Evaluating Test Consequences Based on ESL Students' Perceptions: An Appraisal Analysis.

In order to determine the reliability of international students' English as a Second Language (ESL) class performance as a predictor of academic performance, a population of 169 international students at Portland State University (PSU) in Portland, Oregon were selected and statistical tests were performed on their GPAs and TOEFL scores. Individual students' GPAs were computed for all ESL classes taken and for each component--grammar, reading, writing, and speaking/listening--as well as for the end of the first quarter, first year, and second year of academic study. Pearson Coefficient Correlations were then computed for the ESL and academic GPAs. The students were also divided into subgroups based upon gender, nature of academic major (more-verbal or less-verbal), age, nationality (Asian or Middle-Eastern), number of ESL classes taken, amount of previous English-speaking college experience, prior education level, TOEFL score, and PSU entry date. Then mean GPAs were calculated for each of these which were compared by T-tests. The results were mixed. While it was clear that ESL grades and academic grades correlated strongly for some variable groups, it was difficult to determine which variables had the strongest effect because of subgroup composition. For example, female students, students from Asia, and students whose majors fit the more-verbal category showed strong and statistically significant correlations for ESL-second year academic grades; but 90% of the women were from countries of Asia, and the proportion of both Asian and female students in the more-verbal majors was much higher than that of males or students from countries of the Middle East. There were two patterns that stood out in the research results. One was that ESL students who had taken twelve or more ESL classes maintained consistent academic GPAs across time, while those who had taken fewer than twelve ESL classes and all students in the non-ESL group had GPAs that started higher than those of the first group but declined over the two year period--some of them enough to be statistically significant. The second pattern was that groups with strong ESL academic GPA correlations tended to do better in college that did those with weaker ESL-academic GPA relationships. TOEFL scores were correlated to both ESL and academic grades. In the first case, there were both moderately positive and statistically significant relationships. In the second case, the correlations were very low; and for non-ESL students, there was essentially no correlation. But comparing mean academic GPAs showed a significant difference

Many international students in American universities are required to take writing courses in English as a second language (ESL) before participating in a mainstream first-year composition (FYC) course. Given that the goal of ESL writing course is to prepare students for FYC course, the connection between ESL and FYC courses is significant. This study investigates the correspondence of two such courses in terms of writing tasks based on the analysis of course syllabi, assignment sheets, and interviews with eight ESL course and 10 FYC instructors as well as 26 international students who are from diverse countries and took both composition courses. The findings suggest that students’ assignments from both courses are all essays in terms of genre, but show differences with regard to the text’s purpose, audience, information source, topic, and rhetorical function. Students are also aware of such similarities and differences, but occasionally demonstrate less sophisticated or inaccurate understanding of the assignments. Pedagogical implications for modifying the writing assignments in ESL courses to fit the expectations of FYC courses are discussed.

This qualitative instrumental case study explores various factors that might influence upper‐intermediate‐level English as a second language (ESL) students' summarizing from a socio‐cultural perspective. The study was conducted in a formal classroom setting, during a reading and writing class in the English Language Institute at a university in the southeastern United States. Seven international ESL students provided information through questionnaires and interviews. Additional data were gathered through classroom observation. The findings of the study provide evidence that such personal factors as culturally influenced thinking patterns, content knowledge, motivation and attitude, and native language and second language literacy skills, as well as textual factors, writing style, vocabulary, and grammar, have an effect on ESL students' summarizing.

Individuals preferentially process information in different ways. This includes the varied learning style preference of the individuals in any study program, including English as a Second Language (ESL). However, one of major concerns is, do the ESL students have different preferred way to learn? Past studies have given mixed results including pertaining to Malaysian students. To address this issue, this study sought to identify whether there are differences in learning style preferences between male and female students who undertook ESL courses in the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). To achieve the study objective, Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model (FSLSM) was selected to gather data on the respondents’ learning style preference due to its validity, widespread use and suitability to the scope of the study. The responses gathered from FSLSM were tallied and assessed for gender difference in LSP. Results indicated that, there is a strong representation of visual learners from both male and female respondents. On the other hand, the respondents, irrespective of the gender difference, are well-balanced in the dimensions of sensing/intuitive, active/reflective, and sequential/global. In addressing the gender difference, it was found in this study that there is no significant difference between male and female ESL students in their preferred learning The Journal of Educators Online-JEO July 2015 ISSN 1547-500X Vol 13 Number 2 104 104 styles on each of the FSLSM dimension. Thus, this study revealed that, gender does not help differentiate students’ learning preferences. The findings lend support to several past studies on LSP.

This study aims to evaluate the effect of using English podcasts on the listening comprehension skills of ESL (English as a Second Language) students using a pre-experimental one-group pretest post-test design. The sample consisted of 35 ESL students. The students were given a listening comprehension test before the intervention (pretest) to measure their initial skills. During a four-week period, the students were regularly exposed to English podcasts selected based on difficulty level and relevance to the curriculum. After the intervention period, the same listening comprehension test was administered as a post-test to measure changes in listening skills. The collected data were analyzed using a paired t-test to determine the significance of the difference between pretest and post-test scores. The results showed a significant increase in students' listening comprehension scores after the podcast intervention (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that regular use of English podcasts can improve ESL students' listening comprehension skills. This study suggests that podcasts can be an effective tool in language learning, particularly in enhancing listening skills. The practical implication of this research is to encourage educators to integrate podcasts into their teaching methods. Further research is recommended to address the limitations of this study design and explore other factors that may influence the results.

This paper reports on a pilot project which provided writing support for registered nurses undertaking Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and for pre‐registration nursing students. Both groups of students have English as a second language (ESL). The aims of the project were to extend the scope of the available writing support within the faculty for ESL students through the provision of one‐to‐one sessions and workshops. In addition, workshops were provided for lecturers to improve their understanding of the barriers faced by ESL students. Literature indicates that communication with tutors and the need for clear feedback are important factors for ESL students. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from questionnaires completed by participants after teaching sessions and were analysed against pre‐agreed success criteria. Findings indicate that students were very positive about the effectiveness of the sessions in helping them improve their academic writing. Additionally, three themes emerged from the student data: reasons for using the ELS support service; what they liked most about the ELS service and suggestions for improvements to the service. Data from staff show that the sessions have given staff a greater insight into the problems faced by ESL students.

The purpose of this research study is to compare the effectiveness of 2 different instructional approaches to language instruction—integrated (oral plus written) versus oral‐only instruction—in developing oral language skills of young students learning English as a second language (ESL). Drawing upon 2 competing research perspectives on young ESL children's English language learning, this study examined the question “Does integrated, language‐based intervention lead to greater gains in the oral language development of focus ESL students than oral language‐based intervention?” The study participants were 2 beginning ESL students—one from Korea (Yun) and one from China (Yang)—enrolled in kindergarten in a multicultural school in a Midwestern state (student names are pseudonyms). Results from the 2 focus students' performances on multiple oral language assessment measures showed that integrated, language‐based intervention led to greater gains in the focus students' oral language development than did an exclusively oral language‐based intervention. Thus, the key instructional issue is not whether literacy should be used for beginning ESL students, but rather in what ways is literacy most effective in supporting ESL students' language and cognitive development.

Secondary English as a Second Language (ESL) students commonly face obstacles that put them at greater risk for learning gaps in computer assisted learning (CAL). These obstacles include but are not limited to computer attitudes, computer self-efficacy, digital empathy, and connectivity gaps. Student attitudes towards computers as learning devices play an important role in reducing learning loss. This study intended to identify the underlying causes of ESL learning gaps in CAL by studying students' attitudes toward computers as learning tools. The study used a mixed method approach by collecting self-reported data from the Computer Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ) to compare ESL students verse native English-speaking students' computer attitudes. Three hundred sixty-nine secondary students successfully completed the CAQ for the purpose of this study. Of the eight subscales, four produced statistically significant findings. These include Computer Enjoyment (J), Empathy (E), Computer Anxiety (CA), and School Enjoyment (SC). Demographic factors were also analyzed which found that female ESL students have higher levels of empathy compared to their male counterparts. Additionally, 9th grade students reported better study habits and an increased perception of computer importance. Each of the subscale findings along with demographic factors, and qualitative results showed that ESL students are at a significant disadvantage when comparing computer attitudes to native English-speaking students.

This article reports the results of a study that assesses the effectiveness of a Philosophy in Schools (PIS) program in developing English as a Second Language (ESL) students’ thinking skills and English competence in Hong Kong. In the study, training and support were provided for two English teachers to enable them to teach PIS to their Secondary 4 ESL students during English lessons. The students were found to be capable of reasoning and arguing about philosophical problems arising from various stimuli prepared by their teachers according to the English curriculum. Also, PIS was found to play an important role in promoting the students’ critical and creative thinking and enhance the development of their English language proficiency to a significant extent. The findings of this study suggest that integrating philosophy into the English curriculum can promote critical thinking, creative thinking, and English language proficiency in ESL students.

This study investigated word recognition among fluent readers of English as a second language (ESL). Specifically, the study examined whether ESL readers' first language (L1) affects the procedures underlying second language word recognition, with respect to the effects of word frequency and regularity on word recognition. The results revealed a similarity in word-recognition procedures between fluent ESL readers with various L1 backgrounds (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, and Persian). In processing high-frequency words, all the ESL groups recognized exception words as quickly as regular words; low-frequency exception words, on the contrary, took longer to recognize than low-frequency regular words.

Does lowering the reading level of a health education pamphlet actually increase the comprehension by adult readers for whom English is a second language? We lowered the reading level of a general pharmacy education handout by changing vocabulary, sentence structure, and organization; by highlighting the main idea of each point; and by writing an introduction designed to catch attention and focus reading. Low-intermediate and advanced English as a Second Language (ESL) college students read either the unaltered (24 students) or altered (25 students) version of the pamphlet, which were estimated to be at the grade 12 and grade 7 level respectively according to the Flesch-Kincaid readability formula. Subjects then answered a free written test and a short-answer test. There was no statistically significant difference in the reading comprehension scores of the two groups on the free written test (p=0.14) or on the short-answer test (p=0.59). Health educators and ESL professionals should be wary of using readability formulas to estimate the suitability of materials for ESL readers, and of assuming that lowering the reading level of materials means increasing comprehension even when some changes beyond the lexical and syntactical are made.

English as a second language (ESL) teachers have long noted that native speakers of Arabic exhibit exceptional difficulty with English reading comprehension (e.g., Thompson-Panos & Thomas-Ruzic, 1983). Most existing work in this area has looked to higher level aspects of reading such as familiarity with discourse structure and cultural knowledge to explain native Arabic speakers' ESL reading difficulties (Abu Rabia, 1996). However, higher level processes often depend on lower level processes, such as letter and word identification, and deficient lower level processing can inhibit reading comprehension (Koda, 1990). Given important differences in the written representation of vowel information in English and Arabic writing, it was hypothesized that the English reading comprehension difficulties experienced by Arabic speakers might also reflect nontarget-like lower level processing of letters and words. Two experiments compare the reading processes of native Arabic speakers to the reading processes of native English speakers and non-Arabic ESL learners and provide some evidence that native Arabic speakers are less aware of vowel letters in English texts than either control group. This differential awareness of vowel letters may contribute to native Arabic speakers' ESL reading comprehension difficulties. The implications of this research for ESL pedagogy are discussed.

This article gives an overview of the status quo of the flipped classroom in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. Systematic Review method was used to compare findings from various studies and assess their quality and strengths The paper reviewed fifteen published research articles from different international refereed journal publications. These researches were conducted from 2016 to 2021. The articles were analysed utilising a content analysis method. The review provides the different definitions of the flipped classroom and its theoretical foundation, the students’ and teachers’ attitudes and perceptions towards flipped classrooms, its challenges and benefits, and its impact on the development of language skills of EFL and ESL students. Through this review, English language teachers will have a thorough understanding of the flipped language classroom, which may serve as a baseline for its effective adoption and implementation. Moreover, this review may add to the existing knowledge of the flipped classroom.

This paper compares English as a second language (ESL) and foreign language (FL) teachers' and students' perspectives regarding target language (TL) and first language (L1) use in the respective classrooms. Teachers and students were given questionnaires asking their opinions of a rule that restricts students' L1 use. Questionnaires were administered to 46 ESL students, 43 FL students, 14 ESL teachers, and 15 FL teachers in Texas secondary public schools. Results were analyzed using SPSS and R. Results demonstrated an almost statistical difference between perspectives of ESL and FL students regarding TL and L1 use, while teacher results demonstrated no statistical difference between the groups. Students had a more positive perspective of the rule than teachers.

This research paper delves into the utilization of open-source tool, specifically LearningApps.org, with the purpose of improving the teaching of tenses to students who are learning English as a Second Language (ESL). The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence that LearningApps.org has on the level of interest and participation that students have in the process of learning the past tense (PT) and future tense (FT) of the English language. We used a quantitative technique, and we had 94 English as a Second Language (ESL) students between the ages of 17 and 20 who were fluent in three distinct native languages. The paper is organized into three primary sections: 1) Assessing learners' interest in utilizing LearningApps.org, 2) Examining the benefits of LearningApps.org tools for ESL students, and 3) Analysing ESL students' performance using LearningApps.org in PT and FT exercises. This study's findings have significance for online learning tools, English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, educators, and lesson organisers because they provide insights into the needs and engagement variables that are relevant to both PT and FT in ESL learning. Another channel for further interdisciplinary study that aims to improve topic engagement from the point of view of learners is opened up as a result of these findings