Remedial English Course Research Articles

Negotiating local linguistic and epistemic realities through critical language pedagogy (CLP) in Pakistan

ABSTRACT With critical pedagogy (CP), teachers and students are empowered to disrupt the dominant ideological structures that tend to dehumanise people and impose oppressive historical consciousness upon them as historical subjects. Inspired by CP, over the last three decades critical language pedagogies have been conceptualised to promote social justice and counter privileged ideologies. This study examined university teachers’ pedagogical engagement with students’ local multilingual resources and epistemologies in the Remedial English classes at Pakistani universities. The study made use of theoretical insights such as coloniality, raciolinguistic perspectives and critical scholarship on multilingualism. Findings suggest that some teachers maintained the linguistic and epistemic hierarchy that favoured English, American/British accent, Anglo-western literature and culture, while other created multilingual and epistemic spaces where students’ local languages, nativized English varieties, culture and values could find a place. Furthermore, the Remedial English course perpetuated a gap between word and world by ignoring students’ contemporary concerns, such as discursive (values, culture) as well as material (unemployment, corruption, human rights, environmental degradation, etc.) factors. Some teachers’ use of bottom-up agency to counter foreign literature and a monoglossic model of instruction suggests how some teachers with a critical pedagogical attitude can empower their students to reclaim their historical and social roots.

Write Without Worry

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative that classrooms provide a sense of community and belonging that encourages learning and gives students a space to actively engage with their instructors, classmates, and the content in a way that allows for risk-taking and emotional reward. For humanities courses, providing low-stakes writing opportunities in the classroom can help achieve this. This article discusses how to implement a low-stakes writing practice called “Write Without Worry,” inspired by the work of Peter Elbow. Using qualitative research, the article addresses the practice itself, provides examples and strategies used in remedial English and composition courses, discusses how it helps build community within the classroom between students with various backgrounds and experiences, and shows how the practice can lead to increases in student engagement and success.

Concept recognition deficiency among Palestinian learners of English vocabulary: cross-cultural communication

Inasmuch the process of learning English by Palestinian students is fraught with cultural linguistic gaps, this study pinpoints the notion that Palestinian learners of English, as a source language (SL), misinterpret or misperceive some English words or expressions that are SL-culture oriented, assuming their easiness and simplicity, thus dispensing of English dictionary consultation. The study demonstrates that, in many cases, Palestinian learners fall in the trap of an assumed understanding of some relatively straightforward and familiar English words or expressions, but, actually, due to a lack of appropriate exposure to English culture, these English-culture bound words or expressions become unconsciously conceptually misperceived by the learners. To this end, students of basic English courses, particularly Palestinian students of Remedial English at An-Najah National University, with two classes of a representative sample of eighty students, are the subjects of the study. The authors will test students’ awareness of some words or expressions that they think students deem to be of relative easiness, but, in point of fact, they are cross-culturally problematic in the authors’ own perspective. Apart from the few examples with cross-culturally problematic words or expressions the authors will provide, the majority of examples are from the Remedial English course. The study concludes that Palestinian learners of English vocabulary and expressions really get tricked by these ostensibly easy words, mainly due to a cultural gap; therefore, it provides recommendations that would bridge the gap and enhance understanding and accommodation of the other.

Fail Forward: Students' Mistakes as Teachable Moments

This study was undertaken in five public sector and five private sector universities in Lahore, Pakistan. One hundred students from each institution were randomly identified and asked to write an essay at the start of semester 1 and end of semester 8. All essays were analyzed for errors. All errors were then categorized into eleven general types for each round. The results showed no major change from semester 1 to semester 8 in the number of errors made. Also, not much variation was evident between the public sector and private sector universities. This indicates that the remedial English courses designed by the institutions were not helping the students improve. These were either too general or were taught with no specific purpose in mind. The universities should look into the eleven broad categories in which most of the students' errors fall in order to design remedial English courses that are meaningful and benefit students. Errors and mistakes made by students should be treated as learning opportunities for students with plenty of practice work. It is high time universities look at their course offerings with an open mind and the student as the prime beneficiary of their work.

Measuring student motivation on the use of a mobile assisted grammar learning tool.

Language learning is an emerging research area where researchers have done significant contributions by incorporating technological assistantship (i.e., computer- and mobile-assistant learning). However, it has been revealed from the recent empirical studies that little attention is given on grammar learning with the proper instructional materials design and the motivational framework for designing an efficient mobile-assisted grammar learning tool. This paper hence, reports a preliminary study that investigated learner motivation when a mobile-assisted tool for tense learning was used. This study applied the Attention-Relevance-Confidence-Satisfaction (ARCS) model. It was hypothesized that with the use of the designed mobile- assisted tense learning tool students would be motivated to learn grammar (English tense). In addition, with the increase of motivation, performance outcome in paper- based test would also be improved. With the purpose to investigate the impact of the tool, a sequential mixed-method research design was employed with the use of three research instruments; Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS), a paper-based test and an interview protocol using a semi-structured interview. Participants were 115 undergraduate students, who were enrolled in a remedial English course. The findings showed that with the effective design of instructional materials, students were motivated to learn grammar, where they were positive at improving their attitude towards learning (male 86%, female 80%). The IMMS findings revealed that students’ motivation increased after using the tool. Moreover, students improved their performance level that was revealed from the outcome of paper-based instrument. Therefore, it is confirmed that the study contributed to designing an effective multimedia based instructions for a mobile-assisted tool that increased learners’ motivational attitude which resulted in an improved learning performance.

An extra year to learn English? Early grade retention and the human capital development of English learners

In this study, we use microdata from 12 Florida county-level school districts to examine the effects of early grade retention on the short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes of English learners in a regression discontinuity design. We find that retention in the third grade coupled with instructional support substantially improves the English skills of these students, reducing the time to proficiency by half and decreasing the likelihood of taking a remedial English course in middle school by one-third. Grade retention also roughly doubles the likelihood of taking an advanced course in math and science in middle school, and triples the likelihood of taking college credit-bearing courses in high school for English learners. We do not find any adverse effects of the policy on disciplinary problems or absences among English learners.

A Remedial English Course from the Freshmen EFL Learners’ Viewpoints and Expectations at the Hashemite University in Jordan

The higher education system in Jordan requires freshmen students in each university to set for an English aptitude exam. If the student fails in this exam, s/he should register in the remedial English 99 course which is regarded as a prerequisite for English 101. The purpose of this study is to explore students’ expectations of this course and whether these expectations are met. The study adopts a qualitative design. Data was collected through a questionnaire interview from 97 students registered in two sections in the Language Center at the university. The findings of the study revealed that students expected the course would improve their communication skills. Later, they discovered that this course benefited them more from the grammatical and structural aspects of language. The findings can be valuable for EFL curriculum developers, syllabus designers and administrators to understand students’ needs better and to take their viewpoints into account.

Kuwaiti EFL Students’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of the Remedial English Course 099 at the College of Technological Studies

The study aims to evaluate the English remedial course 099 taught in the College of Technological Studies (PAAET) as part of the English program which disseminates English Language Skills to EFL students studying at this college. This study is expected to provide sufficient information to policymakers and educators involved with this program at all levels, with the intention to help them evaluate this course and make useful decisions to improve English Language Teaching in order to combat the deficiency in the English language suffered by college students in Kuwait. A number of 155 students participated in a questionnaire of 15 statements divided into four areas: reading, grammar, writing, and speaking skills. The findings of the study showed that most EFL students benefited from the English course 099, and their language skills were improved. However, there were some drawbacks and weaknesses of the program in terms of learners’ assessments and follow up. The significance of the study arises from the fact that it would enable decision-makers and course evaluators to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of the course and hence find ways to improve it.

Language Learning in the 21st Century

Kahoot! is a gaming system designed for interactive learning and can be utilised for students of all ages. The present study involved two groups of Malaysian ESL students (n = 57) enrolled in a remedial English proficiency course in a public university. All 57 participants were exposed to weekly Kahoot! sessions over a period of one semester; the sessions covered various English language learning components including vocabulary and reading comprehension, but focused largely on grammar. At the end of the semester, the participants completed a 34-item questionnaire comprising closed- and open-ended items. The questionnaire was tested for reliability with returned values indicating high internal consistency, thus making the instrument a reliable option for use in future studies. The study's findings indicate that the students found Kahoot! to be beneficial in terms of: 1) inducing motivation, and 2) fostering and reinforcing learning. The students were also of the opinion that Kahoot! would be useful for foreign language learning (for instance, Spanish and French).

The Role of Using English Newspapers in Enhancing Pre-intermediate Level Learners' Reading Comprehension Skills

Several newspaper based reading comprehension sessions for pre-intermediate learners were conducted at the foreign languages center at Arab International University. Using newspapers was a first in remedial English courses at the FLC. The learners were excited to explore newspapers with their different sections. They were required to apply their reading comprehension skills while attempting to read a newspaper article: skimming, scanning and summarizing. The learners ability to cut through the challenging task was measured by a written assessment as they were required to present a summary of the main ideas of a chosen article in addition to expressing their own personal opinion. The learners were judged according to four points: the linguistic structure, dependence on the original text, the number of ideas presented, and expressing their personal opinion. Finally, the learners' feedback on the current experience was collected via a questionnaire.

Paradigm Shift in Teaching Communication Skills Course in a Tanzanian University: An assessment and Lessons for Other Universities

Communication Skills Courses (henceforth CSCs) are offered in many universities and other higher learning institutions in Tanzania. The CSCs were designed to enable students cope with their university studies. Besides CSCs, remedial English courses became an additional component because the language proficiency of undergraduate students was often found to be too low at the time of joining the university In the University under study, English remedial courses started to be offered in tandem with CSCs to all first year undergraduate students. However, over the years, since the introduction of the course, examiners have been concerned that the two tier CSCs arrangement has had little impact in improving English language proficiency and academic literacy among students. Accordingly, the Language Department at the University under reference took many measures redress the situation. These efforts amounted to a paradigm shift in the teaching of CSCs at the University. It is over two full academic years since the adoption of the new approach. The current study therefore aimed at assessing the implementation of the new approach. Specifically, the study wanted to find out how successfully the new approach has been in meeting the objectives of the changing trends in the teaching of English towards more communicative approaches in what is referred to here as paradigm shift. The data for this study were collected at one of the universities in Tanzania in the 2016/2017 academic year following a qualitative evaluation of the participants’ perceptions, involvement, achievement, classroom observation, and documentary review. The study followed a communicative framework by Jacobs and Farrell, to assess the implementation of these elements in the new approach. The findings indicated few successes of the new approach especially in the area of curriculum integration where the concept of spiral and non-linear arrangement of topics proved effective in students learning. However, there were many challenges in the implementation of the new approach in the context of University under study and Tanzania generally, and revolved around large sizes, learner cantered, reading habits and critical thinking skills. The paper recommends that universities should invest in self-learning resource centres as additional avenues for learning outside classroom, encourage reading culture, and build capacity in handling large classes. Others include collaborating with pre-university institutions especially secondary schools in working out common mechanism of addressing the problem through exchange of experience and best practices.

Teaching of Remedial English and the Problems of the Students: A Case of University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan

The research paper is designed to explore the achievement of the aims and objectives of teaching remedial English. Italso aims to know the importance of the course and the problems of the students regarding the teaching of remedialEnglish at university level in Pakistan with special reference to university of Sindh, Jamshoro. In this regard manyefforts were taken by the tutors, lecturers, assistant professors, professors and the administration of the university toenhance the capabilities and efficiencies of the students of undergraduate level. All students of undergraduate leveland the teachers who take remedial English classes are constituted as the Population of the study. Five (n=5) teacherswho teach remedial classes and forty (n=40) students from different departments were recruited as the sample of thestudy through purposive and random sampling techniques. Interviews were conducted from students and tutors whoattend and teach remedial English course respectively. 90% students found unsatisfied from the administration of theclasses and they stressed that the classes should be conducted separately at department level and they demanded forthe basic needed facilities during the classes such as the facility of language laboratory, availability of computers,multimedia, audio and video resources in order to accelerate and enhance the teaching learning process to improveEnglish language skills.

Documenting the Information-seeking Experience of Remedial Undergraduate Students

As presented at DOCAM’14, this proceedings paper discusses my ongoing dissertation research: Documenting the information-seeking experience of undergraduate students enrolled in a remedial English course at a 4-year state university in Ohio, United States. Because the information behaviors, needs, and information literacy abilities of these students are understudied areas in library and information science and higher education literature; I chose to investigate these areas in my dissertation research toward contributing research to this gap, using descriptive phenomenological (qualitative) methodology to do so. Although secondary data analysis is still in progress, this paper presents findings from primary analysis (a necessary step in phenomenological study to eliminate bias and assumption from secondary analysis). Ultimately, I aim to use study findings to create targeted, needs-based instruction for remedial undergraduate students, toward supporting their academic progress through information literacy development, and consequently encouraging their persistence toward graduation.

The Impact of Remedial English on the Improvement of English Proficiency: The Case of the United States International University-Africa

This study probes the effect of a remedial English course in raising the level of English proficiency of freshmen at the United States International University. Using a quasi-experimental design, it tracks 46 underprepared students, admitted to the USIU in the Summer Semester of 2011 who failed to make the threshold for university course in a placement test (pretest) and went through a remedial English course for 14 weeks. On completion of the course, they were given the same placement test (posttest). Comparisons between the scores in the pretest and those on the post-test are used to determine the significance of the change the treatment gives the students. Further comparisons are made between the scores in composition and in the grammar sections of the pretest and posttest and variation between the scores of students. T-tests establish a significant and positive difference at p value of p=0.00 between overall performance between the pretest and posttest and between grammar and composition aspects of the tests. The conclusion is therefore that the remedial class raises the English proficiency of the students.

Evaluation of an Anglo-Centric ELT Textbook in Bangladeshi Context: A Case Study

With the advancement in human civilization and human understanding we are now bold enough to ask the value of and rationale for something imposed on us by any quarter. If carefully observed, it is evident that BANA (Britain, Australia and North America) country materials have dominated the ELT (English Language Teaching) related field for quite a long time. We anxiously notice that in these materials the socio-cultural background of the vast community of ESL/EFL users (learners and teachers) is grossly ignored. Since the learner’s background knowledge i.e. ‘schema’ is an issue of paramount importance in ELT, in this study our attempt is to assess and justify the suitability of the Anglo-centric ELT textbooks titled Foundation English Course (FEC) Book-I&II which is designed to teach the students of REC (Remedial English Course) programme at IIUC (International Islamic University Chittagong). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/iiucs.v8i0.20399 IIUC Studies Vol.8 December 2011: 11-26

Integrating Language, Literacy, and Academic Development: Alternatives to Traditional English as a Second Language and Remedial English for Language Minority Students in Community Colleges

This article argues for the importance of integrating a focus on language, literacy, and academic development for United States-educated language minority (US-LM) students, sometimes called Generation 1.5. It describes four initiatives at community colleges in California that aim to do so. US-LM students have completed some K–12 schooling in the United States, but their English is considered by community college faculty, staff, or assessment measures to be inadequate for college-level instruction. Although enacting effective language and literacy support for Generation 1.5 has centered on debates about whether these students belong in English as a Second Language (ESL) or remedial English courses, how they can best be identified and tested, or whether they should be taught in separate classes, we argue that more fundamental shifts are needed. Instead of conceiving of students’ language and literacy development solely in terms of progress through ESL or remedial English sequences, educators designing support for US-LM students must also consider larger contexts of students’ academic progress, promoting students’ development of language and literacy for success in academic and professional settings as well as progress toward completing credits required for associate degrees, certificates, and transfer to four-year institutions.

Adaptation of the CEFR to remedial English language education in Japan

This article sets out to show how to contextualize CEFR descriptors to fit remedial English reading courses at Japanese tertiary institutions. The courses target incoming students who are typically accepted in the fall of their final high school year, and are offered between the time of acceptance and enrolment in the following April. The paper details steps for contextualizing CEFR descriptors and explains how we specify the descriptors for the remedial course. The adaptation of the CEFR comprises two steps. The first is to select CEFR descriptors relevant to the course. The selection is based on the purposes of the course and the proficiency level of the target learners. The second step is to expand on the selected descriptors in terms of reading tasks, text types, and text features. Text types associated with the reading tasks defined in the selected descriptors are identified, and text features are specified based on a close examination of the target level. Reading tasks are particularized according to text types and the actual texts assigned in each lesson. The resultant contextualization, varying in degree of specification, supports the different purposes of the course.

Does English-Medium Instruction Benefit Students in EFL Contexts? A Case Study of Medical Students in Korea

With an increase in English-medium courses in universities in non-English speaking countries, various concerns have been raised such as difficulty of students’ lecture comprehension and ineffective interaction between lecturers and students. This study scrutinized relationships among Korean medical students’ comprehension of and satisfaction with English-medium lectures and their general English proficiency. Sixty-one medical students taking a required medical course participated in the study. The students’ data concerning their lecture comprehension and perceptions were collected by means of pre- and post-tests and survey questionnaires during English-medium and Korean-medium lectures. It was found that the medium of instruction had no effect on the understanding of the lecture and that students’ general English proficiency was not related to their lecture comprehension. In the survey, students expressed diverse needs for English such as LI summaries of main points and remedial English courses in general or medical English. Based on the results, suggestions and recommendations for the implementation of EMI courses in Korea are suggested.

Determinants and probability prediction of college student retention: new evidence from the Probit model

In this study, we adopt the Probit model and employ data on nine new freshmen cohorts at a public regional university to examine predictive factors for students’ retention and measure projected probability of retention for an average college student. Results suggest four main findings: 1 high school GPA and class rank are significant positive retention predictors while ACT scores are not 2 graduating from a larger high school indicates greater likelihood of retention 3 controlling other factors, being female indicates lower likelihood of retention 4 programmes including orientation or remedial English courses, on-campus jobs, and on-campus residence positively impact retention. In addition, we discuss implications that connect retention with grade inflation. Grade inflation will have negative impacts on institutions and students, not only in the higher education market but also in both the job and knowledge markets in the long run.

THE CULTURAL LITERACY TEST: A VALIDATION AND FACTOR ANALYSIS

In his 1987 book, Cultural Literacy, Hirsch presented a provocative theory of the relationships among cultural literacy and reading and writing skills. In addition, Hirsch (1990) developed the 115-item Cultural Literacy Test (CLT), which was designed to measure the construct of cultural literacy. Research has demonstrated the CLT's validity. The study discussed in this article involved 1,343 community college students and found significant relationships among the CLT, grade point average, and first-semester remedial and regular English, history, and government courses, as well as evidence of factorial validity. This study, together with others, emphasizes the clinical usefulness of the CLT. The CLT should be routinely administered to students suspected of experiencing reading problems.