Abstract
This research addressed a research gap in scrutinizing the language problems of English as a second language (ESL) transfer students (TSs) with regard to the aspects of “transfer deficit” and “transfer capital”, instead of simply labelling the use of English as a “transfer deficit”. One hundred and twenty-four TSs participated in this qualitative study. From qualitative content analysis, three main categories were identified: (a) English competence as transfer capital; (b) English competence as transfer deficit; and (c) transition from deficit to capital. Based on the results, educational practitioners are advised to pay attention to the specific implications of proficiency-based courses, with support measures not limited to essay-writing or referencing skills, but including advanced research writing genres such as the Capstone Project.
Highlights
Community colleges provide opportunities as “stepping stones” to higher education [1] for students to transfer from two-year community college to four-year university studies
The results section is divided into three parts: “English competence as transfer capital”, “English competence as transfer deficit”, and
This study has provided specific details about English competence as transfer deficit” (TD) during the transfer process, instead of naming it as a problem, as was the case in previous studies
Summary
Community colleges provide opportunities as “stepping stones” to higher education [1] for students to transfer from two-year community college to four-year university studies. College transfer students (TSs) are those who have completed a two-year postsecondary qualification and are admitted to a four-year university program [2,3,4,5] This pathway offers students another chance to earn bachelor’s degrees at university, promoting educational equality and democratization in society [6,7], there is a problematic issue of “transfer shock”, which was first described by Hills [8]. Later studies have described these issues as “transfer capital” [9] or “transfer deficits” [10] in their attempts to present these issues as long-term assets or burdens to TSs. This paper focuses on college TSs in Hong Kong, where around 30% of community college students are eligible to be admitted to the university as vertical TSs (Table 1a,b). This paper aims to examine how the English competence of these
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