Sample records for higher english proficiency
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Teaching English through English: Proficiency, Pedagogy and Performance
Richards, Jack C.
2017-01-01
Most of the world's English language teachers speak English as a second or third language rather than as their first language. For many, their level of proficiency in English may not reach benchmarks established by their employers, raising the issue that is the focus of this article, namely, what kind of proficiency in English is necessary to be…
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Blake, Helen L; Mcleod, Sharynne; Verdon, Sarah; Fuller, Gail
2018-04-01
Proficiency in the language of the country of residence has implications for an individual's level of education, employability, income and social integration. This paper explores the relationship between the spoken English proficiency of residents of Australia on census day and their educational level, employment and income to provide insight into multilingual speakers' ability to participate in Australia as an English-dominant society. Data presented are derived from two Australian censuses i.e. 2006 and 2011 of over 19 million people. The proportion of Australians who reported speaking a language other than English at home was 21.5% in the 2006 census and 23.2% in the 2011 census. Multilingual speakers who also spoke English very well were more likely to have post-graduate qualifications, full-time employment and high income than monolingual English-speaking Australians. However, multilingual speakers who reported speaking English not well were much less likely to have post-graduate qualifications or full-time employment than monolingual English-speaking Australians. These findings provide insight into the socioeconomic and educational profiles of multilingual speakers, which will inform the understanding of people such as speech-language pathologists who provide them with support. The results indicate spoken English proficiency may impact participation in Australian society. These findings challenge the "monolingual mindset" by demonstrating that outcomes for multilingual speakers in education, employment and income are higher than for monolingual speakers.
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34 CFR 300.27 - Limited English proficient.
2010-07-01
... 34 Education 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Limited English proficient. 300.27 Section 300.27... CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES General Definitions Used in This Part § 300.27 Limited English proficient. Limited English proficient has the meaning given the term in section 9101(25) of the ESEA. (Authority: 20...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ruth A. ORTEGA-DELA CRUZ
2016-12-01
Full Text Available Learning second language considers a number of factors that influence the manner in which the language is taught. Understanding of the learners’ goals and motivation for learning is one. Using descriptive-correlational research design, this study determined the influence of student English utility and teacher efficacy on the students’ English proficiency. A total of 101 students from first year to fourth year level served as the respondents of the study. The study quantified the students’ perception towards English utility and their evaluation of English teacher efficacy which employed a researcher-made survey questionnaire. Results revealed high positive perceptions of students towards English utility. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences in the perceptions of high school students on the efficacy of their English teachers. Correlation coefficients indicated a positive linear relationship among the given variables. The p-value revealed significant relationship of teacher efficacy (r = .691, p-value = .000 and English utility (r = .467, p-value = .000 to students’ English proficiency. Results of regression statistics revealed that English utility has no significant influence on the student English proficiency. Therefore, the main factor that must still be considered then should be the teacher. Finally, there is an explicit indication that high level of teachers’ efficacy performing in teaching has much powerful influence on the English proficiency of high school students. Thus improving the methods of teaching English provides a better way of motivating students to achieve higher levels of proficiency in the future.
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Montgomery, Martha P; Allen, Elizabeth D; Thomas, Olivia; Robinson, Byron F; Clark, Donnie; Connelly, Ann; Mott, Joshua A; Conrey, Elizabeth
2018-05-08
Limited English proficiency can be a barrier to asthma care and is associated with poor outcomes. This study examines whether pediatric patients in Ohio with limited English proficiency experience lower asthma care quality or higher morbidity. We used electronic health records for asthma patients aged 2-17 years from a regional, urban, children's hospital in Ohio during 2011-2015. Community-level demographics were included from U.S. Census data. By using chi-square and t-tests, patients with limited English proficiency and bilingual English-speaking patients were compared with English-only patients. Five asthma outcomes-two quality and three morbidity measures-were modeled using generalized estimating equations. The study included 15 352 (84%) English-only patients, 1744 (10%) patients with limited English proficiency, and 1147 (6%) bilingual patients. Pulmonary function testing (quality measure) and multiple exacerbation visits (morbidity measure) did not differ by language group. Compared with English-only patients, bilingual patients had higher odds of ever having an exacerbation visit (morbidity measure) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-1.6) but lower odds of admission to intensive care (morbidity measure) (aOR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.2-0.7), while patients with limited English proficiency did not differ on either factor. Recommended follow-up after exacerbation (quality measure) was higher for limited English proficiency (aOR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.4-2.3) and bilingual (aOR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.3-2.1), compared with English-only patients. In this urban, pediatric population with reliable interpreter services, limited English proficiency was not associated with worse asthma care quality or morbidity.
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Beyond English Proficiency: Rethinking Immigrant Integration
Akresh, Ilana Redstone; Massey, Douglas S.; Frank, Reanne
2014-01-01
We develop and test a conceptual model of English language acquisition and the strength of the latter in predicting social and cultural assimilation. We present evidence that the path to English proficiency begins with exposure to English in the home country and on prior U.S. trips. English proficiency, then, has direct links to the intermediate migration outcomes of occupational status in the U.S., the amount of time in the U.S. since the most recent trip, and the co-ethnic residential context in the U.S. In turn, pre-migration characteristics and the intermediate characteristics work in tandem with English proficiency to determine social assimilation in the U.S., while cultural assimilation is primarily determined by pre-migration habits. A shift in focus to English use is desirable in studies of immigrant integration. PMID:24576636
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English language proficiency and smoking prevalence among California's Asian Americans.
Tang, Hao; Shimizu, Robin; Chen, Moon S
2005-12-15
The authors documented California's tobacco control initiatives for Asian Americans and the current tobacco use status among Asian subgroups and provide a discussion of the challenges ahead. The California Tobacco Control Program has employed a comprehensive approach to decrease tobacco use in Asian Americans, including ethnic-specific media campaigns, culturally competent interventions, and technical assistance and training networks. Surveillance of tobacco use among Asian Americans and the interpretation of the results have always been a challenge. Data from the 2001 The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were analyzed to provide smoking prevalence estimates for all Asian Americans and Asian-American subgroups, including Korean, Filipino, Japanese, South Asian, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Current smoking prevalence was analyzed by gender and by English proficiency level. Cigarette smoking prevalence among Asian males in general was almost three times of that among Asian females. Korean and Vietnamese males had higher cigarette smoking prevalence rates than males in other subgroups. Although Asian females in general had low smoking prevalence rates, significant differences were found among Asian subgroups, from 1.1% (Vietnamese) to 12.7% (Japanese). Asian men who had high English proficiency were less likely to be smokers than men with lower English proficiency. Asian women with high English proficiency were more likely to be smokers than women with lower English proficiency. Smoking prevalence rates among Asian Americans in California differed significantly on the basis of ethnicity, gender, and English proficiency. English proficiency seemed to have the effect of reducing smoking prevalence rates among Asian males but had just the opposite effect among Asian females. Cancer 2005. (c) 2005 American Cancer Society.
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Murphy, Jessica E; Smock, Laura; Hunter-Adams, Jo; Xuan, Ziming; Cochran, Jennifer; Paasche-Orlow, Michael K; Geltman, Paul L
2018-06-15
Little is known about the impacts of health literacy and English proficiency on the health status of Somali refugees. Data came from interviews in 2009-2011 of 411 adult Somali refugees recently resettled in Massachusetts. English proficiency, health literacy, and physical and mental health were measured using the Basic English Skills Test Plus, the Short Test of Health Literacy in Adults, and the Physical and Mental Component Summaries of the Short Form-12. Associations were analyzed using multiple linear regression. In adjusted analyses, higher English proficiency was associated with worse mental health in males. English proficiency was not associated with physical health. Health literacy was associated with neither physical nor mental health. Language proficiency may adversely affect the mental health of male Somali refugees, contrary to findings in other immigrant groups. Research on underlying mechanisms and opportunities to understand this relationship are needed.
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Halle, Tamara; Hair, Elizabeth; Wandner, Laura; McNamara, Michelle; Chien, Nina
2011-01-01
The development of English language learners (ELLs) was explored from kindergarten through eighth grade within a nationally representative sample of first-time kindergartners (N = 19,890). Growth curve analyses indicated that, compared to native English speakers, ELLs were rated by teachers more favorably on approaches to learning, self control, and externalizing behaviors in kindergarten and generally continued to grow in a positive direction on these social/behavioral outcomes at a steeper rate compared to their native English-speaking peers, holding other factors constant. Differences in reading and math achievement between ELLs and native English speakers varied based on the grade at which English proficiency is attained. Specifically, ELLs who were proficient in English by kindergarten entry kept pace with native English speakers in both reading and math initially and over time; ELLs who were proficient by first grade had modest gaps in reading and math achievement compared to native English speakers that closed narrowly or persisted over time; and ELLs who were not proficient by first grade had the largest initial gaps in reading and math achievement compared to native speakers but the gap narrowed over time in reading and grew over time in math. Among those whose home language is not English, acquiring English proficiency by kindergarten entry was associated with better cognitive and behavioral outcomes through eighth grade compared to taking longer to achieve proficiency. Multinomial regression analyses indicated that child, family, and school characteristics predict achieving English proficiency by kindergarten entry compared to achieving proficiency later. Results are discussed in terms of policies and practices that can support ELL children’s growth and development. PMID:22389551
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Gooden-Jones, Epsey M.; Carrasquillo, Angela L.
A study followed ten limited-English-proficient (LEP) community college students who were taught English largely using a cooperative learning approach. For four months, the students worked together using brainstorming techniques and collaborative reading and writing tasks. Task emphasis was on development of thinking skills through collaboration…
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THE BANGLADESHI EMPLOYMENT SECTOR: EMPLOYER PERSPECTIVES CONCERNING ENGLISH PROFICIENCY
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Rubina Khan
2012-07-01
Full Text Available Abstract: This paper presents a brief summary of a study which was carried out to investigate how employers representing major employment sectors in the Bangladeshi Industry view the skills and English proficiency level of the current employees. Opinions were also solicited on what skills are required for fresh recruits. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 employers representing the major employment sectors in Bangladeshi Industry. Results revealed the importance of English as an indispensible means of communication in the Bangladeshi corporate sector and showed that the business enterprises use extensive amounts of English. It also highlighted that the existent English proficiency of the employees was far below the required proficiency level. Recommendations were made to address the gap and prepare the youth to meet the demands of the global market. Keywords: English proficiency, competency, employability skills, global literacy skills
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Mitchell, Mary A.
This study analyzed English language learner (ELL) performance on the June 2012 Biology MCAS, namely on item attributes of domain, cognitive skill, and linguistic complexity. It examined the impact of English proficiency, Latinate first language, first language orthography, and late-entry ELL status. The results indicated that English proficiency was a strong predictor of performance and that ELLs at higher levels of English proficiency overwhelmingly passed. The results further indicated that English proficiency introduced a construct-irrelevant variance on the Biology MCAS and raised validity issues for using this assessment at lower levels of English proficiency. This study also found that ELLs with a Latinate first language consistently had statistically significant lower performance. Late-entry ELL status did not predict Biology MCAS performance.
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Discrepancies between perceptions of English proficiency and ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
multilingual awareness pedagogy” embedded in Dörnyei's (2009) L2 Motivational Self System theory. Key words: self-reported perceptions, language proficiency, English proficiency, multilingualism, pedagogy, resilience, L2 Motivational Self System ...
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The English Proficiency of the Academics of the Teacher Training and Education Institutions
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Ali Saukah
2016-02-01
Full Text Available The study is aimed at describing the general English proficiency level of the academics of Teacher Training and Education Institutions (LPTK's as indicated by their TOEFL scores. Specifically, the study is focused on finding out whether there is any difference among the academics' English proficiencies when they are grouped in terms of the geographic regions of their institutions and their fields of study. This study is also intended to reveal any possible relationship between the academics' English proficiency and their age. The results indicate that the English proficiency of the academics on the average is far below the average of that of the international students. The academics in West Java are the highest in their English proficiency, and the English group, as expected, has the best English proficiency. In addition, there is a negative correlation between English proficiency and age
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English Proficiency and Participation in Online Discussion for Learning
Leung, Steve
2013-01-01
Does English proficiency affect participation in online discussion? This study polled 14 students from a postgraduate online course that require online discussion. The students are divided into groups according to their home language spoken and self-assessed English proficiency, and measure against their participation level in the required…
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Kim, Yoon Kyong; Curby, Timothy W; Winsler, Adam
2014-12-01
Little is known about 2nd language development among young, low-income, language-minority children. This article examined the longitudinal English development of low-income, dual language learners (DLLs) in Miami (n = 18,532) from kindergarten through 5th grade. Growth curve modeling indicated that social skills, good behavior, Spanish (L1) competence in preschool, having a mother born in the United States, and attending larger schools with fewer DLLs were associated with higher initial levels of English proficiency in kindergarten and/or steeper growth over time. Survival analyses indicated that it took about 2 years for half of the sample to become proficient in English according to the school district's criterion. Higher initial proficiency in kindergarten, not receiving free/reduced lunch, not being Hispanic or Black, strong cognitive, language, and socioemotional skills at age 4, and maternal education were associated with faster attainment of English proficiency. It is important for teachers, parents, researchers, and policy makers to understand that DLL students come from diverse backgrounds and that poverty and other factors influence the speed of English language development for DLLs. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.
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Evaluating the spoken English proficiency of graduates of foreign medical schools.
Boulet, J R; van Zanten, M; McKinley, D W; Gary, N E
2001-08-01
The purpose of this study was to gather additional evidence for the validity and reliability of spoken English proficiency ratings provided by trained standardized patients (SPs) in high-stakes clinical skills examination. Over 2500 candidates who took the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates' (ECFMG) Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) were studied. The CSA consists of 10 or 11 timed clinical encounters. Standardized patients evaluate spoken English proficiency and interpersonal skills in every encounter. Generalizability theory was used to estimate the consistency of spoken English ratings. Validity coefficients were calculated by correlating summary English ratings with CSA scores and other external criterion measures. Mean spoken English ratings were also compared by various candidate background variables. The reliability of the spoken English ratings, based on 10 independent evaluations, was high. The magnitudes of the associated variance components indicated that the evaluation of a candidate's spoken English proficiency is unlikely to be affected by the choice of cases or SPs used in a given assessment. Proficiency in spoken English was related to native language (English versus other) and scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The pattern of the relationships, both within assessment components and with external criterion measures, suggests that valid measures of spoken English proficiency are obtained. This result, combined with the high reproducibility of the ratings over encounters and SPs, supports the use of trained SPs to measure spoken English skills in a simulated medical environment.
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Ng, Manwa L; Chen, Yang
2011-12-01
The present study examined English sentence stress produced by native Cantonese speakers who were speaking English as a second language (ESL). Cantonese ESL speakers' proficiency in English stress production as perceived by English-speaking listeners was also studied. Acoustical parameters associated with sentence stress including fundamental frequency (F0), vowel duration, and intensity were measured from the English sentences produced by 40 Cantonese ESL speakers. Data were compared with those obtained from 40 native speakers of American English. The speech samples were also judged by eight native listeners who were native speakers of American English for placement, degree, and naturalness of stress. Results showed that Cantonese ESL speakers were able to use F0, vowel duration, and intensity to differentiate sentence stress patterns. Yet, both female and male Cantonese ESL speakers exhibited consistently higher F0 in stressed words than English speakers. Overall, Cantonese ESL speakers were found to be proficient in using duration and intensity to signal sentence stress, in a way comparable with English speakers. In addition, F0 and intensity were found to correlate closely with perceptual judgement and the degree of stress with the naturalness of stress.
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Students’ Perceived Level of English Proficiency in Secondary Schools in Dodoma, Tanzania
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Lazarus Ndiku Makewa
2013-07-01
Full Text Available This paper looked at students’ perceived level of English proficiency among Dodoma secondary schools in Tanzania. Factors like attitude, anxiety, classroom activities, motivation, and learning resources were considered as influencing English learning. The study was guided by three theories: Input Hypothesis, Inter-language and Vygotsky’s theory of value. Correlation design was used to describe the association between the student and teacher-related factors and students’ perceived level of English proficiency. Purposive sampling was used to select 300 form three students. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the participants. Reliability of the research instrument was determined by conducting a pilot study. Pearson Descriptive statistics and Kendall’s Tau-b were used to analyze the data. The study revealed that the students’ perceived level of proficiency in spoken English was average. The findings indicated a significant positive correlation between perceived English proficiency and attitude toward the English language, classroom activities, teacher motivation, and classroom environment. It is suggested that further studies integrate qualitative research methods to the research design in order to get an in-depth understanding of students’ perception on English proficiency.
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Oyama, Yoshinori
2011-06-01
The present study examined Japanese university students' processing time for English subject and object relative clauses in relation to their English listening proficiency. In Analysis 1, the relation between English listening proficiency and reading span test scores was analyzed. The results showed that the high and low listening comprehension groups' reading span test scores do not differ. Analysis 2 investigated English listening proficiency and processing time for sentences with subject and object relative clauses. The results showed that reading the relative clause ending and the main verb section of a sentence with an object relative clause (such as "attacked" and "admitted" in the sentence "The reporter that the senator attacked admitted the error") takes less time for learners with high English listening scores than for learners with low English listening scores. In Analysis 3, English listening proficiency and comprehension accuracy for sentences with subject and object relative clauses were examined. The results showed no significant difference in comprehension accuracy between the high and low listening-comprehension groups. These results indicate that processing time for English relative clauses is related to the cognitive processes involved in listening comprehension, which requires immediate processing of syntactically complex audio information.
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2011-10-26
... limited English proficiency (LEP), and develop and implement a system to provide those services so LEP... Awards; Limited English Proficiency Initiative Program (LEPI), Fiscal Year 2010/2011 AGENCY: Office of... (NOFA) for the Limited English Proficiency Initiative (LEPI) Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010/2011...
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Whiteside, Katie E; Gooch, Debbie; Norbury, Courtenay F
2017-05-01
Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) often experience lower academic attainment than monolingual peers. In this study, teachers provided ratings of English language proficiency and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning for 782 children with EAL and 6,485 monolingual children in reception year (ages 4-5). Academic attainment was assessed in reception and Year 2 (ages 6-7). Relative to monolingual peers with comparable English language proficiency, children with EAL displayed fewer social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in reception, were equally likely to meet curriculum targets in reception, and were more likely to meet targets in Year 2. Academic attainment and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning in children with EAL are associated with English language proficiency at school entry. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.
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Wu, Chia-Pei; Lin, Huey-Ju
2016-01-01
This study utilized the Oxford Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and an English writing anxiety scale to examine the relationship between learning strategies and English writing anxiety in 102 university-level English language learners (ELLs) with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in a university in Taiwan. Kruskal Wallis Test…
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Issues in Vertical Scaling of a K-12 English Language Proficiency Test
Kenyon, Dorry M.; MacGregor, David; Li, Dongyang; Cook, H. Gary
2011-01-01
One of the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act is that states show adequate yearly progress in their English language learners' (ELLs) acquisition of English language proficiency. States are required to assess ELLs' English language proficiency annually in four language domains (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) to measure their…
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Rao, Zhenhui
2016-01-01
The research reported here investigated the relationship between students' use of language learning strategies and their English proficiency, and then interpreted the data from two models in information-processing theory. Results showed that the students' English proficiency significantly affected their use of learning strategies, with high-level…
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2011-12-29
... Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Limited English Proficiency Initiative (LEPI) Program AGENCY... that support the assistance of persons with limited English proficiency in utilizing the services...: Limited English Proficiency Initiative (LEPI) Program. OMB Approval Number: 2529-0051. Form Numbers...
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Development and Validation of the Spanish-English Language Proficiency Scale (SELPS)
Smyk, Ekaterina; Restrepo, M. Adelaida; Gorin, Joanna S.; Gray, Shelley
2013-01-01
Purpose: This study examined the development and validation of a criterion-referenced Spanish-English Language Proficiency Scale (SELPS) that was designed to assess the oral language skills of sequential bilingual children ages 4-8. This article reports results for the English proficiency portion of the scale. Method: The SELPS assesses syntactic…
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Dennaoui, Kamelia; Nicholls, Ruth Jane; O'Connor, Meredith; Tarasuik, Joanne; Kvalsvig, Amanda; Goldfeld, Sharon
2016-04-01
Evidence suggests that early proficiency in the language of school instruction is an important predictor of academic success for bilingual children. This study investigated whether English-proficiency at 4-5 years of age predicts academic language and literacy skills among Australian bilingual children at 10-11 years of age, as part of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children ( LSAC, 2012 ). The LSAC comprises a nationally representative clustered cross-sequential sample of Australian children. Data were analysed from a sub-sample of 129 bilingual children from the LSAC Kindergarten cohort (n = 4983), for whom teachers completed the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) checklist (a population measure of early childhood development) and the Academic Rating Scale (ARS) language and literacy subscale. Linear regression analyses revealed that bilingual children who commenced school with stronger English proficiency had higher academic language and literacy scores at the end of primary school (β = 0.45). English proficiency remained a significant predictor, even when accounting for gender and socio-economic disadvantage (β = 0.38). The findings indicate that bilingual children who begin school without English proficiency are at risk of difficulties with academic language and literacy, even after 6 years of schooling. Risk factors need to be identified so early support can be targeted towards the most vulnerable children.
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Influence of English proficiency on patient-provider communication and shared decision-making.
Paredes, Anghela Z; Idrees, Jay J; Beal, Eliza W; Chen, Qinyu; Cerier, Emily; Okunrintemi, Victor; Olsen, Griffin; Sun, Steven; Cloyd, Jordan M; Pawlik, Timothy M
2018-06-01
The number of patients in the United States (US) who speak a language other than English is increasing. We evaluated the impact of English proficiency on self-reported patient-provider communication and shared decision-making. The 2013-2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey database was utilized to identify respondents who spoke a language other than English. Patient-provider communication (PPC) and shared decision-making (SDM) scores from 4-12 were categorized as "poor" (4-7), "average" (8-11), and "optimal." The relationship between PPC, SDM, and English proficiency was analyzed. Among 13,880 respondents, most were white (n = 10,281, 75%), age 18-39 (n = 6,677, 48%), male (n = 7,275, 52%), middle income (n = 4,125, 30%), and born outside of the US (n = 9,125, 65%). English proficiency was rated as "very well" (n = 7,221, 52%), "well" (n = 2,378, 17%), "not well" (n = 2,820, 20%), or "not at all" (n = 1,463, 10%). On multivariable analysis, patients who rated their English as "well" (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.37-2.18) or "not well" (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.10-2.14) were more likely to report "poor" PPC (both P English proficiency as "not well" (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.04-1.65, P = .02). Decreased English proficiency was associated with worse self-reported patient-provider communication and shared decision-making. Attention to patients' language needs is critical to patient satisfaction and improved perception of care. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Arellano, Brenda; Liu, Feng; Stoker, Ginger; Slama, Rachel
2018-01-01
To what extent do Spanish-speaking English learner students develop English proficiency and grade-level readiness in English language arts and math from early elementary school to upper elementary school? Is there a relationship between proficiency in a student's primary home language, Spanish, and the amount of time needed to attain fluency in…
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Cultutal Factors Affecting English Proficiency in Rural Areas
Ler, Ee Chop
2012-01-01
The purpose of this study is to investigate the rural "cultural" problems and to determine their effect on the learning of English. Twenty students from different ethnic backgrounds and English language proficiency in six rural schools in Terengganu, Malaysia were interviewed. In addition the teachers also from different rural schools…
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Recommending a minimum English proficiency standard for entry-level nursing.
O'Neill, Thomas R; Tannenbaum, Richard J; Tiffen, Jennifer
2005-01-01
When nurses who are educated internationally immigrate to the United States, they are expected to have English language proficiency in order to function as a competent nurse. The purpose of this research was to provide sufficient information to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) to make a defensible recommended passing standard for English proficiency. This standard was based upon the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A large panel of nurses and nurse regulators (N = 25) was convened to determine how much English proficiency is required to be minimally competent as an entry-level nurse. Two standard setting procedures, the Simulated Minimally Competent Candidate (SMCC) procedure and the Examinee Paper Selection Method, were combined to produce recommendations for each panelist. In conjunction with collateral information, these recommendations were reviewed by the NCSBN Examination Committee, which decided upon an NCSBN recommended standard, a TOEFL score of 220. Because the adoption of this standard rests entirely with the individual state, NCSBN has little more to do with implementing the standard, other than answering questions and providing documentation about the standard.
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Mares, Sharon
PEOPLE (Pruebas de Expresion Oral y Percepcion de la Lengua Espanol) was developed as a test to help distinguish between a language difference and a language deficit in non English proficient (NEP) and limited English proficient (LEP) elementary Hispanic students. PEOPLE was developed, pilot tested in 14 school districts in Los Angeles County with…
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Saporito, Richard P
2013-02-01
The number of households in the United States that are not proficient in the English language is growing and presenting a challenge to the health care system. Over nineteen percent of the US population speak a language other than English in the home. This increase in language discordance generates a greater need to find and implement accommodations in the clinical setting to insure accurate and efficient diagnosis and treatment as well as provide for patient safety. The purpose of this study is to determine the percentage of patients accessing the chiropractic college teaching clinics who are not proficient in the English language and to what extent the colleges provide accommodations for that language disparity. The clinic directors and deans of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges were surveyed via an on-line survey engine. The survey queried the percentage of the patient population that is not English language proficient, the accommodations the college currently has in place, if the college has a language specific consent to treat document and if the college has a written policy concerning patients without English proficiency. Fifty percent of the contacted chiropractic colleges responded to the survey. In the respondent college clinics 16.5% of the patient population is not proficient in English, with over 75% speaking Spanish. All but one of the respondents provide some level of accommodation for the language non-concordance. Forty five percent of the responding colleges employ a language specific consent to treat form. The implementation of accommodations and the use of a language specific consent to treat form is more prevalent at colleges with a higher percentage of non-English speaking patients. The percentage of patients with limited English proficiency accessing services at the teaching clinics of the chiropractic colleges mirrors the numbers in the general population. There is a wide disparity in the accommodations that the individual colleges make
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Reading Habits of University ESL Students at Different Levels of English Proficiency and Education.
Mokhtari, Kouider; Sheorey, Ravi
1994-01-01
Examines the degree to which the levels of English proficiency (high vs. low) and education (graduate vs. undergraduate) of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students were associated with differences in their reading behaviors. Finds that the subjects' level of education and English proficiency were associated with their reading behavior…
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STRATEGIES OF MAINTAINING PROFICIENCY BY TEACHERS OF ENGLISH IN INDONESIA
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Junaidi Mistar, Alfan Zuhairini
2011-10-01
Full Text Available The objectives of the present study are four-fold: (1 to identify the types of strategies to maintain proficiency used by teachers of English in Indonesia, (2 to know the intensity of use of the obtained strategy types, (3 to measure the inter-correlation in the use of the obtained strategy types, and (4 to investigate the effect of proficiency level on the use of maintaining strategies. The subjects were 93 teachers applying for S2 degree in 2010/2011 at the postgraduate program of the Islamic University of Malang. They were given two sets of instrument, a Likert-scale questionnaire of English proficiency maintaining strategies and a TOEFL test. Then, a factor analysis identified nine strategy categories, including language focusing, metacognitive and affective developing, reading and writing activating, language resource utilizing, cognitive processing, culture learning, social communicating, text analyzing, and radio listening strategies. These strategy types explained 63.84% of variances of maintaining strategies and they were used at high level of intensity. Moreover, the use of the nine strategy types were found to be inter-correlated with one another. Finally, no significant effect of proficiency level on strategy use was found, indicating that teachers with different level of proficiency reported using the same strategies of maintaining their proficiency.
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Rater Judgment and English Language Speaking Proficiency. Research Report
Chalhoub-Deville, Micheline; Wigglesworth, Gillian
2005-01-01
The paper investigates whether there is a shared perception of speaking proficiency among raters from different English speaking countries. More specifically, this study examines whether there is a significant difference among English language learning (ELL) teachers, residing in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA when rating speech samples of…
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Jia, Fanli; Gottardo, Alexandra; Chen, Xi; Koh, Pohwee; Pasquarella, Adrian
2016-01-01
The main focus of this study was to refine our understanding of the link between English proficiency and mainstream acculturation in adolescent Chinese immigrants. The sample consisted of 112 adolescents in grades 7-12 living in urban areas in southern Ontario, Canada. English proficiency was assessed individually using standardised tests of…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nurhazlini Rahmat
2015-02-01
Full Text Available In the Malaysian education system, English has always played an important role. In acknowledging its importance, Malaysian University English Test (MUET has been introduced to enable continued emphasis on this role. MUET has been made compulsory for those who wish to pursue a first degree programme in local universities. This study aims to examine the relationship between English language proficiency test (as measured by MUET bands to predict the undergraduates academic achievement (as measured by Cumulative Grade Point Average score. It also aims to determine the recommended MUET band as an entry requirement for prospective technical programme undergraduates in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM. The study was carried out among 225 final year undergraduates of five different faculties in UPM, namely Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The data used were obtained by administering a brief questionnaire and were quantitatively analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 19. The study revealed that there is a medium positive correlation between English language proficiency and academic achievement where students who have scored higher bands for MUET are the ones who obtained higher CGPA in their study. Based on the findings, it is recommended that UPM and other local universities make changes towards the minimum MUET entry requirement to help prospective undergraduates excel in their academic study. Keywords: English language proficiency, academic achievement, technical programme, MUET, CGPA
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Kim, Jennifer Sun; Vanderwood, Michael L.; Lee, Catherine Y.
2016-01-01
This study examined the predictive validity of curriculum-based measures in reading for Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) at various levels of English proficiency. Third-grade Spanish-speaking EL students were screened during the fall using DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) and Daze. Predictive validity was examined in relation to spring…
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The role of computer use and English proficiency in gender wage inequality
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Chen, Long Hwa; Chen, Hsin-Fan
2007-01-01
This paper uses the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and accounts for potential identification bias in order to shed light on the role of computer use as well as English ability on the gender wage differential in Taiwan. The results show that both computer use and English proficiency benefit female w...... wage earners and contribute to an equalization of the gender wage gap.......This paper uses the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and accounts for potential identification bias in order to shed light on the role of computer use as well as English ability on the gender wage differential in Taiwan. The results show that both computer use and English proficiency benefit female...
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The role of race and english proficiency on the health of older immigrants.
Nguyen, Duy; Reardon, Leigh J
2013-01-01
This study applies the Commission on Social Determinants of Health model to identify the effect of ethnicity/race and English proficiency on the health of older immigrants. California Health Interview Survey data of foreign-born respondents aged 65 and over were used to examine the four outcomes of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The study included 1,196 immigrant Latinos, Asians, and non-Hispanic Whites. The results show that ethnicity/race-based differences in HRQOL exist. Furthermore, the results indicate that English proficiency has a significant moderating relationship on racial/ethnic background. The likelihood of reporting more Limited Combined Days increased with lower levels of English proficiency for both Latino and Asian-American old adults as compared to non-Hispanic Whites. In addition to focusing on racial disparities, health promotion efforts with older immigrants need to examine language-based stratification. Social work and gerontological advocates need to develop and employ evidence-based interventions that reach limited-English-proficient older immigrants to address the health, psychosocial, and access to health care challenges they face.
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Yu, Wei; Cheah, Charissa S L; Sun, Shuyan
2015-01-01
The authors' objective was to investigate the association between Chinese immigrant mothers' authoritative parenting and their children's socioemotional and behavioral difficulties. Participants were 136 first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers with 3-5-year-old children residing in the United States. Authoritative parenting was associated with lower socioemotional and behavioral difficulties in children as reported by preschool teachers. Further moderation analyses revealed that immigrant mothers' English proficiency moderated the association between authoritative parenting and children's difficulties. Specifically, authoritative parenting was significantly associated with fewer total difficulties only for children with mothers who reported higher English proficiency.
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Teaching Mathematical Problem Solving to Students with Limited English Proficiency.
Kaplan, Rochelle G.; Patino, Rodrigo A.
Many mainstreamed students with limited English proficiency continue to face the difficulty of learning English as a second language (ESL) while studying mathematics and other content areas framed in the language of native speakers. The difficulty these students often encounter in mathematics classes and their poor performance on subsequent…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kavarljit Kaur Gill
2013-01-01
Full Text Available Learning another language is very much affected by positive or negative connotations attached to the new language by the language learner. Entering Malaysian public universities there are many students with a low proficiency in English, despite spending eleven years studying English in schools. Could it be that the lack of progress among these students could be attributed to a negative view of what it means to be a speaker of English? This study investigated the perceptions of students at a public university, to determine whether there is a correlation between low-proficiency and negative perceptions of what it means to be an English speaker. Analysis of the results showed that Malaysian students have a very positive perception of what it means to be an English speaker.
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Improving English Listening Proficiency: The Application of ARCS Learning-Motivational Model
Zhang, Jianfeng
2015-01-01
Language learning motivation is one of vital factors which strongly correlates to the success in second language acquisition. Listening proficiency, as one of the basic language abilities, is paid much attention in English instruction, but presently the college English listening teaching is a weak link in English language teaching in China, which…
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San Miguel, Caroline; Rogan, Fran
2015-06-01
The increase in nursing students for whom English is an additional language requires clinical facilitators to assess students' performance regarding clinical skills, nursing communication and English language. However, assessing language proficiency is a complex process that is often conflated with cultural norms and clinical skills, and facilitators may lack confidence in assessing English language. This paper discusses an evaluation of a set of guidelines developed in a large metropolitan Australian university to help clinical facilitators make decisions about students' English language proficiency. The study found that the guidelines were useful in helping facilitators assess English language. However, strategies to address identified language problems needed to be incorporated to enable the guidelines to also be used as a teaching tool. The study concludes that to be effective, such guidelines need embedding within a systematic approach that identifies and responds to students who may be underperforming due to a low level of English language proficiency. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Coniam, David; Falvey, Peter; Xiao, Yangyu
2017-01-01
This study investigates the perceptions of stakeholders on the impact of a high-stakes assessment of English language teachers' proficiency--the minimum language standards Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (English) [LPATE], which was introduced in 2000. Given that the test has now been in place for 17 years, the study investigates the…
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Davis, Chevelle Ma; Guo, Mary; Miyamura, Jill; Chang, Ann; Nelson-Hurwitz, Denise C; Sentell, Tetine
2017-10-01
Childbirth is the most common reason women are hospitalized in the United States. Understanding (1) how expectant mothers gather information to decide where to give birth, and (2) who helps make that decision, provides critical health communication and decision-making insights. Diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander (AA/PI) perspectives on such topics are understudied, particularly among those with limited English proficiency (LEP). LEP is defined as having a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English. To address this research gap, we interviewed 400 women (18+ years) with a recent live birth on O'ahu, Hawai'i. Participants completed a 1-hour, in-person interview in English (n=291), Tagalog (n=42), Chinese (n=36), or Marshallese (n=31). Women were asked (1) what information was most important in deciding where to deliver and why; and (2) who participated in the decision-making and why. Responses were compared by LEP (n=71; 18%) vs English-proficient (n=329; 82%) in qualitative and quantitative analyses. Both LEP and English-proficient participants reported their obstetrician as the most important source of health information. Significantly more LEP participants valued advice from family or acquaintances as important sources of information compared to English-proficient participants. The top three health decision-makers for both those with LEP and English-proficient participants were themselves, their obstetrician, and their spouse, which did not differ significantly by language proficiency. These findings provide insights into health information sources and decision-making across diverse AA/PI populations, including those with LEP, and can help direct health interventions such as disseminating patient education and healthcare quality information.
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TEST OF ENGLISH FOR AVIATION PERSONNEL TO MEET ICAO LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Olena Petrashchuk
2012-10-01
Full Text Available The article is devoted to the actual problem of the assessment of English language proficiency of aviation personnel. The paper presents an English language test, which is used for professional pilots and air traffic controllers.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chan Swee Heng
2012-07-01
Full Text Available Any attempt to define English language proficiency can never be divorced from the theories that describe the nature of language, language acquisition and human cognition. By virtue of such theories being socially constructed, the descriptions are necessarily value-laden. Thus, a definition of language proficiency can only, at best, be described as developmental, following changes that are linguistic, pragmatic, cultural and political. In defining English proficiency for tertiary education, the context is naturally also linked to the focus on university education. The argument has been that an ‘acceptable’ level of language competence of a university applicant is anything but constant. Tremendous social changes have seen traditional values of elitism in university education giving way to the ‘massification’ of education. As Kaplan and Baldauf (1997:257 affirms, “The principal problem in tertiary education is not declining literacy standards but rather it is about meeting changed societal, cultural and informational requirements and circumstances”. In the light of these changes, this paper attempts to trace influencing factors that help define an ‘acceptable’ level of English proficiency for Malaysian tertiary education. The paper examines past and present efforts of establishing an English language policy and assessment practice for tertiary education, and concludes with some views on future development that could evolve from the current indicative pursuits of establishing language learning and ability.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Norma Nel
2010-01-01
Full Text Available The importance of the role of language in teacher education programmes and in children's learning is crucial. This study focuses on the use of English as the language of learning and teaching and its impact on the language development of English second language (ESL student teachers and ESL learners. Against the background of major theories in second language (L2 acquisition and learning, this topic is contextualized within the South African education system. An empirical inquiry was carried out in which portfolios (evidence of practical teaching including lesson plans and learners' work submitted by final year student teachers enrolled at a large distance teaching university for the Advanced Certificate in Education: Inclusive Education were scrutinised. A comparison of teacher and learner written errors was made. Based on the findings, a questionnaire was designed to determine the extent of the impact of teachers' limited English proficiency on learners' English proficiency. The findings of the questionnaire responses are presented. Recommendations are made on how student teachers can improve their teaching practice to ensure quality ESL teacher input and ESL learner performance.
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Linguistic Proficiency and Strategies on Reading Performance in English
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Seyed Hassan Talebi
2015-01-01
Full Text Available General English (L2 proficiency and reading strategies are believed to be highly effective in successful reading performance. However, available studies rarely investigated the combined effects of these two variables on successful reading. To fill this gap, 78 university students were divided into four groups of different degrees of these two variables in L2 and given a reading test in English and an interview for assessing how much of the problems in L2 reading among the four groups were rooted in linguistic competence and/or strategic competence. Findings evinced that the high general proficiency level coupled with high awareness and use of reading strategies would result in best performance and that the pattern of answers to different components of reading question is different in different groups. It is concluded that both of the variables should be emphasized simultaneously for the best performance in reading comprehension.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Su-Hie Ting
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Employability of graduates is a concern in many countries, including Malaysia, and the high unemployment rate among graduates is often attributed to their lack of English proficiency and communication skills. These two distinctive elements are often collated, and it is important to find out which is more important to employers. The study examined the employers’ views on the importance of English proficiency and communication skill for graduates to be employed in the Malaysian private sector. The data were from semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 employers in the private sector who were in the position to recruit staff. The 21,433-word interview transcripts were analyzed. The results revealed that employers in the Malaysian private sector view language proficiency and communication skills as separate qualities. The employers are willing to consider employing candidates with average English proficiency if they have good communication skills, except for jobs which require more communication in English such as customer service and marketing. The results also revealed that good communication skills can increase employability and opportunities for career advancement. The findings highlight the communication skills that universities need to emphasize so that their graduates have the necessary skills to perform well in employment interviews and in their work.
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Preparing Limited English Proficient Persons for the Workplace. ERIC Digest No. 215.
Wonacott, Michael E.
This digest describes cultural considerations and effective approaches for limited English proficient (LEP) individuals' workforce development, including the impact of recent training legislation. LEP persons often come from both a different language background and a very different cultural background; so English-language instruction must provide…
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A Study of Interactions among Ambiguity Tolerance, Classroom Work Styles, and English Proficiency
Chiang, Hui-Hua
2016-01-01
This article presents a preliminary investigation of the inter-relationships between English learners' tolerance for ambiguity, their classroom work styles, and their level of English proficiency. The study population comprised 46 English as a foreign language (EFL) students attending a technical college in Taiwan. The findings indicated that a…
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Brown, Chris; Schale, Codi L.; Nilsson, Johanna E.
2010-01-01
Vietnamese immigrant and refugee women (N = 83) were surveyed regarding their mental health, English language proficiency, age of arrival, length of stay, and income. English language proficiency and age of arrival correlated with reduced symptomatology. Moreover, English language proficiency was the sole predictor of somatic distress. (Contains 1…
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Linguistic Proficiency and Strategies on Reading Performance in English
Talebi, Seyed Hassan
2015-01-01
General English (L2) proficiency and reading strategies are believed to be highly effective in successful reading performance. However, available studies rarely investigated the combined effects of these two variables on successful reading. To fill this gap, 78 university students were divided into four groups of different degrees of these two…
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Advisory Working Alliance, Perceived English Proficiency, and Acculturative Stress
Wei, Meifen; Tsai, Pei-Chun; Chao, Ruth Chu-Lien; Du, Yi; Lin, Shu-Ping
2012-01-01
The aim of this study was to examine the moderators of (a) general or cross-cultural advisory working alliances and (b) perceived English proficiency on the association between acculturative stress and psychological distress. A total of 143 East Asian international students completed an online survey. Results from a hierarchical regression…
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Kaliyadan, Feroze; Thalamkandathil, Nazer; Parupalli, Srinivas Rao; Amin, Tarek Tawfik; Balaha, Magdy Hassan; Al Bu Ali, Waleed Hamad
2015-01-01
All medical schools in Saudi Arabia have English as the primary official medium of instruction. Most of the high school education, however, is delivered in Arabic and hence the transition to an English based learning environment tends to be difficult for some students. Our study aims to correlate English language proficiency with academic performance among medical students in their preparatory year. A cross-sectional study design was used. Test scores of 103 preparatory year students (54 female and 49 male) were analyzed after the students completed an English language course and medical introductory course in their preparatory year. The total score obtained in the English course assessment was compared to each component of the medical content assessment. A significantly positive correlation (Spearman's Rho, at 0.01 levels) was seen between the scores of the English exam and the written exam (P English exam score was not obtained for the other components of the medical assessment, namely; student assignments, presentations and portfolios. English language proficiency is an important factor in determining academic proficiency of medical students in our college at the preparatory year level.
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Albers, Craig A.; Kenyon, Dorry M.; Boals, Timothy J.
2009-01-01
Although numerous English language proficiency (ELP) measures currently exist, many were developed prior to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). These pre-NCLB measures typically focused on social language proficiency, whereas post-NCLB measures are linked to ELP standards and focus on academic language proficiency (ALP). ELP measures are…
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Chin, A.; Meltem Daysal, N.; Imberman, S.A.
2012-01-01
Abstract: Texas requires a school district to offer bilingual education when its enrollment of limited English proficient (LEP) students in a particular elementary grade and language is twenty or higher. Using school panel data, we find a significant increase in the probability that a district
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Boykin, Arsene; Trungamphai, Arunthadee
English proficiency of Thai university students studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) was studied in relation to attitudinal scores on social, economic, travel, or prestige scales. Secondarily, the subjects' attitudes toward their native group and toward the target language group, and their motives for learning English were studied in…
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Chen, Jun; Intaraprasert, Channarong
2014-01-01
The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of reading strategies by the university Business English majors in relation to their levels of reading proficiency. The participants were 926 university Business English majors from 6 universities in southwest China. The Strategy Questionnaire for Business English Reading (SQBER) and the…
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A Case for Improved Reading Instruction for Academic English Reading Proficiency
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Glenn Ole Hellekjær
2008-06-01
Full Text Available This article presents a study of the academic reading proficiency in English of 217 senior level Norwegian upper secondary school students who upon graduation are considered qualified for higher education. Testing with an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Reading Module revealed that two thirds of the 178 respondents with ordinary EFL courses did not achieve the equivalent of the IELTS Band 6 score minimum that is usually required for admission to British and Australian universities. In comparison, two thirds of a sample of 39 respondents with a single, sheltered Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL subject achieved a Band 6 score or better. Closer analysis indicates that the poor test scores can be attributed to weaknesses in current English as a Foreign Language (EFL instruction where reading is neglected, where students do not learn to adjust how they read to reading purpose, and where they do not learn how to handle unfamiliar words to avoid disrupting the reading process. The article ends with suggestions on how to improve EFL instruction, in Norway and elsewhere.
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Communication Strategies Used by Pre-Service English Teachers of Different Proficiency Levels
Castro Garcés, Angela Yicely; López Olivera, Silvio Fabián
2014-01-01
This paper reports on the findings of a research study carried out in the Bachelor of Arts in English program of study at a Colombian university. It aims at identifying the communication strategies used by four pre-service English teachers with A2 and B2 levels of language proficiency and, also, at examining how these communication strategies…
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Kiram, Johannah Jamalul; Sulaiman, Jumat; Swanto, Suyansah; Din, Wardatul Akmam
2014-07-01
This paper seeks to investigate the relationship between language learning strategies and proficiency in English. Fifty-six pre-university students (22 males, 34 females) of University Malaysia Sabah participated in this study. Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) self-report questionnaire was adopted to identify the students' language learning strategies, whereas their proficiencies were judged based on their Malaysian University English Test (MUET) Results. Pearson's correlation coefficient, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and the t-test were utilized to make statistical interpretation about the relationship. The knowledge obtained from this study will be helpful for future studies on how to improve the quality of learning and proficiency in English.
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The Role of English in Present Day Higher Education
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eman Abdulsalam AL-Khalil
2017-10-01
Full Text Available In today’s global world and with the help of modern technology, English has become the most common and dominant language spoken and used both at the national and international levels. It has been playing a major role in many sectors as medicine, engineering, politics, economics, international relations, and higher education in particular, the most important area where English is needed. It has also become a medium of instruction at universities in a large number of countries, a basic means of second language learning / teaching, an accessing source of modern knowledge and scientific research, and a means of global communication and earn living. It is realized nowadays at the level of Higher Education in many countries around the world, in addition to EU countries as Germany, Turkey, China, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Australian, India …, the significance of providing education in English side by side with their natives. Hence, serious steps have taken to improve the quality of instruction in English at the administrative, academic, students’, publications and research levels. And in order to prove English language international power, it goes beyond its tertiary. Many English language proficiency, training and degree programs are managed not only inside but also abroad for internationalization of higher education to keep it up to date. However, this paper signifies the role of English in modern education, particularly in higher education sector and the role of modern technology in promoting English language learning / teaching quality to meet the standards, communication needs and cultural exchange across the world.
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Language proficiency and the international postgraduate student experience
Weaver, M
2016-01-01
In an increasingly competitive environment, with reduced government funding, full fee-paying international students are an important source of revenue for higher education institutions (HEIs). Although many previous studies have focused on the role of English language proficiency on academic success, there is little known about the extent to which levels of English language proficiency affect these non-native English speaking students’ overall course experience. There have been a wealth of st...
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Torres, Hector Neftali, Sr.
2000-11-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of English language proficiency and levels of scientific reasoning skills of Hispanic English language learners and native English language speaking students on their acquisition of science content knowledge as measured by a state-wide standardized science test. The researcher studied a group of high school Hispanic English language learners and native English language speaking students participating in Grade 10 science classes. The language proficiency of the students was to be measured through the use of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) instrument. A Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning developed by Lawson (1978) was administered in either English or Spanish to the group of Hispanic English language learners and in English to the group of native English language-speaking students in order to determine their levels of scientific reasoning skills. The students' acquisition of science content knowledge was measured through the use of statewide-standardized science test developed by the State's Department of Education. This study suggests that the levels of English language proficiency appear to influence the acquisition of science content knowledge of Hispanic English language learners in the study. The results of the study also suggest that with regards to scientific reasoning skills, students that showed high levels or reflective reasoning skills for the most part performed better on the statewide-standardized science test than students with intuitive or transitional reasoning skills. This assertion was supported by the studies conducted by Lawson and his colleagues, which showed that high levels of reasoning or reflective reasoning skills are prerequisite for most high school science courses. The findings in this study imply that high order English language proficiency combined with high levels of reasoning skills enhances students' abilities to learn science content subject matter. This
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The Correlation between Learner Autonomy and English Proficiency of Indonesian EFL College Learners
Myartawan, I. Putu Ngurah Wage; Latief, Mohammad Adnan; Suharmanto
2013-01-01
The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between learner autonomy psychologically defined in the study as a composite of behavioral intentions to do autonomous learning and self-efficacy in relation to autonomous learning, and English proficiency. The sample comprised 120 first semester English-majored students of a state university…
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Guzman-Orth, Danielle; Laitusis, Cara; Thurlow, Martha; Christensen, Laurene
2016-01-01
This paper is the second in a series from Educational Testing Service (ETS) that conceptualizes next-generation English language proficiency (ELP) assessment systems for K-12 English learners (ELs) in the United States.The first paper articulated a high-level conceptualization of next-generation ELP assessment systems (Hauck, Wolf, & Mislevy,…
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Impact of English Proficiency on Academic Performance of International Students
Martirosyan, Nara M.; Hwang, Eunjin; Wanjohi, Reubenson
2015-01-01
Using an ex-post facto, non-experimental approach, this research examined the impact of English language proficiency and multilingualism on the academic performance of international students enrolled in a four-year university located in north central Louisiana in the United States. Data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire from 59…
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Minicucci, Catherine
1996-01-01
This article presents findings from the School Reform and Student Diversity Study, a 4-year project to locate and analyze schools offering exemplary science and mathematics programs to middle school students with limited proficiency in English. In contrast to the vast majority of schools, the four schools described in this article give these students access to stimulating science and mathematics curricula by instructing them either in the students' primary language or in English using shelter...
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Chang, Xin; Wang, Pei
2016-01-01
To investigate the influence of L2 proficiency and syntactic similarity on English passive sentence processing, the present ERP study asked 40 late Chinese-English bilinguals (27 females and 13 males, mean age = 23.88) with high or intermediate L2 proficiency to read the sentences carefully and to indicate for each sentence whether or not it was…
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Impact of Bilingual Education Programs on Limited English Proficient Students and Their Peers
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Daysal, N. Meltem; Chin, Aimee; Imberman, Scott
2013-01-01
bilingual education above this 20-student cutoff. Using this discontinuity as an instrument for district bilingual education provision, we find that providing bilingual education programs (relative to providing only English as a Second Language programs) does not significantly impact the standardized test...... scores of students with Spanish as their home language (comprised primarily of ever-LEP students). However, we find significant positive impacts on non-LEP students’ achievement, which indicates that education programs for LEP students have spillover effects to non-LEP students.......Texas requires a school district to offer bilingual education when its enrollment of limited English proficient (LEP) students in a particular elementary grade and language is twenty or higher. Using school panel data, we find a significant increase in the probability that a district provides...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mirna Neli
2008-05-01
Full Text Available Some Grade 4 educators have expressed feelings of ineptitude regarding the support of ESL (English Second Language learners with limited English proficiency as they do not know how to support these learners effectively. Their litany emphasises ESL educators' need for supportive and preventive intervention. A Story-based Language Enrichment Programme (SLEP was compiled to suit the needs of educators teaching Grade 4 ESL learners with limited English proficiency. The programme was designed to maintain or improve the English proficiency of ESL learners. An intervention research method was followed to test the efficacy of SLEP. Forty teachers implemented SLEP over a six-week period. Thirty-nine teachers provided constructive feedback at the end of this period. Between 92% and 100% of the participants rated SLEP positively. Rural participants suggested some refinements to the programme. The overall conclusion was that SLEP makes a useful contribution to ESL practice.
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Wolf, Mikyung Kim; Guzman-Orth, Danielle; Hauck, Maurice Cogan
2016-01-01
This paper is the third in a series concerning English language proficiency (ELP) assessments for K-12 English learners (ELs). The series, produced from Educational Testing Service (ETS), is intended to provide theory- and evidence-based principles and recommendations for improving next-generation ELP assessment systems, policies, and practices…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ana I. Moreno
2012-10-01
Full Text Available Previous quantitative studies suggest that the burden researchers who use English as an additional language perceive when writing research articles (RAs for publication in English (as L2 is 24% greater than the burden they perceive when they write RAs for publication in their L1. It remains unclear precisely which aspects of research article (RA writing in English present these writers with the greatest challenge and just why they perceive this increase in difficulty. A structured questionnaire comprising thirty-seven questions about researchers’ publication experiences in scientific journals in English and in Spanish was designed and sent out to all (n = 8,794 Spanish postdoctoral researchers at one research-only institution and four universities in Spain, yielding responses from 1,717 researchers. Our first results show that the discussion is the section that is perceived as more difficult to write for English-medium journals, across the four broad knowledge areas in a way that cannot be fully explained by their lower level of proficiency in English (as L2. This article proposes the rhetorical transfer hypothesis as a possible explanation for their additional difficulty. Our results also reveal that their increased perceived difficulty writing RA discussions in English (as L2 does not decrease noticeably until Spanish researchers report high or very high levels of proficiency in English (as L2 for academic or general purposes or have published on average at least 37 RAs as corresponding author in English-medium journals over the last ten years. Implications for English for Academic Purposes (EAP research and pedagogy are discussed.
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Merlin, Shirley B.
The report describes the development and implementation of an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program for limited-English-proficient employees of the poultry industry. The program, undertaken at James Madison University (Virginia), was funded initially in 1991 by the federal government and has continued with funding from two poultry companies.…
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Chang, Hsiao-Yun Annie; Chan, Luke; Siren, Betty
2013-06-01
This is a report of a study which evaluated simulation-based learning as a teaching strategy for improving participants' ENP reading proficiency in the senior college program of students whose first language is Chinese, not English. Simulation-based learning is known to be one of most effective teaching strategies in the healthcare professional curricula, which brings a clinical setting into the classroom. However, developing English reading skills for English written nursing journals through simulation-based learning in the nursing curricula, is largely unknown. We used a quasi-experimental approach with nonequivalent control group design to collect the causal connections between intervention and outcomes. 101 students were enrolled in this study (response rate 92.6%) of these 48 students volunteered for the intervention group, and 53 students for the control group. The findings indicated that the intervention group had significantly higher mean scores in ENP reading proficiency with unknown words in the article (p=.004), vocabulary (pdesigned research and a universal method of outcome measurement. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Dev, Smitha; Qiqieh, Sura
2016-01-01
The present study aims to find out the relationship between English Language proficiency, self-esteem, and academic achievement of the students in Abu Dhabi University (ADU). The variables were analyzed using "t" test, chi-squire and Pearson's product moment correlation. In addition, Self-rating scale, Self-esteem inventory and Language…
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Kiram, J. J.; Sulaiman, J.; Swanto, S.; Din, W. A.
2015-10-01
This study aims to construct a mathematical model of the relationship between a student's Language Learning Strategy usage and English Language proficiency. Fifty-six pre-university students of University Malaysia Sabah participated in this study. A self-report questionnaire called the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning was administered to them to measure their language learning strategy preferences before they sat for the Malaysian University English Test (MUET), the results of which were utilised to measure their English language proficiency. We attempted the model assessment specific to Multiple Linear Regression Analysis subject to variable selection using Stepwise regression. We conducted various assessments to the model obtained, including the Global F-test, Root Mean Square Error and R-squared. The model obtained suggests that not all language learning strategies should be included in the model in an attempt to predict Language Proficiency.
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Students’ attitudes to lecturers' English in English-medium higher education in Denmark
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Jensen, Christian; Denver, Louise; Mees, Inger M.
2013-01-01
This study examines the evaluative reactions of university students to their non-native lecturers’ English skills in English-medium instruction, i.e. when English is used as a lingua franca in an academic context. In particular, we examine the relationship between perceptions of English language ....... This effect should be addressed when universities use student ratings to evaluate teaching in English-medium content courses.......This study examines the evaluative reactions of university students to their non-native lecturers’ English skills in English-medium instruction, i.e. when English is used as a lingua franca in an academic context. In particular, we examine the relationship between perceptions of English language...... proficiency and perceptions of general lecturing competence (defined here as knowledge of subject and teaching skills). Statistical analyses of 1,700 student responses to 31 non-native English-speaking lecturers at a major business school in Denmark revealed that the students’ perceptions of the lecturers...
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Wang, Ya-Huei; Liao, Hung-Chang
2014-06-01
The study examined whether the students using concept mapping in a Freshman English course would improve English oral communication proficiency, higher-order thinking, and perception of abilities. A quasi-experimental design, lasting for 12 weeks, was administered to an experimental group (21 students) and a control group (20 students). The experimental group had significantly better performance on all measures. Concept mapping was effective in improving college students' English oral communication, higher-order thinking, and perception of abilities development.
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PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE LABOUR MARKET
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
SIMION MINODORA OTILIA
2013-08-01
Full Text Available The technological development, the growing economic globalization and the majordemographic shifts have brought about the need for a global language. In international business, travel, scienceand technology, education, immigration, academia, diplomacy and entertainment, English is the dominantlanguage, being spoken by over one billion people. English is used inside and outside the professionalenvironment, both for communication in global business and for communication in social networks, butproficiency in English can definitely enhance people’s career opportunities both if they look for a job in thecountry or plan to go abroad to find employment. It may determine a division among those who have access toinformation and prosperity and those who don’t. In the future not just wealth but also the way it is created willhave a great impact on people’s increasing communicative needs of international languages. It is obvious thenthat more and more people will need proficiency in English ,both as a language for international communicationand as the basis for constructing cultural identities .
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Students' Attitudes to Lecturers' English in English-Medium Higher Education in Denmark
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Jensen, Christian; Denver, Louise; Mees, Inger M.
2013-01-01
’ English language proficiency is a significant predictor of their perceptions of the lecturers’ general lecturing competence and vice versa. We interpret this as a two-way relationship caused by speech stereotypes similar to those which have been demonstrated in social-psychological experiments...
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Huang, Yun-Yin; Liu, Chen-Chung; Wang, Yu; Tsai, Chin-Chung; Lin, Hung-Ming
2017-01-01
English proficiency difference among students is a challenging pedagogical issue in EFL classrooms worldwide. Collaborative digital storytelling has been adopted in language learning settings to increase motivation and engagement, especially for young learners. However, it remains unknown whether students of different proficiency levels can…
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Tone Attrition in Mandarin Speakers of Varying English Proficiency
Creel, Sarah C.
2017-01-01
Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether the degree of dominance of Mandarin–English bilinguals' languages affects phonetic processing of tone content in their native language, Mandarin. Method We tested 72 Mandarin–English bilingual college students with a range of language-dominance profiles in the 2 languages and ages of acquisition of English. Participants viewed 2 photographs at a time while hearing a familiar Mandarin word referring to 1 photograph. The names of the 2 photographs diverged in tone, vowels, or both. Word recognition was evaluated using clicking accuracy, reaction times, and an online recognition measure (gaze) and was compared in the 3 conditions. Results Relative proficiency in English was correlated with reduced word recognition success in tone-disambiguated trials, but not in vowel-disambiguated trials, across all 3 dependent measures. This selective attrition for tone content emerged even though all bilinguals had learned Mandarin from birth. Lengthy experience with English thus weakened tone use. Conclusions This finding has implications for the question of the extent to which bilinguals' 2 phonetic systems interact. It suggests that bilinguals may not process pitch information language-specifically and that processing strategies from the dominant language may affect phonetic processing in the nondominant language—even when the latter was learned natively. PMID:28124064
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Thompson, Darcy A; Matson, Pamela A; Ellen, Jonathan M
2013-02-01
Television viewing is associated with an increased risk for obesity in children. Latino children are at high risk for obesity and yet little is known about differences in television viewing habits within this population. The purpose of this study is to determine if hours of television viewed by young children with low-income Latina mothers differs by maternal ethnic subgroup and English language proficiency. This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Welfare, Children, & Families: A Three City Study. Participants were 422 low-income Latina mothers of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent with children ages 0-4 years old. The dependent variable was hours of daily television viewed by the child. The independent variable was maternal ethnic subgroup and English language proficiency. Analyses involved the use of multiple negative binomial regression models, which were adjusted for demographic variables. Multivariable regression analyses showed that compared to children with mothers of Mexican descent, children of mothers of Puerto Rican descent watch more daily television (child television viewing (IRR=1.29, 95% CI 1.04, 1.61). No relationship was found for children of Puerto Rican descent. Child television viewing varies in low-income Latino children by maternal ethnic subgroup and English language proficiency. Interventionists must consider the varying sociocultural contexts of Latino children and their influence on television viewing.
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Matson, Pamela A.; Ellen, Jonathan M.
2013-01-01
Abstract Background Television viewing is associated with an increased risk for obesity in children. Latino children are at high risk for obesity and yet little is known about differences in television viewing habits within this population. The purpose of this study is to determine if hours of television viewed by young children with low-income Latina mothers differs by maternal ethnic subgroup and English language proficiency. Methods This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Welfare, Children, & Families: A Three City Study. Participants were 422 low-income Latina mothers of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent with children ages 0–4 years old. The dependent variable was hours of daily television viewed by the child. The independent variable was maternal ethnic subgroup and English language proficiency. Analyses involved the use of multiple negative binomial regression models, which were adjusted for demographic variables. Results Multivariable regression analyses showed that compared to children with mothers of Mexican descent, children of mothers of Puerto Rican descent watch more daily television (television viewing (IRR=1.29, 95% CI 1.04, 1.61). No relationship was found for children of Puerto Rican descent. Conclusions Child television viewing varies in low-income Latino children by maternal ethnic subgroup and English language proficiency. Interventionists must consider the varying sociocultural contexts of Latino children and their influence on television viewing. PMID:23301653
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Thornton, Julie A.
This report describes one segment of the Federal Language Testing Board's Unified Language Testing Plan (ULTP), the validation of speaking proficiency tests in Spanish and English. The ULTP is a project to increase standardization of foreign language proficiency measurement and promote sharing of resources among testing programs in the federal…
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Liao, Hung-Chang; Wang, Ya-Huei
2016-04-01
This study examined whether students studying literature in complementary learning clusters would show more improvement in medical humanities literacy, critical thinking skills, and English proficiency compared to those in conventional learning clusters. Ninety-three students participated in the study (M age = 18.2 years, SD = 0.4; 36 men, 57 women). A quasi-experimental design was used over 16 weeks, with the control group (n = 47) working in conventional learning clusters and the experimental group (n = 46) working in complementary learning clusters. Complementary learning clusters were those in which individuals had complementary strengths enabling them to learn from and offer assistance to other cluster members, hypothetically facilitating the learning process. Measures included the Medical Humanities Literacy Scale, Critical Thinking Disposition Assessment, English proficiency tests, and Analytic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric. The results showed that complementary learning clusters have the potential to improve students' medical humanities literacy, critical thinking skills, and English proficiency. © The Author(s) 2016.
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Cha, Kijoo; Goldenberg, Claude
2015-01-01
This study examined how emergent bilingual children's English and Spanish proficiencies moderated the relationships between Spanish and English input at home (bilingual home language input [BHLI]) and children's oral language skills in each language. The sample comprised over 1,400 Spanish-dominant kindergartners in California and Texas. BHLI was…
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Garcia, Eugene E.; Lawton, Kerry; Diniz de Figueiredo, Eduardo H.
2010-01-01
This study analyzes the Arizona policy of utilizing a single assessment of English proficiency to determine if students should be exited from the ELL program, which is ostensibly designed to make it possible for them to succeed in the mainstream classroom without any further language support. The study examines the predictive validity of this…
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Jackson, C.N.; Hell, J.G. van
2011-01-01
Using a self-paced reading task, the present study explores how Dutch-English L2 speakers parse English wh-subject-extractions and wh-object-extractions. Results suggest that English native speakers and highly-proficient Dutch–English L2 speakers do not always exhibit measurable signs of on-line
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Landau, Ruth E; Beck, Alan; Glickman, Larry T; Litster, Annette; Widmar, Nicole J Olynk; Moore, George E
2016-03-15
To characterize patterns of dog and cat ownership and veterinary service use among Latino dog and cat owners with various degrees of English-language proficiency. DESIGN :Cross-sectional telephone survey. Data from 393 Latino pet owners. Telephone surveys were conducted with Latino dog and cat owners from a random sample of US households to determine the number of dogs and cats owned, factors associated with veterinary service use, and satisfaction with veterinary care. 393 of 1,026 (38.3%) respondents were pet owners. Two hundred fifty-nine of 330 (78.5%) dog owners and 70 of 115 (60.9%) cat owners reported taking their pet to the veterinarian in the past 12 months, most commonly for vaccination or examination or because of illness. Respondents were most satisfied with veterinary care provided, least satisfied with cost, and moderately satisfied with quality of communication. English-language proficiency was not significantly associated with whether owners sought veterinary care. A large proportion of respondents who wanted to receive pet health information in Spanish described themselves as speaking English well or very well. Although having limited proficiency in English was not associated with Latino pet owners seeking veterinary care, opportunities exist for veterinary personnel to improve communications with these clients. Personnel can assess their clients' language needs by asking each about the language in which they would prefer to receive their pet's health information.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chi-Shing eTse
2014-09-01
Full Text Available By administering Simon, Simon switching, and operation-span working memory tasks to Cantonese-English bilingual children who varied in their first-language (L1, Cantonese and second-language (L2, English proficiencies, as quantified by standardized vocabulary test performance, the current study examined the effects of L1 and L2 proficiency on attentional control performance. Apart from mean performance, we conducted ex-Gaussian analyses to capture the modal and positive-tail components of participants’ reaction time distributions in the Simon task. Bilinguals’ L2 proficiency was associated with higher scores in the operation span task, and a shift of reaction time distributions in incongruent trials, relative to congruent trials (Simon effect in µ, and the tail size of reaction time distributions (τ regardless of trial types. Bilinguals’ L1 proficiency, which was strongly associated with participants’ age, showed similar results, except that it was not associated with the Simon effect in µ. In contrast, neither bilinguals’ L1 nor L2 proficiency modulated the global switch cost or local switch cost in the Simon switching task. After taking into account potential cognitive maturation by partialling out the participants’ age, only (a scores in the working memory task and (b RT in incongruent trials and (c Simon effect in µ in the Simon task could still be predicted by bilinguals’ L2 proficiency. Overall, the current findings suggest that bilingual children’s L2 proficiency was associated with their conflict resolution and working memory capacity, but not goal maintenance or task-set switching, when they performed the cognitive tasks that demanded attentional control. This was not entirely consistent with the findings of college-age bilinguals reported in previous studies.
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Boehlke, Lisa; Rummel, Mary Kay
1990-01-01
An approach is described for developing the language of limited English proficient (LEP) students using process writing with content drawn from across the curriculum. This is proposed in the context of recent research in second language reading that has focused on developing metacognitive awareness and use of reading strategies, and that less…
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Jin, Yinxing; de Bot, Kees; Keijzer, Merel
2015-01-01
Adopting a longitudinal design, this study investigates the effects of foreign language anxiety on foreign language proficiency over time within English and Japanese learning contexts. It also explores the stability of anxiety in English and Japanese over time and the stability of anxiety across English and Japanese. Chinese university students (N…
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EMANTO, YUANITA
2013-01-01
English is one of International languages in the world and mainly used in International forums. Because of its importance, Indonesian government decides to make English as a formal subject in schools. Students are expected to have basic competences in four skills those are listening, speaking, reading, and writing comprehensively to reach functional literate. Students should have strategies to improve their proficiency and skill in English. The aims of this study are to find out (1) how langu...
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Home and Community Language Proficiency in Spanish-English Early Bilingual University Students.
Schmidtke, Jens
2017-10-17
This study assessed home and community language proficiency in Spanish-English bilingual university students to investigate whether the vocabulary gap reported in studies of bilingual children persists into adulthood. Sixty-five early bilinguals (mean age = 21 years) were assessed in English and Spanish vocabulary and verbal reasoning ability using subtests of the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey-Revised (Schrank & Woodcock, 2009). Their English scores were compared to 74 monolinguals matched in age and level of education. Participants also completed a background questionnaire. Bilinguals scored below the monolingual control group on both subtests, and the difference was larger for vocabulary compared to verbal reasoning. However, bilinguals were close to the population mean for verbal reasoning. Spanish scores were on average lower than English scores, but participants differed widely in their degree of balance. Participants with an earlier age of acquisition of English and more current exposure to English tended to be more dominant in English. Vocabulary tests in the home or community language may underestimate bilingual university students' true verbal ability and should be interpreted with caution in high-stakes situations. Verbal reasoning ability may be more indicative of a bilingual's verbal ability.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Niharika eSingh
2013-06-01
Full Text Available Many studies have confirmed the presence of a bilingual advantage which is manifested as enhanced cognitive and attention control. However, very few studies have investigated the role of second language proficiency on the modulation of conflict-monitoring in bilinguals. We investigated this by comparing high and low proficient Hindi-English bilinguals on a modified saccadic arrow Stroop task under different monitoring conditions, and tested the predictions of the bilingual executive control advantage proposal. The task of the participants was to make an eye movement towards the colour patch in the same colour as the central arrow, ignoring the patch to which the arrow was pointing. High-proficient bilinguals had overall faster saccade latency on all types of trials as compared to the low proficient bilinguals. The overall saccadic latency for high proficiency bilinguals was similarly affected by the different types of monitoring conditions, whereas conflict resolution advantage was found only for high monitoring demanding condition. The results support a conflict-monitoring account in a novel oculomotor task and also suggest that language proficiency could modulate executive control in bilinguals.
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Tran, Tammie M.
2010-01-01
The problem. This research study explores an important issue in the field of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and second language acquisition (SLA). Its purpose is to examine the relationship between Vietnamese students' L1 grammar knowledge and their English grammar proficiency. Furthermore, it investigates the extent to…
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Jin, Yinxing; de Bot, Kees; Keijzer, Merel
Adopting a longitudinal design, this study investigates the effects of foreign language anxiety on foreign language proficiency over time within English and Japanese learning contexts. It also explores the stability of anxiety in English and Japanese over time and the stability of anxiety across
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A semi-structured English oral proficiency test for certification of teachers in South Africa
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carol A. Puhl
2013-02-01
Full Text Available South Africa has eleven official languages, but English is by far the most commonly used medium of instruction in schools. It is therefore essential that the English proficiency of preservice teachers be accurately assessed by means of a valid, reliable and feasible assessment instrument. As there are so many tertiary institutions responsible for teacher certification in the country, standards of oral assessment vary widely. This paper describes a semi-structured oral proficiency test, designed to meet these needs. Possibilities for further development of the test are explored Suid-Afrika erken elf amptelike tale, maar Engels is die medium wat verreweg die meeste in skole gebruik word Dit is dus noodsaaklik dat onderwysstudente se taalvaardigheid in Engels akkuraat gemeet moet kan word dm. v. 'n geldige, betroubare en toepaslike meetinstrument. Die feit dat so baie tersiere inrigtings in Suid-Afrika betrokke is by die sertifisering van onderwysers, lei onvermydelik tot groot skommelinge in standaarde. Hierdie artikel beskryf 'n semigestruktureerde mondelinge taalvaardigheidstoets wat ontwikkel is om in die behoeftes te voorsien. Moontlikhede vir die verdere ontwikkeling van die toets word ondersoek.
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Cardinal, Lucien J; Maldonado, Maria; Fried, Ethan D
2016-01-01
This article presents the results of a national survey addressing issues related to patients with limited English proficiency. We disseminated a national confidential survey to 391 program directors of Internal Medicine residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Seventy percent of program directors indicated that their residents cared for a patient population that was composed of more than 10% limited-English-proficiency patients. Nineteen percent of residency programs provided no education on caring for patients with limited English proficiency. Thirty percent of program directors felt that their faculty could not adequately evaluate residents on their ability to practice culturally competent care, and 68% cited lack of faculty expertise as a significant barrier to implementing a curriculum in cultural competency. Yet only 24% indicated that they had faculty development relevant to cultural competency and health care disparities. Internal Medicine residents care for many patients with limited English proficiency. While it seems clear that an effective training curriculum is necessary, such a curriculum was not found to be uniformly present. Additionally, the lack of faculty expertise and faculty development in cultural competency and health care disparities is a significant barrier to the correction of this problem. Copyright © 2016 Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Lucas, Tamara; Villegas, Ana Maria
2004-01-01
In 1999-2000, over one-third of all students in the 30 Abbott districts spoke a native language other than English, and more than one-tenth were considered limited English proficient (LEP). The proportions of LEP students varied considerably across the districts, but they comprised between 5% and 29% of total enrollments in 18 of the districts.…
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Alea, Jamie
2009-01-01
This dissertation has examined English proficiency as a mediating social factor within the occupational structure of Puerto Rico. It included an analysis of the educational records of 641 students majoring in industrial engineering, nursing, education and finance of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez from 1998-2000. The investigation…
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Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
范小月; 王瑞明; 吴际; 林哲婷
2012-01-01
A large number of studies have demonstrated the bilinguals' advantage in cognitive control, and some researchers have explored the components of cognitive control. However, there are four gaps. ( 1 ) Most studies only examined one or two components of cognitive control. Few studies clearly defined cognitive control and systematically compared these components between non-proficient bilinguals and proficient bilinguals. (2) Compared with non-proficient bilinguals, do proficient bilinguals 'also have advantages in some components of cognitive control? ( 3 ) Is the influence of bilingualism on some components of cognitive control in bilingual children consistent with that in bilingual adults? (4) Are existing results suitable for Chinese-English bilinguals? The present study aims at answering these questions. Thirty non-proficient Chinese-English bilinguals and thirty proficient Chinese-English bilinguals were asked to administer the "faces task". All the participants were adults. Before the task, they finished the Raven Intelligence Test, culture, ethnic background and social economic status (SES) survey to eliminate the influence of some irrelevant variables. In the face task, the colored eyes could be looking either straight ahead or towards one of the two boxes, creating the straight eyes task and the gaze shift task. The participants should press the key on the same side as the box containing the asterisk if the eyes turned green and the opposite side if the eyes turned red. Inhibitory control was assessed by the difference in RT between trials in which the eyes looked towards the target and those in which the eyes looked away from the target in the gaze shift task. The results showed that the non-proficient Chinese-English bilinguals produced a larger cost than the proficient Chinese-English bilinguals, t(57) = 2. 107, p = . 040. Cognitive flexibility was assessed by the difference between mixed and single block presentations. The results showed that the non
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Hauck, Maurice Cogan; Wolf, Mikyung Kim; Mislevy, Robert
2016-01-01
This paper is the first in a series from Educational Testing Service (ETS) concerning English language proficiency (ELP) assessments for K-12 English learners (ELs). The goal of this paper, and the series, is to present research-based ideas, principles, and recommendations for consideration by those who are conceptualizing, developing, and…
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Proficiency and sentence constraint effects on second language word learning.
Ma, Tengfei; Chen, Baoguo; Lu, Chunming; Dunlap, Susan
2015-07-01
This paper presents an experiment that investigated the effects of L2 proficiency and sentence constraint on semantic processing of unknown L2 words (pseudowords). All participants were Chinese native speakers who learned English as a second language. In the experiment, we used a whole sentence presentation paradigm with a delayed semantic relatedness judgment task. Both higher and lower-proficiency L2 learners could make use of the high-constraint sentence context to judge the meaning of novel pseudowords, and higher-proficiency L2 learners outperformed lower-proficiency L2 learners in all conditions. These results demonstrate that both L2 proficiency and sentence constraint affect subsequent word learning among second language learners. We extended L2 word learning into a sentence context, replicated the sentence constraint effects previously found among native speakers, and found proficiency effects in L2 word learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Li, Jiaqi; Marbley, Aretha Faye; Bradley, Loretta J.; Lan, William
2016-01-01
The authors examined the help-seeking attitudes of 109 Chinese international students studying in the United States. Results revealed that significant relationships exist among acculturation, ethnic identity, English proficiency, and attitudes toward seeking professional counseling services. Limitations and recommendations for future research are…
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Language proficiency: Current strategies, future remedies ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Language proficiency among young South Africans is low. This is true not only of mother tongue speakers of English and Afrikaans, but also, and especially, of non-mother tongue speakers of English, among whom language proficiency levels raise serious concern. Some examples are given to illustrate the importance of ...
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Bills, Garland D.; Hudson, Alan; Chavez, Eduardo Hernandez
1999-01-01
Examines 1990 Census data for a large sample of the Hispanic-origin population in the Southwest, exploring two possible indices of language maintenance--Spanish home language claiming and English proficiency--as these are influenced by nativity, time, and age of immigration, citizenship status of the foreign born, education, and income.…
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Oral English Language Proficiency and Reading Mastery: The Role of Home Language and School Supports
Palacios, Natalia; Kibler, Amanda
2016-01-01
The analysis of 21,409 participants of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort focused on home and school factors sought to understand the level of reading mastery that children experienced throughout elementary school and Grade 8 by relating home language use, timing of oral English language proficiency, and the provision of…
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Man, Jonathan P; Weinkauf, Justin G; Tsang, Monica; Sin, Don D
2004-01-01
National factor(s) influencing publication output in the highest ranked medical journals are largely unknown. We sought to examine the relationship between national research funding and English proficiency on publication output. We identified all original research articles appearing in the five highest ranked general medical journals between 1997 and 2001. Using the country of the corresponding author as the source nation for each article, we determined a standardized publication rate across developed nations. We used multiple regression techniques to determine the influence of national expenditures on research and scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a surrogate for English proficiency, on publication output. There was a significant relationship of national spending on research and TOEFL scores to publication output of developed countries (p = 0.04; p < 0.01, respectively). These two variables explained approximately 71.5% of the variation in publication rate across developed nations around the world (R = 0.85; p < 0.01). Normalized for population size, English-speaking nations and certain northern European countries such as Denmark, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden had the highest rate of publication in the five highest ranked general medical journals, while Asian countries had generally low rates of publication. Research spending and English proficiency were strongly associated with publication output in the highest ranked general medical journals. While these data cannot be considered definitive due to their observational nature, they do suggest that for English-language medical journals, research funding and English proficiency may be important determinants of publication.
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Mahfouz, Safi M.; Ihmeideh, Fathi M.
2009-01-01
This study aims to investigate Jordanian university students' attitudes towards using video and text chat discourse with anonymous native speakers of English to improve their English proficiency. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire was designed. The study sample consisted of 320 university students enrolled in two Jordanian universities. Results…
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Hetler, Angela Dawn
2010-01-01
This qualitative case study examines teachers' perspectives on testing accommodations for Limited English Proficient (LEP) students taking Indiana's Graduation Qualifying Exam (GQE). The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) states that the purpose of testing accommodations is to "level the playing field" between LEP students and their…
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Life after oral English certification
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Dimova, Slobodanka
2017-01-01
, this study discusses the consequences resulting from score and feedback interpretations and uses as part of the validation process of TOEPAS (Test of Oral English Proficiency for Academic Staff), which is a performance-based test used for oral English certification of lecturers at the University......Internationalization of higher education has resulted in rapid developments of English-medium instruction (EMI) courses in non-Anglophone countries in Europe and Asia. Due to the growing concerns about lecturers' ability to teach in English, several European universities have implemented policies...... for internal assessment of lecturers' English proficiency to ensure the quality of teaching in EMI programs. However, research on the measured construct and the reliability and the validity of these assessments remains scarce. Based on interviews with tested university lecturers and formative feedback analysis...
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Sotelo-Dynega, Marlene; Ortiz, Samuel O.; Flanagan, Dawn P.; Chaplin, William F.
2013-01-01
In this article, we report the findings of an exploratory empirical study that investigated the relationship between English Language Proficiency (ELP) on performance on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities-Third Edition (WJ III) when administered in English to bilingual students of varying levels of ELP. Sixty-one second-grade…
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Smiljanic, Iskra
2017-01-01
This study examined the relationship between attachment, travel experiences, and English proficiency and international students' acculturative stress and depressive symptoms. A total of 91 graduate international students completed online surveys. Pearson correlations showed that both attachment anxiety and avoidance were positively correlated with…
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Ernst, Jeremy V.; Li, Songze; Williams, Thomas O.
2014-01-01
The ever-changing student population of engineering design graphics students necessitates broader sets of instructor adeptness. Specifically, preparedness to educate and provide adequate educational access to content for students with identified categorical disabilities and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) is now an essential readiness skill for…
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Toh Peng Yeow; Mark Kiak Min TAN; Li-Cher LOH; Julia BLITZ
2010-01-01
Appreciation of learning styles can be of use tohelp both educators and students to enhance theeffectiveness of an educational experience. It has beennoticed that some students at this College are not verygood at expressing themselves in either written orspoken English. Our study aimed to identify thestudent’s learning styles; assess whether there isany correlation between learning style, baselinedemographic data and self rated proficiency in Englishlanguage; and assess their associations wit...
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Brouillette, Liane
2012-01-01
This article looks at how arts integration can boost the language development of limited English proficient students in kindergarten through second grade. I first review existing research on how young children learn and describe the special challenges faced by children who must learn in an unfamiliar language. I then identify arts-based mechanisms…
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Using the Multiliteracies Approach to Promote English Literacy in Higher Education
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sarjit Kaur
2007-06-01
Full Text Available Higher education teachers who teach English proficiency courses to undergraduates often make the assumption that if learners work hard on content taught to them, they would have acquired literacy in all aspects relating to the language. Do learners’ abilities to read well or write well in English depend on their context? To discern the appropriate path for their learners, higher education teachers must be knowledgeable about “language and literacy, be adept at seeking and critically evaluating information and be able to relate these understandings to their daily working knowledge of their learners” (Heydon, Hibbert & Iannaci, 2005: 312. Many definitions of the term ‘literacy’ seem to focus too much on skill to the exclusion of will (Padak & Bardine, 2004. The concepts of promoting ‘engaged learners’ and ‘literacy empowerment’ in higher education contexts should incorporate some of the following aspects: motivation, strategies, knowledge and social interaction. This paper discusses the design and framework of the Multiliteracies Approach advocated by The New London Group and argues that it is a viable teaching strategy that embraces literacy abilities, literacy choices and attitudes. Additionally, it recognizes that meaningful learning can take place if there is bridging between theory and practice.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cynthia M. Mojica
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Despite the availability of effective early detection technologies, more than half (61% of colorectal cancers in the United States and 55% in California are identified at an advanced stage. Data on colorectal cancer patients (N=35,030 diagnosed from 2005 to 2007 were obtained from the California Cancer Registry. Multivariate analyses found a relationship among neighborhood concentration of recent immigrants, neighborhood rates of limited English proficiency, and late-stage colorectal cancer diagnosis. Hispanics living in neighborhoods with a greater percentage of recent immigrants (compared to the lowest percentage had greater odds (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.22, 2.02 of late-stage diagnosis whereas Hispanics living in neighborhoods with the highest percentage of limited English proficiency (compared to the lowest percentage had lower odds (OR .71, 95% CI .51, .99 of late-stage diagnosis. These relationships were not observed for other ethnic groups. Results highlight the complex relationship among race/ethnicity, neighborhood characteristics, and colorectal cancer stage at diagnosis.
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Panikkar, Bindu; Woodin, Mark A; Brugge, Doug; Desmarais, Anne Marie; Hyatt, Raymond; Goldman, Rose; Pirie, Alex; Goldstein-Gelb, Marcy; Galvão, Heloisa; Chianelli, Monica; Vasquez, Ismael; McWhinney, Melissa; Dalembert, Franklin; Gute, David M
2012-12-06
In this community based research initiative, we employed a survey instrument predominately developed and administered by Teen Educators to assess occupational health risks for Haitian, Salvadoran, and Brazilian immigrants (n = 405) in Somerville, MA, USA. We demonstrate that a combined analysis of ethnicity, years in the US, and English proficiency better characterized the occupational experience of immigrant workers than considering these variables individually. While years in the US (negatively) and English proficiency (positively) explained the occurrence of health risks, the country of origin identified the most vulnerable populations in the community. Brazilians, Salvadorans, and other Hispanic, all of whom who have been in the US varying length of time, with varying proficiency in English language had twice the odds of reporting injuries due to work compared to other immigrants. Although this observation was not significant it indicates that years in the US and English proficiency alone do not predict health risks among this population. We recommend the initiation of larger studies employing c community based participatory research methods to confirm these differences and to further explore work and health issues of immigrant populations. This study is one of the small number of research efforts to utilize a contemporaneous assessment of occupational health problems in three distinct immigrant populations at the community level within a specific Environmental Justice context and social milieu.
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Panikkar, Bindu; Woodin, Mark A.; Brugge, Doug; Desmarais, Anne Marie; Hyatt, Raymond; Goldman, Rose; Pirie, Alex; Goldstein-Gelb, Marcy; Galvão, Heloisa; Chianelli, Monica; Vasquez, Ismael; McWhinney, Melissa; Dalembert, Franklin; Gute, David M.
2012-01-01
In this community based research initiative, we employed a survey instrument predominately developed and administered by Teen Educators to assess occupational health risks for Haitian, Salvadoran, and Brazilian immigrants (n = 405) in Somerville, MA, USA. We demonstrate that a combined analysis of ethnicity, years in the US, and English proficiency better characterized the occupational experience of immigrant workers than considering these variables individually. While years in the US (negatively) and English proficiency (positively) explained the occurrence of health risks, the country of origin identified the most vulnerable populations in the community. Brazilians, Salvadorans, and other Hispanic, all of whom who have been in the US varying length of time, with varying proficiency in English language had twice the odds of reporting injuries due to work compared to other immigrants. Although this observation was not significant it indicates that years in the US and English proficiency alone do not predict health risks among this population. We recommend the initiation of larger studies employing c community based participatory research methods to confirm these differences and to further explore work and health issues of immigrant populations. This study is one of the small number of research efforts to utilize a contemporaneous assessment of occupational health problems in three distinct immigrant populations at the community level within a specific Environmental Justice context and social milieu. PMID:23222180
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杉森, 建太郎; Kentaro, Sugimori; 昭和女子大学総合教育センター
2007-01-01
Self-determination theory explains that the fulfillment of the three basic psychological needs-autonomy, competence, and relatedness-will lead to intrinsic motivation or the internalization of extrinsic motivation, which can result in successful learning. In this pilot study, I focused on non-English major Japanese university students with low English proficiency to find out the relationships between their basic psychological needs and motivation. Unlike the initial expectation, the autonomy ...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Joel M. Magogwe
2013-02-01
Full Text Available This study explored metacognitive awareness level of University of Botswana students in the Faculty of Social Sciences. It also considered the more recent research focusing on the role of metacognitive awareness in reading and how it relates to proficiency. The following questions are addressed: (1 What are the self-reported reading proficiencies of the University of Botswana students? (2 Are the University of Botswana students aware of their metacognitive reading strategies? (3 What kind of metacognitive reading strategies are frequently used? (4 Is there a difference in metacognitive awareness of reading strategies used by high- and low-proficiency students respectively? The Survey of Reading Strategies Questionnaire (SORS developed by Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002, and the semi-structured interview technique were used to collect data for this study. The findings indicate that University of Botswana English as Second Language (ESL students reported high reading proficiency and high use of metacognitive strategies, but there was no vast difference in terms of proficiency. Students who reported their proficiency as high had an edge over low-proficiency ones mainly because their management and monitoring of reading was guided more by the goals they have set themselves than by the tests and assignments they were supposed to write.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Falita G. Jaliyya
2017-08-01
Full Text Available The English language has been given the status of Foreign Language (FL in Indonesia, unlike the language being a second language in its neighbouring countries. However, the language has becoming quite popular and dominant in certain parts of Indonesian schools, especially private schools and colleges. Thus, this investigation sought to examine the attitudes and perceptions of selected Indonesian English language learners. It also aspired to find out how these attitudes and perceptions towards the English language affect their proficiency. A qualitative research design employing the in-depth semi-structured interview was carried out with 12 students at the As’saadah Islamic Boarding School in Banten, West Java. Thematic analyses were also performed to analyse the data. The findings point to the direction of students’ motivation in learning English as a foreign language. Students were found to have positive attitudes and were motivated to learn the language although learning the language might not stem from their own willingness to learn.
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Baron, Patricia A.; Papageorgiou, Spiros
2016-01-01
The purpose of this study was to collect recommendations for minimum score requirements (cut scores) on the "TOEFL Junior"® English language proficiency test in order to guide decisions on the placement of learners into English as a second language (ESL) support classes. The TOEFL Junior test, intended primarily for students ages 11 and…
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Bridges, Ann; Mitchell, John
2015-01-01
A brand new edition of the former Higher English: Close Reading , completely revised and updated for the new Higher element (Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation) - worth 30% of marks in the final exam!. We are working with SQA to secure endorsement for this title. Written by two highly experienced authors this book shows you how to practice for the Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation section of the new Higher English exam. This book introduces the terms and concepts that lie behind success and offers guidance on the interpretation of questions and targeting answer
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Miles, Eva
2013-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of open enrollment, curriculum alignment, and data-driven instruction on the test performance of English Language Learners (ELLs) and Re-designated Fluent English Proficient students (RFEPs) at Shangri-la High School. Participants of this study consisted of the student population enrolled in…
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Measuring receptive collocational competence across proficiency ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The present study investigates (i) English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners' receptive collocational knowledge growth in relation to their linguistic proficiency level; (ii) how much receptive collocational knowledge is acquired as linguistic proficiency develops; and (iii) the extent to which receptive knowledge of ...
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Chakraborty, Rahul; Goffman, Lisa
2011-06-01
To assess the influence of second language (L2) proficiency on production characteristics of rhythmic sequences in the L1 (Bengali) and L2 (English), with emphasis on linguistic transfer. One goal was to examine, using kinematic evidence, how L2 proficiency influences the production of iambic and trochaic words, focusing on temporal and spatial aspects of prosody. A second goal was to assess whether prosodic structure influences judgment of foreign accent. Twenty Bengali-English bilingual individuals, 10 with low proficiency in English and 10 with high proficiency in English, and 10 monolingual English speakers, participated. Lip and jaw movements were recorded while the bilingual participants produced Bengali and English words embedded in sentences. Lower lip movement amplitude and duration were measured in trochaic and iambic words. Six native English listeners judged the nativeness of the bilingual speakers. Evidence of L1-L2 transfer was observed through duration but not amplitude cues. More proficient L2 speakers varied duration to mark iambic stress. Perceptually, the high-proficiency group received relatively higher native-like accent ratings. Trochees were judged as more native than iambs. Even in the face of L1-L2 lexical stress transfer, nonnative speakers demonstrated knowledge of prosodic contrasts. Movement duration appears to be more amenable than amplitude to modifications.
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Chan, Hoi Wing
2016-01-01
This paper reports on how and why proficient learners of English in Hong Kong participated in popular culture, out-of-class activities, with an emphasis on their development of learner autonomy. Autonomy in language learning is defined as an individual's ability and responsibility to take charge of his or her own learning [1]. Out-of-class…
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Flores, Glenn; Abreu, Milagros; Tomany-Korman, Sandra C
2005-01-01
Approximately 3.5 million U.S. schoolchildren are limited in English proficiency (LEP). Disparities in children's health and health care are associated with both LEP and speaking a language other than English at home, but prior research has not examined which of these two measures of language barriers is most useful in examining health care disparities. Our objectives were to compare primary language spoken at home vs. parental LEP and their associations with health status, access to care, and use of health services in children. We surveyed parents at urban community sites in Boston, asking 74 questions on children's health status, access to health care, and use of health services. Some 98% of the 1,100 participating children and families were of non-white race/ethnicity, 72% of parents were LEP, and 13 different primary languages were spoken at home. "Dose-response" relationships were observed between parental English proficiency and several child and parental sociodemographic features, including children's insurance coverage, parental educational attainment, citizenship and employment, and family income. Similar "dose-response" relationships were noted between the primary language spoken at home and many but not all of the same sociodemographic features. In multivariate analyses, LEP parents were associated with triple the odds of a child having fair/poor health status, double the odds of the child spending at least one day in bed for illness in the past year, and significantly greater odds of children not being brought in for needed medical care for six of nine access barriers to care. None of these findings were observed in analyses of the primary language spoken at home. Individual parental LEP categories were associated with different risks of adverse health status and outcomes. Parental LEP is superior to the primary language spoken at home as a measure of the impact of language barriers on children's health and health care. Individual parental LEP
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Multilingual students' acquisition of English as their L3
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Samal Jalal, Rawand
with regard to English proficiency. The current study conducted in Denmark investigated multilingual students’ English proficiency compared to their monolingual peers’, and examined which learning strategies proficient L3 learners utilize. The sample was comprised of 9-graders who are monolinguals (N = 82......) and multilinguals with Turkish L1 (N = 134). The participants provided basic demographic information, and were tested in their general English proficiency. Out of the 70 multilinguals with Turkish L1, 12 participants were selected for further testing; i.e., the four participants who scored the lowest, four...... participants with intermediate scores, and the four who scored the highest, on a test of English proficiency. These participants were tested in their L1 (Turkish) and their L2 (Danish) in order to examine whether their proficiency in their L1 and L2 was associated with English proficiency. Furthermore, the 12...
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Milman, Lisa H; Faroqi-Shah, Yasmeen; Corcoran, Chris D; Damele, Deanna M
2018-04-17
Performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), among the most widely used global screens of adult cognitive status, is affected by demographic variables including age, education, and ethnicity. This study extends prior research by examining the specific effects of bilingualism on MMSE performance. Sixty independent community-dwelling monolingual and bilingual adults were recruited from eastern and western regions of the United States in this cross-sectional group study. Independent sample t tests were used to compare 2 bilingual groups (Spanish-English and Asian Indian-English) with matched monolingual speakers on the MMSE, demographically adjusted MMSE scores, MMSE item scores, and a nonverbal cognitive measure. Regression analyses were also performed to determine whether language proficiency predicted MMSE performance in both groups of bilingual speakers. Group differences were evident on the MMSE, on demographically adjusted MMSE scores, and on a small subset of individual MMSE items. Scores on a standardized screen of language proficiency predicted a significant proportion of the variance in the MMSE scores of both bilingual groups. Bilingual speakers demonstrated distinct performance profiles on the MMSE. Results suggest that supplementing the MMSE with a language screen, administering a nonverbal measure, and/or evaluating item-based patterns of performance may assist with test interpretation for this population.
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Measuring receptive collocational competence across proficiency levels
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Déogratias Nizonkiza
2015-12-01
Full Text Available The present study investigates, (i English as Foreign Language (EFL learners’ receptive collocational knowledge growth in relation to their linguistic proficiency level; (ii how much receptive collocational knowledge is acquired as proficiency develops; and (iii the extent to which receptive knowledge of collocations of EFL learners varies across word frequency bands. A proficiency measure and a collocation test were administered to English majors at the University of Burundi. Results of the study suggest that receptive collocational competence develops alongside EFL learners’ linguistic proficiency; which lends empirical support to Gyllstad (2007, 2009 and Author (2011 among others, who reported similar findings. Furthermore, EFL learners’ collocations growth seems to be quantifiable wherein both linguistic proficiency level and word frequency occupy a crucial role. While more gains in terms of collocations that EFL learners could potentially add as a result of change in proficiency are found at lower levels of proficiency; collocations of words from more frequent word bands seem to be mastered first, and more gains are found at more frequent word bands. These results confirm earlier findings on the non-linearity nature of vocabulary growth (cf. Meara 1996 and the fundamental role played by frequency in word knowledge for vocabulary in general (Nation 1983, 1990, Nation and Beglar 2007, which are extended here to collocations knowledge.
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Tatsuta, Natsuko
2014-01-01
This dissertation investigated the neural mechanisms underlying English morphosyntactic processing in Case, subject-verb agreement, and past tense inflection in Japanese learners of English (JLEs) using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in terms of the effects of the age of second language (L2) acquisition (the age of learning English), L2 proficiency level (the English proficiency level), and native/first language (L1) transfer. Researchers have debated for a number of years the question...
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Wang, Ya-Huei; Kao, Pan-Fu; Liao, Hung-Chang
2016-02-01
This study examined the relationship between the use of vocabulary learning strategies and self-efficacy in medical English learning, and whether after an initial six-week course to master the basics of medical terminology, those with higher use of vocabulary learning strategies and those with a higher degree of self-efficacy would have significant score improvements in the medical English proficiency. Second-year medical students (N = 115; M age = 19.6, SD = 0.5; 82 men, 33 women) participated in the study. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used. Measures included medical English tests, the English Vocabulary Learning Strategies Survey (EVLSS), and the English Learning Self-Efficacy Scale (ELSES). Results showed that there was no significant correlation between vocabulary learning strategies and English learning self-efficacy. In addition, as a whole, vocabulary learning strategies and self-efficacy significantly predicted students' score improvements in medical English proficiency. © The Author(s) 2016.
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An Institutional Approach to English Language Proficiency
Murray, Neil; Hicks, Margaret
2016-01-01
As the university student body becomes ever more diverse, the place and nature of English language provision is coming under unprecedented scrutiny and is the object of greater regulation. Today, more than ever before, institutions of higher education are being called to account for the way in which they support this diverse population in respect…
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English as a Symbol of Internationalization in Higher Education: A Case Study of Vietnam
Duong, Van Anh; Chua, Catherine S. K.
2016-01-01
Vietnam universities have experienced remarkable changes brought about by their internationalization policies. The switch to English as a medium of instruction (EMI) for some academic programs was one of these critical changes. Literature has reported numerous issues related to EMI, including inadequate language proficiency of teaching staff. This…
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Lee, Jonathan S; Pérez-Stable, Eliseo J; Gregorich, Steven E; Crawford, Michael H; Green, Adrienne; Livaudais-Toman, Jennifer; Karliner, Leah S
2017-08-01
Language barriers disrupt communication and impede informed consent for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) undergoing healthcare procedures. Effective interventions for this disparity remain unclear. Assess the impact of a bedside interpreter phone system intervention on informed consent for patients with LEP and compare outcomes to those of English speakers. Prospective, pre-post intervention implementation study using propensity analysis. Hospitalized patients undergoing invasive procedures on the cardiovascular, general surgery or orthopedic surgery floors. Installation of dual-handset interpreter phones at every bedside enabling 24-h immediate access to professional interpreters. Primary predictor: pre- vs. post-implementation group; secondary predictor: post-implementation patients with LEP vs. English speakers. Primary outcomes: three central informed consent elements, patient-reported understanding of the (1) reasons for and (2) risks of the procedure and (3) having had all questions answered. We considered consent adequately informed when all three elements were met. We enrolled 152 Chinese- and Spanish-speaking patients with LEP (84 pre- and 68 post-implementation) and 86 English speakers. Post-implementation (vs. pre-implementation) patients with LEP were more likely to meet criteria for adequately informed consent (54% vs. 29%, p = 0.001) and, after propensity score adjustment, had significantly higher odds of adequately informed consent (AOR 2.56; 95% CI, 1.15-5.72) as well as of each consent element individually. However, compared to post-implementation English speakers, post-implementation patients with LEP had significantly lower adjusted odds of adequately informed consent (AOR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.16-0.91). A bedside interpreter phone system intervention to increase rapid access to professional interpreters was associated with improvements in patient-reported informed consent and should be considered by hospitals seeking to improve
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Tiewtrakul, T; Fletcher, S R
2010-02-01
Although English has been the international aviation language since 1951, formal language proficiency testing for key aviation personnel has only recently been implemented by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It aims to ensure minimum acceptable levels of English pronunciation and comprehension universally, but does not attend to particular regional dialect difficulties. However, evidence suggests that voice transmissions between air traffic controllers and pilots are a particular problem in international airspace and that pilots may not understand messages due to the influence of different accents when using English. This study explores the potential impact of 'non-native English' in pilot-air traffic control transmissions using a 'conversation analysis' technique to examine approach phase recordings from Bangkok International Airport. Results support that communication errors, defined by incidents of pilots not understanding, occur significantly more often when speakers are both non-native English, messages are more complex and when numerical information is involved. These results and their possible implications are discussed with reference to the development of ICAO's new language proficiency standards. Statement of Relevance: This study builds on previous work and literature, providing further evidence to show that the risks caused by language and linguistics in aviation must be explored more deeply. Findings are particularly contemporary and relevant today, indicating that recently implemented international standards would benefit from further exploratory research and development.
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Chinese Learners of English See Chinese Words When Reading English Words.
Ma, Fengyang; Ai, Haiyang
2018-06-01
The present study examines when second language (L2) learners read words in the L2, whether the orthography and/or phonology of the translation words in the first language (L1) is activated and whether the patterns would be modulated by the proficiency in the L2. In two experiments, two groups of Chinese learners of English immersed in the L1 environment, one less proficient and the other more proficient in English, performed a translation recognition task. In this task, participants judged whether pairs of words, with an L2 word preceding an L1 word, were translation words or not. The critical conditions compared the performance of learners to reject distractors that were related to the translation word (e.g., , pronounced as /bei 1/) of an L2 word (e.g., cup) in orthography (e.g., , bad in Chinese, pronounced as /huai 4/) or phonology (e.g., , sad in Chinese, pronounced as /bei 1/). Results of Experiment 1 showed less proficient learners were slower and less accurate to reject translation orthography distractors, as compared to unrelated controls, demonstrating a robust translation orthography interference effect. In contrast, their performance was not significantly different when rejecting translation phonology distractors, relative to unrelated controls, showing no translation phonology interference. The same patterns were observed in more proficient learners in Experiment 2. Together, these results suggest that when Chinese learners of English read English words, the orthographic information, but not the phonological information of the Chinese translation words is activated. In addition, this activation is not modulated by L2 proficiency.
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Wang, Chih-hsuan; Harrison, Jamie; Cardullo, Victoria; Lin, Xi
2018-01-01
One of the major challenges for international students to pursue academic goals in the United States is English language proficiency, which often negatively affects academic success. Even students with confidence in their English language proficiency encounter challenges using English in class. Previous research indicates self-efficacy positively…
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Standiford, Connie J; Nolan, Elizabeth; Harris, Michelle; Bernstein, Steven J
2009-12-01
To evaluate and improve the provision of language services at an academic medicine center caring for a diverse population including many limited-English-proficient (LEP) patients. The authors performed a prospective observational study between November 2006 and December 2008 evaluating the provision of language services at the University of Michigan Health System. The primary performance measures were (1) screening patients for their preferred language for health care, (2) assessing the proportion of LEP patients receiving language services from a qualified language services provider, and (3) assessing whether there were any disparities in diabetes care for LEP patients compared with English-speaking patients. The proportion of patients screened for preferred language increased from 59% to 96% with targeted inventions, such as training staff to capture preferred language for health care and correcting prior inaccurate primary language data entry. The proportion of LEP outpatients with a qualified language services provider increased from 19% to 83% through the use of staff and contract interpreters, over-the-phone interpreting and bilingual providers. There were no systematic differences in diabetes quality performance measures between LEP and English-proficient patients. Academic medical centers should measure their provision of language services and compare quality and safety data (e.g., performance measures and adverse events) between LEP and English-speaking patients to identify disparities in care. Leadership support and ongoing training are needed to ensure language-specific services are embedded into clinical care to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.
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The International English Language Testing System (IELTS): The Speaking Test.
Ingram, D. E.
1991-01-01
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) assesses proficiency in English both generally and for special purposes of non-native English speakers studying, training, or learning English in English-speaking countries. The Speaking subtest of the IELTS measures a candidate's general proficiency in speaking in everyday situations via a…
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Lin, Bih-Jiau; Chiou, Wen-Bin
2010-06-01
English competency has become essential for obtaining a better job or succeeding in higher education in Taiwan. Thus, passing the General English Proficiency Test is important for college students in Taiwan. The current study applied Ajzen's theory of planned behavior and the notions of outcome expectancy and self-efficacy from Bandura's social cognitive theory to investigate college students' intentions to take the General English Proficiency Test. The formal sample consisted of 425 undergraduates (217 women, 208 men; M age = 19.5 yr., SD = 1.3). The theory of planned behavior showed greater predictive ability (R2 = 33%) of intention than the social cognitive theory (R2 = 7%) in regression analysis and made a unique contribution to prediction of actual test-taking behavior one year later in logistic regression. Within-model analyses indicated that subjective norm in theory of planned behavior and outcome expectancy in social cognitive theory are crucial factors in predicting intention. Implications for enhancing undergraduates' intentions to take the English proficiency test are discussed.
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Higher English language skills for CFE
Firth, Mary M; Mitchell, John
2015-01-01
A brand new edition of a bestselling title, updated for the newest Higher English (for CfE) syllabus. We are working with SQA to secure endorsement for this title. This book provides you with the support and advice you will need to succeed in Higher English. By studying literary techniques and with top experts guiding you through and explaining how to use these skills, you will be helped to understand why questions are framed in a particular way and how to answer them in a manner that ensures the highest possible grade. - Become more secure in your knowledge of the English language. - Learn ho
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Use and Impact of English-Language Learner Assessment in Arizona
Lawton, Stephen B.
2009-01-01
The Arizona English-Language Learner Assessment (AZELLA) is the backbone of Arizona's new English-language learner (ELL) policy in that it is used to assess students' English-language proficiency in order to place them into groups for English-language instruction and to determine when they have become proficient in English. This paper evaluates a…
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Matsunuma, Mitsuyasu
2009-04-01
This study examined why some high achievers on the course final exam were unsuccessful on the proficiency exam in English. We hypothesized that the learning motives and learning behaviors (learning strategy, learning time) had different effects on the outcomes of the exams. First, the relation between the variables was investigated using structural equation modeling. Second, the learning behaviors of students who got good marks on both exams were compared with students who did well only on the course final exam. The results were as follows. (a) Learning motives influenced test performance via learning behaviors. (b) Content-attached motives influenced all variables concerning learning behaviors. (c) Content-detached motives influenced all variables concerning learning behaviors that were related only to the course final exam. (d) The students who got good marks on both exams performed the learning behaviors that were useful on the proficiency exam more frequently than the students who did well only on the course final exam.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jean-Marc Dewaele
2013-10-01
Full Text Available Previous research has suggested that high levels of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA have a negative effect on foreign language learning (Horwitz, 2001; Lu & Liu, 2011 while moderate levels of Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity (SLTA are believed to boost foreign language learning (Ely, 1995. There is prima facie evidence that both dimensions are inversely related as Foreign Language Learning contexts are full of ambiguities which may contribute to anxiety. However, the relationship between FLCA and SLTA has been under-researched. The present study is an attempt to fill this gap by investigating the link between SLTA and FLCA in English of 73 secondary school students in Hong Kong. They filled out an online questionnaire consisting of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986 and the Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (Ely, 1995. Statistical analyses revealed that FLCA, SLTA and Self-rated English proficiency predict half of the variance in each other; in other words, students who were more tolerant of second language ambiguity were less anxious in their EFL classes and they also felt more proficient.
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English Language Assessment in the Colleges of Applied Sciences in Oman: Thematic Document Analysis
Al Hajri, Fatma
2014-01-01
Proficiency in English language and how it is measured have become central issues in higher education research as the English language is increasingly used as a medium of instruction and a criterion for admission to education. This study evaluated the English language assessment in the foundation Programme at the Colleges of Applied sciences in…
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Self-efficacy and Its Relation to ESL Writing Proficiency and Academic Disciplines
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Saeid Raoofi
2017-07-01
Full Text Available Writing is an essential skill for academic development within any disciplinary area. Despite the rapidly growing body of research on the various aspects of second language writing, research on writing self-efficacy remains scarce. This study investigated the relationship the between writing self-efficacy and writing proficiency in English as a second language. In this cross-sectional study, 304 Malaysian undergraduate students completed a writing self-efficacy questionnaire. The participants’ writing proficiency was assessed using two different writing tasks. The results showed that there was a significant difference in writing self-efficacy among the three writing proficiency groups. It was also found that science students had significantly higher writing self-efficacy than those in social sciences. Limitations of the study and Implications for second language writing instruction are also discussed.
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From ‘English-only’ to translanguaging strategies: Exploring possibilities
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mwinda, Nangura
2015-12-01
Full Text Available This article investigates English language proficiency development in a rural primary school in the Kavango region of Namibia. English is the language of instruction in most schools in Namibia from fourth grade onwards. In addition to other challenges, lack of adequate proficiency in English has been identified as one of the major barriers to learning. Current research on translanguaging demonstrates that purposeful use of translanguaging supports learning. The aim of this article is to argue that a contextual analysis and a test of learners’ proficiency in their dominant language and in English are essential when deciding on translanguaging strategies. This may lead to possible ways in which translanguaging can improve the English language proficiency of rural primary learners in an environment where the language is hardly heard or spoken outside the classroom. The paper argues that translation, and preview – view – review strategies are some of the translanguaging teaching strategies that could be used as resources for building English vocabulary.
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Li, Zhi; Volkov, Alex
2017-01-01
Lexical bundles are worthy of attention in both teaching and testing writing as they function as basic building blocks of discourse. This corpus-based study focuses on the rated writing responses to the email tasks in the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program® General test (CELPIP-General) and explores the extent to which lexical…
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Language proficiency and nursing registration.
Müller, Amanda
2016-02-01
This discussion paper focuses on English proficiency standards for nursing registration in Australia, how Australia has dealt with the issue of language proficiency, and the factors which have led to the establishment of the current language standards. Also, this paper will provide a comparison of the two language tests that are currently accepted in Australia (OET and IELTS), including the appropriateness of these tests and the minimum standards used. The paper will also examine the use of educational background as an indicator of language proficiency. Finally, communication-based complaints in the post-registration environment will be explored, and some discussion will be provided about why pre-registration measures might have failed to prevent such problematic situations from occurring. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Kiran, Swathi; Iakupova, Regina
2011-01-01
The goal of this study was to address the relationship between language proficiency, language impairment and rehabilitation in bilingual Russian-English individuals with aphasia. As a first step, we examined two Russian-English patients' pre-stroke language proficiency using a detailed and comprehensive language use and history questionnaire and…
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Bermudez, Andrea B.; Prater, Doris L.
1994-01-01
Examines the use of persuasive responses by Hispanic second-language writers and categorizes these responses by level of language proficiency and gender. Findings indicate that students exit English-as-a-Second-Language classes without having achieved a higher level of expertise in the use of persuasive discourse and that females elaborate more…
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Study on Correlation of English Pronunciation Self-Concept to English Learning
Tang, Xin; Zhang, Shengqi; Li, Yucong; Zhao, Miqiang
2013-01-01
English pronunciation self-concept is formed in the process of pronunciation learning, which refers to the learners' self-conception and assessment of one's English pronunciation proficiency and pronunciation (Gimson, A. C. 1980). This paper reports an investigation on 237 non-English major college students into the relationship between English…
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The impact of teachers' limited English proficiency on English ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The importance of the role of language in teacher education programmes and in children's learning is crucial. This study focuses on the use of English as the language of learning and teaching and its impact on the language development of English second language (ESL) student teachers and ESL learners. Against the ...
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Toward an English Proficiency Test for Postgraduates in Malaysia
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Saidatul Akmar Zainal Abidin
2015-08-01
Full Text Available Malaysia is fast becoming a major attraction for candidates from all over the world to pursue their higher education. Currently students (local and international who pursue postgraduate (hereafter, PG education in Malaysia use the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL or International English Language Testing System (IELTS scores as indicators of their English ability. These are tests from the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, tailor-made for university education in those countries. Recent literature in testing and evaluation describes the need for more localized tests, developed for the “local” context of a particular country. Thus, the need for a test that could be utilized and customized to the needs of the students studying in Malaysia is foreseeable. This is in line with the concept of test localization. It stipulates that for a test to be valid, its design and development must take into consideration the population, context, and the domain in which the test is used. A project was undertaken where a new English test named Graduate Admission Test of English (GATE was developed for PG admission into universities in Malaysia. This article describes the process of developing a new test that measures English language competency of PG students who intend to pursue their studies in Malaysia. It includes the use of a test specification/blueprint that contains validity elements adopted from a test validation framework developed by Weir. The article emphasizes the rigor of developing such a test, which includes aspects of test development, operation, analysis, and validation.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nasrin Yousefi
2022-09-01
Full Text Available Motivation raising strategies are frequently used in English as a Foreign Language (EFL classes; nevertheless, learners’ perceptions of such strategies used by language teachers have not sufficiently been explored. Also, there are not enough studies on differences and similarities between more and less proficient EFL learners regarding this issue. To scrutinize this topic, a groups of more (No=50 and less proficient EFL learners (No=50 participated in this study by completing to a validated, researcher-made questionnaire with a five-point Likert type format. Non-parametric Mann-Whiteny U test was run in the SPSS ver. 23 to check the differences between the two groups. The results of the study verified that, regardless of each individual scale in the utilized questionnaire, overall, the more proficient ones manifested significantly less perceptions on teachers’ motivation raising strategies based on the total estimated mean ranks compared with the less proficient learners. However, within the surveyed scales, only in the classroom atmosphere scale, the results showed that the less proficient learners were more mindful of teacher strategies for motivation raising. The findings from this study have implications for motivation raising strategy instructions for a language classroom.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mei Po Yip
2011-01-01
Full Text Available Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR is an effective intervention for prehospital cardiac arrest. Despite all available training opportunities for CPR, disparities exist in participation in CPR training, CPR knowledge, and receipt of bystander CPR for certain ethnic groups. We conducted five focus groups with Chinese immigrants who self-reported limited English proficiency (LEP. A bilingual facilitator conducted all the sessions. All discussions were taped, recorded, translated, and transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed by content analysis guided by the theory of diffusion. The majority of participants did not know of CPR and did not know where to get trained. Complexity of CPR procedure, advantages of calling 9-1-1, lack of confidence, and possible liability discourage LEP individuals to learn CPR. LEP individuals welcome simplified Hands-Only CPR and are willing to perform CPR with instruction from 9-1-1 operators. Expanding the current training to include Hands-Only CPR and dispatcher-assisted CPR may motivate Chinese LEP individuals to get trained for CPR.
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Evidence That International Undergraduates Can Succeed Academically Despite Struggling with English
Fass-Holmes, Barry; Vaughn, Allison A.
2015-01-01
Many American universities require international applicants whose native language is not English to submit English proficiency exam scores presumably because of proficiency's potential to predict future academic success. The present study provides evidence, however, that such applicants can succeed academically despite struggling with English.…
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Chinese translation norms for 1,429 English words.
Wen, Yun; van Heuven, Walter J B
2017-06-01
We present Chinese translation norms for 1,429 English words. Chinese-English bilinguals (N = 28) were asked to provide the first Chinese translation that came to mind for 1,429 English words. The results revealed that 71 % of the English words received more than one correct translation indicating the large amount of translation ambiguity when translating from English to Chinese. The relationship between translation ambiguity and word frequency, concreteness and language proficiency was investigated. Although the significant correlations were not strong, results revealed that English word frequency was positively correlated with the number of alternative translations, whereas English word concreteness was negatively correlated with the number of translations. Importantly, regression analyses showed that the number of Chinese translations was predicted by word frequency and concreteness. Furthermore, an interaction between these predictors revealed that the number of translations was more affected by word frequency for more concrete words than for less concrete words. In addition, mixed-effects modelling showed that word frequency, concreteness and English language proficiency were all significant predictors of whether or not a dominant translation was provided. Finally, correlations between the word frequencies of English words and their Chinese dominant translations were higher for translation-unambiguous pairs than for translation-ambiguous pairs. The translation norms are made available in a database together with lexical information about the words, which will be a useful resource for researchers investigating Chinese-English bilingual language processing.
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Singh, Niharika; Mishra, Ramesh K
2014-01-01
We compared Hindi-English bilinguals differing in their L2 proficiency on a saccadic countermanding task which taps inhibitory control as well as monitoring. We particularly explored whether response inhibition and performance monitoring within the oculomotor domain are affected by language proficiency in bilinguals. There were two different oculomotor redirect tasks: Visually Guided Redirect (VGR) task (Experiment1) and Memory Guided Redirect (MGR) task (Experiment 2). In the redirect task, typically a target is presented and the subject is required to make a saccade (no-step trials), unless a new target appears on a different location after some delay from the first target onset (step trials). On such trials participants are required to inhibit and cancel the saccade to the first target and programme a saccade to the new target. Using trial switch reaction time (TSRT), the time taken to inhibit the initiated saccade to the first target as a measure of response inhibition and post-step slowing as a measure of performance monitoring. The results showed the high proficient bilinguals displayed more post-step slowing on the no-step trials as compared to the low proficient bilinguals for both VGR and MGR versions of the task. Secondly, both the high and low proficient bilinguals exhibited comparable TSRT in both VGR and MGR task, showing no modulatory effects of language proficiency on the response inhibition. These results suggest that language proficiency may have an effect on performance monitoring, but not the inhibitory control per se. Thus, we infer that higher proficiency may lead to superior cognitive flexibility and an ability to adjust behavior that facilitates the attainment of the cognitive goal. These findings are in consonance with other current studies that suggest a top-down effect of bilingualism on action control systems.
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Student Volunteering in English Higher Education
Holdsworth, Clare; Quinn, Jocey
2010-01-01
Volunteering in English higher education has come under political scrutiny recently, with strong cross-party support for schemes to promote undergraduate volunteering in particular. Recent targeted initiatives and proposals have sought to strengthen both the role of volunteering in higher education and synergies between higher education and…
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Meaney, K S; Edwards, R
1996-03-01
This study investigated the effects of modeling and verbal rehearsal on the motor performance of English-speaking and limited English proficient (LEP) children. Children (N = 64) in 4th-grade classes were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 (Gender x Primary Language x Model Type x Rehearsal) factorial design. Boys and girls whose primary language was English or Spanish were assigned to either a verbal model or no-model condition as well as to a verbal rehearsal or no-rehearsal condition of the motor skills required to be performed. Analysis of variance revealed a significant Model Type x Primary Language interaction as well as a significant Rehearsal x Primary Language interaction. Follow-up analyses revealed that English-speaking children provided with a verbal rehearsal strategy recalled significantly more skills than English-speaking children in the no-rehearsal condition; for LEP children, there were no differences due to rehearsal. Moreover, LEP children presented with a verbal model recalled significantly more skills than LEP children in the no-model condition; for English-speaking children, there were no differences attributed to model type. These results indicate that effective modeling conditions that are provided with verbal cues in English are related to children's primary language.
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Developing Autonomous Learning for Oral Proficiency Using Digital Storytelling
Kim, SoHee
2014-01-01
Since online educational technology can support a ubiquitous language learning environment, there are many ways to develop English learners' autonomy through self-access learning. This study investigates whether English as a second language (ESL) learners can improve their oral proficiency through independent study by using online self-study…
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Gil, Stephanie; Hooke, Mary C; Niess, Dawn
2016-01-01
Patients and families with limited English proficiency (LEP) face a multitude of barriers both inside and outside the hospital walls. These barriers can contribute to difficulty accessing care and understanding/adhering to treatment recommendations, ultimately placing them at higher risk for poorer outcomes than their English-speaking counterparts. The LEP Patient Family Advocate role was created with the aim of improving access, promoting effective communication, and equalizing care for children with cancer from families with LEP. The goal of this mixed methods study was to describe the level of satisfaction and experiences of parents and health care providers who used the LEP Patient Family Advocate while receiving or providing care. Twelve parents and 15 health care providers completed quantitative surveys and an open-ended question about their experiences. High levels of satisfaction were reported. Themes about the role from qualitative responses included its positive effect on communication, trust, and connectedness between parents and staff. Continuity of care and safety were improved, and parents thought the role helped decrease their stress. The LEP Patient Family Advocate has a positive influence on family-centered cultural care. © 2015 by Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Simon Wong
2015-12-01
Full Text Available This research study adopted a quantitative approach to explore how the variables, namely student’s English proficiency, online instructor guidance, and online collaboration, influence the learning effectiveness of the students taking an online introductory information technology course in cyber education in a bilingual higher education institution in Hong Kong. This study is important for cyber education administrators, as it investigated the important pedagogical quality of cyber education. Correlation analysis was conducted to identify whether any of these variables collected from the survey could be associated with students’ online learning while multiple regression analysis was used to explore the combined effect of these variables on students’ online learning. Validity and reliability of this study are highlighted in this paper. The major findings in this study revealed that (1 the students’ English proficiency, online instructor guidance, and online collaboration are potential factors contributing to the students’ online learning, and (2 the students’ English proficiency has the largest effect while online instructor guidance and online collaboration have a moderate effect on the students’ online learning.
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Measuring receptive collocational competence across proficiency ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Kate H
frequency bands. A proficiency measure and a collocation test were administered to English ... battery may negatively impact the test-takers' performance. ..... examples. The major finding is that raising learners' awareness constitutes the best way forward ..... Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Green, R.
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Iftikhar Ahmad; Muhammad Sabboor Hussain; Noor Raha Mohd Radzuan
2017-01-01
The study tends to explore the possible reforms to raise the proficiency level of the adult English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners. With this end in view, it investigates non-native EFL teachers’ beliefs in relation to adult learners’ beliefs in teaching grammar to university students in the Saudi Arabian EFL context. It finds out the harmony and disharmony between the teachers at the giving end and the taught at the receiving end to create a culture of awareness and to build a better tea...
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Performance-Based Task Assessment of Higher-Order Proficiencies in Redesigned STEM High Schools
Ernst, Jeremy V.; Glennie, Elizabeth; Li, Songze
2017-01-01
This study explored student abilities in applying conceptual knowledge when presented with structured performance tasks. Specifically, the study gauged proficiency in higher-order applications of students enrolled in earth and environmental science or biology. The student sample was drawn from a Redesigned STEM high school model where a tested…
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Analyzing the Influence of Language Proficiency on Interactive Book Search Behavior
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bogers, Toine; Gäde, Maria; Hall, Mark M.
2016-01-01
English content still dominates in many online domains and information systems, despite native English speakers being a minority of its users. However, we know little about how language proficiency influences search behavior in these systems. In this paper, we describe preliminary results from an...... language constraints, a preliminary analysis of native and non-native English speakers indicate little to no meaningful differences in their search behavior.......English content still dominates in many online domains and information systems, despite native English speakers being a minority of its users. However, we know little about how language proficiency influences search behavior in these systems. In this paper, we describe preliminary results from...... an interactive IR experiment with book search behavior and examine how language skills affect this behavior. A total of 97 users from 21 different countries participated in this experiment, resulting in a rich data set including usage data as well as questionnaire feedback. Although participants reported feeling...
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Prior, Anat; MacWhinney, Brian; Kroll, Judith F.
2014-01-01
We present a set of translation norms for 670 English and 760 Spanish nouns, verbs and class ambiguous items that varied in their lexical properties in both languages, collected from 80 bilingual participants. Half of the words in each language received more than a single translation across participants. Cue word frequency and imageability were both negatively correlated with number of translations. Word class predicted number of translations: Nouns had fewer translations than did verbs, which had fewer translations than class-ambiguous items. The translation probability of specific responses was positively correlated with target word frequency and imageability, and with its form overlap with the cue word. Translation choice was modulated by L2 proficiency: Less proficient bilinguals tended to produce lower probability translations than more proficient bilinguals, but only in forward translation, from L1 to L2. These findings highlight the importance of translation ambiguity as a factor influencing bilingual representation and performance. The norms can also provide an important resource to assist researchers in the selection of experimental materials for studies of bilingual and monolingual language performance. These norms may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive. PMID:18183923
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Perold Potgieter, Anneke; Southwood, Frenette
2016-01-01
This study investigated how trilinguals fare on the cross-linguistic lexical tasks (CLT)-Afrikaans, -isiXhosa and -South African English (SAE) (cf. Haman et al., 2015) compared to monolingual controls, and whether the CLT-Afrikaans renders comparable results across socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. The LITMUS-CLTs were administered to 41 low SES 4-year-olds (11 trilinguals; 10 monolingual speakers of Afrikaans, isiXhosa and SAE) and the LITMUS-CLT-Afrikaans to 11 mid-SES 4-year-old monolinguals. Results (a) indicate that trilinguals' proficiency in their exposure-dominant language did not differ significantly from monolinguals' proficiency, but their proficiency in their additional two languages was significantly lower than monolinguals' proficiency; (b) reflect the extent, but not current amount, of exposure trilinguals had had over time to each of their languages; and (c) show that low and mid-SES monolinguals differed significantly on noun-related, but not verb-related, CLT measures. Possible reasons for and the clinical implications of these results are discussed.
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Sörqvist, Patrik; Hurtig, Anders; Ljung, Robert; Rönnberg, Jerker
2014-04-01
The purpose of this experiment was to investigate whether classroom reverberation influences second-language (L2) listening comprehension. Moreover, we investigated whether individual differences in baseline L2 proficiency and in working memory capacity (WMC) modulate the effect of reverberation time on L2 listening comprehension. The results showed that L2 listening comprehension decreased as reverberation time increased. Participants with higher baseline L2 proficiency were less susceptible to this effect. WMC was also related to the effect of reverberation (although just barely significant), but the effect of WMC was eliminated when baseline L2 proficiency was statistically controlled. Taken together, the results suggest that top-down cognitive capabilities support listening in adverse conditions. Potential implications for the Swedish national tests in English are discussed. © 2014 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology published by Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Test for English Majors (TEM) in China
Jin, Yan; Fan, Jinsong
2011-01-01
The purpose of the Test for English Majors (TEM) is to measure the English proficiency of Chinese university undergraduates majoring in English Language and Literature and to examine whether these students meet the required levels of English language abilities as specified in the National College English Teaching Syllabus for English Majors…
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Gutiierrez, Gabriel; Vanderwood, Mike L.
2013-01-01
The literacy growth of 260 second-grade English learners (ELs) with varying degrees of English language proficiency (e.g., Beginning, Early Intermediate, Intermediate, Early Advanced and Advanced English language proficiency) was assessed with English literacy skill assessments. Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills measures were…
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Lee, Kang-Young
2012-01-01
This paper discusses what intercultural English learning/teaching (IELT) is in English as a world Englishes (WEes) and how IELT can contribute to the development of proficiency/competence among WEes and can be fitted into actual WEes classrooms. This is to claim that IELT be a pivotal contextual factor facilitating success in…
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Casillas, Alejandra; Moreno, Gerardo; Grotts, Jonathan; Tseng, Chi-Hong; Morales, Leo S
2018-03-29
Use of an Internet portal to refill medicines positively affects medication adherence among English-speakers. No prior studies, however, have specifically examined the relationship between Internet refills and medication adherence among patients who are limited English proficient (LEP). (1) Examine the relationship between Internet medication refill system use and medication adherence among linguistically diverse patients with chronic conditions and (2) compare this relationship between LEP and English-proficient (EP) patients. We analyzed 2013-2014 cross-sectional data from 509 surveyed adults in the Group Health Cooperative. Surveys were merged with plan enrollment, claims data, and electronic medical records. Medication adherence was calculated by the "Continuous Measure of Medication Gaps" (CMG) method. For Internet refill system use, patients were asked, "Have you used the health systems Internet site to refill any medications in the last 12 months?" LEP status was captured in the electronic medical record by a non-English primary language and a claims record of interpreter use in at least one clinical encounter between 2005 and 2012. We used multivariate linear regression models to examine Internet refill system use and medication adherence and compared the association between LEP and EP patients. Three hundred eighty-four patients (75%) had a calculable CMG: 134 EP and 250 LEP in the adherence analyses. In unadjusted analyses, LEP patients had lower use of the Internet refill system (p < .001) and lower adherence versus the EP group (p < .001). In multivariate analyses, LEP status (β = - 0.022, p = .047) was negatively associated with adherence, while use of the Internet refill system (β = 0.030, p = .002) was positively associated. In stratified models, use of Internet refills was positively associated with adherence, even when examining LEP (β = 0.029, p = .003) and EP patients (β = 0.027, p = .049) separately
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Kiram, Johannah Jamalul; Sulaiman, Jumat; Swanto, Suyansah; Din, Wardatul Akmam
2014-06-01
This study aims to analyze the effects psychological gender differences on the relationship between language learning strategies and their proficiency in English language for pre-university students. Previous researchers found that the more employment of language learning strategies, the more successful the learners are and those with higher level of strategy use are female rather than male. In this study, fifty-six pre-university students (22 males, 34 females) of University Malaysia Sabah participated in this study. Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) self-report questionnaire was adopted to identify the students' language learning strategies, whereas their proficiencies were based on their Malaysian University English Test (MUET) results. Pearson's correlation coefficient, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the t-test were utilized to make statistical interpretation about the relationship. The knowledge obtained from this study will be helpful for future studies on how to improve the quality of learning and proficiency in English.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Iftikhar Ahmad
2017-10-01
Full Text Available The study tends to explore the possible reforms to raise the proficiency level of the adult English as Foreign Language (EFL learners. With this end in view, it investigates non-native EFL teachers’ beliefs in relation to adult learners’ beliefs in teaching grammar to university students in the Saudi Arabian EFL context. It finds out the harmony and disharmony between the teachers at the giving end and the taught at the receiving end to create a culture of awareness and to build a better teaching-learning environment. The study tries to fill the existing research gap as no previous research has tried to find out the solution to the problem from this angle. The main data collection tools are two five-point Likert-scale questionnaires, administered to 70 non-native EFL teachers and their 80 adult students. Teachers and learners have been selected based on stratified random sampling. Quantitative data have been analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS. The major findings of the study are that there is discrepancy in the grammar teaching beliefs of the EFL teachers and the taught and there is a communication gap between them which result into low English proficiency level of the EFL adult learners. Eventually, pedagogical implications of the lack of harmony between the teachers’ teaching creeds and the learners’ learning demands/expectations are provided for effective grammar teaching and better EFL classroom environment. The study recommends a better communicative harmony in both the stakeholders to bring reforms in adult education in EFL context.
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Bruno, Joanna K.
In an age when communication is highly important and states across the nation, including Colorado, have adopted Common Core State Standards, the need for academic language is even more important than ever. The language of science has been compared to a second language in that it uses specific discourse patterns, semantic rules, and a very specific vocabulary. There is a need for educators to better understand how language impacts academic achievement, specifically concerning Emergent Bilinguals (EBs). Research has identified the need to study the role language plays in content assessments and the impact they have on EBs performance (Abedi, 2008b; Abedi, Hofestter & Lord, 2004; Abedi & Lord, 2001). Since language is the means through which content knowledge is assessed, it is important to analyze this aspect of learning. A review of literature identified the need to create more reliable and valid content assessments for EBs (Abedi, 2008b) and to further study the impact of English proficiency on EBs performance on standardized assessments (Solorzano, 2008; Wolf, & Leon, 2009). This study contributes to the literature by analyzing EBs performance on a state-level science content assessment, taking into consideration English language proficiency, receptive versus productive elements of language, and students' home language. This study further contributes by discussing the relationship between language proficiency, and the different strands of science (physical, life, and earth) on the state science assessment. Finally, this study demonstrates that home language, English language proficiency, and receptive and productive elements of language are predictive of EBs' achievement on the CMAS for science, overall and by strand. It is the blending of the social (listening and speaking) with the academic (reading and writing) that is also important and possibly more important.
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Proposed English Standards Promote Aviation Safety.
Chatham, Robert L.; Thomas, Shelley
2000-01-01
Discusses the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Air Navigation's Commission approval of a task to develop minimum skill level requirements in English for air traffic control. The ICAO collaborated with the Defense Language Institute English Language Center to propose a minimum standard for English proficiency for international…
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Stokes, Nicole Osterman
2010-01-01
The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive ability of oral reading fluency (R-CBM) on a sixth grade high-stakes assessment with ELL and non-ELL students, as well as determine the average rate of growth on R-CBM and how that relates to level of English Proficiency. The participants in the current study included 350 sixth grade…
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New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Office of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment.
Learning Through Automotive Electronics (Project LETAE) was a federally funded program serving 77 limited-English-proficient (LEP) students and 5 English-proficient students in an automotive computer electronics course in 1992-93, its third year of operation. The program provided instruction in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL), native language…
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Singleton, Jenny L; Morgan, Dianne; DiGello, Elizabeth; Wiles, Jill; Rivers, Rachel
2004-01-01
The written English vocabulary of 72 deaf elementary school students of various proficiency levels in American Sign Language (ASL) was compared with the performance of 60 hearing English-as-a-second-language (ESL) speakers and 61 hearing monolingual speakers of English, all of similar age. Students were asked to retell "The Tortoise and the Hare" story (previously viewed on video) in a writing activity. Writing samples were later scored for total number of words, use of words known to be highly frequent in children's writing, redundancy in writing, and use of English function words. All deaf writers showed significantly lower use of function words as compared to their hearing peers. Low-ASL-proficient students demonstrated a highly formulaic writing style, drawing mostly on high-frequency words and repetitive use of a limited range of function words. The moderate- and high-ASL-proficient deaf students' writing was not formulaic and incorporated novel, low-frequency vocabulary to communicate their thoughts. The moderate- and high-ASL students' performance revealed a departure from findings one might expect based on previous studies with deaf writers and their vocabulary use. The writing of the deaf writers also differed from the writing of hearing ESL speakers. Implications for deaf education and literacy instruction are discussed, with special attention to the fact that ASL-proficient, deaf second-language learners of English may be approaching English vocabulary acquisition in ways that are different from hearing ESL learners.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yoonhyoung Lee
2018-03-01
Full Text Available One of the key issues in bilingual lexical representation is whether L1 processing is facilitated by L2 words. In this study, we conducted two experiments using the masked priming paradigm to examine how L2-L1 translation priming effects emerge when unbalanced, low proficiency, Korean-English bilinguals performed a lexical decision task. In Experiment 1, we used a 150 ms SOA (50 ms prime duration followed by a blank interval of 100 ms and found a significant L2-L1 translation priming effect. In contrast, in Experiment 2, we used a 60 ms SOA (50 ms prime duration followed by a blank interval of 10 ms and found a null effect of L2-L1 translation priming. This finding is the first demonstration of a significant L2-L1 translation priming effect with unbalanced Korean-English bilinguals. Implications of this work are discussed with regard to bilingual word recognition models.
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Guzman-Orth, Danielle Alicia
2012-01-01
Empirical evidence suggests oral language proficiency is correlated with literacy outcomes; however, the relationship between oral language proficiency and literacy outcomes for English Language Learners is highly variable. As a result, the field lacks critical direction to identify children who are English Language Learners experiencing general…
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Language proficiency and health status: are bilingual immigrants healthier?
Schachter, Ariela; Kimbro, Rachel T; Gorman, Bridget K
2012-03-01
Bilingual immigrants appear to have a health advantage, and identifying the mechanisms responsible for this is of increasing interest to scholars and policy makers in the United States. Utilizing the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS; n = 3,264), we investigate the associations between English and native-language proficiency and usage and self-rated health for Asian and Latino U.S. immigrants from China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. The findings demonstrate that across immigrant ethnic groups, being bilingual is associated with better self-rated physical and mental health relative to being proficient in only English or only a native language, and moreover, these associations are partially mediated by socioeconomic status and family support but not by acculturation, stress and discrimination, or health access and behaviors.
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ELL High School Students' Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Use and Reading Proficiency
Hong-Nam, Kay
2014-01-01
This study investigated the metacognitive awareness and reading strategies use of high school-aged English language learners (ELLs) and the relationship between ELL reading strategy use and reading proficiency as measured by a standardized reading test and self-rated reading proficiency. Results reveal that participants reported moderate use of…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Reiner Vinicius Perozzo
2014-06-01
Full Text Available This study investigates how Brazilian EFL learners, living in Porto Alegre (RS, perceive the differences in place of articulation of the American English unreleased voiceless stops [p¬], [t¬], and [k¬], in word-final position. Thirty-two undergraduate students (leveled as having basic and intermediate proficiency In English, taking their English major at UFRGS, participated in the research study. In order to verify the perceptual accuracy regarding the place of articulation of the consonants, two psycholinguistic tasks containing CVC words (whose nuclear segments were represented by front vowels were conducted. The results suggest that: (a the segments [p¬] and [k¬] are perceived much more accurately than the segment [t¬]; (b there were higher levels of accuracy in the tasks when the nuclear segment was a short/lax vowel; and (c the participants’ level of proficiency is not crucial to the perceptual accuracy of the consonants which were tested.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Agus Wahyudi
2017-03-01
Full Text Available Language proficiency is a person’s skill in using a language for a specific purpose (Richards, 1997. One of the tests used to measure the students’ English proficiency is TOEFL. The purpose of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL is to evaluate the English proficiency of people whose native language is not English. Over a period of three years from 2007 to 2009, one of the education Companies called Education First (EF ranked the English proficiency among a broad population in 44 countries and territories. The results showed that Asia’s performance was lower than expected, in light of the amount spent on private English training and Indonesia was in the 34th rank or in the very low proficiency level out of 44 countries and territories in the survey (EF : 2011 There are many factors that might cause the students’ low proficiency in English, two of which are students’ motivation and attitude toward English. ‘Motivation’ is the reason or reasons behind one’s actions or behavior, it is a powerful affective variable in second language acquisition, and it has a great influence on second language learning. In order to collect the data, the researcher uses a motivation questionnaire to measure students’ motivation which consists of 40 structured questions (items adapted from Ethel Ogane & Masako Sakamoto (1997. ‘Attitude’ is defined as a disposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain thing (idea, object, person, or situation. In order to collect the data, the researcher uses an attitude questionnaire to measure students’ attitude. It consists of 33 structured questions (items adapted from R. Narayanan (2008 which is developed from the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery of Gardner and Lambert and the questionnaires are calculated through Likert Scale. The population of this study is the 1st, 3rd, and 5th semester students of D3
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Aptitude, Phonological Memory, and Second Language Proficiency in Nonnovice Adult Learners
Hummel, Kirsten M.
2009-01-01
This study explores the relationship between aptitude, phonological memory (PM), and second language (L2) proficiency in nonnovice adult learners of English as an L2. Native speakers of French (N = 77) enrolled in a university Teaching English as a Second Language program were the participants in the study. Exploratory factor analysis revealed…
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Student Motivation And Instructional Strategies In English Learning In Ghana
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dr. Mustapha Bin Danquah
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Motivation has been referred to as the single most important ingredient of learning Wieman 2013. However it does not come by chance application of appropriate instructional strategies are necessary. The present study conducted in-depth inquiry into the relevance of student motivation and its relationship with higher achievement in L2 learning. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. Using stratified sampling technique 60 students were sampled from three public schools in Kumasi Metropolis. Also by means of purposive sampling six English teachers were selected in the three schools as participants. Set of questionnaires were the instrument for the study and analysis involved simple frequencies percentages tables and Pearsons Correlation Coefficient r. The study revealed that students can be motivated by simplicity clarity practical and insightful analogies making lessons lively and interesting and most importantly generous use of TLMs. Positive relationship also existed between students motivation and the use of effective instructional strategies with the attendant proficiency in English. Unequivocally student motivation is pivotal to facilitating proficiency in English a key to riding the crest of globalization and technology.
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The Attitudes of Freshman Undergraduates in Learning English as a Second Language
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yvonne Jain
2012-06-01
Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of tertiary students towards the learning of English language with regard to their gender, discipline and language proficiency. This descriptive study involved a total of 200 undergraduates from the Faculty of Education in Shah Alam, Selangor. The study employed two methods of data collection: questionnaire and semi- structured interviews. The findings revealed that there was a moderately positive attitude towards the learning of English language. However, the findings showed that the female respondents were more positive towards the learning of English language compared to their male counterparts while the Non Science major students had positive attitude towards learning English language compared to the Science major students. The study also showed that low proficiency students had better attitude towards English language compared to high proficiency students.
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READING COMPREHENSION EXERCISES ONLINE: THE EFFECTS OF FEEDBACK, PROFICIENCY AND INTERACTION
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Philip Murphy
2007-02-01
Full Text Available This paper describes an ongoing project to create an online version of a reading programme, a custom-designed English language proficiency course at a university in Japan. Following an interactionist view of second language acquisition, it was hypothesised that comprehension of a reading passage could be enhanced by online materials promoting interaction between students as they completed a multiple-choice reading comprehension exercise. Interaction was promoted: (a through pair work at a single computer and (b by providing Elaborative feedback in the form of hints about incorrect answers as a means of stimulating discussion about corrections. Students were randomly selected from upper and lower levels of English proficiency, as determined by the Kanda English Proficiency Test (Bonk & Ockey, 2003, to receive either Elaborative feedback or Knowledge of Correct Response feedback (which supplies the correct answers. Within these groups, some students worked in pairs and some alone. Quantitative results show that the interaction between Type of feedback and Manner of study (individual or pair work was statistically significant; students performed best on a follow-up comprehension exercise when in pairs and having been provided with Elaborative feedback. Furthermore, qualitative analysis of transcribed interactions also shows that Elaborative feedback was conducive to quality interaction.
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Mwalongo, Leopard Jacob
2016-01-01
In China the English medium schools are now mushrooming and many parents send their children at very early age. These schools enroll children of pre-school to school age to learn through English as foreign language regardless of their proficiency in the first language. Therefore the study aims at examining the learning English language as a…
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Nielsen, Diane Corcoran; Luetke, Barbara; McLean, Meigan; Stryker, Deborah
2016-01-01
Research suggests that English-language proficiency is critical if students who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) are to read as their hearing peers. One explanation for the traditionally reported reading achievement plateau when students are D/HH is the inability to hear insalient English morphology. Signing Exact English can provide visual access to these features. The authors investigated the English morphological and syntactic abilities and reading achievement of elementary and middle school students at a school using simultaneously spoken and signed Standard American English facilitated by intentional listening, speech, and language strategies. A developmental trend (and no plateau) in language and reading achievement was detected; most participants demonstrated average or above-average English. Morphological awareness was prerequisite to high test scores; speech was not significantly correlated with achievement; language proficiency, measured by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 (Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2003), predicted reading achievement.
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Yang, Jing
2018-03-01
This study investigated the durational features of English word-initial /s/+stop clusters produced by bilingual Mandarin (L1)-English (L2) children and monolingual English children and adults. The participants included two groups of five- to six-year-old bilingual children: low proficiency in the L2 (Bi-low) and high proficiency in the L2 (Bi-high), one group of age-matched English children, and one group of English adults. Each participant produced a list of English words containing /sp, st, sk/ at the word-initial position followed by /a, i, u/, respectively. The absolute durations of the clusters and cluster elements and the durational proportions of elements to the overall cluster were measured. The results revealed that Bi-high children behaved similarly to the English monolinguals whereas Bi-low children used a different strategy of temporal organization to coordinate the cluster components in comparison to the English monolinguals and Bi-high children. The influence of language experience and continuing development of temporal features in children were discussed.
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Landau, Ruth E; Beck, Alan; Glickman, Larry T; Litster, Annette; Widmar, Nicole J Olynk; Moore, George E
2015-01-01
Veterinary schools and colleges generally include communication skills training in their professional curriculum, but few programs address challenges resulting from language gaps between pet owners and practitioners. Due to shifting US demographics, small animal veterinary practices must accommodate an increasing number of limited English proficient (LEP) Spanish-speaking pet owners (SSPOs). A national survey was conducted to assess the interest and preparedness of US veterinary students to communicate with LEP SSPOs when they graduate. This online survey, with more than 2,000 first-, second-, and third-year US veterinary students, revealed that over 50% of students had worked at a practice or shelter that had LEP Spanish-speaking clients. Yet fewer than 20% of these students described themselves as prepared to give medical information to an LEP SSPO. Over three-fourths of respondents agreed that communication with LEP SSPOs was important for veterinarians in general, and two-thirds agreed that communication with LEP SSPOs was important for themselves personally. Ninety percent of students who described themselves as conversant in Spanish agreed that they would be able to communicate socially with SSPOs, while only 55% said they would be able to communicate medically with such clients. Overall, two-thirds of students expressed interest in taking Spanish for Veterinary Professionals elective course while in school, with the strongest interest expressed by those with advanced proficiency in spoken Spanish. Bridging language gaps has the potential to improve communication with LEP SSPOs in the veterinary clinical setting and to improve patient care, client satisfaction, and the economic health of the veterinary profession.
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Eneriz-Wiemer, Monica; Sanders, Lee M; Barr, Donald A; Mendoza, Fernando S
2014-01-01
One in 10 US adults of childbearing age has limited English proficiency (LEP). Parental LEP is associated with worse health outcomes among healthy children. The relationship of parental LEP to health outcomes for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) has not been systematically reviewed. To conduct a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature examining relationships between parental LEP and health outcomes for CSHCN. PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Social Science Abstracts, bibliographies of included studies. Key search term categories: language, child, special health care needs, and health outcomes. US studies published between 1964 and 2012 were included if: 1) subjects were CSHCN; 2) studies included some measure of parental LEP; 3) at least 1 outcome measure of child health status, access, utilization, costs, or quality; and 4) primary or secondary data analysis. Three trained reviewers independently screened studies and extracted data. Two separate reviewers appraised studies for methodological rigor and quality. From 2765 titles and abstracts, 31 studies met eligibility criteria. Five studies assessed child health status, 12 assessed access, 8 assessed utilization, 2 assessed costs, and 14 assessed quality. Nearly all (29 of 31) studies used only parent- or child-reported outcome measures, rather than objective measures. LEP parents were substantially more likely than English-proficient parents to report that their CSHCN were uninsured and had no usual source of care or medical home. LEP parents were also less likely to report family-centered care and satisfaction with care. Disparities persisted for children with LEP parents after adjustment for ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Parental LEP is independently associated with worse health care access and quality for CSHCN. Health care providers should recognize LEP as an independent risk factor for poor health outcomes among CSHCN. Emerging models of chronic disease care should integrate and
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Greenberg Motamedi, Jason; Singh, Malkeet; Thompson, Karen D.
2016-01-01
How long does it typically take English learner students to develop English language proficiency? And how does this time vary by student characteristics such as English proficiency at entry to kindergarten, gender, and home language? The answers to these questions can provide valuable information to districts and schools. Regional Educational…
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Nobody seems to speak English here today: Enhancing assessment and training in aviation English
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Dan Douglas
2014-07-01
Full Text Available In 2003 the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO strengthened the provisions that English be made available for international radiotelephony communication. ICAO also developed standards for English proficiency for international pilots and air traffic controllers. However, these standards are applied variably from country to country and in no country are native speakers of English tested for their ability to employ what has been termed "interactional competence" when using English for intercultural communication. Problems with this situation are reviewed and suggestions made for improving English assessment and training.
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Verb-Noun Collocation Proficiency and Academic Years
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Fatemeh Ebrahimi-Bazzaz
2014-01-01
Full Text Available Generally vocabulary and collocations in particular have significant roles in language proficiency. A collocation includes two words that are frequently joined concurrently in the memory of native speakers. There have been many linguistic studies trying to define, to describe, and to categorise English collocations. It contains grammatical collocations and lexical collocations which include nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverb. In the context of a foreign language environment such as Iran, collocational proficiency can be useful because it helps the students improve their language proficiency. This paper investigates the possible relationship between verb-noun collocation proficiency among students from one academic year to the next. To reach this goal, a test of verb-noun collocations was administered to Iranian learners. The participants in the study were 212 Iranian students in an Iranian university. They were selected from the second term of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. The students’ age ranged from 18 to 35.The results of ANOVA showed there was variability in the verb-noun collocations proficiency within each academic year and between the four academic years. The results of a post hoc multiple comparison tests demonstrated that the means are significantly different between the first year and the third and fourth years, and between the third and the fourth academic year; however, students require at least two years to show significant development in verb-noun collocation proficiency. These findings provided a vital implication that lexical collocations are learnt and developed through four academic years of university, but requires at least two years showing significant development in the language proficiency.
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Appel, Randy; Wood, David
2016-01-01
The correct use of frequently occurring word combinations represents an important part of language proficiency in spoken and written discourse. This study investigates the use of English-language recurrent word combinations in low-level and high-level L2 English academic essays sourced from the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) assessment.…
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Assessing English proficiency for university study
Read, J
2015-01-01
This book focuses on strategies and procedures for assessing the academic language ability of students entering an English-medium university, so that those with significant needs can have access to opportunities to enhance their language skills.
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Effect of WhatsApp on Critique Writing Proficiency and Perceptions toward Learning
Awada, Ghada
2016-01-01
This article reports the results of an experimental study on the effectiveness of mobile technology (WhatsApp) in improving the critique writing skills of English as a Foreign Language learners and increasing their motivation for learning. The participants (n = 52) are Average-English proficient learners enrolled in two writing courses given at…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Roya Zamani
2015-05-01
Full Text Available The role of teachers in affecting students’ attitudes and motivations to language learning and teaching cannot be denied. To improve the field of foreign language teaching and learning we need to improve the qualities of EFL teachers. To achieve this goal, recognizing and identifying the qualities of effective EFL teachers is essential. So this study attempted to investigate the view points of male and female English language students about the characteristics of effective English language teachers based on four categories: English proficiency, pedagogical knowledge, organization and communication skills, and socio-affective skills. For this purpose the researchers administered a questionnaire adapted from Park and Lee (2006 to 60 (28 female and 32 male foreign language learners at Tabriz Islamic Azad University. The results of the U-Mann-Whitney test indicated that there was not a significant difference between the perceptions of the male and female students regarding the characteristics of effective teacher. However, the overall mean score of the female students’ perceptions was a little bit higher than the male students. For the female students the most important features of the teacher was his/her English proficiency, socio-affective skills, pedagogical knowledge and organization and communication skills, while the preferences of the male students were the organization and communication skills, pedagogical knowledge, socio-affective skills and English proficiency, respectively. The findings have some implications for EFL teachers and students.
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Sahiruddin Sahiruddin
2008-12-01
Full Text Available This study examines the relationship between performance in the Yes/No test of English recognition vocabulary and reading skills in Indonesian Islamic learners of English as a foreign language (EFL. Participants in the study were 83 Indonesian undergraduate students, comprising an Advanced group (n=41 and Intermediate group (n=42 of EFL learners enrolled in the English department at the State Islamic University (UIN of Malang, Indonesia. All participants completed both tests. The results reveal that the hits accuracy performance between the Advanced EFL group and the Intermediate EFL group was statistically significant, indicating that Yes/No test performance, in context of hits accuracy, did discriminate between levels of English proficiency. However, the differences disappeared with corrected scores since both groups indicated a high false alarm rate. In addition, this study also reveals that there was no evidence of a relationship between Yes/No performance and reading scores. Several pedagogical implications for EFL language teachers are discussed.
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Linguistic Competence Profiles in English as a Foreign Language in Mexican University Students.
Vivaldo-Lima, Javier; Gonzalez-Robles, Rosa O.; Castillo-Morales, Alberto
Linguistic competence in English (LCE) as a foreign language has been acknowledged as an important determinant of academic success in higher education. The purpose of this study is to determine the LCE profiles of Mexican freshman students as well as the main factors associated with differences in linguistic competence between proficient and poor…
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Nuruzzaman, Mohammed; Islam, A. B. M. Shafiqul; Shuchi, Israt Jahan
2018-01-01
The present study investigates the writing errors of ninety Saudi non-English major undergraduate students of different proficiency levels from three faculties, who studied English as a foundation course at the English Language Center in the College of Languages &Translation at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia in the academic year 2016-17.…
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Esposito, Alena G; Baker-Ward, Lynne
2016-08-01
This investigation examined two controversies in the autobiographical literature: how cross-language immigration affects the distribution of autobiographical memories across the lifespan and under what circumstances language-dependent recall is observed. Both Spanish/English bilingual immigrants and English monolingual non-immigrants participated in a cue word study, with the bilingual sample taking part in a within-subject language manipulation. The expected bump in the number of memories from early life was observed for non-immigrants but not immigrants, who reported more memories for events surrounding immigration. Aspects of the methodology addressed possible reasons for past discrepant findings. Language-dependent recall was influenced by second-language proficiency. Results were interpreted as evidence that bilinguals with high second-language proficiency, in contrast to those with lower second-language proficiency, access a single conceptual store through either language. The final multi-level model predicting language-dependent recall, including second-language proficiency, age of immigration, internal language, and cue word language, explained ¾ of the between-person variance and (1)/5 of the within-person variance. We arrive at two conclusions. First, major life transitions influence the distribution of memories. Second, concept representation across multiple languages follows a developmental model. In addition, the results underscore the importance of considering language experience in research involving memory reports.
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Jiang, Jiahong; Yu, Yibing
2014-01-01
English writing, an indispensable skill in English learning, plays an important role in improving learners' language proficiency. With the wide spread and use of wired or wireless internet, EFL students can easily help and be helped with English writing. Therefore, the application of internet-based peer feedback training on writing to foreign or…
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MAIN ASPECTS IN LANGUAGE TRAINING OF NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING AIRMEN
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Nataliya Pazyura
2016-12-01
Full Text Available In the globalized world and rapid development of technical progress aviation industry has been gaining more importance for humanity and requires a deeper understanding of the English language, its basic characteristics and mechanisms of functioning. Purpose: The aim of the article is to study the influence of the proficiency of English on flight safety, to consider the main communication problems of non-English speaking aviation personnel, highlight possible directions for training English-speaking personnel. In the article the author tries to show the disadvantage at which non-English speaking airline staff work in case of emergency. The article highlights the issue about high level aviation English proficiency necessary to avoid communication problem. Methods: For the research scientific general methods have been used which are main ways of studying scientific sources, and comparative method for synchronic comparison of events in the different regions. Results: The author concludes that at the same time it is necessary for aviation personnel to master plain language for understanding context of communication, to minimize uncertainty and improve understanding between the controller and pilot. Discussion: It stresses the idea that the language proficiency level that exceeds the minimum standards according to ICAO, contributes significantly to the reduction of communication problems and in such a way ensures safety.
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Hamdan, Jihad M; Al-Hawamdeh, Rose Fowler
2018-04-10
This empirical study examines the extent to which 'face', i.e. (audio visual dialogues), affects the listening comprehension of advanced Jordanian EFL learners in a TOFEL-like test, as opposed to its absence (i.e. a purely audio test) which is the current norm in many English language proficiency tests, including but not limited to TOFEL iBT, TOEIC and academic IELTS. Through an online experiment, 60 Jordanian postgraduate linguistics and English literature students (advanced EFL learners) at the University of Jordan sit for two listening tests (simulating English proficiency tests); namely, one which is purely audio [i.e. without any face (including any visuals such as motion, as well as still pictures)], and one which is audiovisual/video. The results clearly show that the inclusion of visuals enhances subjects' performance in listening tests. It is concluded that since the aim of English proficiency tests such as TOEFL iBT is to qualify or disqualify subjects to work and study in western English-speaking countries, the exclusion of visuals is unfounded. In actuality, most natural interaction includes visibility of the interlocutors involved, and hence test takers who sit purely audio proficiency tests in English or any other language are placed at a disadvantage.
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University Students’ Perception of Demotivating Factors in Learning English as a Foreign Language
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Nafiseh Hosseinpour
2013-11-01
Full Text Available Demotivation is a relatively new topic in the field of second or foreign language acquisition which is in need of more rigorous research. In this regard, the present study was an attempt to investigate demotivating factors in learning English as a foreign language in an Iranian context. To this end, 382 Persian learners of English were selected through stratified clustering sampling procedure to participate in this mixed method study. The Data was collected through a 40-item Likert type questionnaire. The Factor analysis of the data extracted seven factors including a inadequate facilities, b reduced self-confidence, c class characteristics, d lack of purpose to study English, e teaching methods, f teachers and teaching styles, and g negative attitudes toward English and the culture of English-speaking countries as demotivators. The Students’ perceptions of these seven factors were compared based on their general English proficiency levels. The Results revealed that low proficient learners perceived reduced self-confidence and negative attitudes more demotivating than their counterparts at other levels of proficiency.
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Policy analysis of the English graduation benchmark in Taiwan ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
To nudge students to study English and to improve their English proficiency, many universities in Taiwan have imposed an English graduation benchmark on their students. This article reviews this policy, using the theoretic framework for education policy analysis proposed by Haddad and Demsky (1995). The author ...
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Globalization, English Language Policy, and Teacher Agency: Focus on Asia
Hamid, M. Obaidul; Nguyen, Hoa Thi Mai
2016-01-01
This paper focuses on English teachers in Asia in the context of globalization, the global spread of English and the emergence of English as an "Asian language." It highlights the dilemmas facing these teachers in meeting the growing social demands of English proficiency in a technology-influenced, managerial and neoliberal education…
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Im, Jin-Hyouk; Kim, Jeongyeon
2015-01-01
Although researchers agree with the strengths of an English-medium instruction (EMI) in addressing internationalization of a non-English higher education (HE) context, its implementation in classrooms has been widely criticized, mostly because of ineffective delivery of course content and a lack of evidence of English improvement. Grounded upon a…
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Cabassa, Leopoldo J; Contreras, Sandra; Aragón, Rebeca; Molina, Gregory B; Baron, Melvin
2011-11-01
In this study, the authors examined reactions of Latino adults with limited English proficiency (LEP) to a culturally and linguistically adapted depression fotonovela, titled "Secret Feelings." Fotonovelas are popular health education tools that use posed photographs, text bubbles with simple text, and dramatic narratives to engage audiences and raise their awareness and knowledge about specific health issues. Four focus groups (N = 32) were conducted at an adult school program (e.g., GED classes). Content analysis was used to generate themes from transcripts and memos. "Secret Feelings" was viewed as an entertaining, engaging, and educational tool that helped combat stigma toward depression and its treatments in the Latino community. Despite learning about depression, participants reported they wanted more information about the causes of depression, the process of recovery, and felt that the story did not shift their apprehensions toward antidepressants. The findings suggest that "Secret Feelings" is a promising depression literacy tool for Latinos with LEP that can raise awareness and knowledge about depression and its treatments, reduce stigma toward depression and antidepressant medications, and model appropriate help-seeking behaviors.
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Predictive Validity and Accuracy of Oral Reading Fluency for English Learners
Vanderwood, Michael L.; Tung, Catherine Y.; Checca, C. Jason
2014-01-01
The predictive validity and accuracy of an oral reading fluency (ORF) measure for a statewide assessment in English language arts was examined for second-grade native English speakers (NESs) and English learners (ELs) with varying levels of English proficiency. In addition to comparing ELs with native English speakers, the impact of English…
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McManus, Teresa L.
2005-01-01
Colleges and universities seeking to assess proficiencies in information and communications technology may wish to learn more about new assessment tools developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), in collaboration with higher education partners. This article describes the administration of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT)…
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Policy Analysis of the English Graduation Benchmark in Taiwan
Shih, Chih-Min
2012-01-01
To nudge students to study English and to improve their English proficiency, many universities in Taiwan have imposed an English graduation benchmark on their students. This article reviews this policy, using the theoretic framework for education policy analysis proposed by Haddad and Demsky (1995). The author presents relevant research findings,…
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The Effect of English Language on Multiple Choice Question Scores of Thai Medical Students.
Phisalprapa, Pochamana; Muangkaew, Wayuda; Assanasen, Jintana; Kunavisarut, Tada; Thongngarm, Torpong; Ruchutrakool, Theera; Kobwanthanakun, Surapon; Dejsomritrutai, Wanchai
2016-04-01
Universities in Thailand are preparing for Thailand's integration into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by increasing the number of tests in English language. English language is not the native language of Thailand Differences in English language proficiency may affect scores among test-takers, even when subject knowledge among test-takers is comparable and may falsely represent the knowledge level of the test-taker. To study the impact of English language multiple choice test questions on test scores of medical students. The final examination of fourth-year medical students completing internal medicine rotation contains 120 multiple choice questions (MCQ). The languages used on the test are Thai and English at a ratio of 3:1. Individual scores of tests taken in both languages were collected and the effect of English language on MCQ was analyzed Individual MCQ scores were then compared with individual student English language proficiency and student grade point average (GPA). Two hundred ninety five fourth-year medical students were enrolled. The mean percentage of MCQ scores in Thai and English were significantly different (65.0 ± 8.4 and 56.5 ± 12.4, respectively, p English was fair (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.41, p English than in Thai language. Students were classified into six grade categories (A, B+, B, C+, C, and D+), which cumulatively measured total internal medicine rotation performance score plus final examination score. MCQ scores from Thai language examination were more closely correlated with total course grades than were the scores from English language examination (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.73 (p English proficiency score was very high, at 3.71 ± 0.35 from a total of 4.00. Mean student GPA was 3.40 ± 0.33 from a possible 4.00. English language MCQ examination scores were more highly associated with GPA than with English language proficiency. The use of English language multiple choice question test may decrease scores
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Chinese ESL Students' Learning Strategies: A Look at Frequency, Proficiency, and Gender.
Foong, Kwah Poh; Goh, Christine C. M.
1997-01-01
Examines the learning strategies of English-as-Second-Language students in the People's Republic of China. Surveyed the frequency of strategy use to determine how it is influenced by learners' proficiency level and gender. (Author/VWL)
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How Will English Higher Education Look Like in 2025?
Huisman, Jeroen; de Boer, Harry F.; Botas, Paulo Charles Pimentel
2013-01-01
In light of the recent higher education policy changes in the UK, a scenario study was carried out – based on the Delphi-method – exploring the longer term impact (2025) of the policies on English higher education. The two scenarios are briefly presented below.
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Azize, Pary M; Cattani, Allegra; Endacott, Ruth
2018-03-01
To identify the factors that influence decisions made by health professionals when assessing the pain of native English speaking and children whose English is an additional language. Pain assessment in children is often poorly executed following acute injury. Whilst a range of pain assessment tools have been developed, little guidance is provided for assessing pain in children with English as an additional language. Factorial survey design. Twenty minor injuries unit nurses and 20 children's nursing students participated in an electronic survey to make judgements on 12 scenarios describing a child attending a minor injuries unit following an incident, accompanied by a parent. Respondents had to decide the most important form of pain assessment, and whether they would ask a parent or an interpreter to assess the pain of the child. An open-ended question asked about the difficulties found in making a judgement. Observation of the child's behaviour was the most common pain assessment reported. The visual analogue scale was significantly associated with children with proficient English. Respondents were significantly more likely to involve parents in the assessment if they could speak English well compared to parents with poor English skills. Moreover, nursing students were significantly more likely than registered nurses to call for support from an interpreter. Thematic analysis identified three themes related to difficulties with pain assessment: contrasting approaches, differing perceptions of pain and overcoming challenges. The reduced ability to communicate between child, parent and healthcare professional highlights the need to identify forms of assessment based on individual cases. The number of children with English as an additional language has seen a marked rise over the last decade. In situations where communication ability is reduced, assessment of pain should be tailored to meet the needs of the child. This may require timely access to interpreter services
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mina Boroojerdi Moghadam
2016-01-01
Full Text Available The significant effect of employing Readers Theater (RT in reading comprehension, fluency, and motivation of English language students has already been established. However, this study was an attempt to investigate the effect of RT on the oral proficiency of Iranian learners of English as a foreign language. From among the learners studying English at a language school in Isfahan, Iran, a sample of 90 female intermediate EFL learners were asked to participate in this study. Having been taken Quick Placement Test to make sure they were all homogeneous regarding their level of proficiency in English, 75 learners were chosen. Afterwards, an interview served as one of the pretests of the study was run as the homogenizing test of oral ability and 60 homogenous preintermediate learners were ultimately selected as the participants of the study. They were then assigned to the two groups of control and experimental. During the treatment, the learners in the experimental group were exposed to RT, but the control group attended their regular classes. To gauge the oral proficiency development of the subjects, an interview was administered. The results of data analysis indicated improvements of fluency and complexity because of the learners’ exposure to the treatment. The results may provide further impetus for teachers to make attempts at extending the students’ active knowledge for real time communication as well as providing language which is both more complex and fluent.
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Planes, Politics and Oral Proficiency: Testing International Air Traffic Controllers
Moder, Carol Lynn; Halleck, Gene B.
2009-01-01
This study investigates the variation in oral proficiency demonstrated by 14 Air Traffic Controllers across two types of testing tasks: work-related radio telephony-based tasks and non-specific English tasks on aviation topics. Their performance was compared statistically in terms of level ratings on the International Civil Aviation Organization…
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Facilitating vocabulary acquisition of young English language learners.
Lugo-Neris, Mirza J; Jackson, Carla Wood; Goldstein, Howard
2010-07-01
This study examined whether English-only vocabulary instruction or English vocabulary instruction enhanced with Spanish bridging produced greater word learning in young Spanish-speaking children learning English during a storybook reading intervention while considering individual language characteristics. Twenty-two Spanish-speaking children learning English (ages 4-6) who participated in a summer education program for migrant families were randomly assigned to receive 2 weeks of each instruction: (a) word expansions in English or (b) English readings with word expansions in Spanish. Researcher-created measures of target vocabulary were administered, as were English and Spanish standardized measures of language proficiency and vocabulary. Results revealed significant improvement in naming, receptive knowledge, and expressive definitions for those children who received Spanish bridging. Spanish expansions produced the greatest gains in the children's use of expressive definitions. Initial language proficiency in both languages was found to affect participants' gains from intervention, as those with limited skills in both languages showed significantly less vocabulary growth than those with strong skills in Spanish. Additional benefits to using Spanish expansions in vocabulary instruction were observed. Future research should explore additional ways of enhancing the vocabulary growth of children with limited skills in both languages in order to support and strengthen the child's first language and promote second language acquisition.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hadi Hamidi
2016-06-01
Full Text Available The present study was an attempt to investigate the interplay among Iranian EFL teachers’ emotional intelligence, classroom management, and their general English language proficiency. The result of the data analysis showed that: 1 there was a statistically significant relationship between the emotional intelligence and the classroom management of Iranian EFL teachers, 2 there was a statistically significant relationship between the emotional intelligence and the language proficiency of Iranian EFL teachers, and 3 there was a statistically significant relationship between the classroom management and the language proficiency of Iranian EFL teachers. Teacher trainers, researchers in teacher education, and language teachers may benefit from the findings of the present research.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sedighe Jalili Kalangestani
2017-01-01
Full Text Available The present study aimed to explore the relationship among Iranian EFL teachers’ language teaching conscience, language proficiency, and emotional intelligence. To this purpose, 82 homogenized language teachers, M.A. students and M.A. holders in TEFL, English literature, and English translation, both males and females, were taken as the participants. The result of the data analysis showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between the language teaching conscience and the emotional intelligence of Iranian EFL teachers, rs(80 = .83, p < .05, 2. There was also a statistically significant relationship between the language teaching conscience and the language proficiency of Iranian EFL teachers, rs(80 = .59, p < .05. And finally, there was a statistically significant relationship between the emotional intelligence and the language proficiency of Iranian EFL teachers, rs(80 = .52, p < .05. Teacher trainers, researchers in teacher education, and language teachers can benefit from the findings of this study.
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The Impact of Resilience on L2 Learners' Motivated Behaviour and Proficiency in L2 Learning
Kim, Tae-Young; Kim, Yoon-Kyoung
2017-01-01
This exploratory study focused on the factors that constitute second language (L2) learners' resilience, and how these factors are related to L2 learning by investigating what relation resilience may have to motivated behaviour and proficiency in English learning. A total of 1620 secondary school learners of English participated in a questionnaire…
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2010-03-23
... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of English Language Acquisition; Overview Information; Language... Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) may... Secretary and Director, Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic...
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Developing Oral Language Skills in Middle School English Learners
Fisher, Douglas; Frey, Nancy
2018-01-01
Oral language development can help English learners develop academic proficiency with the English language. In this investigation, at one middle school, teachers focused on improving oral language skills. Using a formative experiment process, the teachers developed an intervention to accomplish their pedagogical goal and then tracked data to see…
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Yeung, Marine; Li, Tilo
2018-01-01
As one of the essential skills for success in work and studies, English communication is often made a key component in the GE curriculum of tertiary study programmes. In addition to the provision of required English proficiency courses, many tertiary institutions have established English centres of some description to promote English learning on…
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The Effects of Type and Quantity of Input on Iranian EFL Learners’ Oral Language Proficiency
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Zahra Hassanzadeh
2014-05-01
Full Text Available In the written texts on foreign language learning, a group of studies has stressed the function of learning context and learning chances for learners’ language input. The present thesis had two main goals: on the one hand, different types of input to which Iranian grade four high school EFL learners’ are exposed were looked at; on the other hand, the possible relationship between types and quantity of input and Iranian EFL learners’ oral proficiency was investigated. It was supposed that EFL learners who have access to more input will show better oral proficiency than those who do not have. Instruments used in the present study for the purpose of data collation included PET test, researcher- made questionnaire, oral language proficiency test and face- to -face interview. Data were gathered from 50 Iranian female grade four high school foreign language learners who were selected from among 120 students whose score on PET test were +1SD from the mean score. The results of the Spearman rank –order correlation test for the types of input and oral language proficiency scores, showed that the participants’ oral proficiency score significantly correlated with the intended four sources of input including spoken (rho= 0.416, sig=0.003, written (rho= 0.364, sig=0.009, aural (rho= 0.343, sig=0.015 and visual or audio-visual types of input (rho= 0.47, sig=0.00. The findings of Spearman rank –order correlation test for the quantity of input and oral language proficiency scores also showed a significant relationship between quantity of input and oral language proficiency (rho= 0.543, sig= 0.00. The findings showed that EFL learners’ oral proficiency is significantly correlated with efficient and effective input. The findings may also suggest answers to the question why most Iranian English learners fail to speak English fluently, which might be due to lack of effective input. This may emphasize the importance of the types and quantity of
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An Examination of English Speaking Tests and Research on English Speaking Ability.
Nakamura, Yuji
This paper examines both overseas and domestic tests of English speaking ability from the viewpoint of the crucial testing elements such as definition of speaking ability, validity, reliability, and practicality. The paper points out problems to be solved and proposes suggestions for constructing an oral proficiency test in order to determine the…
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Mpofu, D J; Lanphear, J; Stewart, T; Das, M; Ridding, P; Dunn, E
1998-09-01
The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), United Arab Emirates (UAE) University is in a unique position to explore issues related to English language proficiency and medical student performance. All students entering the FMHS have English as a second language. This study focused on the issues of students' proficiency in English as measured by the TOEFL test, student background factors and interaction in problem-based learning (PBL) groups. Using a modification of Bales Interaction Process Analysis, four problem-based learning groups were observed over four thematic units, to measure the degree of student interaction within PBL groups and to compare this to individual TOEFL scores and key background variables. The students' contributions correlated highly with TOEFL test results in the giving of information (range r = 0.67-0.74). The female students adhered to interacting in English during group sessions, whereas the male students were more likely to revert to using Arabic in elaborating unclear phenomena (p TOEFL scores for the male students, but not for female students. Multivariate analysis was undertaken to analyse the relative contribution of the TOEFL, parental education and years of studying in English. The best predictor of students' contributions in PBL groups was identified as TOEFL scores. The study demonstrates the importance of facilitating a locally acceptable level of English proficiency prior to admission to the FMHS. However, it also highlights the importance of not focusing only on English proficiency but paying attention to additional factors in facilitating medical students in maximizing benefits from interactions in PBL settings.
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English in China's Language Policies for Higher Education
Xu, Hongmei
2012-01-01
Taking ecological language planning and policy as its conceptual orientation and interpretive policy analysis as its methodological framework, and following an embedded single-case study design, this study explores the role of English, as compared with the role of Chinese, in China's educational language planning and policy for higher education.…
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Composition Medium Comparability in a Direct Writing Assessment of Non-Native English Speakers
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Edward W. Wolfe
2004-01-01
Full Text Available The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL contains a direct writing assessment, and examinees are given the option of composing their responses at a computer terminal using a keyboard or composing their responses in handwriting. This study sought to determine whether performance on a direct writing assessment is comparable for examinees when given the choice to compose essays in handwriting versus word processing. We examined this relationship controlling for English language proficiency and several demographic characteristics of examinees using linear models. We found a weak two-way interaction between composition medium and English language proficiency with examinees with weaker English language scores performing better on handwritten essays while examinees with better English language scores performing comparably on the two testing media. We also observed predictable differences associated with geographic region, native language, gender, and age.
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Fuentes, Ronald
2016-01-01
In response to growing linguistic diversity, many U.S. universities have implemented language policies that include procedures for English learner (EL) identification. Institutional labels such as "English learner" and "limited English proficiency" are regularly used to identify students who may need English language support;…
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O'Loughlin, Tricia Ann
2017-01-01
Beginning learners of English progress through the same stages to acquire language. However, the length of time each student spends at a particular stage may vary greatly. Under the current educational policies, ELL students are expected to participate in the general education curriculum while developing their proficiency in the English language.…
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Making the grade: The English language test dilemma.
Trueland, Jennifer
2017-08-02
Hayley Purcell admits she felt apprehensive about receiving the results of a test designed to ensure she was proficient in English. After months of preparation, at a cost of several hundred pounds, the Australian had achieved a very good result overall, with 7.5 out of a possible nine in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).
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Gollan, Tamar H.; Weissberger, Gali H.; Runnqvist, Elin; Montoya, Rosa I.; Cera, Cynthia M.
2012-01-01
This study investigated correspondence between different measures of bilingual language proficiency contrasting self-report, proficiency interview, and picture naming skills. Fifty-two young (Experiment 1) and 20 aging (Experiment 2) Spanish-English bilinguals provided self-ratings of proficiency level, were interviewed for spoken proficiency, and…
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Kamara, Daniella; Weil, Jon; Youngblom, Janey; Guerra, Claudia; Joseph, Galen
2018-02-01
In cancer genetic counseling (CGC), communication across language and culture challenges the model of practice based on shared decision-making. To date, little research has examined the decision-making process of low-income, limited English proficiency (LEP) patients in CGC. This study identified communication patterns in CGC sessions with this population and assessed how these patterns facilitate or inhibit the decision-making process during the sessions. We analyzed 24 audio recordings of CGC sessions conducted in Spanish via telephone interpreters at two public hospitals. Patients were referred for risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer; all were offered genetic testing. Audio files were coded by two bilingual English-Spanish researchers and analyzed using conventional content analysis through an iterative process. The 24 sessions included 13 patients, 6 counselors, and 18 interpreters. Qualitative data analyses identified three key domains - Challenges Posed by Hypothetical Explanations, Misinterpretation by the Medical Interpreter, and Communication Facilitators - that reflect communication patterns and their impact on the counselor's ability to facilitate shared decision-making. Overall, we found an absence of patient participation in the decision-making process. Our data suggest that when counseling LEP Latina patients via medical interpreter, prioritizing information with direct utility for the patient and organizing information into short- and long-term goals may reduce information overload and improve comprehension for patient and interpreter. Further research is needed to test the proposed counseling strategies with this population and to assess how applicable our findings are to other populations.
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Academic Achievement of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in an ASL/English Bilingual Program.
Hrastinski, Iva; Wilbur, Ronnie B
2016-04-01
There has been a scarcity of studies exploring the influence of students' American Sign Language (ASL) proficiency on their academic achievement in ASL/English bilingual programs. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of ASL proficiency on reading comprehension skills and academic achievement of 85 deaf or hard-of-hearing signing students. Two subgroups, differing in ASL proficiency, were compared on the Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress and the reading comprehension subtest of the Stanford Achievement Test, 10th edition. Findings suggested that students highly proficient in ASL outperformed their less proficient peers in nationally standardized measures of reading comprehension, English language use, and mathematics. Moreover, a regression model consisting of 5 predictors including variables regarding education, hearing devices, and secondary disabilities as well as ASL proficiency and home language showed that ASL proficiency was the single variable significantly predicting results on all outcome measures. This study calls for a paradigm shift in thinking about deaf education by focusing on characteristics shared among successful deaf signing readers, specifically ASL fluency. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Calo, William A.; Cubillos, Laura; Breen, James; Hall, Megan; Rojas, Krycya Flores; Mooneyham, Rachel; Schaal, Jennifer; Hardy, Christina Yongue; Dave, Gaurav; Jolles, M?nica P?rez; Garcia, Nacire; Reuland, Daniel S.
2015-01-01
Background Health services research of Latinos with limited English proficiency (LEP) have largely focused on studying disparities related to patient-provider communication. Less is known about their non-provider interactions such as those with patient registration systems and clinic front office staff; these interactions precede the encounter with providers and may shape how comfortable patients feel about their overall health services experience. This study explored Latino patients with LEP...
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Cabassa, Leopoldo J.; Contreras, Sandra; Aragón, Rebeca; Molina, Gregory B.; Baron, Melvin
2013-01-01
In this study, the authors examined reactions of Latino adults with limited English proficiency (LEP) to a culturally and linguistically adapted depression fotonovela, titled “Secret Feelings.” Fotonovelas are popular health education tools that use posed photographs, text bubbles with simple text, and dramatic narratives to engage audiences and raise their awareness and knowledge about specific health issues. Four focus groups (N = 32) were conducted at an adult school program (e.g., GED classes). Content analysis was used to generate themes from transcripts and memos. “Secret Feelings” was viewed as an entertaining, engaging, and educational tool that helped combat stigma toward depression and its treatments in the Latino community. Despite learning about depression, participants reported they wanted more information about the causes of depression, the process of recovery, and felt that the story did not shift their apprehensions toward antidepressants. The findings suggest that “Secret Feelings” is a promising depression literacy tool for Latinos with LEP that can raise awareness and knowledge about depression and its treatments, reduce stigma toward depression and antidepressant medications, and model appropriate help-seeking behaviors. PMID:21807951
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On the Relationship between Brain Laterality and Language Proficiency in L2: A Replication Study
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Nima Shakouri
2016-06-01
Full Text Available The present paper attempted to investigate whether there is any significant relationship between participants' brain laterality and L2 proficiency level. To carry out the experiment, 30 participants administered in the present study. Fifteen of them did not have any English language learning experience and were at the start of language learning, while the rest had attended L2 learning classes for about 2 years in a popular English language center, located in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. Finally, the researchers concluded that the activity of the right hemisphere went up by the increase in language proficiency among bilinguals. Thereupon, the result of the paper was at variance with Albert and Obler's (1978 early work on hemispheric differentiation, which indicated that bilinguals were less hemispheric dominant than monolinguals.
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SYSTEMATICITY OF L1 THAI LEARNERS' ENGLISH INTERLANGUAGE OF DEPENDENT PREPOSITIONS
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Piyaboot Sumonsriworakun
2017-01-01
Full Text Available The study investigates systematicity in English interlanguage of dependent prepositions among L1 Thai learners of L2 English. It is hypothesized that Thai learners show non-random use of English dependent prepositions in their English interlanguage, and that the systematicity is largely attributable to cross-linguistic influence and certain cognitive factors. To test the hypothesis, 30 L1 Thai undergraduate students of L2 English at elementary, intermediate, and advanced proficiency levels took two tests: a Thai–English translation test and a cloze test. The tests involved four types of relationship between English and Thai dependent prepositions: (1 [–prep] in English but [+prep] in Thai, (2 [+prep] in English but [–prep] in Thai, (3 [+prep1] in English but [+prep2] in Thai, and (4 [+prep] in English and [+prep] in Thai. The findings demonstrate that systematicity occurred in the learners’ English usage of prepositions of all such types, possibly due to negative transfer from the learners’ native language. Also, the L2 learners tended to exhibit such systematicity irrespective of their English proficiency level. It may be assumed that the cognitive aspect of L2 learners’ working memory is involved in processing the usage of the four types of English dependent prepositions. The results of the study are expected to shed light on the problems of L2 English interlanguage of dependent prepositions among L1 Thai learners.
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Sumskas, Linas; Czabanowska, Katarzyna; Bruneviciūte, Raimonda; Kregzdyte, Rima; Krikstaponyte, Zita; Ziomkiewicz, Anna
2010-01-01
Foreign languages are becoming an essential prerequisite for a successful carrier among all professions including public health professionals in many countries. The expanding role of English as a mode of communication allows for university graduates to project and to seek their career in English-speaking countries. The present study was carried out in the framework of EU Leonardo da Vinci project "Specialist English as a foreign language for European public health." The study aimed to get a deeper insight how the English language is perceived as a foreign language, by Polish and Lithuanian public health students, what is level of their language competence, which level of English proficiency they expect to use in future. MATERIAL AND METHODS. A total of 246 respondents completed the special questionnaires in autumn semester in 2005. A questionnaire form was developed by the international project team. For evaluation of English competences, the Language Passport (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages of Council of Europe) was applied. RESULTS. Current self-rated proficiency of the English language was at the same level for Lithuanian (3.47+/-1.14) and Polish (3.31+/-0.83) respondents (P>0.05). Majority of respondents (88.6% of Lithuanian and 87.8% of Polish) reported using the English language for their current studies. Respondents reported a significant increase in necessity for higher level of English proficiency in future: mean scores provided by respondents changed from B1 level to B2 level. Respondents gave priority to less formal and practice-based interactive English teaching methods (going abroad, contacts with native speakers) in comparison with theory-oriented methods of learning (self-studying, Internet courses). CONCLUSIONS. Similar levels of English language in all five areas of language skills were established in Polish and Lithuanian university students. Respondents gave more priorities to less formal and practice-based interactive
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Comprehending Implied Meaning in English as a Foreign Language
Taguchi, Naoko
2005-01-01
This study investigated whether second language (L2) proficiency affects pragmatic comprehension, namely the ability to comprehend implied meaning in spoken dialogues, in terms of accuracy and speed of comprehension. Participants included 46 native English speakers at a U.S. university and 160 Japanese students of English in a college in Japan who…
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The English Proficiency Test of the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology: A Review
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Mahdieh Noori
2017-08-01
Full Text Available One of the serious decisions which every administrator may need to make during his/her professional career is to select or reject applicants based on their general language skills or competence. These significant decisions, which may be of serious consequences not only for the individuals but also for the society in general, are occasionally made based on norm-referenced proficiency tests. Out of internationally available proficiency tests such as the TOEFL test, those which fit the specific local cultural and academic contexts seem of greater prominence. One such test, which has been specifically designed for the Iranian EFL context by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology, is the MSRT proficiency test. While a few studies have been conducted on the analysis of the reliability and validity of the mentioned test, no study has yet reviewed the test and its component parts. Therefore, the current study aimed at considering the strengths and weaknesses of the test in general and its component items in particular. The results implicated that the MSRT benefits from more efficient general reliability and validity, well planned language items, practicality, ease of administration, objective scoring, ease of accessibility, as well as reasonable fees, while it needs to be more substantiated in terms of the inclusion of the speaking skill assessment, the computerized adaptive assessment procedures, and the correction factor for guessing. In addition, the use of the individual-based listening apparatus for testing listening comprehension as well as the consideration of the integrative communicative tests for its concurrent validity purposes can contribute to more appropriate distinction of proficient and non-proficient applicants.
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ENGLISH MEDIUM INSTRUCTION IN THE PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN BANGLADESH
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Monjurul Islam
2013-07-01
Full Text Available Abstract: As it is viewed English Medium Instruction (EMI at tertiary level has emerged as a big educational issue in Bangladesh as well as many parts of the world. Hence, the present trend of Bangladeshi higher education has assessed some crucial reasons of the extended use of English as a medium of instruction. Although education researchers in other countries have worked in this area to understand this educational issue, there has been very little research on EMI at tertiary level in Bangladesh. That is why, this study reports a case study involving teachers and students in a private university in Bangladesh by critically examining the language practice and implementation of EMI policy within the context of Bangladeshi higher education. Based on the analysis of interview data, it is argued that through their language practices and beliefs students and teachers constructed their perception towards the accomplishment of EMI policy, educational choice and effectiveness of EMI policy. It is suggested that implications of MOI policies world-wide and the national level practices of students’ content knowledge and English proficiency development in a globalizing world where English is widely believed to hold mammoth prospective for individuals and societies because of its role in human capital development.
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Pilot Study An Investigating Proficiency Learners Attitudes Towards English Language Learning
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Dr. Ozge Razy
2015-08-01
Full Text Available This study attempted to investigate foreign students feeling and behaviour towards learning English and different other languages. The study found out that there is any significant difference in the students aspects attitudes positive and negative towards learning English language inside and outside the school based on their response to 25 items. A total of participants were 18 took a questionnaire as an instrument to qualify their attitudes. The participants showed positive attitudes in the high level towards foreign languages such as English. The study presented recommendation to improve other languages in the future as English.
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Adult English language learners and self-assessment a qualitative study
Wolochuk, Alexandria
2014-01-01
This study explores the relationship between adult English-language learners' assessment of their own language proficiency on the English Ability Questionnaire (EAQ) and their performance on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). It addresses aspects of developing the ""autonomous"" student and makes for the integration of self-directed learners who will be more aware of their strengths and weaknesses and how to address them
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English Language Screening for Scientific Staff at Delft University of Technology,
Klaassen, R.G.; Bos, M.H.P.C.
2010-01-01
Delft University of Technology (DUT) screened her (non-native English) scientific staff on their level of English proficiency in the academic year of 2006/2007. In this paper this large scale operation, involving planning, policy decisions, assessment means, advice and training are discussed. Since
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Language balance and switching ability in children acquiring English as a second language.
Goriot, Claire; Broersma, Mirjam; McQueen, James M; Unsworth, Sharon; van Hout, Roeland
2018-09-01
This study investigated whether relative lexical proficiency in Dutch and English in child second language (L2) learners is related to executive functioning. Participants were Dutch primary school pupils of three different age groups (4-5, 8-9, and 11-12 years) who either were enrolled in an early-English schooling program or were age-matched controls not on that early-English program. Participants performed tasks that measured switching, inhibition, and working memory. Early-English program pupils had greater knowledge of English vocabulary and more balanced Dutch-English lexicons. In both groups, lexical balance, a ratio measure obtained by dividing vocabulary scores in English by those in Dutch, was related to switching but not to inhibition or working memory performance. These results show that for children who are learning an L2 in an instructional setting, and for whom managing two languages is not yet an automatized process, language balance may be more important than L2 proficiency in influencing the relation between childhood bilingualism and switching abilities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Al-Issa, Ali; Al-Bulushi, Ali; Al-Zadjali, Rima
2017-01-01
Proficiency in the English language has been described as central for determining Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (N-NESTs) selection for joining the profession. The Ministry of Education in the Sultanate of Oman decided to set the score of Band 6 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) for accepting the English Language…
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Huang, Tsu-Ting
With the capability of creating a situated and engaging learning environment, video games have been considered as a powerful tool to enhance students' learning outcomes and interest in learning. Yet, little empirical evidence exists to support the effectiveness of video games in learning. Particularly, little attention has been given to the design of specific game elements. Focusing on middle school students, the goal of this study was to investigate the effects of two types of representations of reflective scaffolds (verbal and visual) on students' learning outcomes, game performance, and level of engagement in a video game for physics learning. In addition, the role of students' level of English proficiency was examined to understand whether the effects of reflective scaffolds were influenced by students' language proficiency. Two studies were conducted. Study 1 playtested the game with target players and led to game modification for its use in Study 2, which focused on the effects of different types of reflective scaffolds and level of English proficiency. The results of Study 2 showed that students who received both verbal and visual reflective scaffolds completed the most levels compared to the other groups in the given time. No significant effect of type of reflective scaffolds were found on learning outcomes despite the fact that the pattern of the learning outcomes across conditions was close to prediction. Participants' engagement in gameplay was high regardless of the type of scaffolds they received, their interest in learning physics, and their prior knowledge of physics. The results of video analysis also showed that the game used in this study was able to engage students not only in gameplay but also in learning physics. Finally, English proficiency functioned as a significant factor moderating the effects of scaffolds, learning outcomes and game performance. Students with limited English proficiency benefited more from visual reflective scaffolds than
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von Alberti-Alhtaybat, Larissa; Al-Htaybat, Khaldoon; Hutaibat, Khaled
2012-01-01
This article originates from a longitudinal study of management and accounting practices in the English higher education sector. The processes of strategic management and strategic management accounting in several English higher education institutions were investigated, from planning to assessment, and their meaning to members of staff. The study…
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Niharika eSingh
2015-01-01
Full Text Available We compared Hindi-English bilinguals differing in their L2 fluency on a saccadic countermanding task which taps inhibitory control as well as monitoring. We particularly explored whether response inhibition and performance monitoring within the oculomotor domain are affected by language proficiency in bilinguals. There were two different oculomotor redirect tasks: Visually Guided Redirect (VGR task (Experiment1 and Memory Guided Redirect (MGR task (Experiment 2. In this task typically a target is presented to which subject must make saccade (No step trials, unless a new target appears on the other location after some delay from the first target onset (Step trials. On such trials participants are required to inhibit and cancel the saccade to the first instead program a saccade to the new target. Using trial switch reaction time (TSRT, which is the time taken to inhibit the initiated saccade to the first target, as a measure of response inhibition, and post-stop slowing as a measure of performance monitoring, we observed two important results. It was found that high proficiency bilinguals showed more post-stop slowing on the no-step trials as compared to the low proficiency bilinguals for both VGR and MGR. Secondly, high and low proficiency bilingual exhibited comparable TSRT in both VGR and MGR, showing no altering effect of language proficiency on the response inhibition in bilinguals. These results suggest that bilingualism impacts performance monitoring which is modulated by language proficiency if not the inhibitory control system. Higher fluency may lead to superior cognitive flexibility, and ability to adjust behaviour that facilitates attainment of cognitive goal. These findings are in consonance with other current studies that suggest a top-down effect of bilingualism on action control systems.
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The Relationships among Heritage Language Proficiency, Ethnic Identity, and Self-Esteem
Yu, Shu-Chun
2015-01-01
With the trend toward globalization and the continual change of the ethnic composition of the U.S. population, there is increasing awareness in the U.S. that not every child is raised in an English-only family. The purpose of this research is to explore the relationships among heritage language proficiency, ethnic identity, and self-esteem in the…
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2011-03-18
... Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students; Overview... to provide instruction that accelerates ELs' acquisition of language, literacy, and content knowledge.... Rosalinda Barrera, Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director for English Language Acquisition, Language...
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Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
周文婕
2012-01-01
文章以英语专业62名一年级和62名三年级学生为调查对象,采用问卷、访谈等工具,探究英语专业学生商务英语词汇学习策略的总体情况,比较高低年级学生在商务英语词汇学习策略的使用上的异同。根据数据分析结果和商务英语词汇的特点,提出词汇学习策略培训和词块法教学在商务英语词汇学习中具有较强的可行性和有效性。%This paper reports an empirical study on various kinds of business English vocabulary acquisition strategies employed by the English majors at different proficiency levels. The subjects are the first-year and third-year English majors from Zhejiang Wanli University,and the instruments adopted included a questionnaire and interviews. Based on the results of data analysis and the features of business English vocabulary,it has been proposed that strategy instruction and word chunk will be effective in business English vocabulary acquisition.
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Investigation into Korean EFL Learners’ Acquisition of English /s/ + Consonant Onset Clusters
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Jungyoun Choi
2016-04-01
Full Text Available This paper investigated the phonological acquisition of English /s/ + consonant onset clusters by Korean learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL who varied in their levels of proficiency. The data were collected from twenty eighth-graders in a Korean secondary school, who were divided into two groups according to their proficiency: low- and high-achievement. The major findings were: 1 the high-achievement group did not use a vowel epenthesis strategy in the articulation of the /s/ + consonant onset cluster, unlike the low-achievement group; 2 the duration of /s/ pronunciation was longer in the high-achievement group, as follows: /s/ + stop + liquid, /s/ + stop, /s/ + liquid; 3 the low-achievement group’s duration of oral closure was longer than was that of the high-achievement group, as follows: /s/ + stop + liquid, s/ + stop, and 4 with regard to how /s/ + consonant onset clusters are perceived by native English speakers, /s/ + stop + liquid was related more significantly to the learners’ level of proficiency than were the biliteral consonant onset clusters. Among biliteral onsets, /s/ + stop and /s/ + liquid clusters differed significantly between the groups, while the /s/ + nasal cluster did not. Keywords: English /s/ + consonant onset clusters, L1 transfer, the sonority sequencing principle, syllable structure, L2 phonological acquisition
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Storyboards and Reading Comprehension of Literary Fiction in English
Molina Naar, José Mario
2013-01-01
This article reports on a study developed in order to help a group of six limited-proficient students of English (newcomers) to improve their reading comprehension of English novels by designing storyboards, a type of graphic organizer that condenses both images and scripts. The investigation was carried out in a public school in the state of…
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THE ROLE OF OUT-OF-SCHOOL ENGLISH LITERACY ACTIVITIES IN PROMOTING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LITERACY
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LILIES SETIASIH
2014-01-01
Full Text Available This paper reports on a case study of the role of out-of-school English literacy activities in promoting students’ English literacy at an elementary school in Bandung. The study is an attempt to respond to controversy among decision makers about the idea of offering English at elementary schools and the reality that at the school where the research was conducted, English is fully used as a means of instruction for English, Mathematics, and Science. Considering that literacy is shaped in socio-cultural contexts, the researcher assumed that the students acquired and developed their English literacy not only at school but also outside of school. Their out-of-school English literacy activities might contribute to their English literacy development. The research aims were to investigate the students’ English literacy level and to identify their out-of-school literacy activities. The theoretical framework covered the cognitive and socio-cultural theories of literacy. The research results were: 1 the majority of the fourth grade students were in early advanced and advanced levels for the aspects of reading and writing proficiency; and 2 their out-of-school English literacy activities played an important role in building their English literacy.
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Hatam, Amir Hussein; Shafiei, Shilan
2012-01-01
The purpose of the present study was twofold. Firstly, it tried to investigate the relationship between the technical English proficiency of the students of Mechanical Engineering in the universities of Iran and their technical translation proficiency in translating technical texts of Mechanics. Secondly, it attempted to evaluate the effectiveness…
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“Read-To-Write-Tasks” in English for Specific Purposes Classes
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Galina Kavaliauskienė
2011-04-01
Full Text Available At university level students face demanding tasks of reading an enormous amount of professional materials in English. Writing various assignments is another challenging part of higher education. Online activities are the priority for conducting assignments at tertiary level. Students usually start doing the English for Specific Purposes (ESP course before learning subject-matters of the future profession, i.e. in their first year. The cornerstone of the ESP is unfamiliar lexis and numerous concepts of subject-matter. In order to succeed, students need to develop proficiency in reading professional texts and writing skillfully on relevant subject issues. The aim of this paper is to study, first, learners‘ attitudes to online reading of professional materials as well as to writing various assignments online and, second, to examine learners‘ self-assessment of proficiency in these skills. Our research employed brief written surveys designed in accordance with the standards in Social Sciences, which were administered to the students doing the ESP course, and the verbal data obtained during individual interviews intended to assess learners‘ success and achievements throughout the academic year. The respondents were the students specializing in psychology at Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania. All the participants were unanimous in the importance of writing and reading skills for the ESP tasks. 100% of respondents support reading professional materials, and 80% of respondents support exercising online writing. Self-assessment of reading proficiency demonstrates that 90% of students believe they possess very good or good skills of reading, and 70% of learners are sure of their good skills in writing. Respondents’ performance in these skills is less impressive. Some recommendations towards perfecting students’ proficiency in “read-to-write-tasks” are suggested. It is important to help learners develop better rates of reading
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Outdoor Class Project: the Potential Benefits to Foster EFL Students’ Language Proficiency
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Indah Fajaria
2013-01-01
Full Text Available There are such myriad ideas upon English teaching-learning process. Everybody can share each fabulous idea through various media. One of fun English learnings that can motivate EFL students’ eagerness to practice English easily is an outdoor class activity. This project could sometimes deals with an outbound activities which provide the numerous contextualized values to shape more students’ character and their language proficiency as well. Moreover, nowadays the development of technology can be also integrated into the EFL classrooms. Therefore, the outdoor class project is potentially implemented through the technology-enhanced teaching. The most crucial materials that is urgently to be prepared are the tutorial models & methods, and the thermalized subject based on the objective itself.
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Developing interviewer proficiency: A self-perception survey
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Riin Kont-Kontson
2013-04-01
Full Text Available The article reports the findings of a survey among 440 teachers of English in Estonia who participate in the oral proficiency interview of the national examination in the English language as interviewers. Examining the results of the questionnaire statement by statement, the study reveals that interviewer behavioural patterns emerge during the interview, some of them threatening its validity.The understanding of interviewer competence is very diverse among the interviewers and the degree to which they adhere to the standards defined for the interviewers of national examination in the English langage in Estonia is sometimes quite low. The interviewers are often unable to separate their role as an interviewer from being a teacher; they transfer their teaching behaviour to the interviewing situation. The teachers have difficulties with identification of appropriate accommodation strategies as well as controlling the extent of interaction between the interviewer and the assessor. The authors suggest a number of interviewer training strategies to combat the problems. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5128/ERYa9.08
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The effects of video games on the receptive vocabulary proficiency of Swedish ESL students
Cabraja, Andreas
2016-01-01
Playing video games is an activity that takes up an increasing amount of children’s and adolescent’s spare time. While some previous studies have highlighted the negative aspects of video games, little research has been carried out on the linguistic learning opportunities that video games present. This study primarily investigates if Swedish second language learners of English can increase their vocabulary proficiency in English with the use of video games. In order to answer the research que...
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Relationship between "Form" and "Content" in Science Writing among English Language Learners
Lee, Okhee; Penfield, Randall D.; Buxton, Cory A.
2011-01-01
Background/Context: While different instructional approaches have been proposed to integrate academic content and English proficiency for English language learning (ELL) students, studies examining the magnitude of the relationship are non-existent. This study examined the relationship between the "form" (i.e., conventions, organization, and…
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Corinne Vong Siu Phern
2013-01-01
Full Text Available A majority of Malaysian students only have average English language proficiency, although instructional qualities of the effective English language teacher have by far been expounded by English language experts. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the extent to which the responses of student voice representing above average, average and below average English language proficiency from the primary, secondary and tertiary levels - have agreed with expert opinion’s description of instructional qualities of the effective English language teacher. In this respect, student voice was analysed using triangulation not only on the instructional qualities discussed, but also on the literature review. Interesting findings revealed that student voice still had something extra to contribute in determining the instructional qualities of the effective English language teacher, with a touch of irony and constructive criticism on how such qualities of English language teachers/lecturers could still improve, so as to appear more effective in learners’ eyes.
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Betanzos, Fernando
2016-01-01
The purpose of this study was to provide an insight into how former English learners' educational experiences allowed them to attain English language proficiency and meet grade level standards in English Language Arts. This study was informed by the theoretical frameworks of Albert Bandura's social learning theory, and Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural…
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English Pronouns in the Writing of Some Batswana Students | Alimi ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
pronouns at the University of Botswana. It also discusses some of the ways by which the learners may be assisted to become more proficient in using English pronouns. An analysis of 542 essays written by second and fourth year students of the Department of English reveal the following categories of pronoun errors: the ...
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Uncovering English-medium instruction glocal issues in higher education
Drljaca Margic, Branka
2016-01-01
This book draws on a range of theoretical and empirical insights to explore the implications of English-medium instruction in higher education and how to capitalize on its strengths and respond to its challenges. It opens up new avenues for research relevant to all educational institutions undergoing change in this field.
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Family Literacy: A Critical Inquiry-Based Approach to English Language Acquisition
Rolander, Kathleen
2018-01-01
In this theoretical article, the author explores the perceptions that drive the development of family literacy programs aimed at preparing limited-English-proficiency (LEP) families for schools in the United States. Examining English language learning with regard to power dynamics within a society and culture, the article considers the spectrum of…
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Premji, Stéphanie; Messing, Karen; Lippel, Katherine
2008-01-01
Language barriers are often cited as a factor contributing to ethnic inequalities in occupational health; however, little information is available about the mechanisms at play. The authors describe the multiple ways in which language influences occupational health in a large garment factory employing many immigrants in Montreal. Between 2004 and 2006, individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 women and 10 men from 14 countries of birth. Interviews were conducted in French and English, Canada's official languages, as well as in non-official languages with the help of colleague-interpreters. Observation within the workplace was also carried out at various times during the project. The authors describe how proficiency in the official languages influences occupational health by affecting workers' ability to understand and communicate information, and supporting relationships that can affect work-related health. They also describe workers' strategies to address communication barriers and discuss the implications of these strategies from an occupational health standpoint. Along with the longer-term objectives of integrating immigrants into the linguistic majority and addressing structural conditions that can affect health, policies and practices need to be put in place to protect the health and well-being of those who face language barriers in the short term.
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National radon measurement-proficiency program: Individual proficiency report
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1992-05-01
In February 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Radon Measurement Proficiency (RMP) Program to assist the public in identifying organizations capable of providing reliable radon measurement services. In December 1991, EPA announced the new individual proficiency listing category in the RMP Program. Individuals applying for this new listing status must demonstrate knowledge of radon measurement fundamentals by passing a written proficiency examination, maintain affiliation with an RMP listed organization, and meet other program requirements. This report lists those individuals who have met the requirements of the RMP Program as of April 30, 1992. These requirements are designed to provide minimum proficiency criteria for individuals who provide radon measurement services on-site in a residential environment
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National Radon Contractor Proficiency Program. Proficiency report: Supplement
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1991-02-01
The report, a supplement to the RCP Proficiency Report, will further assist governmental officials in providing advice to the public on the selection of proficient radon mitigation contractors. These reports list 1,123 contractors who have met the requirements of the RCP Program as of December 15, 1990. The Proficiency Report provides information on each contractor's name, RCP identification number, company name, address, phone number, and geographic service area. The report provides two additional tables, indexed by company name and by RCP identification number. The report is intended to help users quickly identify a proficient contractor if only the company name is known, or to verify which contractor is associated with a particular ID number
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Matsuoka, Rieko; Matsumoto, Kahoko; Poole, Gregory; Matsuoka, Misato
2014-01-01
This study examines the ways in which college students in Japan overcame sensitivity to external evaluation and increased their willingness to communicate in English. It is not uncommon for university students in Japan, who are otherwise proficient speakers of English and motivated to learn, fail to exhibit English competency in real communication…
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Starting Early with English Language Learners: First Lessons from Illinois
Severns, Maggie
2012-01-01
In recent years, a boom in immigration and high birth rates among the foreign-born population has led to significant growth in the number of children in the United States who speak a language other than English at home. This demographic change presents a challenge to the public school system, where English proficiency is central to a child's…
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Carlo, María S.; Barr, Christopher D.; August, Diane; Calderón, Margarita; Artzi, Lauren
2014-01-01
This three-year longitudinal study investigated the role of language of instruction in moderating the relationships between initial levels of English oral language proficiency and Spanish reading comprehension and growth in English reading comprehension. The study followed Spanish-speaking English language learners in English-only literacy…
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English in the multilingual classroom: implications for research, policy and practice
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Janina Brutt-Griffler
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Purpose – The shift in the function of English as a medium of instruction together with its use in knowledge construction and dissemination among scholars continue to fuel the global demand for high-level proficiency in the language. These components of the global knowledge economy mean that the ability of nations to produce multilinguals with advanced English proficiency alongside their mastery of other languages has become a key to global competitiveness. That need is helping to drive one of the greatest language learning experiments the world has ever known. It carries significant implications for new research agendas and teacher preparation in applied linguistics. Design/methodology/approach – Evidence-based decision-making, whether it pertains to language policy decisions, instructional practices, teacher professional development or curricula/program building, needs to be based on a rigorous and systematically pursued program of research and assessment. Findings – This paper seeks to advance these objectives by identifying new research foci that underscore a student-centered approach. Originality/value – It introduces a new theoretical construct – multilingual proficiency – to underscore the knowledge that the learner develops in the process of language learning that makes for the surest route to the desired high levels of language proficiency. The paper highlights the advantages of a student-centered approach that focuses on multilingual proficiency for teachers and explores the concomitant conclusions for teacher development.
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Liang, Hsin-Yi; Kelsen, Brent A.
2017-01-01
Introduction: This study examines university students' self-reported inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, and their relation to performance on a high-stakes English proficiency test while taking gender into consideration. Method: Inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity attributes were assessed using the Adult Attention…
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Ahlborn, Leslie; Franc, Jeffrey Michael
2012-02-01
The state of Oklahoma, known for destructive tornados, has a native Spanish-speaking (NSS) population of approximately 180,241, of which 50% report being able to speak English "very well" (US Census Bureau). With almost 50% of these native Spanish-speaking persons being limited English proficient (LEP), their reception of tornado hazard communications may be restricted. This study conducted in northeast Oklahoma (USA) evaluates the association between native language and receiving tornado hazard communications. This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted among a convenience sample of NSS and native English-speaking (NES) adults at Xavier Clinic and St. Francis Trauma Emergency Center in Tulsa, OK, USA from September 2009 through December 2009. Of the 82 surveys administered, 80 were returned, with 40 NES and 40 NSS participants. A scoring system (Severe Weather Information Reception (SWIR)) was developed to quantify reception of hazard information among the study participants (1-3 points=poor reception, 4-5=adequate reception, 6-8=excellent reception). Pearson's chi-squared test was used to calculate differences between groups with Yates' continuity correction applied where appropriate, and SWIR scores were analyzed using ANOVA. P-valuestornado siren. NSS were less likely to have Internet access (Ptornado warning reception between NSS and NES. Poor English proficiency was noted to be 75% among NSS, which is approximately 25% more than estimated by the US Census Bureau. This study demonstrates a need for emergency managers to recognize when appropriate and overcome communication disparities among limited English proficient populations.
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THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ENGLISH-ONLY POLICY IN THE TERTIARY EFL CONTEXT IN TAIWAN
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
David Dirkwen Wei
2013-01-01
Full Text Available Abstract: The implementation of English-only policy in the English classes at Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages in Taiwan has continued for nearly 40 years. Its advantages and disadvantages have also been debated and challenged because of the rising demands on students’ English proficiency in Taiwan. This study intended to reexamine the efficiency of the implementation of English-only policy in the English learning at a college of languages in Taiwan. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the process of data collection. 279 English major and non-English major students were invited to answer questionnaires, and six participants were invited to join interviews. The process of data analysis included the analysis of both the quantitative questionnaire data and the qualitative interview data. This study found students’ progress in English listening and speaking proficiency in the basic and lower-intermediate levels because of English-only policy. However, the interaction between teachers and some students was hampered because of the policy. Also, the ambiguity emerging in the insistence on using English only blocked some learners from comprehending the meanings of the texts they were learning, specifically the texts in the upper-intermediate and intermediate-advanced levels of English reading and writing courses. This study also found that proper tolerance of using both students’ native language and English in TEFL classes in the way of code-switching may help students more than the implementation of English-only policy in a tertiary TEFL context.
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Language, Mathematics and English Language Learners
Adoniou, Misty; Qing, Yi
2014-01-01
There is a correlation between language proficiency and achievement in mathematics (Riordain & O'Donoghue, 2009), and this is particularly evident for children who speak English as an additional language or dialect. More effort needs to be made in mathematics classrooms to develop cognitive competencies, including the ability to decode and…
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Yusof, Fahainis Mohd.; Karim, Hamida Bee Bi Abdul
2011-01-01
The secondary school English curriculum in Malaysia advocates that English could provide greater opportunities for students to improve their knowledge and skills in cross cultural settings. Additionally, they will be able to interact with students from other countries and improve their proficiency in English. Given the increasing importance of…
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Mixing English in Persian Print Advertising Discourse
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zohreh Gooniband Shooshtari
2013-09-01
Full Text Available This article intended to illustrate a profile of the role and impact of English in magazine print advertising in Iran, by examining the quantitative results obtained from discourse analysis. Three issues of Khanevadeh Sabz and two issues of Zendegi Ideal were collected and a total of 261 advertisements were analyzed. Results indicated that English has consistently been utilized in Persian magazine advertisements, representing attention-getting, persuasion, international brands, prestige, modernity, globalization, premium quality, fun, innovation and creativity. However, using English in Persian magazine advertisements is culturally and linguistically constrained. Culturally, in advertising traditional products English is only employed to introduce the name and e-mail address. Linguistically, although some English written slogans in Persian magazines had puns in them; the English used in Persian magazine advertisements mostly consists of easy-to-read vocabulary. Overall, in spite of the public’s generally low proficiency in English, it is predicted that English mixing will continue to thrive in magazine advertising discourse in Iran.
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Roles of Position, Stress, and Proficiency in L2 Children's Spelling: A Developmental Perspective
Hong, Su Chin; Chen, Shu Hui
2011-01-01
This study investigated the roles of phoneme position, stress, and proficiency in L2 spelling development by Taiwanese students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), an alphabetic writing system typologically different from the learners' L1 logographic system. Structured nonword spelling tests were administered to EFL sixth-graders with…
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On the Awareness of English Polysemous Words by Arabic-Speaking EFL Learners
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sulafah Abdul Salam Alnamer
2017-04-01
Full Text Available This study measures the extent to which Arabic-speaking EFL learners are aware of polysemy in English. It also investigates whether the English proficiency level of Arabic-speaking EFL learners plays a role in their ability to distinguish between the various meanings of English polysemous words, and whether they face problems when they encounter these words in unusual contexts (i.e. the contexts that employ the extended meanings of the target polysemous words. To these ends, a translation test in which the participants were asked to give full Arabic translation for fifteen English sentences was designed. The words open, run, and make were the target polysemous words in this study. The Results show that Arabic-speaking EFL learners have little awareness of polysemy in English, and their English proficiency level does play a role in their ability to distinguish between the different meanings of English polysemous words. It was also found that Arabic-speaking EFL learners have no problems guessing the primary meaning of the English polysemous words. However, they face difficulty guessing the extended meanings of polysemous words in unusual contexts. Moreover, some Arabic-speaking EFL learners can guess the extended meanings of the polysemous words they encounter in familiar contexts, or when they understand some cues provided to disambiguate these words. This study concludes with some pedagogical implications and recommendations for further studies.
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English as a lingua franca in higher education
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Björkman, Beyza
2011-01-01
The last decade has brought a number of changes for higher education in continental Europe and elsewhere, a major one being the increasing use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) as the medium of instruction. With this change, EAP is faced with a new group of learners who will need to use...... it predominantly in ELF settings to communicate with speakers from other first language backgrounds. This overview paper first discusses the changes that have taken place in the field of EAP in terms of student body, followed by an outline of the main findings of research carried out on ELF. These changes...... and the results of recent ELF research have important implications for EAP instruction and testing. It is argued here that EAP needs to be modified accordingly to cater for the needs of this group. These revolve around the two major issues: norms and standards for spoken English and target use. If the aim of EAP...
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Rodriguez, Cathi Draper; Filler, John; Higgins, Kyle
2012-01-01
Through this exploratory study the authors investigated the effects of primary language support delivered via computer on the English reading comprehension skills of English language learners. Participants were 28 First-grade students identified as Limited English Proficient. The primary language of all participants was Spanish. Students were…
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The Role of English Debating Tournament in the Face of the ASEAN Economy Community (AEC)
Husnawadi; Syamsudarni
2016-01-01
Since its establishment in the late 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) with English as the official language has forced its participating countries to improve the quality of English language teaching, in the hope to prepare their people to be globally competitive, as the lack of English proficiency remains the main challenge across the…
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Wilkins, Stephen; Urbanovic, Jolanta
2014-01-01
Although there seems to be a wide held assumption that transnational higher education programs have to be taught in English to be legitimate "international" programs, there are a few examples globally of international branch campuses that teach in languages other than English. Using seven institutional case studies from around the world,…
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English with Flying Colors: The Aviation English and the International Civil Aviation Organization
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kraśnicka Izabela
2016-06-01
Full Text Available There are several reasons for the English language to become lingua franca of aviation including some historical turning points for the world aviation and some specific linguistic features of the language itself. This paper aims to firstly present a short, yet interesting history of implementation of English as standardized language for aviation. It will provide introductory historical background, establishment of arguments necessary for standardization and leading to the implementation of the Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs within the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO. It will then provide an overview of the ICAO’s actions to support its members states in implementation of the English language standards for aviation and try to evaluate the effects based on the powers granted to the Organization. Such evaluation will be presented in the comparative perspective with the powers and instruments used within the European Union to achieve the same goal - standardization of the aviation English.
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Vadasy, Patricia F.; Sanders, Elizabeth A.
2016-01-01
This study examined benefits of connecting meaning, speech, and print in vocabulary learning for kindergarten English learners. Students screened eligible with limited English proficiency were randomly assigned to two instruction conditions. Both groups received direct instruction in high frequency root words. One condition featured added…
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Iwai, Yuko; Filce, Hollie; Ramp, Ellen
2011-01-01
In this study, the authors examined the impact of metacognitive reading strategies on international college students' academic success by correcting the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) instrument with (a) grade point averages (GPAs) and (b) the English language proficiency levels, categorized by beginning (students at the English Language…
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College Oral English teaching from the perspective of input and output theory
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Xiangxiang Yuan
2017-11-01
Full Text Available With the development of society and the deepening of economic globalization, the communicative competence of spoken English has become an important indicator of the talent. Therefore, how to improve college students’ oral English proficiency has become the focus of college English teaching. The phenomenon of “heavy input and light output” in college English teaching in China for a long period of time has led to the emergence of “dumb English, low efficiency”. Aiming at these problems, this paper discusses the functions of input and output and their relationship, and puts forward some views on oral English teaching.
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Fallkvist, Anneli
2016-01-01
Second language acquisition is a field that has fascinated linguists for numerous years and is a topic that is very much connected to how English teachers in Sweden try to teach the English language to the students in their classrooms. In 2009 Sundqvist examined what possible effects extramural English could have on learners' oral proficiency and their vocabulary. In her study she found out that extramural English “is an independent variable and a possible path to progress in English” (Sundqv...
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Early Literacy Skills and English Language Learners: An Analysis of Students in a Title I School
Ostayan, Jennifer R.
2016-01-01
This article examined student literacy assessments in light of students' levels of English language proficiency. The study supported the hypotheses that a student's level of language proficiency positively predicted their DIBELS Composite score at the beginning, middle, and end of kindergarten by utilizing a simple linear regression. An ANOVA…
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Low, Ee-Ling; Chong, Sylvia; Ellis, Mary
2014-01-01
Possessing strong communication skills is essential in contributing to effective teaching. This paper investigates graduating student teachers' English language proficiency, as measured by IELTS tests scores, of graduating EL student teachers. The paper considers what teachers need to know about the English language given that English has been the…
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2011-01-19
... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program; Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students; Overview Information; Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program...
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Where Do We Go from Here? The Future of English Higher Education
Huisman, J.; de Boer, Harry F.; Botas, P.C.P.
2012-01-01
A Delphi study has been carried out, soliciting views from higher education experts on likely and desirable developments in English higher education until 2025. The paper reports the most salient findings of the Delphi questionnaire and presents two scenarios that focus largely on the institutional
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Using the TOEFL to measure the reading proficiency levels of deaf college applicants.
LoMaglio, L J
1991-07-01
The TOEFL is widely used by colleges and universities in the United States and Canada to measure the English language proficiency levels of hearing international applicants. At the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a faculty committee recommended that this popular test instrument be used to measure the English reading skills of deaf international applicants to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. This study examined the merits of using the TOEFL to measure the English reading ability of hearing post-secondary international students seeking admission to English-based colleges and universities. Forty-one hearing foreign students were tested in the fall of 1989 at the English Language Institute at SUNY Buffalo. The instruments chosen were both the TOEFL and the California Achievement Test of reading ability. The majority of the research subjects who scored between 400 and 500 on the TOEFL achieved a grade level of less than 8.0 on the California Achievement Test.
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Ali, Nor Liza
2013-01-01
The literature shows that English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes at the tertiary level in various parts of the world have positioned EMI as a language-planning tool to promote students' mastery of English. English proficiency is believed to be intertwined with the overall economic development of a country. In addition to internationalising…
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Reading Interventions to Support English Language Learners
Corella, Jolene
2012-01-01
High stakes assessments conducted in the southwestern United States demonstrate that fewer than 50% of English language learners (ELLs) are achieving proficiency levels in reading fluency. The purpose of this study was to understand if reading interventions using the framework of Samuels's repeated reading (RR) strategy increased student…
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Pre-Service Education for Primary School English Teachers in Indonesia: Policy Implications
Zein, Subhan
2016-01-01
Although English is only an extra-curricular subject at primary level in Indonesia, expectations over the improved quality of the teachers are exceptionally high. This is the case in the past few years in which the low proficiency of primary English teachers and their lack of teaching competencies have repeatedly been pointed out as major…
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Wannachotphawate, Wilaiwan
2015-01-01
Thailand's Participation as a member of the ASEAN Community forces her government to accelerate improvement of her citizens' competency of the English language. The continuing wave by Thai governments to develop and modernize the quality of education has influenced Thai society. Within Thailand, English proficiency has been reported as being…
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Chou, Mu-hsuan
2017-01-01
Formal English language education in Taiwan now starts at Year 3 in primary school, with an emphasis on communicative proficiency. In addition to formal education, attending English cram schools after regular school has become a common phenomenon for Taiwanese students. The main purpose of gaining additional reinforcement in English cram schools…
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Translation Priming Effect in Spanish-English Bilinguals
Ramírez Sarmiento, Albeiro Miguel Ángel
2011-01-01
This article aims to establish the effects of masked priming by translation equivalents in Spanish-English bilinguals with a high-intermediate level of proficiency in their second language. Its findings serve as evidence to support the hypothesis that semantic representations mediate the mental association among non-cognates from a speaker's first…
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Taqi, Hanan A.; Al-Nouh, Nowreyah A.; Akbar, Rahima S.
2014-01-01
This paper presents a research study designed to investigate the characteristics of effective teachers of English and the uniqueness of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The research is based on four general categories: English language proficiency, educational perception, organization and communication skills, social and emotional…
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Wu, Joyce Ching-Yi
2014-01-01
The English language increasingly influences Taiwanese life because Taiwan entered the global village and English language changed into a more important skill in order to communicate with foreigners. Many Taiwanese parents desire their children become proficient English speakers so that they send them to "buxiban" (cram schools) in…
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Factors Affecting English Language Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Nguyen, Hong Thi; Warren, Wendy; Fehring, Heather
2014-01-01
This paper reports part of a study that aims to explore factors affecting the efficacy of non-major English teaching and learning in Vietnamese higher education through an investigation of classroom practices. Eight non-participant class observations were conducted at HUTECH University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The study's findings show that…
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Embedded academic writing support for nursing students with English as a second language.
Salamonson, Yenna; Koch, Jane; Weaver, Roslyn; Everett, Bronwyn; Jackson, Debra
2010-02-01
This paper reports a study which evaluated a brief, embedded academic support workshop as a strategy for improving academic writing skills in first-year nursing students with low-to-medium English language proficiency. Nursing students who speak English as a second language have lower academic success compared with their native English-speaking counterparts. The development of academic writing skills is known to be most effective when embedded into discipline-specific curricula. Using a randomized controlled design, in 2008 106 students pre-enrolled in an introductory bioscience subject were randomized to receive either the intervention, a 4-day embedded academic learning support workshop facilitated by two bioscience (content) nursing academics and a writing and editing professional, or to act as the control group. The primary focus of the workshop was to support students to work through a mock assignment by providing progressive feedback and written suggestions on how to improve their answers. Of the 59 students randomized to the intervention, only 28 attended the workshop. Bioscience assignment results were analysed for those who attended (attendees), those randomized to the intervention but who did not attend (non-attendees), and the control group. Using anova, the results indicated that attendees achieved statistically significantly higher mean scores (70.8, sd: 6.1) compared to both control group (58.4, sd: 3.4, P = 0.002) and non-attendees (48.5, sd: 5.5, P = 0.001). A brief, intensive, embedded academic support workshop was effective in improving the academic writing ability of nursing students with low-to-medium English language proficiency, although reaching all students who are likely to benefit from this intervention remains a challenge.
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Bradford, Annette
2016-01-01
Higher education is becoming increasingly internationalized, and the use of English as a medium of instruction for academic content has become commonplace in countries where English is not the native language. However, concerns are growing that the trend toward English-medium instruction (EMI) has accelerated without sufficient thought to the…
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IELTS and Academic Success in Higher Education: A UAE Perspective
Kevin Schoepp; Dawn Garinger
2016-01-01
This study compares the relationship between International English Language Testing System (IELTS) entrance scores and academic success as defined by general education program GPA for students at a federal university in the United Arab Emirates in order to reflect upon regional English language proficiency entrance requirements. It focuses on one group of students, direct entry students who have bypassed the English language foundation program with an overall IELTS 6.0 or greater and were adm...
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LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND THE NEW MILLENNIALS' LITERACIES
Ana Osuna*, Carlos Zavala, Ma. Reynoso and Ileana Osuna
2018-01-01
Although Mexico has made efforts to teach English to students for more than seven decades, the results of its policies have not been as expected. However, young people who have reached successful levels of language proficiency could show us other factors they interact with that let them achieve those proficiency levels. These students, called millennials, learn differently from their predecessors and their learning scenarios are no longer found only at school. Internet, an environment where t...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mohammed Marajan Awad Adam
2016-03-01
Full Text Available English is taught as a foreign language in the Arab world even though practical concerns call for greater emphasis on the language. In all personal interactions too Arabic is the preferred language. Thus the environment for English is really very limited as by the time the learners are exposed to the language they are well entrenched in Arabic. While this may be a handicap in some EFL situations (for example where adults are concerned, in the Arab context this can prove a big boon. This is because young language learners who are proficient in their first language can apply the learning techniques while acquiring the second language. This paper targets the teaching fraternity in the Arab world to help them understand how first language proficiency can aid second/foreign language acquisition.
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A Systematic Review of English Medium Instruction in Higher Education
Macaro, Ernesto; Curle, Samantha; Pun, Jack; An, Jiangshan; Dearden, Julie
2018-01-01
After outlining why a systematic review of research in English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education (HE) is urgently required, we briefly situate the rapidly growing EMI phenomenon in the broader field of research in which content and language have been considered and compare HE research outputs with those from other phases of education.…
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English language learning materials a critical review
Tomlinson
2010-01-01
This research collection presents a critical review of the materials used for learning English around the world. The first section includes a discussion of materials for specific learners and purposes, such as young learners, self-study, academic writing and general proficiency. The second section presents a detailed study of the materials used in Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Australia, and critically evaluates their effectiveness in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages. Taking both the teacher's and the learner's needs into consideration, the book m
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Policies of Global English Tests: Test-Takers' Perspectives on the IELTS Retake Policy
Hamid, M. Obaidul
2016-01-01
Globalized English proficiency tests such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) are increasingly playing the role of gatekeepers in a globalizing world. Although the use of the IELTS as a "policy tool" for making decisions in the areas of study, work and migration impacts on test-takers' lives and life chances, not…
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Hong, J.-C.; Hwang, M.-Y.; Chang, H.-W.; Tai, K.-H.; Kuo, Y.-C.; Tsai, Y.-H.
2015-01-01
To determine the factors of learning effectiveness in English vocabulary learning when using a calibration scheme, this study developed a freshman English mobile device application (for iPhone 4) for students with low levels of English proficiency to practise vocabulary in the beginning of their Freshman English course. Data were collected and…
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The Impact of Educational Policy on English Learners in a Rural Indiana School Corporation
Burke, April M.
2015-01-01
Indiana English learners (ELs) constitute a rapidly growing portion of the state's school-aged population, and those classified as limited English proficient are low performers on the state test. The purpose of this embedded mixed methods study was to understand how school personnel respond to accountability mandates, interpret test scores, and…
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Saravanan, Vanithamani
2001-01-01
Surveyed groups of Chinese, Malay and Tamil families, their use of community languages or mother tongue, and their speaking, reading, and writing proficiency. Found that when parents' community language proficiency in speaking is lower they tend to choose English as preferred language. Children's language confidence affected their language choice.…
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The acquisition of English as a second language in Rwanda ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Dr Karangwa
The use of English in daily communication in Rwanda is very limited and the proficiency in ... Pearson, 2013; Uwubuntu, 2013). .... as Noam Chomsky suggests, there is a period in the human development (Critical Period) when the brain is.
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English-medium instruction in japanese higher education policy, challenges and outcomes
Bradford, Annette
2017-01-01
This book examines English-medium instruction (EMI) in Japanese higher education, situating it within Japan's current policy context and examining the experiences of its stakeholders. Scholars and practitioners look at EMI from perspectives that include policy planning, program design, marketing and classroom practice.
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English-medium instruction in Japanese higher education policy, challenges and outcomes
Bradford, Annette
2017-01-01
This book examines English-medium instruction (EMI) in Japanese higher education, situating it within Japan's current policy context and examining the experiences of its stakeholders. Scholars and practitioners look at EMI from perspectives that include policy planning, program design, marketing and classroom practice.
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DATA VISUALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bogdana Saliuk
2016-12-01
Full Text Available The article discusses the use of data visualization technologies such as infographics and mind map in teaching foreign languages, particularly English, to students of non-special faculties of the higher educational establishments (programmers, psychologists, engineers, musicians etc. The expediency of introduction of these technologies that will help to relief students’ perception of grammatical or lexical material as well as to optimize the educational process and interest in further study of English is noted. Infographics is used for the activation of lexical units, the assimilation of grammatical phenomena, the simulation of real-life situations to develop skills of monologue and dialogue speech, as well as for training in the use of lexical and grammatical material. The practice of English language teaching to students of non-special faculties illustrates the fact that they better perceive English phrasal verbs, thematic vocabulary, grammar, idioms through visualization. At the same time it helps to save time on the explanation of linguistic material in favor of speech activity. Mind map is also useful in the study of lexical and grammatical material in different stages – from the introduction of new themes to its repetition and generalization. Implementing mind map into the educational process the teacher can build the system of communicative exercises, the analysis of professional texts, group, individual and independent work of students.
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The Effects of the CALL Model on College English Reading Teaching
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dan Zhang
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL is an important concept in English teaching method reform. College students’ English reading ability is an important indicator in the evaluation on the college students’ English proficiency. Therefore, this paper applies the CALL model in English reading teaching. Firstly, it introduces the application and development prospect of the CALL model, and analyzes its advantages and disadvantages; secondly, it analyzes the present situation of college English teaching and its influencing factors and then designs an application example to integrate the CALL model with different aspect of English reading. Finally, it analyzes the teaching results of college English reading under the CALL model. Therefore, in both theory and practice, this paper proves the effectiveness and innovativeness of the CALL model.
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Chung, Wei-Lun; Jarmulowicz, Linda
2017-08-01
For monolingual English-speaking children, judgment and production of stress in derived words, including words with phonologically neutral (e.g., -ness) and non-neutral suffixes (e.g., -ity), is important to both academic vocabulary growth and to word reading. For Mandarin-speaking adult English learners (AELs) the challenge of learning the English stress system might be complicated by cross-linguistic differences in prosodic function and features. As Mandarin-speakers become more proficient in English, patterns similar to those seen in monolingual children could emerge in which awareness and use of stress and suffix cues benefit word reading. A correlational design was used to examine the contributions of English stress in derivation with neutral and non-neutral suffixes to English word and nonword reading. Stress judgment in non-neutral derivation predicted word reading after controlling for working memory and English vocabulary; whereas stress production in neutral derivation contributed to word reading and pseudoword decoding, independent of working memory and English vocabulary. Although AELs could use stress and suffix cues for word reading, AELs were different from native English speakers in awareness of non-neutral suffix cues conditioning lexical stress placement. AELs may need to rely on lexical storage of primary stress in derivations with non-neutral suffixes.
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Are Danish doctors comfortable teaching in English?
Nilas, L; Løkkegaard, E C; Laursen, J B; Kling, J; Cortes, D
2016-08-27
From 2012-2015, the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and of Pediatrics at the University of Copenhagen conducted a project, "Internationalization at Home ", offering clinical teaching in English. The project allowed international students to work with Danish speaking students in a clinical setting. Using semi-quantitative questionnaires to 89 clinicians about use of English and need for training, this paper considers if Danish clinical doctors are prepared to teach in English. The majority self-assessed their English proficiency between seven and eight on a 10 unit visual analogue scale, with 10 equivalent to working in Danish, while 15 % rated five or less. However, one-fourth found teaching and writing in English to be twice as difficult than in Danish, and 12 % rated all teaching tasks in English at four or less compared to Danish. The self-assessed need for additional English skills was perceived low. Teaching in English was rated as 30 % more difficult than in Danish, and a significant subgroup of doctors had difficulties in all forms of communication in English, resulting in challenges when introducing international students in non-native English speaking medical departments.
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Chakraborty, Rahul; Goffman, Lisa; Smith, Anne
2009-01-01
Purpose To examine how age of immersion and proficiency in a 2nd language influence speech movement variability and speaking rate in both a 1st language and a 2nd language. Method A group of 21 Bengali–English bilingual speakers participated. Lip and jaw movements were recorded. For all 21 speakers, lip movement variability was assessed based on productions of Bengali (L1; 1st language) and English (L2; 2nd language) sentences. For analyses related to the influence of L2 proficiency on speech production processes, participants were sorted into low- (n = 7) and high-proficiency (n = 7) groups. Lip movement variability and speech rate were evaluated for both of these groups across L1 and L2 sentences. Results Surprisingly, adult bilingual speakers produced equally consistent speech movement patterns in their production of L1 and L2. When groups were sorted according to proficiency, highly proficient speakers were marginally more variable in their L1. In addition, there were some phoneme-specific effects, most markedly that segments not shared by both languages were treated differently in production. Consistent with previous studies, movement durations were longer for less proficient speakers in both L1 and L2. Interpretation In contrast to those of child learners, the speech motor systems of adult L2 speakers show a high degree of consistency. Such lack of variability presumably contributes to protracted difficulties with acquiring nativelike pronunciation in L2. The proficiency results suggest bidirectional interactions across L1 and L2, which is consistent with hypotheses regarding interference and the sharing of phonological space. A slower speech rate in less proficient speakers implies that there are increased task demands on speech production processes. PMID:18367680
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Jurkovic, Violeta
2016-01-01
The teaching content of Maritime English is dictated by the 1995 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping, as amended, which sets qualification standards for masters, officers, and officers of the watch on merchant ships, including a high proficiency level in maritime English. Feature films have an…
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Han, Jeanie Nam; Vanderwood, Michael L.; Lee, Catherine Y.
2015-01-01
This study examined the predictive validity of early literacy measures with first-grade Korean English language learners (ELLs) in the United States at varying levels of English proficiency. Participants were screened using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency…
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ENDLESS OPTIONS OF INTERNET IN LEARNING ENGLISH
Skipalska, O.M.; Скіпальська, О.М.
2013-01-01
Proficient level of English will depend not only on talent and hard work of a learner but also on the ways of learning. Internet is a future of education and will enhance learning process. It facilitates learning, it can be used anywhere, it enables research and improved learning, it accelerates learning, it helps them grow.
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Tracking the Progress of English Language Learners
Murphy, Audrey F.
2009-01-01
Educators need to document progress for English language learners, and the best structures to put into place in order to record their growth. Beginning with the stages of language proficiency, student progress can be tracked through the use of a baseline in all four language strands and the creation of rubrics to monitor performance. Language…
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Francis, Wendy S; Tokowicz, Natasha; Kroll, Judith F
2014-01-01
Repetition priming was used to assess how proficiency and the ease or difficulty of lexical access influence bilingual translation. Two experiments, conducted at different universities with different Spanish-English bilingual populations and materials, showed repetition priming in word translation for same-direction and different-direction repetitions. Experiment 1, conducted in an English-dominant environment, revealed an effect of translation direction but not of direction match, whereas Experiment 2, conducted in a more balanced bilingual environment, showed an effect of direction match but not of translation direction. A combined analysis on the items common to both studies revealed that bilingual proficiency was negatively associated with response time (RT), priming, and the degree of translation asymmetry in RTs and priming. An item analysis showed that item difficulty was positively associated with RTs, priming, and the benefit of same-direction over different-direction repetition. Thus, although both participant accuracy and item accuracy are indices of learning, they have distinct effects on translation RTs and on the learning that is captured by the repetition-priming paradigm.
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Forrest, James; Dandy, Justine
2018-01-01
Much is known about immigrants' majority language proficiency in the first (immigrant) generation. Less is understood of differences in linguistic shift compared with heritage language retention in subsequent generations. Focusing on Sydney, Australia's largest "EthniCity," we build on Clyne and Kipp's (1999. "Pluricentric Languages…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pazhakh, A
2006-07-01
Full Text Available The present study has attempted to determine weather there is any relationship between language learning strategies employed by language learners, and if so what relationship exists between them. Furthermore, it has tried to investigate what effective and useful strategies the learners employ while learning English as a foreign language correspondent with their proficiency levels. A simulated TOEFL (REA, 1993 test was initially administered to classify the learners into three classes of proficiency levels. Oxford‟s Strategy Inventory, SILL, (Oxford, 1990 was used to determine the frequency of the language learning strategies applied by learners. The results of this study provide confirmation of previous research findings concerning the direct relationship between language learning strategies and language proficiency level, and represent the types of the strategies adopted by advanced, intermediate and elementary language learners. The implications of this study are to suggest both the metacognitive compensatory strategies, the most frequent strategies employed by advanced learners be instructed to the language learners in order to upgrade their proficiency level.
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Abu-Rabia, Salim; Siegel, Linda S
2002-11-01
This study assessed the reading, language, and memory skills of 56 bilingual Arab-Canadian children age's 9-14. English was their main instructional language, and Arabic was the language spoken at home. All children attended a Heritage Language Program in Toronto where they were taught to read and write Arabic. The children were administered word and pseudo-word reading, language, and working memory tests in English and Arabic. The majority of the children showed at least adequate proficiency in both languages. There was a significant relationship between the acquisition of word and pseudo-word reading working memory, and syntactic awareness skills in the two languages. The poor readers in Arabic had lower scores on all linguistic tasks, except the visual task. There were no significant differences between bilingual English Arabic children and monolingual English-speaking children on the reading, language, and memory tasks. However, bilingual English Arabic children who had reading problems in English had higher scores on English pseudo-word reading and spelling tasks than monolingual English-speaking children with reading disabilities, probably because of positive transfer from the regular nature of Arabic orthography. In this case, bilingualism does not appear to have negative consequences for the development of language reading skills in both languages--Arabic and English--despite the different nature of the two orthographies.
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Computer proficiency questionnaire: assessing low and high computer proficient seniors.
Boot, Walter R; Charness, Neil; Czaja, Sara J; Sharit, Joseph; Rogers, Wendy A; Fisk, Arthur D; Mitzner, Tracy; Lee, Chin Chin; Nair, Sankaran
2015-06-01
Computers and the Internet have the potential to enrich the lives of seniors and aid in the performance of important tasks required for independent living. A prerequisite for reaping these benefits is having the skills needed to use these systems, which is highly dependent on proper training. One prerequisite for efficient and effective training is being able to gauge current levels of proficiency. We developed a new measure (the Computer Proficiency Questionnaire, or CPQ) to measure computer proficiency in the domains of computer basics, printing, communication, Internet, calendaring software, and multimedia use. Our aim was to develop a measure appropriate for individuals with a wide range of proficiencies from noncomputer users to extremely skilled users. To assess the reliability and validity of the CPQ, a diverse sample of older adults, including 276 older adults with no or minimal computer experience, was recruited and asked to complete the CPQ. The CPQ demonstrated excellent reliability (Cronbach's α = .98), with subscale reliabilities ranging from .86 to .97. Age, computer use, and general technology use all predicted CPQ scores. Factor analysis revealed three main factors of proficiency related to Internet and e-mail use; communication and calendaring; and computer basics. Based on our findings, we also developed a short-form CPQ (CPQ-12) with similar properties but 21 fewer questions. The CPQ and CPQ-12 are useful tools to gauge computer proficiency for training and research purposes, even among low computer proficient older adults. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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An ERP study of second language learning after childhood: effects of proficiency.
Ojima, Shiro; Nakata, Hiroki; Kakigi, Ryusuke
2005-08-01
Whether there is an absolute critical period for acquiring language is a matter of continuous debate. One approach to address this issue is to compare the processes of second language (L2) learning after childhood and those of first language (L1) learning during childhood. To study the cortical process of postchildhood L2 learning, we compared event-related brain potentials recorded from two groups of adult Japanese speakers who attained either high or intermediate proficiency in English after childhood (J-High and J-Low), and adult native English speakers (ENG). Semantic anomalies embedded in English sentences evoked a clear N400 component in all three groups, with only the time course of the brain activation varying among the groups. Syntactic violations elicited a left-lateralized negativity similar to the left anterior negativity in ENG and J-High, but not in J-Low. In ENG, a P600 component was additionally found. These results suggest that semantic processing is robust from early on in L2 learning, whereas the development of syntactic processing is more dependent on proficiency as evidenced by the lack of the left-lateralized negativity in J-Low. Because early maturation and stability of semantic processing as opposed to syntactic processing are also a feature of L1 processing, postchildhood L2 learning may be governed by the same brain properties as those which govern childhood L1 learning. We argue that these processes are qualitatively similar in many respects, with only restricted domains of language processing being subject to absolute critical period effects.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rafael Lara-Alecio
2018-02-01
Full Text Available The overarching purpose of our study was to compare performances of treatment and control condition students who completed a literacy-infused, inquiry-based science intervention through sixth grade as measured by a big idea assessment tool which we refer to as the Big Ideas in Science Assessment (BISA. First, we determine the concurrent validity of the BISA; second, we investigate the differences in the post-test of the BISA between treatment and control English Learners (ELs, controlling for their performance in the pre-test; third, we analyze the differences in the post-test of the BISA between treatment and control non-ELs, controlling for their performance in the pre-test; and fourth, we examine the relationship between students’ English language proficiency as measured by standardized assessment, and their performance in the BISA among ELs and non-ELs, respectively. Our findings indicate: (a literacy-infused science lessons with big ideas, implemented through the tested intervention, improved students’ language acquisition and science concept understanding for ELs and economically challenged students (ECs; (b there was a positive relationship between language and content for both ELs and non-ELs, with a similar magnitude, suggesting that students with a higher level of English proficiency score higher in science assessment; and (c the lesson plans prepared were successful for promoting a literacy-infused science curriculum via a 5E Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate that includes three to five of the Es used daily. A pedagogical approach for a literacy-infused science model with big ideas is proposed.
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Investigation of Turkish EFL Learners' Attributions on Success and Failure in Learning English
Yavuz, Aysun; Höl, Devrim
2017-01-01
The purpose of this study is to investigate the attributions of Turkish EFL learners on success and failure in learning English as a foreign language with different variables such as gender and level of English proficiency. To investigate the attributions of the participants and gather the relevant data, a questionnaire including 38 items and…
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A Brief Analysis of Large Classroom’s English Teaching Management Skills
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Weixuan Zhong
2014-05-01
Full Text Available Classroom is the basic place of teaching, where intertwined with a variety of teaching factors, and all these factors forms various kinds of connections. Scientific and effective class teaching management is the necessary and powerful measure of improving the teaching quality. Effective English teaching management skills are parts of the elements of successful large classroom teaching. Under the new educational situation, how to organize, regulate, manage large classrooms in order to train the students' English proficiency within certain time, which is very important to improve English classes management efficiency and teaching quality.
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Refining English Language Tests for University Admission: A Malaysian Example
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Arshad Abd Samad
2008-06-01
Full Text Available English has now become the lingua franca of much of technological, business and academic endeavours. Consequently, learning the English language is now seen as vital, especially at the university level where proficiency in the language has become a selection criterion. At present, the Malaysian University English Test (MUET has been adopted by Malaysian public universities as an indicator of English language proficiency. A student’s overall result depends on all the four language components of the MUET and often determines the number and nature of the English language courses he or she has to attend at university. This study seeks to examine whether MUET is an accurate predictor of performance and success at university and how the MUET can be finetuned as an entry level English language test. It was carried out among 52 third year undergraduates of the Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, admitted into the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL programme. The findings of the study do not offer conclusive evidence about the validity of MUET as a predictor of academic success. However, six models of various combinations of scores on language components on the MUET scores are examined in terms of their effectiveness in increasing the accuracy in selecting students for the TESL programme. The correlations obtained using these models indicate that the combination of various components of the MUET can be used to more accurately predict student achievement at tertiary level than the cumulative MUET score itself. The results of these correlations and their implications in using language tests as admission requirements in general are also discussed
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English Language Test for Scientific Staff at D.U.T.
Klaassen, R.G.; Bos, M.H.P.C.; Roubos, Tim; Veronesi, Daniela; Nickenig, Christoph
2009-01-01
Delft University of Technology (DUT) screened her (non-native English) scientific staff on their level of language proficiency over the year academic 2006/2007. In this paper the large scale operation, involving planning, policy decisions, assessment means, advise and training are discussed. Results
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Cahyani, Anisa Putri; Drajati, Nur Arifah
2017-01-01
Airport and airlines service demand qualified employees to have proficient English communication skill to support smooth flow of airport and flights operation, primarily the workers involved in passenger-handling. English for Specific Purpose (ESP) course which fulfills the target needs could help such situation. This small scale study presents stakeholders' comments about the staffs' English communication ability and needs in the work setting (data collected through semi-structured interview...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Manyike, Tintswalo V.
2010-12-01
Full Text Available A clear preference for English as language of teaching and learning (LoLT is evident in most South African schools. However, discrepancies exist between language policy aims and educational outcomes with regard to the successful acquisition of English among English second language (ESL learners. Effective participation in all learning activities is closely linked to learners’ proficiency in the LoLT; poor English proficiency leads to underachievement across the curriculum. In the light of this, a case study as conducted to investigate the English reading and writing performance of Grade 7 Xitsonga-speaking learners in three selected township schools in the Tshwane metropolitan area, Gauteng Province. Firstly, a literature review was undertaken to explore the importance of reading and writing skills in the classroom with particular reference to the demands made on ESL learners. Following this, standardised tests were used to assess the learners’ English reading and writing performance. Findings indicated that learners performed poorly in both reading and writing; however, no significant relationship could be demonstrated between reading and writing, possibly due to the nature of the components of the test. The overall lack of reading and writing competence in English holds implications for learners’ academic achievement in all learning areas in situations in which English is used as the LoLT.
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Learner Autonomy as an Element in Chinese Education Reform: A Case of English Language Subject
Lu, Jinjin; Liu, Yingliang
2016-01-01
Enhancing students' learning autonomy has been emphasized in the current round of English curriculum reforms by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in China. The initial aim of the new guidelines was developed to enhance students' English proficiency to better fulfil their basic education (Nine-year compulsory education). However, up until now, very…
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McClellan, Sean R; Wu, Frances M; Snowden, Lonnie R
2012-06-01
Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits federal funds recipients from providing care to limited English proficiency (LEP) persons more limited in scope or lower in quality than care provided to others. In 1999, the California Department of Mental Health implemented a "threshold language access policy" to meet its Title VI obligations. Under this policy, Medi-Cal agencies must provide language assistance programming in a non-English language where a county's Medical population contains either 3000 residents or 5% speakers of that language. We examine the impact of threshold language policy-required language assistance programming on LEP persons' access to mental health services by analyzing the county-level penetration rate of services for Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese speakers across 34 California counties, over 10 years of quarterly data. Exploiting a time series with nonequivalent control group study design, we studied this phenomena using linear regression with random county effects to account for trends over time. Threshold language policy-required assistance programming led to an immediate and significant increase in the penetration rate of mental health services for Russian (8.2, P language speaking persons. Threshold language assistance programming was effective in increasing mental health access for Russian and Vietnamese, but not for Spanish-speaking LEP persons.
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AFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
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Siti Mariam
2017-04-01
English proficiency ? Method of research The R and D is in the scope of the development affective assessment model of English subject. The affective assessment model can be used to help English teachers to enhance students’ English proficiency from affective point of view. This study is limited to the creation of a model of affective assessment of English subject for students of non- English department. To develop a model of affective assessment of English subject, the researcher has employed Research and Development ( R and D . Research and Development is a research that is done to develop a valid product. Borg and Gall use ten steps in their R and D cycle ( 1983 : 775 . According to Sugiyono ( 2012 : 298 , those ten steps are regrouped into three phases : (1. Exploration Phase ( Preliminary Phase , (2. Prototype Development Phase and (3. Testing Phase.The following are research questions of Exploration Phase, Development Phase and Field Assessment Phase. Method of Data Collection in this study used questionnaire, interview, and library research. The result of study shows that affective assessment consists five aspects namely attitude, self-concept, motivation, interest and personal value. The form of affective assessment is rubric in each aspect.
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Haas, Eric; Tran, Loan; Huang, Min
2016-01-01
When is the right moment to transition an English learner student from part-time participation in English language development classes into full-time participation in mainstream English-only classes? English learner students should be moved into full-time mainstream English-only classes when they are sufficiently fluent in English to be able to…
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Courtney, Louise
2017-01-01
The current longitudinal study examines the similarities and differences between primary and secondary foreign language curricula and pedagogy along with the development of motivation for language learning and second language proficiency. Data from 26 English learners of French (aged 10-11) were collected across three times points over a 12-month…
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IELTS and Academic Success in Higher Education: A UAE Perspective
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Kevin Schoepp
2016-05-01
Full Text Available This study compares the relationship between International English Language Testing System (IELTS entrance scores and academic success as defined by general education program GPA for students at a federal university in the United Arab Emirates in order to reflect upon regional English language proficiency entrance requirements. It focuses on one group of students, direct entry students who have bypassed the English language foundation program with an overall IELTS 6.0 or greater and were admitted straight into the baccalaureate program. Students were grouped according to their IELTS proficiency levels: 6.0, 6.5 or ≥7.0. Measures of central tendency for overall GPA and academic-stream-specific GPA, along with the overall IELTS and the corresponding sub-scores were calculated. To test the statistical significance of any mean score GPA differences that existed between the 3 IELTS groups, a One-Way ANOVA was calculated. Based on the statistical analyses, the IELTS ≥7.0 group appears to have achieved a meaningful threshold for academic success in that they have consistently outperformed the other direct entry students. This finding corresponds to international entrance-requirement standards for non-native speakers of English.
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Gorenc, Ana
2017-01-01
In my master's thesis, I focus on the connection between social environment and learning a foreign language, namely English. I write about out-of-school exposure, which is an important part of informal learning of English as a foreign language. In the theoretical part I discuss to what extent English is present in every-day life in Slovenia, the Netherlands and globally. This part contains facts about important out-of-school effects that affect learning English: social environment, family ba...
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The effect of proficiency level on the rate of receptive and productive vocabulary acquisition
Şener, Murat
2010-01-01
Ankara : The Department of Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Bilkent University, 2010. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 2010. Includes bibliographical references leaves 99-104. This study investigated the effect of proficiency level on the rate of receptive and productive vocabulary acquisition, in conjunction with an examination of materials and instruction. The study was conducted with the participation of 68 beginner and elementary level students, and their ...
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The Effect of a Simplified English Language Dictionary on a Reading Test. LEP Projects Report 1.
Albus, Deb; Bielinski, John; Thurlow, Martha; Liu, Kristin
This study was conducted to examine whether using a monolingual, simplified English dictionary as an accommodation on a reading test with limited-English-proficient (LEP) Hmong students improved test performance. Hmong students were chosen because they are often not literate in their first language. For these students, bilingual dictionaries are…
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National Radon Contractor Proficiency Program. Proficiency report, October 1990
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1990-10-01
The report lists those individual contractors in the United States who have met the requirements of the Radon Contractor Proficiency (RCP) Program as of August 18, 1990. These requirements are designed to provide minimum proficiency criteria for individuals who design and supervise the installation of radon mitigation systems in buildings. (Some States have more stringent requirements as part of their radon certification programs. The States should be consulted directly for details on their programs; see Section 5 for a list of State radon contacts). The RCP Program measures the proficiency of an individual contractor, not their company. Therefore, users of the report who select a mitigation firm should ensure that the services are provided by the listed contractor. The National RCP Program does not accredit mitigation contractors, nor does it certify, recommend, or endorse participating companies. Only the listed contractor, not their company of affilation, are deemed proficient. The inclusion of a contractor in the report should not be interpreted as a certification or accreditation of the individual or affiliated company
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National Radon Contractor Proficiency (RCP) Program. Proficiency report, June 1991
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1991-06-01
The primary objective of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to address the indoor radon problem is to reduce radon levels in buildings throughout the country. Achieving the objective requires a nationwide supply of capable radon mitigation contractors. In the Indoor Radon Abatement Act of 1988, Congress authorized EPA to establish a program to evaluate radon mitigation contractors and to provide the information to the public in cooperation with the States. The Radon Contractor Proficiency (RCP) Program was developed to assist States, EPA Regions, local government officials, and the public in selecting contractors who have demonstrated their proficiency in reducing indoor radon levels. The program is managed by the EPA Office of Radiation Programs' Radon Division. Under the voluntary program, radon contractors demonstrate their proficiency by meeting specific Program requirements. Individual contractors who meet these requirements are then listed in periodic RCP Proficiency Reports
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Kieffer, Michael J.
2012-01-01
Using nationally-representative, longitudinal data on a cohort of Spanish-speaking English language learners in the U.S., this study investigated the extent to which early oral language proficiency in Spanish and English predicts later levels and rates of growth in English reading. Latent growth models indicated that both Spanish and English…
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De Sousa, Diana Soares; Greenop, Kirston; Fry, Jessica
2010-01-01
Background: Emergent bilingual Zulu-English speaking children in South Africa have spoken but no written proficiency in Zulu (L1), yet are required to learn to spell English (L2) via English-only literacy instruction. Little research exists on emergent bilingual's phonological awareness (PA) and spelling development, with no L1 formal literacy…
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A Study of Turkish High School Students' Burnout and Proficiency Levels in Relation to Their Sex
Yeni Palabiyik, Pinar
2014-01-01
The present study examines high school students' burnout levels. The main aims of the study are to investigate whether their burnout levels vary according to gender and grade levels, and to check the correlation between overall burnout levels and their English language proficiency attained with a specific test. The study followed a quantitative…
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The Stroop effect in English-Japanese bilinguals: the effect of phonological similarity.
Sumiya, Hiromi; Healy, Alice F
2008-01-01
English-Japanese bilinguals performed a Stroop color-word interference task with both English and Japanese stimuli and responded in both English and Japanese. The Japanese stimuli were either the traditional color terms (TCTs) written in Hiragana or loanwords (LWs) from English written in Katakana. Both within-language and between-language interference were found for all combinations of stimuli and responses. The between-language interference was larger for Katakana LWs (phonologically similar to English) than for Hiragana TCTs, especially with Japanese responses. The magnitude of this phonological effect increased with self-rated reading fluency in Japanese. Overall responding was slower and the Stroop effect larger with English than with Japanese stimuli. These results suggest that unintentional lexical access elicits automatic phonological processing even with intermediate-level reading proficiency.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nuchanan Naksevee
2015-01-01
Full Text Available This study investigated the use of the non-scripted role-play activities to improve the oral performance of Thai college students with high and low English proficiency. It attempted to address the following questions: a Do high and low proficiency students perform differently in non-scripted role-play based on scores obtained from pre- and post-tests? If so, how? ; and b Can non-scripted role-play enhance the students’ speaking skills? Which group of students performs better in the non-scripted role-play? The data examined were obtained from tape recorded role-play of 16 non-English-major students (8 each proficiency level during their pre- and post-tests at Yala Rajabhat University in Southern Thailand. The role- play conversations were transcribed and analyzed following the Conversation Analysis (CA framework. The study found that the post test scores of both groups were significantly higher than their pre-test scores at the level of 0.00. The t-test result also revealed that the low proficiency students showed a significant degree of speaking improvement in terms of manner of expression and ability to interact at the level of 0.04 and 0.02 respectively. On the other hand, while improving on the same aspects, the high proficiency students also showed significant improvement in terms of fluency (sig = 0.02. The findings indicated that non- scripted role-play activities helped improve the students’ speaking skills and develop their ability to use the language naturally. Close single-case analyses additionally revealed that despite being traditionally taught conversation lessons with more focus on form and meaning, the participants trained with role-play noticeably improved on the language functions of genuine conversation. It was recommended that role-play activities be used in company with function-focused conversation lessons for the learners’ greater benefits.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE FIELD OF TOURISM IN UNIVERSITIES
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Minodora Otilia Simion
2012-06-01
Full Text Available As English is considered the lingua franca of the twenty-first century, everyone needs to have a good command of English today and the importance of teaching English for professional uses and particularly in the field of tourism is undeniable. English proficiency is required in all professional areas but it becomes essential in the tourist industry because of its specific characteristics.. English Language has played an important role in the development of tourism and in this field, English is used widely for travel as well as in client contact and is of outmost interest at the tertiary level. But its interest should not be restricted to tourism students: English for tourism is one of the most attractive areas of English for Specific Purposes(ESP because, after all, all of us are tourists on various occasions nowadays.
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Sewell, Justin L.; Kushel, Margot B.; Inadomi, John M.; Yee, Hal F.
2009-01-01
Goals We sought to identify factors associated with gastroenterology clinic attendance in an urban safety net healthcare system. Background Missed clinic appointments reduce the efficiency and availability of healthcare, but subspecialty clinic attendance among patients with established healthcare access has not been studied. Study We performed an observational study using secondary data from administrative sources to study patients referred to, and scheduled for an appointment in, the adult gastroenterology clinic serving the safety net healthcare system of San Francisco, California. Our dependent variable was whether subjects attended or missed a scheduled appointment. Analysis included multivariable logistic regression and classification tree analysis. 1,833 patients were referred and scheduled for an appointment between 05/2005 and 08/2006. Prisoners were excluded. All patients had a primary care provider. Results 683 patients (37.3%) missed their appointment; 1,150 (62.7%) attended. Language was highly associated with attendance in the logistic regression; non-English speakers were less likely than English speakers to miss an appointment (adjusted odds ratio 0.42 [0.28,0.63] for Spanish, 0.56 [0.38,0.82] for Asian language, p gastroenterology clinic appointment, not speaking English was most strongly associated with higher attendance rates. Patient related factors associated with not speaking English likely influence subspecialty clinic attendance rates, and these factors may differ from those affecting general healthcare access. PMID:19169147
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Le Phan, Ha
2013-01-01
The English language is significant to the internationalisation of higher education worldwide. Countries in Asia are proactive in appropriating English for their national interests, while paying attention to associated national cultural identity issues. This article examines the ways in which the role of English is interpreted and justified in…
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Chang, Sandy
2013-01-01
As an initial step toward understanding which features of academic language make science-based expository text difficult for students with different English language proficiency (ELP) designations, this study investigated fifth-grade students' thoughts on text difficulty, their knowledge of the features of academic language, and the relationship between academic language and reading comprehension. Forty-five fifth-grade students participated in the study; 18 students were classified as Engli...
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Hayes, David
2016-01-01
English is widely regarded as an essential skill for the globalized economy by governments around the world which devote considerable resources to its teaching in formal education, though often with limited success in terms of achievement levels. Thailand is a case in point. Set against the putative benefits of acquiring proficiency in English,…
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Schenck, Andrew D.
2013-01-01
In contemporary South Korean society, there is a strong emphasis on cultural homogeneity and, simultaneously, the development of English proficiency as a human resource. Since language is inextricably linked to identity, bilingual learners from English speaking countries may feel pressure to conform to Korean cultural and linguistic norms, leading…
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English language education in Jordan: Some recent trends and challenges
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Mohammad Madallh Alhabahba
2016-12-01
Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to map out the status of English language teaching (ELT as practised in the Arab World and, specifically, in Jordan today. The study also aims to bring into focus significant issues that need to be addressed in ELT in the Arab World. This paper presents a review of the current status of English language education, with an emphasis on the need for urgent reforms in the teaching of English in the Arab World. Further, longitudinal data in respect to classroom and workplace English proficiency are presented. English language education seems to be up-to-date teacher-centred and bound to other issues such as teaching the textbook rather than focusing on developing lifelong strategies. There is a critical need for writing national standards for English language professional development programmes that should be based on the findings of sound research. The paper highlights the significance of teaching English language through observing and reviewing the current practices.
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Cofino, W.P.; Molenaar, J.; Torfs, P.J.J.F.
2017-01-01
Marine monitoring programs provide data that are essential for marine management. The reliability of such data is underpinned by proficiency tests. In the context of Quasimeme, a proficiency testing program for the marine environment, a statistical model has been developed in 2000 to evaluate data
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Morford, Jill P.; Kroll, Judith F.; Piñar, Pilar; Wilkinson, Erin
2014-01-01
Recent evidence demonstrates that American Sign Language (ASL) signs are active during print word recognition in deaf bilinguals who are highly proficient in both ASL and English. In the present study, we investigate whether signs are active during print word recognition in two groups of unbalanced bilinguals: deaf ASL-dominant and hearing…
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Learning from Expository Text in L2 Reading: Memory for Causal Relations and L2 Reading Proficiency
Hosoda, Masaya
2017-01-01
This study explored the relation between second-language (L2) readers' memory for causal relations and their learning outcomes from expository text. Japanese students of English as a foreign language (EFL) with high and low L2 reading proficiency read an expository text. They completed a causal question and a problem-solving test as measures of…
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Childhood motor skill proficiency as a predictor of adolescent physical activity.
Barnett, Lisa M; van Beurden, Eric; Morgan, Philip J; Brooks, Lyndon O; Beard, John R
2009-03-01
Cross-sectional evidence has demonstrated the importance of motor skill proficiency to physical activity participation, but it is unknown whether skill proficiency predicts subsequent physical activity. In 2000, children's proficiency in object control (kick, catch, throw) and locomotor (hop, side gallop, vertical jump) skills were assessed in a school intervention. In 2006/07, the physical activity of former participants was assessed using the Australian Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire. Linear regressions examined relationships between the reported time adolescents spent participating in moderate-to-vigorous or organized physical activity and their childhood skill proficiency, controlling for gender and school grade. A logistic regression examined the probability of participating in vigorous activity. Of 481 original participants located, 297 (62%) consented and 276 (57%) were surveyed. All were in secondary school with females comprising 52% (144). Adolescent time in moderate-to-vigorous and organized activity was positively associated with childhood object control proficiency. Respective models accounted for 12.7% (p = .001), and 18.2% of the variation (p = .003). Object control proficient children became adolescents with a 10% to 20% higher chance of vigorous activity participation. Object control proficient children were more likely to become active adolescents. Motor skill development should be a key strategy in childhood interventions aiming to promote long-term physical activity.
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MARCELO RUDOLFO CALVETE GASPAR
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Lean and Green manufacturing processes aim at achieving lower material and labour costs, while reducing impacts on the environment, and promoting sustainability as a whole. This paper reports on a pilot experiment with higher education and engineering students, exploring the full potential of a collaborative approach on courses integrating the Portuguese Polytechnic of Castelo Branco engineering studies curricula, while simultaneously improving their proficiency in English. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL has become a key area of curricular innovation since it is known for improving both language and content teacher and student motivation. In this context, instructional design for CLIL entailed tandem work of content (engineering and language (English teacher to design learning sequences and strategies. This allowed students to improve not only their language skills in English but also their knowledge in the specific engineering domain content on green and lean manufacturing processes.
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Predicting English Word Reading Skills for Spanish-Speaking Students in First Grade.
Páez, Mariela; Rinaldi, Claudia
2006-10-01
This article describes the word reading skills in English and Spanish for a sample of 244 Spanish-speaking, English-learning (hence, bilingual) students in first grade and presents a predictive model for English word reading skills. The children in the study were assessed at the end of kindergarten and first grade, respectively. Data were gathered with 3 subtests of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery and a researcher-developed phonological awareness task. Results showed that, on average, children's English word reading skills were similar to monolingual norms whereas their Spanish word reading skills averaged 1 SD below the mean. English vocabulary, English phonological awareness, and Spanish word reading skills in kindergarten were found to be significant predictors of English word reading skills in first grade. Educational implications for screening language and reading skills and promising areas for targeted instruction for this population are discussed.
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Maryam Rahimirad
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Metacognitive strategy instruction (MetSI has been shown to have a strong impact on various aspects of English as a second/foreign language instruction. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of MetSI on the improvement of listening selfefficacy among English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL learners. A group of sixty female undergraduate learners of English literature at a state-run university in Iran consented to take part in this study. After homogenizing the participants' English proficiency level using a sample section of the British Council IELTS test, 40 learners were selected whose English proficiency fell within intermediate to upperintermediate level. A listening self-efficacy questionnaire (borrowed from Rahimi and Abedini, 2009 was used to measure the participants’ level of listening selfefficacy in the pre and post-test phases of the study. The participants were randomly assigned to treatment (n=20 and control (n=20 groups. The treatment group received 8 hours of MetSI during eight sessions based on the model proposed by Vandergrift (2003 while the control group didn't receive any explicit MetSI. The control group received the usual training in listening instead.
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As naturalistic as it gets: Subtitles in the English classroom in Norway
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Mila eVulchanova
2015-01-01
Full Text Available This study aimed to investigate both short-term and long-term effects of exposure to original English subtitles in the context of learning English as a second language in Norwegian upper secondary/high schools (Baltova, 1999. The study was initially inspired by Mitterer and McQueen (2009 who showed that original English subtitles improved speech perception, and more generally, processing of less frequent English varieties.We ran a series of tests with two age groups, 16 year old (N = 65 and 17 year old (N=49 students. To establish a baseline, we tested all participants’ proficiency on grammar and vocabulary. In addition participants filled out a questionnaire on their linguistic background with a focus on extra-curricular activities where English might be involved (e.g., watching videos/TV, playing computer games, but also time spent reading/writing English. Both groups of 16 and 17-year-old pupils were divided into three groups each and had to watch an episode of Family Guy, a control group, who watched without subtitles and 2 experimental groups, one watching with original English subtitles, and the other with native Norwegian subtitles. Our hypothesis was that native Norwegian subtitles would aid comprehension in the younger experimental group of participants (16 year olds, whereas, in contrast, the English subtitles would be more beneficial for the older group (17 year olds. We also expected that level of proficiency would modulate this effect. To test this we administered a comprehension test measuring how well the participants understood the story.To check whether exposure to subtitles was beneficial in the long-term (d’Ydewalle and Van de Poel, 1999, we tested the same groups of participants four weeks after the first experiment. We administered a word definition task and a word recall task, both containing words that participants had been exposed to in the Family Guy video.
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Dynamic spatial organization of the occipito-temporal word form area for second language processing.
Gao, Yue; Sun, Yafeng; Lu, Chunming; Ding, Guosheng; Guo, Taomei; Malins, Jeffrey G; Booth, James R; Peng, Danling; Liu, Li
2017-08-01
Despite the left occipito-temporal region having shown consistent activation in visual word form processing across numerous studies in different languages, the mechanisms by which word forms of second languages are processed in this region remain unclear. To examine this more closely, 16 Chinese-English and 14 English-Chinese late bilinguals were recruited to perform lexical decision tasks to visually presented words in both their native and second languages (L1 and L2) during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Here we demonstrate that visual word form processing for L1 versus L2 engaged different spatial areas of the left occipito-temporal region. Namely, the spatial organization of the visual word form processing in the left occipito-temporal region is more medial and posterior for L2 than L1 processing in Chinese-English bilinguals, whereas activation is more lateral and anterior for L2 in English-Chinese bilinguals. In addition, for Chinese-English bilinguals, more lateral recruitment of the occipito-temporal region was correlated with higher L2 proficiency, suggesting higher L2 proficiency is associated with greater involvement of L1-preferred mechanisms. For English-Chinese bilinguals, higher L2 proficiency was correlated with more lateral and anterior activation of the occipito-temporal region, suggesting higher L2 proficiency is associated with greater involvement of L2-preferred mechanisms. Taken together, our results indicate that L1 and L2 recruit spatially different areas of the occipito-temporal region in visual word processing when the two scripts belong to different writing systems, and that the spatial organization of this region for L2 visual word processing is dynamically modulated by L2 proficiency. Specifically, proficiency in L2 in Chinese-English is associated with assimilation to the native language mechanisms, whereas L2 in English-Chinese is associated with accommodation to second language mechanisms. Copyright © 2017
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Mahfouz, Safi Mahmoud
2010-01-01
English foreign language learners generally tend to consider email exchanges with native speakers (NSs) as an effective tool for improving their foreign language proficiency. This study investigated Jordanian university students' perceptions of using email exchanges with native English keypals (NEKs) for improving their writing competency. A…
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Stolk, Yvonne; Sevar, Katherine; Tran, Nga; Mancuso, Serafino G; Chopra, Prem; Castle, David
2015-06-01
Because national surveys of people living with psychotic disorders tend to exclude people with low English proficiency (LEP), little is known of their economic and social functioning. Culturally influenced explanatory models may result in delayed presentation and poorer functioning. The study aimed to compare the functioning of LEP Vietnamese-Australian and Australian-born patients with psychosis and to investigate the Vietnamese-Australians' pathways to care. In all, 19 LEP Vietnamese-Australians, previously excluded from the Australian Survey of High Impact Psychosis (SHIP), were matched with 15 Australian-born controls, and interviewed by a Vietnamese bilingual mental health professional using the SHIP Interview Schedule. The Vietnamese-Australian patients were significantly more likely to live with family, rate spirituality as important and participate in community rehabilitation programs. Their work, social and independent functioning, was better than the controls. The groups did not differ in mental health services received and satisfaction with services. Although half of Vietnamese-Australians attributed mental illness to supernatural, among other causes, none had consulted traditional healers. Despite LEP, Vietnamese-Australians with psychosis showed comparable or better functioning than Australian-born patients. Further investigation is recommended into LEP patients' clinical and social recovery and the role of language communities' support networks. © The Author(s) 2014.
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Sun, Ling
2011-01-01
For several decades, reading strategies have aroused many researchers’ interest.Readingis a very important language skill for English learners; however, many English majors feel that their reading proficiency is far from satisfying though they have studied English for more than ten years. Therefore, the current situation of using reading strategies among Chinese sophomore English majors is studied in this paper. The research aims to study the relationship between the use of reading strategies...
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Investigating the Efficacy of an Intensive English Program and the L2 Learners’ Learning Styles
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Rebecca Lee Su Ping
2014-12-01
Full Text Available Past research has found that many pre-university L2 learners, having completed an Intensive English Program (IEP still have difficulty in undertaking various disciplines in English-speaking tertiary institutions and continue to exhibit numerous linguistic problems (Bialystok, 2001, Celce Murcia 2001. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings on the investigation of L2 learners’ English proficiency in reading, writing, grammar, listening and speaking upon their completion of an Intensive English (IE program using their IELTS (Academic, in-house exams and English Placement Tests (EPT scores, and the efficacy of IE program. IELTS test is chosen for this study due to its increasing popularity in Malaysia and its internationally recognised value and quality. The study was conducted in two parts. In Part One, all 72 Level 4 IE students were given an in-house EPT (English Placement Test pre-test on their entry and another EPT post-test on their exit, and then their pre-test and post-test results were compared. In Part Two, 22 volunteers sat the IELTS test at the end of the program. The IELTS results of the 22 volunteers were compared with those who did not. Data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. This paper hopes to shed some light on (i whether or not L2 learners’ English language proficiency can be significantly enhanced and influenced by an intensive English program and (ii how leaners’ perception of their own learning strategies influence their learning progress.
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HOSPITALITY ENGLISH FOR SPA THERAPISTS IN BANYAN TREE HOTELS AND RESORTS
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Ratnasari Nugraheni
2018-04-01
Full Text Available This study is a preliminary study of research and design for hospitality English for SPA therapist in Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts at Bintan Island. The purpose of this study is to help the English teacher to provide a successful English training since a good English proficiency used in the hospitality industry is obliged, especially for an-international-five-star-hotel-brand. The nature of the study is qualitative using R&D approach. Since this is only a preliminary study, need analysis becomes the primary focus. The data were collected through interview and observation. The participants were people who are working in SPA department in Banyan Tree Bintan, such as SPA trainer, SPA therapist, and SPA manager.
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Testing oral proficiency: what does pronunciation tell us?DOI:10.5007/2175-8026.2011n60p247
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Vanessa Borges-Almeida
2011-10-01
Full Text Available In this study we discuss the role of pronunciation in languagetesting and investigate two features of pronunciation of eightcandidates of the Test of Oral Proficiency in English (TEPOLIalong four bands of the test scale. Deviations in vowel segmentsand in syllable structure are analyzed. The results point to theneed for a global assessment of the candidates’ phonologicalsystems.
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Behroozizad, Sorayya; Majidi, Sudabeh
2015-01-01
This study investigated the effect of different modes of English captioning on EFL learners' general listening comprehension. To this end, forty-five intermediate-level learners were selected based on their scores on a standardized English proficiency test (PET) to carry out the study. Then, the selected participants were randomly assigned into…
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Lucero, Audrey
2018-05-25
This exploratory study investigates the development of oral narrative retell proficiency among Spanish-English emergent bilingual children longitudinally from kindergarten to second grade in Spanish and English as they learned literacy in the 2 languages concurrently. Oral narrative retell assessments were conducted with children who spoke Spanish at home and were enrolled in a dual language immersion program (N = 12) in the spring of kindergarten and second grade. Retells were transcribed and coded for vocabulary and grammar at the microlevel (Miller, 2012) and story structure at the macrolevel (Heilmann, Miller, Nockerts, & Dunaway, 2010). In microstructure paired-sample t tests, children showed significant improvements in vocabulary in both languages (Spanish total number of words η2 = .43, Spanish number of different words η2 = .44, English total number of words η2 = .61, English number of different words η2 = .62) but not grammar by second grade. At the macrostructure level, children showed significantly higher performance in English only (English narrative scoring scheme η2 = .47). The finding that children significantly improved in vocabulary in both languages but in overall story structure only in English suggests that discourse skills were being facilitated in English whereas Spanish discourse development may have stagnated even within a dual language immersion program. Results contribute to what is currently known about bilingual oral narrative development among young Spanish speakers enrolled in such programs and can inform assessment and instructional decisions.
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Salvo, Tania; de C Williams, Amanda C
2017-01-01
Lack of proficiency in the language of the host country predicts distress among refugees, but many refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom have less than functional English. This study examined how learning English affected refugees' and asylum seekers' lives, particularly their emotional wellbeing, to explore what factors, particularly psychological ones, facilitated or impeded their learning English. We recruited 16 refugees and asylum seekers from an inner-city National Health Service trauma service and from a charity providing one-to-one English classes. All participants were interviewed in English. Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis from a critical realist perspective. Interviewees provided consistent accounts of their efforts to learn English, integrated into often unsettled and difficult lives. The analysis generated six themes in two domains. The impact of learning English was mainly positive, associated with autonomy, sense of achievement, and aspirations. Barriers to learning English consisted of other problems affecting refugees' capacity to learn, limited opportunities to speak English, and a sense of shame associated with perceived lack of English language competence. Findings highlight the need to provide adequate psychological support for refugees and asylum seekers learning English, recognising its importance in promoting both their integration in the UK and their individual psychological well-being.
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Krügel, Rhelda
2011-01-01
The research focused on the importance of and the problem of English proficiency/literacy regarding Grade 12 learners exiting the school system and seeking entry at Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs). Grade 12 learners’ final results have been used as a benchmark for admission into tertiary education for many years. These results have come under scrutiny over the past few years. IHLs are faced with the problem to generate ways to address the access of ill-prepared learners exiting Grade 1...
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Kim, Sun Hee Ok; Starks, Donna
2010-01-01
The father's role in children's L1 maintenance and L2 learning is a relatively unexplored area. This study considers the L1 and L2 proficiency of 30 Korean-English late bilinguals who immigrated to New Zealand during their adolescence and how their L1 and L2 proficiency is influenced by the language use of family members. Data were collected…
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Automated Scoring of L2 Spoken English with Random Forests
Kobayashi, Yuichiro; Abe, Mariko
2016-01-01
The purpose of the present study is to assess second language (L2) spoken English using automated scoring techniques. Automated scoring aims to classify a large set of learners' oral performance data into a small number of discrete oral proficiency levels. In automated scoring, objectively measurable features such as the frequencies of lexical and…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jean-Marc Dewaele
2015-01-01
Full Text Available The present study focuses on the link between psychological, sociobiographical and linguistic variables and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety of 348 Arabic learners of English (250 females, 98 males. Data were collected using the Arabic Foreign Language Anxiety Questionnaire (AFLAQ; Al-Saraj, 2011, 2014 and an Arabic version of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire-Short Form (MPQ-SF; van der Zee, van Oudenhoven, Ponterotto & Fietzer, 2013. Multiple regression analyses revealed that self-perceived proficiency in oral English and frequency of use of English explained over a third of variance in FLCA: More proficient and frequent users felt less anxious. Two personality traits, Emotional Stability and Social Initiative explained a further fifth of variance in FLCA, with emotionally stable and more extraverted participants scoring lower on FLCA. Age was the final predictor of a small amount of variance, with older participants feeling less anxious. Degree of multilingualism, sex and education level had no effect on FLCA.
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Project EXCEL: Sheraton Wharf, Room Service Department. English Communication, Module 1.
Career Resources Development Center, Inc., San Francisco, CA.
Project EXCEL is a federally-funded workplace literacy program involving hotel enterprises in the San Francisco (California) Bay area. Its focus is on identification and instruction of literacy skills essential to job success for limited-English-proficient (LEP) workers. Training is intended to enable employees to understand written work orders,…
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The Reading Comprehension Strategies of Second Language Learners: A Spanish-English Study
Acosta Caballero, Karen Anelice
2012-01-01
Reading comprehension of school-aged students is an important topic of research; however, research on the reading comprehension of adult foreign/second language learners whose first language is English is limited, especially studies investigating the reading comprehension strategies that readers of different proficiency levels use when they…
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Cena, Johanna; Baker, Doris Luft; Kame'enui, Edward J.; Baker, Scott K.; Park, Yonghan; Smolkowski, Keith
2013-01-01
This study examined the impact of a 15-min daily explicit vocabulary intervention in Spanish on expressive and receptive vocabulary knowledge and oral reading fluency in Spanish, and on language proficiency in English. Fifty Spanish-speaking English learners who received 90 min of Spanish reading instruction in an early transition model were…
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Moazzen, Ahmad; Hashemi, Akram
2015-01-01
The present study has been conducted with the purpose of exploring the relationship between EDBI staff's General English proficiency and their technical English Writing as well as the way each ESBP and GE courses affect their writing skill. The kind of the study is quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test, being conducted among EDBI staff in…
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TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED TEACHING: A REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
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Alberth Alberth
2013-01-01
Full Text Available The online course offerings have grown exponentially globally since the turn of the 21st century - be they as a primary mode of instruction or as a supplement to traditional face-to-face classroom instruction, and this phenomenon is most noticeable in higher education. More recently, the new technology has also been integrated into the English as a Foreign Language,henceforth called EFL, classrooms. This article argues that the notion of technology-enhanced language learning is not just an intriguing idea – it is a necessity, for it has a great potential to offer in facilitating the development of English language proficiency of EFL learners through computer-mediated communication. Additionally, it contends that the new technology can potentially address most, if not all, of the shortcomings inherent to the EFL classroom including, but not limited to, lack of exposure to the target language, lack of practice, and lack of learning resources. Theoretical implications of technology-enhanced language teaching and learning will also be explored.
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McGrane, Bronagh; Belton, Sarahjane; Powell, Danielle; Issartel, Johann
2017-09-01
This study aims to assess fundamental movement skill (FMS) proficiency, physical self-confidence levels, and the relationship between these variables and gender differences among adolescents. Three hundred and ninety five adolescents aged 13.78 years (SD = ±1.2) from 20 schools were involved in this study. The Test of Gross Motor Development-2nd Edition (TGMD), TGMD-2 and Victorian Skills Manual were used to assess 15 FMS. Participants' physical self-confidence was also assessed using a valid skill-specific scale. A significant correlation was observed between FMS proficiency and physical self-confidence for females only (r = 0.305, P < 0.001). Males rated themselves as having significantly higher physical self-confidence levels than females (P = 0.001). Males scored significantly higher than females in FMS proficiency (P < 0.05), and the lowest physical self-confidence group were significantly less proficient at FMS than the medium (P < 0.001) and high physical self-confidence groups (P < 0.05). This information not only highlights those in need of assistance to develop their FMS but will also facilitate in the development of an intervention which aims to improve physical self-confidence and FMS proficiency.
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Ziaei, Zainab; Hassell, Karen; Schafheutle, Ellen I
2015-01-01
According to Great Britain (GB)'s pharmacy regulator's standards of conduct, ethics and performance, pharmacists have a responsibility to ensure that they have sufficient linguistic skills to communicate and perform their job safely. Yet, very little is known about internationally trained pharmacists' (ITPs) linguistic proficiency. The purpose of this study was to investigate ITPs' perceptions of their communication proficiency and the resultant impact on patient safety. Eight focus groups were conducted between May and July 2010, with 31 European Economic Area (EEA) and 11 non-EEA pharmacists who, at the time of the study, practiced in community pharmacy (n = 29) or hospital (n = 13), in London, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. The framework method was used to analyze qualitative data, and the Model of Communicative Proficiency (MCP) served as a framework to handle and explain the data obtained. ITPs experienced communication difficulties through new dialects, use of idioms and colloquial language in their workplace. The differences between the "BBC English" they learned formally and the "Street English" used in GB also led to difficulties. Culture was also recognized as an important aspect of communication. ITPs in this study were adamant that communication difficulty did not compromise patient safety. Communicative deficiency of ITPs arose primarily from two sources: linguistic competence and socio-cultural competence. These deficiencies could have negative implications for patient safety. The findings of this study should be taken into account when designing adaptation programs for ITPs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Hull, Melodie
2016-02-01
In increasingly multilingual healthcare environments worldwide, ensuring accurate, effective communication is requisite. Language proficiency is essential, particularly medical language proficiency. Medical language is a universal construct in healthcare, the shared language of health and allied health professions. It is highly evolved, career-specific, technical and cultural-bound-a language for specific purposes. Its function differs significantly from that of a standard language. Proficiency requires at minimum, a common understanding of discipline-specific jargon, abstracts, euphemisms, abbreviations; acronyms. An optimal medical language situation demands a level of competency beyond the superficial wherein one can convey or interpret deeper meanings, distinguish themes, voice opinion, and follow directions precisely. It necessitates the use of clarity, and the ability to understand both lay and formal language-characteristics not essential to standard language. Proficiency influences professional discourse and can have the potential to positively or negatively affect patient outcomes. While risks have been identified when there is language discordance between care provider and patient, almost nothing has been said about this within care teams themselves. This article will do so in anticipation that care providers, regulators, employers, and researchers will acknowledge potential language-based communication barriers and work towards resolutions. This is predicated on the fact that the growing interest in language and communication in healthcare today appears to be rested in globalization and increasingly linguistically diverse patient populations. Consideration of the linguistically diverse healthcare workforce is absent. An argument will be posited that if potential risks to patient safety exist and there are potentials for disengagement from care by patients when health providers do not speak their languages then logically these language-based issues can
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Roque, Nelson A; Boot, Walter R
2018-02-01
Mobile device proficiency is increasingly required to participate in society. Unfortunately, there still exists a digital divide between younger and older adults, especially with respect to mobile devices (i.e., tablet computers and smartphones). Training is an important goal to ensure that older adults can reap the benefits of these devices. However, efficient/effective training depends on the ability to gauge current proficiency levels. We developed a new scale to accurately assess the mobile device proficiency of older adults: the Mobile Device Proficiency Questionnaire (MDPQ). We present and validate the MDPQ and a short 16-question version of the MDPQ (MDPQ-16). The MDPQ, its subscales, and the MDPQ-16 were found to be highly reliable and valid measures of mobile device proficiency in a large sample. We conclude that the MDPQ and MDPQ-16 may serve as useful tools for facilitating mobile device training of older adults and measuring mobile device proficiency for research purposes.
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Stock in Trade: The Role of English in International Trade Proceedings.
Cremer, Rolf D.; Willes, Mary J.
1991-01-01
Examines the use of English by merchandisers in Macao, where the required proficiency exceeds that these individuals can be expected to possess. Examples of serious language mistakes are given and contextual and other clues are identified. Possible solutions for these problems are suggested and potential directions of further enquiry are explored.…
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Effective instruction for English learners.
Calderón, Margarita; Slavin, Robert; Sánchez, Marta
2011-01-01
The fastest-growing student population in U.S. schools today is children of immigrants, half of whom do not speak English fluently and are thus labeled English learners. Although the federal government requires school districts to provide services to English learners, it offers states no policies to follow in identifying, assessing, placing, or instructing them. Margarita Calderón, Robert Slavin, and Marta Sánchez identify the elements of effective instruction and review a variety of successful program models. During 2007-08, more than 5.3 million English learners made up 10.6 percent of the nation's K-12 public school enrollment. Wide and persistent achievement disparities between these English learners and English-proficient students show clearly, say the authors, that schools must address the language, literacy, and academic needs of English learners more effectively. Researchers have fiercely debated the merits of bilingual and English-only reading instruction. In elementary schools, English learners commonly receive thirty minutes of English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction but attend general education classes for the rest of the day, usually with teachers who are unprepared to teach them. Though English learners have strikingly diverse levels of skills, in high school they are typically lumped together, with one teacher to address their widely varying needs. These in-school factors contribute to the achievement disparities. Based on the studies presented here, Calderón, Slavin, and Sánchez assert that the quality of instruction is what matters most in educating English learners. They highlight comprehensive reform models, as well as individual components of these models: school structures and leadership; language and literacy instruction; integration of language, literacy, and content instruction in secondary schools; cooperative learning; professional development; parent and family support teams; tutoring; and monitoring implementation and outcomes
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Mounty, Judith L.; Pucci, Concetta T.; Harmon, Kristen C.
2014-01-01
A primary tenet underlying American Sign Language/English bilingual education for deaf students is that early access to a visual language, developed in conjunction with language planning principles, provides a foundation for literacy in English. The goal of this study is to obtain an emic perspective on bilingual deaf readers transitioning from…
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Li, Aike; Post, Brechtje
2014-01-01
This study examines the development of speech rhythm in second language (L2) learners of typologically different first languages (L1s) at different levels of proficiency. An empirical investigation of durational variation in L2 English productions by L1 Mandarin learners and L1 German learners compared to native control values in English and the…
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Gaming as an English language learning resource among young children in Denmark
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Jensen, Signe Hannibal
2017-01-01
written English input are significantly related to vocabulary scores, in particular for boys. By investigating the EE-habits of YELLs and relations with second language (L2) English vocabulary learning, this study adds valuable new insights and knowledge about a topic that is becoming increasingly......This article presents a study of Danish young English language learners’ (YELLs’) contact with and use of Extramural English (EE) (N = 107, aged 8 [n = 49] and 10 [n = 58]). They have received little formal English instruction: two lessons per week for one year. Data on EE-habits were collected...... with a one-week language diary (self-report with parental guidance). Participants reported minutes spent each day on seven EE-activities: gaming, listening to music, reading, talking, watching television, writing, and other. Vocabulary proficiency scores were obtained using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary...
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National Radon Contractor Proficiency (RCP) program. Proficiency report, September 1991
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1991-09-01
The primary objective of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to address the indoor radon problem is to reduce radon levels in buildings throughout the country. Achieving this objective requires a nationwide supply of capable radon mitigation contractors. In the Indoor Radon Abatement Act of 1988, Congress authorized EPA to establish a program to evaluate radon mitigation contractors and to provide this information to the public in cooperation with the States. The Radon Contractor Proficiency (RCP) Program was developed to assist States, EPA Regions, local government officials, and the public in selecting contractors who have demonstrated their proficiency in reducing indoor radon levels. The program is managed by the EPA Office of Radiation Programs' Radon Division. Under this voluntary program, radon contractors demonstrate their proficiency by meeting specific Program requirements. Individual contractors who meet these requirements are then listed in the Report
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National Radon Contractor Proficiency (RCP) Program. Proficiency report, January 1992
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1992-01-01
The primary objective of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to address the indoor radon problem is to reduce radon levels in buildings throughout the country. Achieving the objective requires a nationwide supply of capable radon mitigation contractors. In the Indoor Radon Abatement Act of 1988, Congress authorized EPA to establish a program to evaluate radon mitigation contractors and to provide the information to the public in cooperation with the States. The Radon Contractor Proficiency (RCP) Program was developed to assist States, EPA Regions, local government officials, and the public in selecting contractors who have demonstrated their proficiency in reducing indoor radon levels. The program is managed by the EPA Office of Radiation Programs' Radon Division. Under the voluntary program, radon contractors demonstrate their proficiency by meeting specific Program requirements. Individual contractors who meet these requirements are then listed in the Report
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Learning science through the medium of English: what do Grade 8 ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The TIMSS-R (Third International Mathematics and Science Study1 report) results served to focus attention on the long-standing problem of teaching and learning though the medium of English when it is not the home language of learners or teachers and proficiency levels are too low for learners to engage with the ...
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Vocabulary Attrition among Adult English as a Foreign Language Persian Learners
Asgari, Azadeh; Bin Mustapha, Ghazali
2010-01-01
This study aims to investigate the attrition rate of EFL concrete and abstract vocabulary among continuing and non-continuing Iranian female and male English language learners across different proficiency levels. They are students of a University and majored in different fields (between 20 and 25 years old). There was no treatment in this study…
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Kuroda, Chiharu
2014-01-01
This empirical study explores the current features of English-medium instructed master's degree programs for international students (EMIMDPs-ISs) in Chinese higher education. Since the mid-2000s, a significant number of Chinese universities have proactively engaged in establishing English-medium instructed degree programs for international…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Amir Valadi
2015-09-01
Full Text Available Willingness to communicate (WTC, which is defined as the intention to communicate given a choice, continues to establish itself as a determining construct in bringing about success or failure in learning a second language (Dӧrnyei, 2005, Peng & Woodrow, 2010. The majority of studies done on the issue are oriented towards ESL contexts leaving us with a gap in English as a foreign language (EFL context literature. The paucity of studies in EFL contexts caused us to investigate whether WTC and language learners’ oral proficiency were related in an Iranian context. To this end, 70 male and female intermediate language learners learning English at a private institute were chosen as the participants of the study. The WTC questionnaire was given to the participants and a standard speaking test was administered. Also, individual semi-structured interviews with some of the participants were used to obtain supportive data. The results of correlational analyses revealed that there was a strong relationship between learners’ WTC and their oral proficiency with no significant gender difference. The possible reasons for the correlation are discussed with regard to different motivational, contextual, and attitudinal factors.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Jea Jin; Kim, Myung Sun; Cho, Sang Soo; Kwon, Jun Soo; Lee, Jae Sung; Lee, Dong Soo; Chung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul
2001-01-01
This study was performed to search the relatively specific brain regions related to the semantic processing of Korean and English words on the one hand and the regions common to both on the other. Regional cerebral blood flow associated with different semantic tasks was examined using ( 15 O)H 2 O positron emission tomography in 13 healthy volunteers. The tasks consisted of semantic tasks for Korean words, semantic tasks for English words and control tasks using simple pictures. The regions specific and common to each language were identified by the relevant subtraction analysis using statistical parametric mapping. Common to the semantic processing of both words, the activation site was observed in the fusiform gyrus, particularly the left side. In addition, activation of the left inferior temporal gyrus was found only in the semantic processing of English words. The regions specific to Korean words were observed in multiple areas, including the right primary auditory cortex; whereas the regions specific to English words were limited to the right posterior visual area. Internal phonological process is engaged in performing the visual semantic task for Korean words of the high proficiency, whereas visual scanning plays an important role in performing the task for English words of the low proficiency
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Nichols, Emily S; Joanisse, Marc F
2016-12-01
Two key factors govern how bilingual speakers neurally maintain two languages: the speakers' second language age of acquisition (AoA) and their subsequent proficiency. However, the relative roles of these two factors have been difficult to disentangle given that the two can be closely correlated, and most prior studies have examined the two factors in isolation. Here, we combine functional magnetic resonance imaging with diffusion tensor imaging to identify specific brain areas that are independently modulated by AoA and proficiency in second language speakers. First-language Mandarin Chinese speakers who are second language speakers of English were scanned as they performed a picture-word matching task in either language. In the same session we also acquired diffusion-weighted scans to assess white matter microstructure, along with behavioural measures of language proficiency prior to entering the scanner. Results reveal gray- and white-matter networks involving both the left and right hemisphere that independently vary as a function of a second-language speaker's AoA and proficiency, focused on the superior temporal gyrus, middle and inferior frontal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and the basal ganglia. These results indicate that proficiency and AoA explain separate functional and structural networks in the bilingual brain, which we interpret as suggesting distinct types of plasticity for age-dependent effects (i.e., AoA) versus experience and/or predisposition (i.e., proficiency). Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cheng, C.; Wang, M.; Perfetti, C.A.
2011-01-01
This study investigated compound processing and cross-language activation in a group of Chinese–English bilingual children, and they were divided into four groups based on the language proficiency levels in their two languages. A lexical decision task was designed using compound words in both
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Powers, Donald; Schedl, Mary; Papageorgiou, Spiros
2017-01-01
The aim of this study was to develop, for the benefit of both test takers and test score users, enhanced "TOEFL ITP"® test score reports that go beyond the simple numerical scores that are currently reported. To do so, we applied traditional scale anchoring (proficiency scaling) to item difficulty data in order to develop performance…
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Promoting lingua franca English in Europe
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Caudery, Tim; Petersen, Margrethe; Shaw, Philip
to multilingualism among exchange students coming to Scandinavia. The paper is based on a longitudinal study of factors influencing the local language learning and the improvement in English language proficiency among exchange students coming to Scandinavia. The study included four Scandinavian universities: two...... languages were German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish or Czech. The paper presents findings on the students' perceived patterns of interaction and language use while in Scandinavia and discusses some of the consequences of EU exchange programs on the use of ELF....
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ebrahim Azimi Mohammad Abadi
2013-05-01
Full Text Available Vocabulary learning is incredibly noteworthy to English language acquisition. It is unfeasible for a learner to communicate without the required vocabulary. In high education levels, learners are habitually forced to become autonomous and make conscious effort to learn vocabulary outside of the classroom. Consequently, the autonomy of the learners plays an important role in developing and enhancing their vocabulary. Learner autonomy is a huge assistance for learners in vocabulary learning since it provides the learners with numerous diverse privileges such as independency from teacher. The researcher investigated whether there is any statistically significant relationship between learner autonomy and vocabulary learning strategies use in Iranian EFL learners with different language proficiency levels. To meet the above purpose, a total number of 190 male and female EFL learners participated in this study. The methodology underlying this study was quantitative (thorough the administration of two questionnaires and two language proficiency test – TOEFL for advanced group, and Nelson for intermediate level. The quantitative data was analyzed using a set of correlational analysis revealing a significant positive correlation between learner autonomy and vocabulary learning strategies use in high proficient group, and a significant positive relationship between these two constructs in low proficient group, however not as strong as in the advanced group.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mohammed Nuruzzaman
2018-01-01
Full Text Available The present study investigates the writing errors of ninety Saudi non-English major undergraduate students of different proficiency levels from three faculties, who studied English as a foundation course at the English Language Center in the College of Languages &Translation at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia in the academic year 2016-17. The findings reveal that the common errors the Saudi EFL students make in writing English paragraphs fall under four categories namely grammar, lexis, semantics and mechanics. Then it compares the categories, types and frequency of errors committed by these three groups of students. Among these categories, grammar has been observed as the most error-prone area where students commit errors the most. The study also posits that among the three groups, the students of the College of Medicine make the minimum errors in all the types and the highest number of errors is committed by the students of Engineering College. The College of Computer Science is in the second position in making errors. The frequency of error types is also found different among these three groups.
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Using English as a medium of instruction at university level in Denmark
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Werther, Charlotte; Denver, Louise; Jensen, Christian
2014-01-01
-Piekkari, Welch, and Welch for their recommendations for managing English as a corporate language, the literature review in the present paper discusses university language management under the headings of staff selection, training and development, international assignments and performance appraisal. The insights......More than 25% of the master's degrees in Denmark are taught using English as a medium of instruction (EMI), but not all university lecturers feel they have the appropriate academic English proficiency to meet the standard required. Based on interviews conducted at the Copenhagen Business School...... (CBS), this article sheds light on the challenges faced by a selection of these lecturers. The interviews formed part of the projectStudents' Perceptions of the English of Academics, which examines the use of EMI at CBS. Audio recordings were made of 33 lecturers. Questionnaires were distributed...
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Baker, William
2009-01-01
Over the previous few decades there has been an increased emphasis on the cultural aspects of English language teaching. However, in settings where English is used as a global lingua franca the cultural associations of the language are complex and the role culture plays in successful communication has yet to be extensively investigated. To conduct such a study it is necessary to explicate the role and nature of English in global contexts and particularly how English functions as a lingua f...
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Lam, Hazel Mei Yung
2011-01-01
Literature reveals that there are very few validated motor proficiency tests for young children. According to Gallahue and Ozmun, the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency is a valid test. However, manipulative skills, which are classified as gross motor skills by most motor development specialists, are only tested in the Upper Limb…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ramunė Ilgūnaitienė
2015-06-01
Full Text Available After Lithuania had regained its independence the policy of foreign languages teaching/learning at secondary schools changed cardinally. The majority or former school leavers do not perceive it to be purposeful and meaningful to prolong the English language learning on the university or college level. According to them, having covered the secondary school programme they possess a full baggage of the English language knowledge allowing them to communicate fluently in the above mentioned language while travelling, studying and working in foreign countries. Does this belief correspond to the reality of today? The article is based on four factors which are supposed to motivate freshmen and senior students to go on learning the English language as the main tool to enhance their position in contemporary world irreversibly affected by massive globalization and Eurointegration processes. VDU UKI in spring semester of 2014 carried out a research. The questionnaire was compiled the goal of which was to determine whether the English language level of the students matches all the international requirements for the language awareness and present the motives for students to continue the English language studies on a higher level. 172 first year students of various programmes participated in the research. The principle points of the questionnaire sought to provide answers to the following questions: whether the level of the English language acquirement is sufficient after having covered the secondary school programme, if VDU UKI English language teaching/learning policy enables students to acquire the language on a higher level, whether a language is a living, thus a constantly changing organism which requires progressive studies and refreshment of knowledge, if the level of language acquisition remains on the same level if it is not exploited on daily basis. Having systematized the questionnaire results the authoresses of the article draw the conclusion for
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Beckhusen, J.; Florax, R.J.G.M.; de Graaff, T.; Poot, H.J.; Waldorf, B.S.
2013-01-01
We use data on Mexican and Chinese immigrants in the US to calculate the average marginal effects of residential and occupational segregation on immigrants' ability to speak English, and similarly the effects of English fluency of family members. Our results confirm that residential segregation is
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De Angelis, Gessica
2015-01-01
The present study examines two factors in relation to English L3 proficiency development and school performance in a third language: (a) parental education and (b) second language exposure within the living community. Participants (n?=?50) are Italian L1 students with German L2 and English L3. All students (eighth grade, 14 years of age) were…
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CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
De Wet, Febe
2012-11-01
Full Text Available Academic literacy proficiency is key to the success of a student at university. Currently, the large-scale assessment of language proficiency, particularly at higher education levels, is dominated by reading and writing tests because listening...
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López, Francesca; Iribarren, Jacqueline
2014-01-01
In this article, we provide an empirically based framework for school leaders to support the replacement of separate means of providing services for English learners (ELs) with more inclusive learning supports. The framework encompasses evidence on cultivating language proficiency, ensuring access to a high-quality curriculum, and promoting…
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Kayad, Florence G.
2015-01-01
As part of Malaysia's aspirations to achieve developed nation status by 2020, and become a key player in the global economy, the government has sought to improve the English language proficiency of its citizens while maintaining the status and significance of the Malay Language as the national language. Recent strategies have involved…
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Lockart, Rebekah; McLeod, Sharynne
2013-08-01
To investigate speech-language pathology students' ability to identify errors and transcribe typical and atypical speech in Cantonese, a nonnative language. Thirty-three English-speaking speech-language pathology students completed 3 tasks in an experimental within-subjects design. Task 1 (baseline) involved transcribing English words. In Task 2, students transcribed 25 words spoken by a Cantonese adult. An average of 59.1% consonants was transcribed correctly (72.9% when Cantonese-English transfer patterns were allowed). There was higher accuracy on shared English and Cantonese syllable-initial consonants /m,n,f,s,h,j,w,l/ and syllable-final consonants. In Task 3, students identified consonant errors and transcribed 100 words spoken by Cantonese-speaking children under 4 additive conditions: (1) baseline, (2) +adult model, (3) +information about Cantonese phonology, and (4) all variables (2 and 3 were counterbalanced). There was a significant improvement in the students' identification and transcription scores for conditions 2, 3, and 4, with a moderate effect size. Increased skill was not based on listeners' proficiency in speaking another language, perceived transcription skill, musicality, or confidence with multilingual clients. Speech-language pathology students, with no exposure to or specific training in Cantonese, have some skills to identify errors and transcribe Cantonese. Provision of a Cantonese-adult model and information about Cantonese phonology increased students' accuracy in transcribing Cantonese speech.
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Mendoza, Socorro
2016-01-01
This particularistic qualitative case study design examined reading strategies, approaches, and resources teachers of ELL (English Language Learner) students in kindergarten through third grade use to support reading development and promote the home to school connection regarding literacy proficiency. The purpose of this study was to examine…
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Banerjee, Rashida; Alsalman, Amani; Alqafari, Shehana
2016-01-01
English language learners are often at risk for communication and language delays--crucial elements in the foundation of early literacy skills. Studies have shown that preschool children involved in sociodramatic play demonstrate greater proficiency and interest in language development and reading. The manuscript shares evidence-based strategies…
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After exit: Academic achievement patterns of former English language learners.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ester J. de Jong
2004-09-01
Full Text Available With few exceptions, accountability systems for programs for English language learners (ELLs have focused on the achievement patterns of ELLs who are still considered “limited English proficient” and program evaluations have been unable to answer the question whether ELLs actually catch up with English proficient peers after attending a bilingual or English as a Second Language (ESL program. Disaggregating data for former ELLs can therefore provide important information for long-term district and program accountability. The study was concerned with the achievement patterns in English language arts, Math, and Science of former ELLs who attended a bilingual and a English as a Second Language (ESL program. It also explored whether length of program participation and grade level exited played a significant role in predicting academic achievement patterns for these exited students. Results indicate that 4th grade students more closely paralleled non- ELL students’ achievement patterns than 8th grade students, particularly for the BE students. While length of program participation is not a significant predictor of former ELLs’ academic success, exit grade does emerge as an important variable to take into consideration in setting exit guidelines.
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Singh, Manesha Kaur Rajendra; Singh, Manjet Kaur Mehar; Eng, Lin Siew
2015-01-01
Speaking is an important skill that needs to be mastered as it is the best way to communicate with other people in order to deliver opinions and express ideas, but the fact is that secondary school students' ability in speaking English is low in Malaysia. It is caused by several factors such as lack of vocabulary, poor pronunciation, weak grammar…
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Influence of English-Language Proficiency on the Cognitive Processing of Survey Questions
Park, Hyunjoo; Sha, M. Mandy; Willis, Gordon
2016-01-01
When recruiting respondents for cognitive interviews testing translated survey questionnaires, researchers often recommend interviewing monolingual non-English speakers because they are the likely users of the translations. However, these individuals are hard to recruit, and there is no standard definition of monolingual. Using cognitive interview…
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Storytelling: A Path to Imagination and Creativity in the Primary English Class
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Barreto Correa Gloria
2002-08-01
Full Text Available Storytelling has been used as a means to help students of a private school improve their communicative skills. To achieve this goal, we have designed activities that enable students to use English actively and at the same time get in touch with literature. We expect to change students¿ attitudes towards English and to motivate them to develop proficiency in the foreign language through storytelling. In doing so, we are innovating our teaching practices by incorporating a tool that can provide students with both the means and the motivation for using the language and thus develop their communicative skills.
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The Career Perceptions of Academic Staff and Human Resource Discourses in English Higher Education
Strike, Tony; Taylor, John
2009-01-01
This paper sets out findings from research that considered the interplay between English national policy developments in human resources management in higher education and the personal stories of academic staff as career participants. Academic careers are pursued in an institutional and national policy context but it was not clear that the formal…
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Jin, Yinxing; de Bot, Kees; Keijzer, Merel
2015-01-01
This paper reports a study that investigates and compares the effects of foreign language proficiency, social status of a learner’s family, self-esteem, and competitiveness on FL anxiety. Chinese university students (N = 146), who were learning Japanese and English, participated in this study.
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Lester, Stan
2018-01-01
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review three international frameworks, including the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), in relation to one country's higher professional and vocational education system. Design/methodology/approach: The frameworks were examined in the context of English higher work-related…
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Southeast Asian Languages Proficiency Examinations.
Brown, James Dean; And Others
The design, administration, revision, and validation of the Southeast Asian Summer Studies Institute proficiency examinations are reported. The examinations were created as parallel language proficiency tests in each of five languages: Indonesian, Khmer, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese. Four tests were developed in each language: multiple-choice…
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Clinical Wisdom among Proficient Nurses
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Uhrenfeldt, Lisbeth; Hall, Elisabeth
2007-01-01
This paperexamines clinical wisdom which has emerged from a broader study anout nurse managers´influence on proficient registered nurse turnover and retention. The purpose of the study was to increase understanding of proficient nurses´experience and clinical practice by giving voice to the nurses...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nilson Roberto Moreira
2008-06-01
Full Text Available The aim of this investigation is to verify the difference between children with learning disabilities and children without learning disabilities through motor proficiency test of Bruininks and Ozeretsky (1978. The sample was constituted by 30 children, with 8-year average age, 15 males and 15 females, subdivided into two groups of 15 children from both sexes: children without learning disabilities attending 3rd grade and children with learning disabilities attending 2nd grade having failed a term once. All of them came from a middle class background, according to Grafar scale (adapted by Fonseca, 1991. All children presenting any other disabilities were excluded from the sample. Intelligence factor “G” was controlled by using a percentile, higher or equal to 50 (middle and high level, measured by Raven’s (1974 progressive combinations test. In motor proficiency, children with learning disabilities showed significant differences when compared with normal children of the same age, in all components of global, composed and fine motricity. The tests administered showed a strong correlation between the variables of the motor proficiency components. The results lead to the conclusion that there were significant differences in motor proficiency between normal children and children with learning disabilities, who showed specific motor difficulties evincing a more vulnerable motor profile and not the presence of neurological dysfunction signs.
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Eamer, Allyson; Fernando, Shanti; King, Alyson E.
2017-01-01
This qualitative study explores the reflexive relationships among mental illness, acculturation, and progress toward English proficiency in five adult immigrants being treated at a Canadian psychiatric hospital. The research explores the additional challenges faced by mentally ill individuals when learning a new language and the extent to which…
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Zhang, Lawrence Jun; Gu, Peter Yongqi; Hu, Guangwei
2008-06-01
This study is conducted in Singapore, where learning to read in English is regarded as essential because it is offered as a First Language (L1) subject in the curriculum and is stipulated as the medium of instruction in the education system, and the mother tongues are offered as Second Language (L2) subjects, although the majority still learn English as an L2. The paper reports on the reading strategies used by Singaporean primary school pupils from a cognitive perspective, which is part of a larger study that aims to investigate these pupils' language learning strategies. The participants were 18 pupils from three neighbourhood primary schools, in grades Primary 4, 5 and 6. The data were collected from high- and low-proficiency pupils at each of the three grades in each school, who read two texts at each level. Grounded in an information-processing theory and based on successful experiences of scholars using think-aloud for data collection, we asked the pupils to read and report what they were thinking about while reading. The think-aloud protocols were recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded and analysed. The results suggest that participants' flexible and appropriate use of reading strategies varies according to language proficiency and grade level, with the high-proficiency group outperforming its lower-proficiency counterpart and the high-graders outnumbering the lower-graders in terms of the number of strategies that they used. These differences were also exemplified with qualitative findings from case studies. The use of reading strategies differs according to proficiency levels, and the quality of pupils' strategy-use patterns has more significant implications for understanding efficient reading among primary school pupils.
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Edmonds, Lisa A; Donovan, Neila J
2012-04-01
There is a pressing need for psychometrically sound naming materials for Spanish/English bilingual adults. To address this need, in this study the authors examined the psychometric properties of An Object and Action Naming Battery (An O&A Battery; Druks & Masterson, 2000) in bilingual speakers. Ninety-one Spanish/English bilinguals named O&A Battery items in English and Spanish. Responses underwent a Rasch analysis. Using correlation and regression analyses, the authors evaluated the effect of psycholinguistic (e.g., imageability) and participant (e.g., proficiency ratings) variables on accuracy. Rasch analysis determined unidimensionality across English and Spanish nouns and verbs and robust item-level psychometric properties, evidence for content validity. Few items did not fit the model, there were no ceiling or floor effects after uninformative and misfit items were removed, and items reflected a range of difficulty. Reliability coefficients were high, and the number of statistically different ability levels provided indices of sensitivity. Regression analyses revealed significant correlations between psycholinguistic variables and accuracy, providing preliminary construct validity. The participant variables that contributed most to accuracy were proficiency ratings and time of language use. Results suggest adequate content and construct validity of O&A items retained in the analysis for Spanish/English bilingual adults and support future efforts to evaluate naming in older bilinguals and persons with bilingual aphasia.
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Teaching English Using Local Culture Content Short Story
Sanda, Silfi
2009-01-01
This paper is mainly about the use of local culture content short story in developing students' English proficiency and some activities that can be employed for this purpose. The local culture exposed in the short story is the traditional woven clothes of Palembang, Songket in term of process and product. The short story used in this topic is Cek Ipah "The Palembang Songket Weaver". This short story is authors' original work telling about everyday live of palembang songket weaver which covers...
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Language Preference among Nigerian Undergraduates and the Future of English
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gabriel B. Egbe
2014-12-01
Full Text Available What will be the future of English in Nigeria? Put more apprehensively, will the English language die in Nigeria in the near future? These questions are answered by reporting on the language preference at home of some Nigerian undergraduates in order to gauge the future of English in Nigeria. The investigation sought to determine the language(s most preferred for communication at home among Nigerian undergraduates. From a sample drawn from students in a private Nigerian university, 66.7% identified English as the most frequently used language at home while 64.1% indicated fluency in English against other languages spoken in Nigeria including the indigenous major Nigerian languages (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. On order of fluency among the languages sampled, 18.5% indicated an English-only fluency, which reveals that some section of young Nigerians are moving towards a monolingual English-only proficiency. This discovery has implications for the future of English in Nigeria. Several factors may account for this emerging trend. However, the premier position occupied by English in Nigeria and the expanding use of English world-wide clearly support the continuous growth and visibility of English as the language of choice among Nigerian undergraduates at home. This is without prejudice to several declarations and policy statements in favour of Mother Tongue education and usage in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the emergence of a new generation of Nigerians who use English as a first language in a non-host second language context is sowing the seed for further nativization and entrenchment of English in Nigeria.
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Muro, Gertrude
This book contains two versions of the Language Aptitude Test. It is part of a package of materials developed for use in an English for Special Purposes project, which offers classes in reading, grammar, and emergency care attendant training for limited English proficient students. Introductory material describes the parts of two versions and…
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Song, Youngjin; Higgins, Teresa; Harding-DeKam, Jenni
2014-01-01
This article describes a series of inquiry-based lessons that provide English language learners (ELLs) with opportunities to experience science and engineering practices with conceptual understanding as well as to develop their language proficiency in elementary classrooms. The four-lesson sequence models how various types of instructional…
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Phillips, Linda M.; Norris, Stephen P.; Hayward, Denyse V.; Lovell, Meridith A.
2017-01-01
This study investigated whether mothers' measured reading proficiency and their educational level predict, over and above each other, their children's receptive vocabulary and reading proficiency when confounding factors of speaking a minority language, ethnicity, number of children in the family, and marital and employment status are controlled.…
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An exploration of pre-service teachers’ attributions in English
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yılmaz Cevdet
2016-01-01
Full Text Available With the developments in cognitive psychology, language learners’ beliefs have received considerable attention in the domain of language teaching and learning. One area that merits investigation as to what the learner brings to this educational process is learner attributions which are commonly defined as ‘perceived causes of success and failure’. This paper investigated pre-service teachers’ perceptions of student attributions and their performance in English. Attributions are categorized as either internal (for instance ability or external (for instance task difficulty. Motivated by these theoretical concerns, the study investigated the attributions of 122 pre-service teachers majoring in English and the connections between attribution and proficiency and gender. The study concludes with a set of far-reaching pedagogical implications and suggestions for learner training and teacher action in the EFL classroom. The results underscore the need for pre-service students to become aware of their own perceptions with regard to students' success and failure in English.
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Lopez-Ferrao, Julio E.
The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding and explanation of the science achievement gap between Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) and their mainstream peers. The sample of purposefully selected participants (N = 23) included students representing eight Spanish-speaking countries who attended three middle schools (grades 6th-8th), 11 boys and 12 girls, with different years of schooling in the United States, English proficiency levels, and science achievement levels. Data gathering strategies included individual interviews with participants, classroom observations, and analysis of secondary data sources on students' English language proficiency and science achievement. Data interpretation strategies using a critical-interpretive perspective consisted of coding and narrative analysis, including analyses of excerpts and case studies. Two major findings emerge from the study: (1) An inverse relation between participants' number of years of exposure to science learning in an English-only learning environment and their science achievement levels; and (2) specific participant-identified problems, such as learning the science vocabulary, writing in science, the use of mathematics in science, and the lack of sense making in the science classroom. Key recommendations comprise: (1) Acknowledging the value of dual language education; (2) supporting the science-literacy connection; (3) ensuring high-quality science through research-informed instructional strategies; and (4) assessing ELLs' science achievement.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ribes, R. [Hospital Reina Sofia, Cordoba (Spain). Servicio de Radiologia; Ros, P.R. [Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States). Div. of Radiology
2007-07-01
The book is an introductory book to radiological English on the basis that there are a lot of radiologists, radiology residents, radiology nurses, radiology students, and radiographers worldwide whose English level is indeterminate because their reading skills are much higher than their fluency. It is intended to help those health care professionals who need English for their work but do not speak English on a day-to-day basis. (orig.)
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ribes, R.; Ros, P.R.
2007-01-01
The book is an introductory book to radiological English on the basis that there are a lot of radiologists, radiology residents, radiology nurses, radiology students, and radiographers worldwide whose English level is indeterminate because their reading skills are much higher than their fluency. It is intended to help those health care professionals who need English for their work but do not speak English on a day-to-day basis. (orig.)
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Alzu'bi, Mohammad Akram
2014-01-01
This study aimed at investigating the impact of extensive reading on improving reading proficiency. The study tried to find the effect of ER on EFL student's reading, vocabulary and grammar. The researcher designed two instruments; a program based on the extensive reading strategy and general test. Forty-one university students who study English…
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Cavanaugh, Gary Scott
2017-01-01
Research affirmed that instructional strategies that promote English Language Learners' (ELLs) Academic Language Proficiency (ALP) are essential in the primary grades for ELLs to succeed in school. This quantitative causal-comparative study relied on the premise of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and addressed to what extent Balanced Math…
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A Corpus-Based Evaluation on Two Different English for Nursing Purposes (ENP) Course Books
Mohamad, Alif Fairus Nor; Puteh, Sharifah Nor
2017-01-01
It is difficult for most of the second language learners in Malaysia to function proficiently in English language due to limited vocabulary knowledge. It has also been challenging for TESL graduates to fit in as ENP teachers due to the lack of specialized vocabulary knowledge in nursing field. Thus, a course books has always been a highly…
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Schwartz, Wendy
In the past, students who knew only a little English (called limited English proficient, or LEP), were usually taught only low-level science and mathematics. Now, new science and mathematics teaching methods can help LEP students get a good education in both fields. This guide will help parents know if their children are learning as much as…
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Hoegl, Juergen K.
1986-01-01
Discusses the role of second-language proficiency from international, national, and state perspectives, including consideration of the need for such proficiency in science, technology, and research for economic development. Trends indicate that a more internationalized curricula in higher education and a greater demand for second-language…
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Knowledge Management and Organizational Proficiency with NPP
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Marler, M.
2016-01-01
Full text: The pace of new NPP construction, startup, and operation is straining the supply of proficient operators, technicians, and engineers. This technical brief explains an approach implemented by a US nuclear utility to capture and transfer knowledge possessed by proficient workers to new workers using the VISION learning content management system. This approach could also be used to accelerate worker proficiency in new NPP organizations. (author
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Cell Phone Use and Child and Adolescent Reading Proficiency
Hofferth, Sandra L.; Moon, Ui Jeong
2016-01-01
This study examined the association between cell phone use, including minutes spent talking and number of text messages sent, and two measures of children’s reading proficiency — tests of word decoding and reading comprehension — in the United States. Data were drawn from the Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a nationally representative survey of 1,147 children 10–18 in 2009. Children whose parents were better educated, who had higher family incomes, who had fewer siblings, and who lived in urban areas were more likely to own or share a cell phone. Among those with access to a phone, children who spent more time talking on the phone were less proficient at word decoding, whereas children who spent more time sending text messages had greater reading comprehension. Although girls spent more time texting than did boys, there were no gender differences in the association between time spent talking or number of text messages sent with achievement. In spite of racial/ethnic differences in cell phone use levels, there were no racial/ethnic differences in the association between cell phone use and reading proficiency. PMID:27683624
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Kenyon, Dorry M.; Tschirner, Erwin
2000-01-01
Reports on a study comparing student performances and test reliabilities for the German Speaking Test, a semi-direct tape-mediated oral proficiency test (GST) developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics, and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Oral Proficiency Interviews. (Author/VWL)
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Alsowat, Hamad
2016-01-01
This study aimed at investigating the effect of a suggested EFL Flipped Classroom Teaching Model (EFL-FCTM) on graduate students' English higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), engagement and satisfaction. Also, it investigated the relationship between higher-order thinking skills, engagement and satisfaction. The sample comprised (67) graduate…
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Lichon, Kathryn A.
The purpose of this pre-post quasi-experimental dissertation was to investigate the effects of differentiated writing supports on English Proficient Students' (EPSs) and English Language Learners' (ELLs) science content knowledge and explanatory writing about magnetism and electricity. Eighty-seven fourth-grade students (EPSs = 35; ELLs = 52) were randomly assigned to two groups based on two differentiated writing: guided questions ( n = 43) or targeted writing frames (n = 44). In the guided questions condition, students completed four question sets after a science investigation, and in the targeted writing frames condition, students completed the same four question sets, but with explicit support for vocabulary, transitions, and relational language in the form of if-then statements. Over the course of the four week intervention, students completed a total of nine writing tasks, and were pretested and posttested on six variables: magnetism and electricity content knowledge test, explanatory writing task, total number of words written, total number of sentences written, number of if-then statements, and number of content-based vocabulary words. Results indicate that EPSs and ELLs in both writing conditions improved significantly from pretest to posttest on six content and explanatory writing variables, with statistically significant gain scores occurring for the magnetism and electricity content knowledge test in which the targeted writing frames condition had a larger rate of gain. ANCOVA results indicated that in comparing writing conditions, a statistically significant difference was found for magnetism and electricity content knowledge posttests, when controlling for pretests. No statistically significant effects for language classification on the six variables were found when controlling for pretest scores. Interaction effects between writing condition and language classification were statistically significantly different for the interaction effect found on if
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Rusfandi
2015-01-01
This study investigates the potential use of the argument-counterargument structure in English L2 essays written by Indonesian EFL learners. It examines whether L2 proficiency affects the use of opposing views in their essays, and measures whether there is a correlation between the use of the rhetorical structure and the participants' overall…
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Gender impacts on motor skill proficiency-physical activity relationship in children
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Diana Samara
2015-12-01
Full Text Available BACKGROUND Physical activity is the greatest contributor to achievement of adequate physical activity. Children performing adequate daily physical activity will get positive benefits from their activity. Several studies indicate a difference in motor skills between boys and girls. To understand the development of motor skill proficiency and physical activity in boys and girls, a study was conducted to determine the role of gender on motor skill proficiency and physical activity in children aged 6-12 years. METHODS A cross-sectional observational study was conducted and a total of 162 children were included at a primary school in the Grogol area, West Jakarta. Data collection was by questionnaire-based interviews, covering age, gender, and physical activity (watching TV, playing games, and outdoor play. Assessment of motor skills was performed using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test–Second Edition (BOT-2. Data analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows release 17.0 and level of significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS Multiple linear regression results showed that in boys the strength subset was the most influential factor on TV watching activity, with the higher scores for strength indicating a lower TV watching activity (â=-0.125;p=0.021. Age was the most influential factor on outdoor playing activity in girls, with older girls having lower outdoor playing activity (â=-0.375;p=0.016. CONCLUSIONS This study revealed that gender difference impacts on motor skills and physical activity in children. Higher motor proficiency increases outdoor playing activity only in boys. Primary school pupils should be given opportunities for performing outdoor playing activities to improve their motor proficiency.
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Gender impacts on motor skill proficiency-physical activity relationship in children
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Diana Samara
2012-12-01
Full Text Available Background Physical activity is the greatest contributor to achievement of adequate physical activity. Children performing adequate daily physical activity will get positive benefits from their activity. Several studies indicate a difference in motor skills between boys and girls. To understand the development of motor skill proficiency and physical activity in boys and girls, a study was conducted to determine the role of gender on motor skill proficiency and physical activity in children aged 6-12 years. Methods A cross-sectional observational study was conducted and a total of 162 children were included at a primary school in the Grogol area, West Jakarta. Data collection was by questionnaire-based interviews, covering age, gender, and physical activity (watching TV, playing games, and outdoor play. Assessment of motor skills was performed using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test–Second Edition (BOT-2. Data analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows release 17.0 and level of significance was set at 0.05. Results Multiple linear regression results showed that in boys the strength subset was the most influential factor on TV watching activity, with the higher scores for strength indicating a lower TV watching activity (â=-0.125;p=0.021. Age was the most influential factor on outdoor playing activity in girls, with older girls having lower outdoor playing activity (â=-0.375;p=0.016. Conclusions This study revealed that gender difference impacts on motor skills and physical activity in children. Higher motor proficiency increases outdoor playing activity only in boys. Primary school pupils should be given opportunities for performing outdoor playing activities to improve their motor proficiency.
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“I don’t mind”: affective positioning and English in higher education
Reynolds, Alexandra
2014-01-01
This study, conducted at Nantes University, aimed to gather attitudes, including affective responses of French-speaking academic staff to their professional use of English. These academics who use English at work, spoke about their language learning histories, and described how they used English for research purposes. These responses were gathered as the Fioraso law (2013) was debated and passed. This law has had an impact on academics who are being encouraged to extend their use of English t...
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Proficiency study for quinolones in egg
Berendsen, B.J.A.; Stolker, A.A.M.
2008-01-01
The aim of this proficiency study was to give laboratories the possibility to evaluate or demonstrate their competence for the analysis of quinolones in egg. Furthermore the specificity of the applied methods is evaluated by including possibly interfering compounds in the proficiency study. This
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Yurtbasi, Metin
2016-01-01
This study deals with a special methodology to meet the special needs of Turkish gifted and talented students (GTS) in terms of improving their English oral proficiency. Most GTS are known to have been born also "gifted in languages". Their language awareness shows by their "communicative skills, creative flair and arguing and…
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Beyond Host Language Proficiency: Coping Resources Predicting International Students' Satisfaction
Mak, Anita S.; Bodycott, Peter; Ramburuth, Prem
2015-01-01
As international students navigate in a foreign educational environment, having higher levels of coping or stress-resistance resources--both internal and external--could be related to increased satisfaction with personal and university life. The internal coping resources examined in this study were host language proficiency, self-esteem,…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kadaruddin Kadaruddin
2017-10-01
Full Text Available In an attempt to help the students of the English Study Program in Universitas Sembilanbelas November improve their English proficiency, the researcher used computer-based learning multimedia. The objective of the treatment was to overcome the students’ low performance in English by creating an enjoyable atmosphere. To investigate how computer-based learning multimedia improve the students’ English students’performance at the English Study Program of Universitas Sembilanbelas November, the researcher adopted Plomp’s (1997 development method which consists of five steps; namely, preliminary investigation; planning; realization/construction; test, evaluation, and revision; and implementation. Based on the results of this research, it can be concluded that in order to improve the English ability of students, it will need to be presented in the form of activities that are more creative and innovative. One is through the use of computer-based learning multimedia. This has been done in order to provide a more attractive presentation of the material and relevant to the conditions and characteristics of the students.
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Reading in Multilingual Learners of Urdu (L1), English (L2) and Arabic (L3)
Mirza, Amna; Gottardo, Alexandra; Chen, Xi
2017-01-01
The present study examined the language and literacy skills and their relations to each other in multilingual children, who have a broad range of oral and written language proficiency in each language that they "know". Reading and vocabulary skills were tested in 50 Canadian children (ages 6-10 years) who were Urdu-English speakers,…
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Rahmat, Nurhazlini; Min, Lau Sing; Sungif, Nur Atiqah Md.; Yusup, Farah Nabillah Mior
2015-01-01
In the Malaysian education system, English has always played an important role. In acknowledging its importance, Malaysian University English Test (MUET) has been introduced to enable continued emphasis on this role. MUET has been made compulsory for those who wish to pursue a first degree programme in local universities. This study aims to…
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Teaching Oral English Online - Through Skype (VOIP
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
James Neil Coburn
2010-05-01
Full Text Available This article presents an action research study focusing on the online teaching of English conversation using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol in an unusual and challenging international online context. Information elicited from interviews with eight Conversation Facilitators shows how conversation assignments need to be designed in order to facilitate interaction patterns conducive to language learning. A range of skills and qualities likely to lead to ''best practice'' emerge from two interviews which are analysed in more detail. Some implications for the use of audio conferencing for the development of oral proficiency in foreign language teaching are also suggested.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Novia Trisanti
2017-12-01
Full Text Available This paper aims at evaluating English teacher‘s competence on pedagogical and professional areas. It was conducted at English Department, Universitas Negeri Semarang. The respondents were PPG SM3T teacher‘s trainees in 2017 who had graduated from S1 degree of English Education program and had experiences of teaching outside and in remote areas of Indonesia. The qualitative research using quantification method was used in this study. The instruments, such as questionnaires and language proficiency tests were used to gather the data. The procedure of gathering the data were done in one semester of PPG SM3T program in 2017. The findings showed that the pedagogical areas competence gradually improved since the teacher‘s trainees got review and feedback from the instructors and peers related to their teaching practice derived from their lesson plan design. While, it was shown that their English language skill proficiency at their pre test results indicated that there was decreasing competence. It can be drawn that the low results on their pre test were caused by the degradation of professional competence after one year they devoted their time in educating students in the remote areas in Indonesia. After, some periods of treatments by giving them some materials related to English language skills development, the findings showed that there was slightly improvement on the scores of reading skill and grammar in use tests. It can be concluded that the teachers‘ competences need to be evaluated meticulously in order to get better progress on the program of PPG SM3T at English Department.
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Proficiency Testing in Nondestructive Testing (NDT)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Amry Amin Abbas; Suhairy Sani; Mohamad Pauzi Ismail; Abd Nassir Ibrahim
2014-01-01
Department of Standard Malaysia (DSM) launched myPTP programme on 31 December 2013 in accordance to ISO/IC 17043. The standard states the requirements for Proficiency Testing. The provider of these services is called Proficiency Testing Provider (PTP). The role of PTP is to compare the proficiency level between inspection bodies or laboratories. With the assistance of expert panel, the PTP will determine the assigned value as reference to be compared to the values obtained from the inspection bodies or laboratories. Quality wise, this services is important as participation will improve wuality of the inspection quality continuously and increase confidence level of client and improve safety level. Requirement of PT in NDT is mentioned in SC1.5- Specific Criteria for Accreditation of Mechanical Testing and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) for MS ISO/IEC17025 and MTR2- MIBAS Technical Requirements for Accreditation of NDT. This paper explains and discusses the result of this proficiency test done on a number of NDT companies that participated. (author)
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sarah Yong Enxhi
2012-11-01
Full Text Available The common perception of Malaysians is that they are unable to speak fluently and communicate effectively in the English language as most Malaysians do not speak English as their first language. In a country that is full of diversity in terms of race and culture, it is only natural for Malaysians to be influenced by their first language when using English as their second language. This, however, creates a problem for undergraduates who are looking for job opportunities in both local and international companies because a potential employee’s ability to communicate smoothly in English is an important criteria used by employers. This study intends to shed light on the occurrence of speech disfluencies and mispronunciations among undergraduates of a Malaysian university as well as to provide an explanation for those mispronunciations by comparing the phonetic system of the English language with the Malay and Mandarin language. With the results of this study, it is hoped that actions and measures can be taken by the academic authorities and other relevant parties to gradually improve the oral proficiency skills of undergraduates and help them to be more marketable in the future.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mireia Ortega
2008-06-01
Full Text Available Most research in third language acquisition has focused on the effects that factors such as language distance, second language (L2 status, proficiency or recency have on the choice of the source language (L1 in cross-linguistic influence (CLI. This paper presents a study of these factors, and of the influence that the L1 (Spanish has on L2 (English and L3 (Catalan oral production. Lexical and syntactic transfer are analysed in the production of Catalan and English of two multilingual speakers with similar knowledge of non-native languages. They were interviewed twice in an informal environment. The results show that the L1 is the main source of transfer, both in L2 and L3 production, but its influence decreases as proficiency in the target language increases. Language distance also plays an important role in CLI, especially if proficiency in the source language is high and if there has been recent exposure to it. The findings also suggest that while syntactic transfer is exclusively L1-based, lexical transfer can occur from a non-native language.
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Word-final stops in Brazilian Portuguese English: acquisition and pronunciation instruction
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Walcir Cardoso
2010-11-01
Full Text Available This paper presents current research on the second language acquisition of English phonology and its implication for (and applications to pronunciation instruction in the language classroom. More specifically, the paper follows the development of English word-final consonants by Brazilian Portuguese speakers learning English as a foreign language. The findings of two parallel studies reveal that the acquisition of these constituents is motivated by both extralinguistic (proficiency, style and linguistic (word size, place of articulation factors, and that the process is mediated by an intermediate stage characterized by consonant lengthening or aspiration (Onset-Nucleus sharing. Based on these results, I propose that the segments and environments that seem to delay coda production (i.e., monosyllabic words, labial and dorsal consonants should be given priority in pronunciation instruction. Along the lines of Dickerson (1975, this paper proposes (what we believe is a more effective and socially realistic pedagogy for the teaching of English pronunciation within an approach that recognizes that "variability is the norm rather than the exception" in second language acquisition.
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Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
余婷
2016-01-01
Based on learning motivation theory and metacognitive theory, the present study reports questionnaire surveys on cor-relation between motivation orientations and listening metacognitive strategies among 117 English majors. Findings suggest that:1) English majors are mainly stimulated by instrumental motivation and show bias towards planning and evaluation strate-gy in listening comprehension;2) there is a significant positive correlation between instrumental motivation and strategy of plan-ning and evaluation;3) significant difference between high motive group and low motive group only exists in planning and eval-uation strategy. Therefore, teachers are encouraged to help students strengthen the training of listening metacognitive strategies form long-lasting motivation and promote listening proficiency as well as self-learning ability.
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Investigating trainee translators’ views on the pronunciation of English: a Slovene perspective
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nataša Hirci
2017-12-01
Full Text Available While the importance of excellent pronunciation skills for language professionals is indisputable, research attention has focused mainly on the pronunciation skills of teachers. Nevertheless translators, and even more so interpreters, who are constantly engaged in multi-lingual communication with their clients, face a tough competition in the global market and those with poor pronunciation skills are at a considerable disadvantage. Developing good pronunciation skills is thus an aspect that should not be neglected in the training of translators and interpreters, since it may directly affect their prospects of employment. The paper explores the views of Slovene trainee translators on the pronunciation of English. Their self-perception of English pronunciation skills and expectations concerning their pronunciation are examined by using a questionnaire administered to trainee translators at the University of Ljubljana. The questionnaire results provide an insight into the participants’ perceptions of their attained pronunciation proficiency and their attention to pronunciation instruction. The analysis of the replies reveals that trainee translators view pronunciation as an important element of their speaking proficiency, highlighting the issue of intelligibility as an essential component of communicative competence. The findings raise interesting issues important for pronunciation teaching in translator training, underlining the necessity to identify specific learner needs of future translators and interpreters.
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Zhang, Jian
2012-01-01
To strengthen the professional competence and basic ability is the objective requirements of the Chinese higher vocational college English teaching, while the positioning of the teaching objectives is partial to a "prisoner's dilemma" in game situations that any party will result in. To get rid of the "dilemma", we have to…
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Okhremtchouk, I.; Levine-Smith, J.; Clark, Adam T.
2018-01-01
In this article we unpack the obstacles and opportunities associated with language minority student classification practices and, more specifically, English language learners' reclassification to fluent proficient status. First, we discuss classification permanency for language minority students. Second, we provide an overview of national…
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Universal brain signature of proficient reading: Evidence from four contrasting languages.
Rueckl, Jay G; Paz-Alonso, Pedro M; Molfese, Peter J; Kuo, Wen-Jui; Bick, Atira; Frost, Stephen J; Hancock, Roeland; Wu, Denise H; Mencl, William Einar; Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni; Lee, Jun-Ren; Oliver, Myriam; Zevin, Jason D; Hoeft, Fumiko; Carreiras, Manuel; Tzeng, Ovid J L; Pugh, Kenneth R; Frost, Ram
2015-12-15
We propose and test a theoretical perspective in which a universal hallmark of successful literacy acquisition is the convergence of the speech and orthographic processing systems onto a common network of neural structures, regardless of how spoken words are represented orthographically in a writing system. During functional MRI, skilled adult readers of four distinct and highly contrasting languages, Spanish, English, Hebrew, and Chinese, performed an identical semantic categorization task to spoken and written words. Results from three complementary analytic approaches demonstrate limited language variation, with speech-print convergence emerging as a common brain signature of reading proficiency across the wide spectrum of selected languages, whether their writing system is alphabetic or logographic, whether it is opaque or transparent, and regardless of the phonological and morphological structure it represents.