Weber State University   

English As A Second Language

Results of Assessment

2006-2007 (submitted 04/23/08)

Three of the outcomes stated in the ESL Program’s Student Learning Outcomes List are for our students to be able to:

• understand the dynamics of the American university classroom and interaction with American professors and instructors.
• show an understanding of some of the aspects of American culture and society necessary for academic and social success.
• demonstrate an understanding of study habits, standards, and ethics needed for success at an American University.

This assessment highlights the need for the ESL Program to address more significantly socio-cultural dynamics as an important factor in ESL student success on campus. The outcome of the research showed that language was not perceived to be as great a barrier to our ESL students’ academic achievement as socio-cultural factors on campus.

This study was done by Ms. Monica Conley, under the supervision of Dr. Eric Amsel, as the capstone project of her BIS degree. Ms. Conley is a resident speaker of Spanish as her first language and English as her second language. She began her university education at Weber State in the ESL Program. The focus of her study was on the social and educational challenges that Latino international students, American-Latino students and other international students encounter during their education at Weber State University, a predominantly Caucasian campus. Ms. Conley surveyed 28 students, 76% of whom were former students in the ESL Program.

One of the hypotheses of this study was that language would be found to be a major barrier of ESL students. However, the outcome of the study showed that lack of cultural knowledge was perceived by the participants to be the major barrier they faced. Even though culture was considered the major barrier, when it was coupled with language, this created a significant difficulty. Further, the survey revealed that Latino students struggled more than other participants in the study as far as acculturation to the campus environment was concerned. Lack of friends was cited as the major social barrier.

Another important finding of the study was that all of the students who participated in the survey experienced culture shock during the first part of their university experience. For some students, the culture shock was more profound and lasted longer, but all students underwent culture shock in some form, and this negatively impacted their academic performance. “Deprivation of [former] friends, discrimination in class by peers, personal adjustment to the American culture, and the language barrier” were reported by Ms. Conley as the major stressors of ESL students on campus, with language being a factor but not the most significant one. She cites the “cumulative stress involved in moving to new culture including change of home, parting from loved ones and previous support networks, language difficulties, climate change, change in physical environment, homesickness, loneliness, and . . . racist incidents, . . . preference for different kinds of food” as well as not “knowing the cultural assumptions of the dominant culture . . . hampers [students’] perception of their own success and undercuts their self-esteem.” All of these were reported as contributing to the culture shock experienced by the participants and as obstacles in their academic achievement. In addition, even though some of the students surveyed had previous higher education experience in their home countries, they still faced major adjustments to the US campus culture.

Half of the students, no matter their class rank suffered fear of participating in class, even though “very few students felt their language skills were below adequate.” Ms. Conley considers not fully understanding the culture of the classroom may contribute largely to this fear of class participation. Failure to participate in classroom discussions, and other class activities can have a negative influence on how the student is perceived by the instructor and peers. This in turn can impact students’ grades, which in turn can affect students’ self-efficacy, in a vicious cycle.

On a positive note, Ms. Conley writes that “one of the most significant contributions that this study has made is to show the willingness that faculty members at Weber State University have to help the international students succeed.” Given this, the implications of the study are that  faculty, ESL Program, and other programs on campus can help our ESL students more effectively by providing more opportunities for students to develop cultural competence, not only in American university campus and classroom culture, but also in social areas such as “personal space, demeanor, gestures, noise, stereotypes, individualism, competition, [and] directness.”

The implications for our ESL Program are that we can be more instrumental in helping students make socio-cultural adjustments here on campus. Fall semester 2007, we refocused the course curriculum for ESL 2430 to give our students a form of “First Year Experience,” familiarizing them with multiple aspects of the university campus and the academic culture and norms. We can further assist our students by giving them more opportunities to explore cultural assumptions, misunderstandings and expectations through presentations and special projects classes. Also, informal chat groups, discussion groups led by school counselors, and “buddy systems” for new students are other ways our program can aid our students navigate the new culture, develop support networks, connect with cultural advisors and mentors, and feel more “at home” on campus.

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