English As A Second Language Courses Research Articles

Urdu fillers used by English teachers in ESL classrooms

Pakistan is a bilingual country with nine major and 68 minor languages. It is quite common for English language teachers to use their first language (L1) in their second language (L2) classrooms which is called code switching. This predominant practice of code switching can serve as a filler to ensure the continuity of an interaction or fill a communication gap. Hence, this paper aims to describe the different kinds and purposes of Urdu fillers that three English as a second language (ESL) teachers from Pakistan use when teaching students in ESL courses at the university level. The data consists of four classroom recordings of each teacher’s lectures which have been transcribed for qualitative analysis. The overall findings showed that ESL teachers produced more lexicalized filled pauses than non-lexicalized filled ones in Urdu. The lexicalized filled pauses served as an editing tool, a response marker, an opening frame marker, an empathizer, a time-creating device or a positive reaction. On the other hand, the non-lexicalized filled pauses were used as reaction marker, hesitation marker, device for keeping the floor, device while searching for a word or breathing pause. Hence, this study suggests the importance of fillers as a language teaching and learning tool.

Adapting to Change: Facing the Challenges in Developing ESL Students’ Communicative Competence Online

Developing students’ communicative competence during the pandemic is not an easy task, especially with the abrupt shift to remote learning. This study is intended to explore the challenges faced by English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors in developing students’ communicative competence in an online classroom. This study involves three ESL instructors in a university, as well as three students from each instructor’s class. The chosen data collection methods were in-depth interviews and stimulated recall for the ESL instructors and focus group discussions for the students. The findings show that among the challenges faced by ESL instructors include the lack of student engagement and socialisation, the fact that the course was designed for physical classes, and the lack of access to high-speed internet. The students also shared their experiences when faced with these issues. It is hoped that ESL teachers, course developers and administrators can understand the issues faced by ESL instructors with remote learning to develop students’ communicative competence.

Analyzing Facebook Mobile Usage: Efficacy and ESL Learners’ Writing Proficiency

Facebook has leveraged rapid technological and societal changes over the past decade and has emerged as the largest social networking platform. However, research on Facebook has been limited, particularly when examining its potential to improve English as a second language (ESL) writing in comparison to a control group. The study aims to explore the morphological, syntactic, and orthographical aspects of ESL writing through an experimental group [N = 30] using Facebook on mobile and a control group [N = 30] with a traditional teaching approach. The experimental and control groups undergo observation through twice-weekly, in-class-focused free writing sessions for 10 weeks. The progress of the learners’ writing was tracked using pre- and post-tests to assess its impact. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test revealed that the experimental group made more significant advancements in writing by reducing morphological, syntactic, and orthographical errors compared to the control group. These results validate previous studies that support the use of Facebook on mobile devices in ESL courses and emphasize the need for further research comparing Facebook with other writing platforms.

The Impact of Machine Translation on Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension in ESL Learners

This study investigated the impact of using machine translation on vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension in English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. A total of 60 undergraduate students enrolled in an ESL course were randomly assigned to either an experimental group that used Machine Translation during language learning activities or a control group that did not use Machine Translation. Results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension, while also experiencing a higher cognitive load. The study suggests that while Machine Translation can be a useful tool for ESL learners, it should be used with caution and guidance to prevent negative effects on cognitive load.

Sustained Content Language Teaching: Insights from an ESL and EFL course

Instructional settings (English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL)) may provide different opportunities for learners’ meaningful language use. This qualitative study was designed to shed light on this issue. The data included multiple sources collected from a sustained content gastronomy language course taught in an American ESL and a Taiwanese EFL context. Findings revealed that various factors (e.g., themes, environment, and learners) contributed to learners from both contexts meeting course goals. The findings further indicate that it is not the ESL/EFL context but instead using a sustained content language teaching approach that incorporates theme-based instruction and dynamic units that ensures learners are provided opportunities for meaningful and purposeful language use.

Blended Learning in ESL: Perceptions about paradigm shift in English Language Institutions of Punjab, Pakistan

Tremendous technological developments have revolutionized educational practices and experiences of English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and learners at an unprecedented rate. One such educational development is termed as Blended Learning (BL). BL is the method of teaching and learning in which traditional place-based mode of instruction is combined with online teaching and learning. The online mode or environment of BL is not just asynchronous web-enhanced method of delivery of contents rather it also involves synchronous interactions between the teachers and learners via audio and/or video conferencing and cloud-based online meeting apps. Instruction, learning materials and assessment is accessible for learners in traditional face-to-face as well as in online environments. Present study aims to explore ESL learners’ perceptions of BL. Questionnaires were used to gather data to examine 282 ESL learners’ attitudes toward BL. These ESL learners were enrolled in ESL courses in different public and private institutes of Punjab, Pakistan. The descriptive analysis of the data revealed that most of the students have positive attitude towards BL and they found it helpful in English language learning. Based on the results descriptively drawn from the responses of the subjects of the current study, conclusions are drawn, and recommendations have been offered.

What makes a good-quality language MOOC? An empirical study of criteria to evaluate the quality of online language courses from learners’ perspectives

AbstractThis paper focuses on quality assurance in language massive open online courses (LMOOCs). It is a qualitative study that adopts the grounded theory method and analyses evaluative comments on the quality of LMOOCs from learners’ perspectives. With the data collected from 1,000 evaluations from English as a second language (ESL) learners on China’s biggest MOOC platform “iCourse”, this study examines what has influenced learners’ perceptions of LMOOCs and identifies the specific quality criteria of five types of them, including ESL courses for speaking, reading, writing, cultural studies, and integrated skills. The results of the study will lay a foundation for the establishment of a quality criteria framework for LMOOCs and provide insights into design principles for effective online language courses tailored to the diverse needs of a massive number of language learners.

ESL programs at U.S. community colleges: A multistate analysis of placement tests, course offerings, and course content

AbstractWhen U.S. English learners (ELs) attend college, they are more likely to enroll in 2‐year community colleges than in 4‐year colleges. Prior research points to the tension between English as a second language (ESL) programs providing support to ELs and lengthy ESL programs acting as barriers to ELs seeking access to mainstream college coursework. Nevertheless, community college ELs and ESL programs remain understudied. The researchers investigated community college ESL placement, course sequence length, and types of ESL courses offered across the United States by examining the 2017–2018 catalogs of community colleges in nine states. Two hundred seventy‐two community college catalogs were analyzed. Findings include that 81% of colleges reported offering some ESL‐specific coursework and that ESL course sequences varied on average from 2.3 to 4.7 semesters in length across states. For most states studied, ESL courses were solely structured around skills‐based instruction. Furthermore, although general English placement information was accessible and often standardized within states, ESL placement information was rarely available and sometimes out of date. Based on these findings, the authors recommend that community college ESL programs implement valid placement procedures, award college credit for ESL coursework, and streamline student access to discipline‐specific academic and vocational content.

From research to the textbook

Abstract Studies on speech acts represent an extensive, multidisciplinary area of research, encompassing diverse theoretical approaches such as those stemming from pragmatic, conversational, discourse, cognitive, constructional, and functional perspectives. Altogether, these theories offer an eloquent picture of the type of knowledge that is necessary to perform and understand speech acts correctly. English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers need to be aware to what extent such contemporary research findings on speech acts have made their way into present-day textbooks, and this paper sets out to elucidate this issue. First, we look at contemporary studies on speech acts in search of the key theoretical aspects of illocutionary performance that should ideally be included in ESL course book series. Second, we analyze a collection of seven such course series to assess to what extent they incorporate those theoretical findings. Finally, we consider the weaknesses of present-day textbooks in relation to the teaching of illocutionary acts, thus providing an informed ground for their elaboration and improvement.

A comparison of writing tasks in ESL writing and first-year composition courses: A case study of one US university

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.

Podcasts and English-Language Learning

There are three ways to use podcasts in education: accessing podcasts created by others, teacher-created podcasts, and student-created podcasts. This chapter focuses on the use of teacher-created and student-created podcasts in an English as a second language (ESL) class. Existing literature on the use of podcasts in learning primarily focuses on formal educational settings, while nontraditional students in freely available language programs provided by non-profit organizations (NPOs) remain unexplored. Thus, the authors examine how podcasting enhances immigrants' English language learning experience in an ESL course offered by an NPO that provides community services to immigrants in Canada. This chapter addresses pedagogical and organizational affordances and challenges of using podcasts in language learning and provides recommendations for their implementation in NPOs.

Using Twine to Deliver a Grammar-Linked Creative Writing Assignment in a Hybrid ESL Course


 
 
 In recent years developmental education began shifting from a reliance on high-stakes testing in reading and writing to a multiple measures model for assessment. The multiple-measures model, which opens up a whole new array of writing opportunities for English Language Learning students, also aligns with good practices in course design, in the hybrid modality. This article describes a Grammar Adventure Game that two faculty members at Hostos Community College (CUNY), developed using Twine. The Grammar Adventure game served both as an alternative to a traditional grammar assignment, and as a pre-writing activity for a creative writing assignment, in an intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) course. The authors discuss students’ experience using this gamified approach, and why it works in the hybrid environment.
 
 

Up Close and Personal: A Case Study of Three University‐Level Second Language Learners’ Vocabulary Learning Experiences

This study examines vocabulary‐learning experiences of three advanced‐level, university English as a second language (ESL) students. Through a case study approach, the researchers explore these second language learners’ experiences with completing vocabulary‐specific requirements for their ESL courses, focusing on their independent study outside of class. The main identified themes in this research shed light on these students’ thoughtful use of vocabulary learning strategies, namely their reliance on translation and memorization, their integrative use of technologies during preparation for vocabulary assessments, and their time and task management strategies relevant to vocabulary learning. The research indicates that these learners were aware of the strengths and limitations of their strategies and used them in nuanced ways to not only meet course requirements but to continue their own independent learning goals that extended beyond the immediate semester. The article concludes with insights that can assist ESL teachers in facilitating vocabulary learning with their English language learners, particularly those who are preparing for university.

English

With the proliferation of mobile technologies nowadays, English language educators and instructors globally are increasingly looking into the potential of mobile learning as pedagogical practice to teach the language, including as a tool to test students’ grammatical ability. However, users’ perception on the usability of such advanced approach in education is critical to a successful mobile learning implementation. While there is a considerable enthusiasm for incorporating mobile technologies in English language education, there is a paucity of research evidence about whether mobile-based test is perceived as usable by English language students in Malaysia. The purpose of this paper is to examine Malaysian English as a Second Language (ESL) students’ perception on the usability of a mobile application for grammar test; namely MyGrammarTest (MyGraTe) App. The App was developed by a mobile learning research team from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) who studied the development of an intelligent mobile learning tool that can map grammar learning content to their learning style preferences. Upon successful development, the MyGraTe App prototype was piloted on a group of undergraduate students who undertook ESL courses in USM. Then, a questionnaire consisting of items adapted from the System Usability Scale (SUS) by Brooke (1986) was distributed to respondents to gain input on the perceived usability of the App. Findings from this study provide several important insights on the usability of mobile applications as learning support tools for English language learning, specifically in testing students’ grammatical ability. Keywords: mobile learning; mobile application; MyGraTe; English grammar test; System Usability Scale DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2016-2201-10

Policy Brief: Accountability, Multicultural Education in Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions to Replace Remedial ESL in Basic Skills Education

This policy brief seeks to highlight the positive impact of accountability and multicultural education in the formal education of the culturally and linguistically diverse students in secondary and postsecondary institutions in California. Due to the state budget crisis, the basic skills education program is in uncertain status. Lawmakers authorized local school districts to shift funds from categorical programs, like the adult Education Program, to other education programs in recognition of the deep cuts made to education funding overall (California Budget Project, 2010, p. 3). Relative to this issue, this policy brief explicates the need to restructure the basic skills education program in favor of shifting the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) remedial courses to regular ESL courses to be offered in regular associate degree programs in community colleges and state universities in California; updates and emphasizes the importance of addressing multiculturalism as a reality and not a myth; and clarifies the necessity to adopt multicultural education in regular secondary and postsecondary classroom settings inclusive of English Language Learners (ELLs). This restructuring option will prepare all students to the demands of a competitive global job market in this postmodern times.

Impromptu: great impromptu speaking is never just impromptu

Great impromptu speaking, reciting and singing are never just an isolated impromptu act. It is the result of endless practice to perfect performance that can then be given impromptu. One of the main objectives of learning English as a Second Language (ESL) is to be able to speak English impromptu, not just on the stage or in front of an audience but also in a casual meeting, on the street or during a formal meeting in a board-room. In fact to be able to speak “impromptu” should be the Holy Grail of teaching and learning ESL, more important than reading, writing and listening. So how come it is not given the priority it deserves – and how come it seems such a difficult goal? We believe it is because teachers and learners neglect to emphasize and practice the key to learning impromptu speaking. That key we believe is practice, practice and more practice. We can remember songs from our kindergarten years and we can still sing them because we practiced, practiced and practiced them. We believe that the teaching of ESL often overlooks the critical importance of lots of practice to create depth of learning and that creative methods of practicing need to be taught and practiced in ESL courses until such methods become deeply habitual, in fact they become a new personal paradigm. If our students aim to become great at ESL, they, too, must take continuous never-ending practice to heart.

Learning Style Preferences Among Male and Female ESL Students in Universiti-Sains Malaysia

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.

Effect of Interventions to Facilitate Communication Between Families or Single Young People with Minority Language Background and Public Services: A Systematic Review

Over recent decades, the number of immigrants with minority language background has increased. This has occurred in many countries, including those with a tradition of relatively low immigration.In consequence, a higher share of children, young people and families with minority-language and immigrant backgrounds may need to communicate with public service providers. In this report, we examine whether interventions to facilitate communication between public services, on the one hand, and minority language children and youth or families with an immigrant background, on the other, are effective. Examples of such interventions are types of interpretation services and foreign language training programs.

Increasing English Communicative Competence through Online English Conversation Blended e-Learning

 Abstract—In the field of increasing communicative competence in ESL (English as a Second Language) studies, practice with native speakers of English is ideal, but it is typically impractical for a variety of reasons in a University setting in Japan. However, for some commercial English conversation services have been used successfully by Japanese businesses in preparing staff for working in English speaking environments. This paper outlines the initial results of a university in Nagasaki making use of a similar service as part of an ESL course in a blended e-learning format. The course required students to make appointments with the service staff at times mutually convenient. The service consisted of one 25-minute lesson per one or two days. Initial observations by teaching staff noted increasingly high average levels of communicative competence in the pilot course students, and formal interviews confirmed this. Furthermore, resulting overall English grades were found to correlate closer to time spent conversing in English online than to student initial pre-course scores. A survey of the pilot course students was taken and the results are outlined in the paper. Student feedback uncovered a wide variety of problems ranging from lesson booking logistics, personal teacher preferences, and connection (Skype) problems; however, most comments were very positive regarding how they enjoyed speaking in this blended e-learning environment. Increased motivation and a sense of making progress in being able to communicate better and with increased confidence in English were also commonly cited.

English‐as‐a‐Second‐Language Programs for Matriculated Students in the United States: An Exploratory Survey and Some Issues

Although English‐as‐a‐second‐language (ESL) programs for matriculated students have been a presence in U.S. higher education since the 1940s, little has been documented in the literature concerning ESL courses, ESL placement tests, and the procedures in which incoming students are placed into appropriate classes. The present study takes three approaches to explore the characteristics of ESL programs for matriculated students, with the purposes of drawing a clearer picture of such programs and preparing for a further exploration of validity issues that arise when using standardized English proficiency tests, such as the TOEFL® test, to assist with ESL placement decisions. We reviewed the websites of 152 postsecondary institutions, obtained information from 80 institutions through an online survey, and interviewed representatives of 24 ESL programs for matriculated students. Analyses of these three sources of data revealed that ESL programs for matriculated students exist in more than half of colleges and universities sampled, that they provide a wide range of ESL courses focusing on different language skills, and that these programs make use of a variety of placement tests and procedures. We summarize these different placement procedures using a general model, highlight issues that need further investigations, and conclude with key findings and limitations.