English As A Second Language
Results of Assessment
2002-2003 (submitted 01/20/04)
As a continuation of the ESL Program Assessment for the 2002-2003 year an
intensive study on the ESL Student’s ability to read and comprehend English
college textbooks to successfully pass general education courses was conducted
by Debi Sheridan as her Master of Education’s thesis requirement, "Weber
State University ESL Student Reading Comprehension." (2003)
ESL students face many challenges as they study in a foreign
language. Problems range from culture shock and the resulting cognitive
dissonance to an inability to grasp basic concepts in a new subject. The
multitude of problems which await a foreign student can be minimized if their
reading skills are honed to sufficiently prepare them to understand the new
concepts they will encounter.
Helping students to read English at an academic level is one
of the major goals in the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program at Weber
State University (Weber State). The greatest obstacles the teachers address are
the variations in learning styles dictated by pedagogical practices in students’
native lands, and/or the individual strategies each student has developed. Both
national and individual styles will hamper or accelerate the rate at which the
student comprehends and assimilates information in English. With this diversity,
it is difficult to ensure individual comprehension within the guidelines set for
each class. ESL students can quickly master the surface features of the language
and seem more fluent than they really are, so although they may meet the
requirements of specific Weber State ESL classes, they may still have limited
comprehension in their academic classes.
The Weber State ESL program addresses the four language
skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, and in a very short time
prepares the ESL student for entry into academic classes. Some students enter
the Weber State ESL program with no knowledge of English, limited English
proficiency, or high English proficiency. All students must complete level five,
ESL 2510 academic writing class, a prerequisite for English 1010, or test out of
the ESL program. However, students may enter the academic community when they
commence level four, at which time they are eligible to take ESL classes
concurrently with selected academic classes. It does not appear that the fourth
level or even fifth level students have necessarily had sufficient exposure to
the Graeco-Latin academic language required of students in academic classes.
Neither have they had sufficient time in L2 study, nor acquire comprehensible
input instruction, to adequately prepare them to be efficient independent
readers capable of realizing their potential in academic classes. Although they
have been taught reading strategies in Weber State ESL reading classes, they may
need to review those strategies, and be provided with more support as they apply
them specifically. The short time that the students have been in the program,
often as little as two semesters, has not afforded them sufficient time to
develop the breadth or depth of vocabulary to deal with the wide range of
academic texts they will encounter.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this project was to find out whether
supplementary reading instruction for students in the Weber State ESL program
would aid them in comprehending the written texts assigned to their academic
classes. In particular;
1. Would the level of comprehension improve after the
students participate in a six-week study, which taught text strategies and
content specific vocabulary?
2. Would note taking on texts be improved through the use
of interactive notebooks?
3. Would the students transfer the skills they learned and
achieve better grades across the curriculum in this semester than those in the
control group?
4. Would the students feel more confident as readers and
learners?
ASSESSMENT
An Informal Reading Inventory (IRI)about the physiology of
the human body and features of the physical world the students were familiar
with was used. The assessment took place at a time and place which suited the
students, giving them some control over the process. As the assessment was not
vital to their studies, there was no academic value placed on it and the
students were happy and willing to participate. The assessment took the
form of
1. a pre- and post-IRI for each student. The pre and post
test results form the basis of the t-test.
2. pre- and post-study text annotation
evidence gathered from the instructor review of notebooks.
4. anecdotal evidence gathered from random interviews of
the treatment students before, during, and after the study of the students
involved.
METHODOLOGY
Students
The population for the study was from a variety of cultural backgrounds:
- Latin American: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia
- Mexican
- Japanese
- Thai
- South Korean
- Palestinian
- Saudi Arabian
All the students were currently enrolled in ESL 2510 Level IV academic
writing. The students were then divided into a control group and a treatment
group.
Procedure
All the students took an Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) and met for six
weeks. The ESL students learned how to:
- Pre-view texts.
- Annotate texts and write questions and observations in a notebook as
they studied.
- Better understand vocabulary through vocabulary instruction on a weekly
basis.
- At the conclusion of the six weeks the students took a post IRI
Previewing
Although pre-viewing skills were taught at specific times, they were
reviewed during each lesson. The students were interviewed to ascertain what
skills they were using, and when the skills were used.
Notebooks
The students were taught to annotate. The students were given a notebook to
carry with them at all times. Then, when an "A-ha" or problem with
language occurred the student was to record it in the notebook. Time was
allocated at the beginning of each lesson to specific problems students
identified.
Vocabulary
One discrete skill the students were taught was how to use the glossary.
The main purpose was for students to identify which meaning is being used in
the context of the content area and identify content specific phrases. They
were taught skills so they could rely on context clues in order to become more
independent and thus grow in self confidence.
FINDINGS
- The words per minute (wpm) each student read largely improved over the six
weeks for the control group. However, the treatment group students’ t-test
wpm scores were less in the post-test than in the pre-test. The main reason
seems to be the different approach the students took; after previewing the
text, they then took a pencil and annotate the test in some way as they read
through, which added a number of seconds to the time taken.
- There was a significantly larger increase in comprehension among the
treatment group.
- The notebooks were useful mostly as a reminder. By the end of the study,
notebook use was an established habit.
- Previewing strategies were very successful. Even though the students
recognized pre-viewing would take extra time and were afraid to use it in
certain testing situations where there were time restrictions, most of the
treatment group employed the strategy successfully.
- Recognizing types of questions proved extremely useful to the treatment
group.
- Vocabulary strategies also showed the students that there is help within
reach if they just understand where to look for it in the text.
- Confidence grew as the students realized they did not have to depend on a
dictionary every time they met a new word.
- They were excited with their learning as they taught each other, which
worked as a great motivator and a way to reinforce the students’
understanding of their own learning.
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is apparent from the study that most ESL students do need extra reading
support. Although they have been taught all of these strategies in the Weber
State ESL program the students need to re-view the strategies once they have an
academic subject to which to apply them. Small academic support groups led by a
skilled tutor is of extreme importance. Small groups seem to be more effective
than large ones, where the students can get lost or hide, or individual tutoring
where the atmosphere can be sterile. Group support is important in reassuring
the students they do not struggle alone, and they are not stupid because they
find English hard to understand. Encouragement and empathy from others in a
similar situation should not be underestimated.
One big problem, which was reinforced in the initial interview, is that very
often international ESL students’ self-perception is negatively affected by
the change of culture and language. Working in small groups of multi-cultural
students allows the students to build a support network of peers who struggle
with the same issues, but succeed in differing areas and can thereby encourage
each other.
It is also recommended that for the academic success of ESL students that
reading support classes or groups be organized for ESL students enrolled in
academic classes. The class/groups(s) should be no more than six in number and
be organized on the basis of pairing with an academic course of study.
It would also be of great benefit if ESL students were advised to take
academic classes in groups so Supplemental Instructors or tutors can be assigned
to those classes and maximize the aid the students are given.
TEACHING STRATEGIES
With the vast cultural variety of knowledge and learning in an ESL classroom,
constant revision is required for students to retain the knowledge and concepts
being taught to comprehend a text. Many ESL readers struggle with the complex
language structures of an English text and are prevented from accessing the
information contained therein. ESL teachers need to activate all language clues
related to the text.
To bring some uniformity of understanding to the students in a particular
class sensitive foundational instruction is required. A uniformity of
understanding is required if students are to learn what is being taught. The
foundations for each student must be clear and correct if, as they build new
concepts on old and broaden their understanding of certain precepts, they are to
learn the ‘Truths’ being taught.
Reading and Writing
Reading and writing are very closely related and for students to excel, and
achieve greater comprehension of what they read, reading should be supported
by meaningful writing activities. It is of ultimate importance that all
assignments are authentic, that they have intrinsic value, and never busy
work, and offer the student opportunities to develop as readers and writers.
As they make their own connections with a text, the writing opportunities they
are given should help them to explore their understanding, reactions and
feelings towards it, and view their reading as ‘a work in progress’.
Writing activities offer the opportunity for a student to re-see a text, to
work out the meaning, and establish their own insights which may have been
hampered at the time of the initial reading.
Talking About Texts
Students need to be able to "not just talk about things in general,
but ‘talk about text’...[they need]...a kind of discourse where learners
talk repeatedly about knowledge gained from texts. For ESL students, listening
to the language as they both follow and talk about the [text]...is an
important way to make connections between oral and written texts, to try out
recently acquired vocabulary, and discover new ways of deploying communicative
strategies" Ernest & Richard (1995).
Pairing
The research of Halpern, Patkowski, and Brooks (1996) is congruent with
Laufer and Paribakht’s (1998), they showed that achieving a grade-level norm
in L2 can take from four to eight years, and that L2 acquisition is more
successful when it has a specific focus. It is advantageous in a university
setting therefore, that acquisition be academically based rather than a purely
linguistically based study. If students, having learned new vocabulary,
especially academic vocabulary, have no opportunities to employ those words in
motivated ways then the learning and retention of those words is at best a
"hit-and-miss affair"(p.688). Consequently, it is more advantageous
for ESL students to be offered ESL and Content classes simultaneously. Pairing
an ESL reading class with an academic class can improve the student’s
reading ability and comprehension. This pairing should use the academic text
for the ESL class, thus providing the students extra teaching time and
personal interaction with the text.
Vocabulary
ESL dictionary use should be taught as a skill by an ESL teacher, and
embedded in a variety and diversity of reading assignments for the potential
of dictionary use to be fully realized. Zimmerman’s study (1997) of ESL
readers employed interactive vocabulary instruction and self-selected reading.
Results showed the participants felt that it is insufficient to rely on:
1. the benefits of a bi-lingual dictionary as there seems to be no marked
increase in reading comprehension. ESL students need to know more about
target words than the explanation in a dictionary, bi-lingual or
monolingual.
2. memorization of lists of words in isolation was of little benefit. It
is difficult to learn the
complexities of target words without meaningful and relevant contexts.
3. studies of word roots and affixes. Where L1 is not a Romance language
the construction of words and complexity of use is radically different.
4. drills and rote activities, because many vocabulary teaching methods
are at best boring, and at worst painful.
5. reading a good book. While it may be an enjoyable experience for the
competent reader, it can be a painfully slow and laborious job for the less
able.
Previewing
Chen and Graves (1998) suggested that the strategy of pre-viewing was
"very effective" in "guiding [ESL] students towards successful
reading experiences" (p.571). Previews are substantial introductions and
overview of the assigned reading, substantial enough that the student has a
good idea of the content they are about to read. Previews, therefore, provide
solid foundations for the students to build their understanding on. It is also
an effectual means of directing the students’ attention to the most
important information in the text and also uses clear and specific
instruction.
SUMMARY
It is obvious from the research available that it is not sufficient merely to
teach ESL students to decode the alphabetic units on the page. Even though they
are adults able to read in their own language, as with all developing readers,
ESL students need a copious amount of support to continue to refine and hone
their reading skills. If they are not able to extract the relevant information
and assimilate it in a way which will aid their study, then their lack of
comprehension will hinder their efforts and eventually defeat them.
RESOURCE
Detailed information and exact statistics used in the study are available
through the ESL Office, SS380, 626-6028, or the bound text, "Weber State
University ESL Student Reading Comprehension, Debi Sheridan, 2003, may be viewed
in the Stewart Library.
Mission
Statement / Student
Learning Outcomes / Curriculum
Grid / Assessment Plan / Contact Person
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