groups meeting for 15 sessions, logging a total of 90 hours from August to December.

Young said the classes will be different from regular English as a second language classes in that they will include activities related to obtaining citizenship, such as mock interviews.

The Cicero-based Interfaith Leadership Project, which helps the coalition host citizenship application workshops, will start referring people to the program next month.

The pilot program could evolve into a regular course offered at Morton College if the initiative is successful and the demand for it grows, Young said.