Low English Language Proficiency Research Articles

In This Issue

In This Issue

Increasing screening mammography among predominantly Spanish speakers at a federally qualified health center using a brief previsit video

ObjectiveAssess the impact of a 5min video on screening mammogram referrals and completion. MethodsWe recruited women ages 40 years or older without a current mammogram at a federally qualified community health center (FQHC). Women were assigned to the intervention or usual care. Immediately prior to their appointments, women in the intervention group viewed a brief video that included a demonstration of how patients may request a mammogram referral. All women completed a pre- and post-visit telephone survey about knowledge of breast cancer screening and patient activation. ResultsMean age was 52 years, 50% had less than a high school education and 75% preferred Spanish. The proportion of mammogram referrals in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group, 37% vs. 15%, respectively (p<0.01). Similarly, the intervention group had a higher proportion of completed mammograms, 33% vs. 13% (p<0.02). There were no differences in breast cancer knowledge or patient activation between the intervention and control groups. ConclusionsA brief, pre-visit video significantly increased screening mammography referrals and completion in this mostly Spanish-speaking FQHC population. Practice implicationsOur intervention demonstrates the effectiveness of a brief-video intervention in a population with low education and low English language proficiency.

A Comparative Analysis of Preparatory Year Students’ FL Anxiety

This study investigated preparatory year students from a Saudi University to identify anxiety they experience during their English language classes. The participants were 76 preparatory year students with high English language proficiency and 64 with low English language proficiency. A translated version of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) was administered to generate data for this survey. Descriptive analyses and Independent-samples t-test were run to identify the participants’ perceptions related to four categories of Foreign Language (FL) anxiety as well as to see whether any significant differences exist due to their English language proficiency. The results of this study have revealed that Saudi EFL preparatory year students suffer from medium level of FL anxiety. Among four types of FL anxiety, the participants have reported that they suffer the most from communication anxiety followed by negative evaluation anxiety, anxiety of English classroom and test anxiety respectively. The present findings haven not exhibited any significant differences in the perceptions of Saudi preparatory year students regarding FL anxiety in relation to their English language proficiency. It is recommended that EFL teachers try their level best to decrease anxiety level by making their classroom proceedings interesting and stress free. This seems advisable for EFL teachers to enhance the possibilities of their students’ participation in class activities by letting them know in advanced so that they are able to prepare those topics well. Generally speaking, it transpires that though Saudi preparatory year students bear moderate level of FL anxiety that can easily be addressed by exploiting appropriate teaching techniques to help them overcome their anxiety and perform better in their language classes.

Epidemiological Paradox or Immigrant Vulnerability? Obesity Among Young Children of Immigrants.

According to the "immigrant epidemiological paradox," immigrants and their children enjoy health advantages over their U.S.-born peers--advantages that diminish with greater acculturation. We investigated child obesity as a potentially significant deviation from this paradox for second-generation immigrant children. We evaluated two alternate measures of mother's acculturation: age at arrival in the United States and English language proficiency. To obtain sufficient numbers of second-generation immigrant children, we pooled samples across two related, nationally representative surveys. Each included measured (not parent-reported) height and weight of kindergartners. We also estimated models that alternately included and excluded mother's pre-pregnancy weight status as a predictor. Our findings are opposite to those predicted by the immigrant epidemiological paradox: children of U.S.-born mothers were less likely to be obese than otherwise similar children of foreign-born mothers; and the children of the least-acculturated immigrant mothers, as measured by low English language proficiency, were the most likely to be obese. Foreign-born mothers had lower (healthier) pre-pregnancy weight than U.S.-born mothers, and this was protective against their second-generation children's obesity. This protection, however, was not sufficiently strong to outweigh factors associated or correlated with the mothers' linguistic isolation and marginal status as immigrants.

Developing government policies for distance education: Lessons learnt from two Sri Lankan case studies

Education, especially higher education, is considered vital for maintaining national and individual competitiveness in the global knowledge economy. Following the introduction of its “Free Education Policy” as early as 1947, Sri Lanka is now the best performer in basic education in the South Asian region, with a remarkable record in terms of high literacy rates and the achievement of universal primary education. However, access to tertiary education is a bottleneck, due to an acute shortage of university places. In an attempt to address this problem, the government of Sri Lanka has invested heavily in information and communications technologies (ICTs) for distance education. Although this has resulted in some improvement, the authors of this article identify several barriers which are still impeding successful participation for the majority of Sri Lankans wanting to study at tertiary level. These impediments include the lack of infrastructure/resources, low English language proficiency, weak digital literacy, poor quality of materials and insufficient provision of student support. In the hope that future implementations of ICT-enabled education programmes can avoid repeating the mistakes identified by their research in this Sri Lankan case, the authors conclude their paper with a list of suggested policy options.

Academic achievement among immigrant and U.S.-born Latino adolescents: Associations with cultural, family, and acculturation factors.

This study examined proximal risk and protective factors that contribute to academic achievement among 130 Latino students. Participating students were 56.2% female and 35.3% foreign-born (mean age = 11.38, SD = .59). Acculturative stress, immigrant status, child gender, parental monitoring, traditional cultural values, mainstream values, and English language proficiency were explored in relation to academic achievement. Higher levels of parental monitoring, English language proficiency, and female gender were associated with higher grades, while mainstream values were associated with lower grades. In addition, a significant interaction between acculturative stress and immigrant status was found, such that higher acculturative stress was related to poorer grades for U.S.-born students in particular. Thus, parental monitoring and female gender are potential protective factors, while identification with mainstream values and low English language proficiency are risk factors for poor grades. U.S.-born students may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of acculturative stress.

The effect of English proficiency and ethnicity on academic performance and progress.

Non-local ethnicity or nationality and lower English proficiency have been linked with poor performance in health professional education. This study sought to compare the relative contributions of ethnicity and English proficiency, and to do so in a context where students had not been selected via interviews or some other proxy for language proficiency. Ethnicity, citizenship, and demographic data, as well as academic performance and progress were obtained for three successive cohorts (entering in 2007, 2008 and 2009) into a three-year pharmacy programme, following a common first-year. Complete data was available for all 297 students entering via this path. By the end of the programme, controlling for grades at entry, students from some non-local ethnic backgrounds (p<.001) underperformed local students, as did males (p<.001) and those who had been identified as having low English proficiency in year 1 (p<.01). Males (p<.01) and one non-local ethnic group (p<.01) were also more likely to have to repeat a year of study. Ethnicity was a stronger predictor than English proficiency or acculturation, but English proficiency was still independently and additively predictive. This suggests that targeted support strategies for students with lower English language proficiency are still important, but that cultural differences should not be underestimated.

Effects of speaker variability on learning foreign-accented English for EFL learners.

Using a cognitive load theory approach, we investigated the effects of speaker variability when individuals are learning to understand English as a foreign language (EFL) spoken by foreign-accented speakers. The use of multiple, Indian-accented speakers was compared to that of a single speaker for Chinese EFL learners with a higher or lower English language proficiency. Translation accuracy scores and cognitive load self-rating scales were used to measure differences between various acquisition conditions. After 3 consecutive days of acquisition, contrasting effects were found depending on levels of expertise. Analyses revealed that multiple-speaker acquisition conditions facilitated perceptual learning of foreign-accented English for higher expertise EFL learners, whereas single-speaker acquisition facilitated learning for lower expertise EFL learners. These results suggest that effective learning of foreign language in spoken form should take into account both the instructional format and learners’ expertise levels.

Implementing and evaluating a writing conference program for international L2 writers across language proficiency levels

Although writing conferences with second language (L2) writers are thought to be valuable learning experiences, there is little research to show how one-on-one writing conferences can benefit L2 writers at low English language proficiency levels. This report summarizes insights gleaned from instituting a large-scale, intensive L2 writing conference program for students at five levels of English language proficiency. This conferencing program is described, along with survey response from 14 writing teachers and 546 students in the program. Teacher responses demonstrated benefits of classroom-based writing conferences, such as opportunities for individualized instruction, goal setting, and rapport building. Student responses, meanwhile, differed by proficiency level and demonstrated that lower-proficiency learners favored less collaborative interactions with feedback on local concerns and more proficient learners preferred more collaborative interactions and global feedback. Furthermore, teachers seemed to structure their feedback and interactional styles based on the language proficiency of L2 writing students. This report adds to student–teacher writing conference research by investigating and reporting on the feedback preferences of L2 writers at different language proficiencies but also speculates on the overarching purposes of an intensive writing conference program, namely that it can provide a rich mentoring relationship which extends beyond traditional writing feedback.

Neighborhood Social Context and Individual Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposures Associated with Child Cognitive Test Scores.

Childhood cognitive and test-taking abilities have long-term implications for educational achievement and health, and may be influenced by household environmental exposures and neighborhood contexts. This study evaluates whether age 5 scores on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R, administered in English) are associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and neighborhood context variables including poverty, low educational attainment, low English language proficiency, and inadequate plumbing. The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health enrolled African-American and Dominican-American New York City women during pregnancy, and conducted follow-up for subsequent childhood health outcomes including cognitive test scores. Individual outcomes were linked to data characterizing 1-km network buffers around prenatal addresses, home observations, interviews, and prenatal PAH exposure data from personal air monitors. Prenatal PAH exposure above the median predicted 3.5 point lower total WPPSI-R scores and 3.9 point lower verbal scores; the association was similar in magnitude across models with adjustments for neighborhood characteristics. Neighborhood-level low English proficiency was independently associated with 2.3 point lower mean total WPPSI-R score, 1.2 point lower verbal score, and 2.7 point lower performance score per standard deviation. Low neighborhood-level educational attainment was also associated with 2.0 point lower performance scores. In models examining effect modification, neighborhood associations were similar or diminished among the high PAH exposure group, as compared with the low PAH exposure group. Early life exposure to personal PAH exposure or selected neighborhood-level social contexts may predict lower cognitive test scores. However, these results may reflect limited geographic exposure variation and limited generalizability.

Acculturation challenges that confront Sudanese former refugees in Australia

This study investigated acculturation challenges that Sudanese former refugees faced as a consequence of settling in South-East Queensland, Australia. A total of 28 females and 11 males participated in focus groups. The findings indicate that both women and men face acculturation issues relating to successful settlement. The women were particularly challenged by low English language proficiency and parenting issues, while the men faced challenges to their traditional gender role within the family, as breadwinner, and their role outside the home - at work and in the public sphere. Thus, the research offers important insights into acculturation issues faced by both genders

An Investigation of the Language Demands in Content Assessments for English Language Learners

The purpose of the present study is to examine the language characteristics of a few states' large-scale assessments of mathematics and science and investigate whether the language demands of the items are associated with the degree of differential item functioning (DIF) for English language learner (ELL) students. A total of 542 items from 11 assessments at Grades 4, 5, 7, and 8 from three states were rated for the linguistic complexity based on a developed linguistic coding scheme. The linguistic ratings were compared to each item's DIF statistics. The results yielded a stronger association between the linguistic rating and DIF statistics for ELL students in the “relatively easy” items than in the “not easy” items. Particularly, general academic vocabulary and the amount of language in an item were found to have the strongest association with the degrees of DIF, particularly for ELL students with low English language proficiency. Furthermore, the items were grouped into four bundles to closely look at the relationship between the varying degrees of language demands and ELL students' performance. Differential bundling functioning (DBF) results indicated that the exhibited DBF was more substantial as the language demands increased. By disentangling linguistic difficulty from content difficulty, the results of the study provide strong evidence of the impact of linguistic complexity on ELL students' performance on tests. The study discusses the implications for the validation of the tests and instructions for ELL students.

Oral health promotion for linguistically and culturally diverse populations: Understanding the local non-English-speaking population

Changes in the prevalence of oral diseases and the funding of National Health Service Dentistry in the United Kingdom have combined to emphasize the role of the dental team in the prevention of disease. As part of this, oral health promotion plays a vital role in local communities and educational settings. Like many other inner-city London boroughs, Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham have linguistically and culturally diverse populations, accompanied in recent years by an increasing demand and need for oral health promotion for non English speakers and those with low English language proficiency. Using the population of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham as an example, this paper will highlight the complexity of developing oral health promotion resources for non-English-speaking populations, where language is a barrier to accessing information and services. Practical strategies for delivering health promotion in the community will also be considered.

The importance of homework in determining immigrant students' grades in schools in the USA context

Background: While a significant body of research has addressed teachers' evaluations of mainstream English speaking students, there is a dearth of such research focusing on immigrant adolescents. As many immigrant students are in the process of acquiring English language proficiency, evaluating and assigning grades to immigrant youth can pose particular challenges. Grades assigned for oral or written products may underestimate English language learners' knowledge, content skills or achievement. Conversely, relying excessively on effort or class behaviour rather than actual academic performance may inflate immigrant students' grades. Purpose: We examined the extent to which immigrant students' academic achievement indicated by grades is attributable to factors such as English language proficiency, course understanding, classroom behaviours and homework completion. We then examined whether the effect of homework completion on grades varied as a function of English proficiency. In addition, we examined the factors contributing to teachers' evaluation of immigrant students' level of course understanding. Lastly, we investigated whether the effect of homework completion on course understanding varied as a function of English proficiency. Sample: This study examined the final year (2002) data of the five-year Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation (LISA) study. At the start of the original study, the participants were recently arrived immigrant youth (ages 9–14) from Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua), China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Mexico; they were recruited from seven public school districts in the USA in Massachusetts and California. The present study was a secondary analysis of a subset of final year LISA data, involving data from 273 students and 57 teachers. Methods: Using data collected through structured student interviews and behaviour checklists completed by teachers, we conducted hierarchical regression analyses to identify the factors that contributed significantly to immigrant students' grades and to their course understanding. Further regression analyses were conducted to determine whether English language proficiency was a moderating variable on immigrant students' grades and their level of understanding in a course. Results: There were four main findings. Firstly, the regression results indicated that homework completion and English language proficiency had significant impact on class grades. Secondly, the effect of homework completion on grades was not moderated by students' English proficiency. Thirdly, immigrant students' class behaviours, English proficiency and homework completion largely determined teacher evaluations of students' course understanding. Fourthly, the effect of homework completion on teacher evaluations of students' course understanding was moderated by English proficiency. For students with high English language proficiency, completing homework significantly affected teacher assessments of their course understanding. For students with low English language proficiency, however, completing homework had relatively little effect on teacher assessments of their course understanding. Conclusions: In this exploratory study, grades assigned to immigrant students were largely determined by whether they do their homework and their English language proficiency. Teacher evaluations of immigrant students' level of course understanding were largely determined by students' class behaviours, English language proficiency and homework completion. It is suggested that teachers distinguish between effort and skill and provide separate feedback for each of these dimensions during the process that newcomer immigrant students are concurrently acquiring academic skills while mastering a new language. However, further investigation is needed to determine the generalisability of findings to a larger immigrant youth population.

Issues in lecturing in a second language: lecturer’s behaviour and students’ perceptions

This article explores how Hong Kong Chinese engineering students with low English language proficiency manage to cope with their lectures given in English. An ethnographic case study approach was used with multiple sources of data triangulated to provide a picture of the lecture event from both the students’ and the lecturer’s perspectives. One of the outcomes of the study, as described in this article, is that lectures have specific genres and that these genres need to be seen as more than linguistic events. By way of a case study into lecturer behaviour/intention and students’ perceptions, lectures can be viewed within the wider, socially constructed context.

Association Between Language Proficiency and the Quality of Primary Care Among a National Sample of Insured Latinos

Latinos experience substantial barriers to primary care. Limited English language proficiency may be a mechanism for these deficiencies, even for Latinos with health coverage. To determine the relationship between English language proficiency and the experience of primary care reported by insured Latinos. Analysis of the National Latino and Asian American Study, a nationally representative household survey, 2002-2003. This analysis was restricted to Latinos who reported current health insurance (n= 1792), and included information on ethnic subgroups. Four outcomes addressed different aspects of the quality of primary care: (1) not having a regular source of care or lacking continuity of care, (2) difficulty getting an appointment over the phone, (3) long waits in the waiting room, and (4) difficulty getting information or advice by phone. English language proficiency was associated with the experience of primary care for 3 of the 4 outcomes. Insured Latinos with poor/fair English language proficiency were more likely than those with good/excellent proficiency to report not having a regular source of care or lacking continuity [odds ratio (OR) 2.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.60-3.02], long waits (OR, 1.88; CI, 1.34-2.64), and difficulty getting information/advice by phone (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.25-2.46). Among insured Latinos, low English language proficiency is associated with worse reports of the quality of primary care. These results suggest that interventions to address limited English proficiency may be important to improving the quality of primary care for this rapidly growing population.

Surveying Southeast Asian Welfare Participants: Examples, Challenges, and Future Directions

Numerous studies have examined the effects of welfare reform on the employment and caseload dynamics of welfare recipients in California. Yet, despite their overrepresentation among welfare recipients, Southeast Asians have received relatively little scholarly attention. This study explores one explanation for this finding—the challenges of collecting data on Southeast Asian welfare recipients and, in particular, the difficulties associated with surveying this population group. These difficulties include attracting adequate funding to recruit sizeable Southeast Asian samples, translating survey materials into Southeast Asian languages, and effectively administering surveys among a highly mobile population group with low English language proficiency. To strengthen research on this important but understudied population group, researchers must build political and financial support for such research, develop appropriate research designs informed by an understanding of the characteristics of Southeast Asian fa...

Surveying Southeast Asian Welfare Participants: Examples, Challenges, and Future Directions

Numerous studies have examined the effects of welfare reform on the employment and caseload dynamics of welfare recipients in California. Yet, despite their overrepresentation among welfare recipients, Southeast Asians have received relatively little scholarly attention. This study explores one explanation for this finding-the challenges of collecting data on Southeast Asian welfare recipients and, in particular, the difficulties associated with surveying this population group. These difficulties include attracting adequate funding to recruit sizeable Southeast Asian samples,; translating survey materials into Southeast Asian languages,; and effectively administering surveys among a highly mobile population group with low English language proficiency. To strengthen research on this important but understudied population group, researchers must build political and financial support for such research; develop appropriate research designs informed by an understanding of the characteristics of Southeast Asian families, communities, and welfare recipients; rely on refugee support organizations to help overcome resistance to participating in survey research; and make the data available to interested scholars to maximize the impact of these data collection efforts.

Psychometric Issues in the ELL Assessment and Special Education Eligibility

Assessments in English that are constructed for native English speakers may not provide valid inferences about the achievement of English language learners (ELLs). The linguistic complexity of the test items that are not related to the content of the assessment may increase the measurement error, thus reducing the reliability of the assessment. Language factors that are not relevant to the content being assessed may also be a source of construct-irrelevant variance and negatively impact the validity of the assessment. More important, the results of these tests used as the criteria for identification and classification of ELL students, particularly those at the lower end of the English proficiency spectrum, may be misleading. Caution must be exercised when the results of these tests are used for special education eligibility, particularly in placing ELL students with lower English language proficiency in the learning/reading disability category. This article discusses psychometric issues in the assessment of English language learners and examines the validity of classifying ELL students, with a focus on the possibility of misclassifying ELL students as students with learning disabilities.

Psychometric Issues in the ELL Assessment and Special Education Eligibility

Assessments in English that are constructed for native English speakers may not provide valid inferences about the achievement of English language learners (ELLs). The linguistic complexity of the test items that are not related to the content of the assessment may increase the measurement error, thus reducing the reliability of the assessment. Language factors that are not relevant to the content being assessed may also be a source of construct-irrelevant variance and negatively impact the validity of the assessment. More important, the results of these tests used as the criteria for identification and classification of ELL students, particularly those at the lower end of the English proficiency spectrum, may be misleading. Caution must be exercised when the results of these tests are used for special education eligibility, particularly in placing ELL students with lower English language proficiency in the learning/reading disability category. This article discusses psychometric issues in the assessment of English language learners and examines the validity of classifying ELL students, with a focus on the possibility of misclassifying ELL students as students with learning disabilities.