English Learner Student Characteristics and Time to Reclassification: An Example from Washington State. REL 2016-128

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Preparing Limited English Proficient Persons for the Workplace. ERIC Digest No. 215.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Time to Reclassification: How Long Does It Take English Language Learners in Seven Washington Districts to Develop English Proficiency?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Motamedi, Jason Greenberg

2016-01-01

This study provides a basis for understanding how long it typically takes English language learners (ELLs) in seven Washington school districts to achieve reclassification as former ELLs. Researchers looked at ELLs' grade level and English proficiency at school entry, as well as their gender, home language, race/ethnicity, special education…

National Evaluation of Title III Implementation Supplemental Report: Exploring Approaches to Setting English Language Proficiency Performance Criteria and Monitoring English Learner Progress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Gary; Linquanti, Robert; Chinen, Marjorie; Jung, Hyekyung

2012-01-01

The "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA"), as amended by the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" inaugurated important changes in assessment and accountability for English Learner (EL) students. Specifically, Title III of the law required states to develop or adopt English-language proficiency (ELP)…

Testing an Online English Course: Lessons Learned from an Analysis of Postcourse Proficiency Change Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jee, Rebecca Y.

2015-01-01

Voxy, an English-language-learning company, has developed a custom, in-house proficiency exam, the Voxy Proficiency Assessment (VPA), which is given to all learners at the beginning and end of their courses. Using Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR), the impact of covariates, such as total learning activities completed and total number of…

Implementing ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements in the Versant Aviation English Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Moere, Alistair; Suzuki, Masanori; Downey, Ryan; Cheng, Jian

2009-01-01

This paper discusses the development of an assessment to satisfy the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Language Proficiency Requirements. The Versant Aviation English Test utilizes speech recognition technology and a computerized testing platform, such that test administration and scoring are fully automated. Developed in…

The English proficiency and academic language skills of Australian bilingual children during the primary school years.

PubMed

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.

Staff Development Workshops for High School Science Teachers of Limited English Proficient Students 1988-89.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Cantalupo, Denise

The staff development workshops for high school science teachers of Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students program are described. The project provided services which involved: creating a resource library, collecting videotaped records of the staff development workshops for future training sessions, disseminating information and materials, and…

A study of the effects of English language proficiency and scientific reasoning skills on the acquisition of science content knowledge of Hispanic English language learners and native English language-speaking students participating in grade 10 science classes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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 lends support to Cummins' theoretical framework, which indicates that learning science content subject matter requires cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). The study also indicates that CALP maybe the combination of high order English language proficiency and high levels of reasoning skills. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Does English proficiency impact on health outcomes for inpatients undergoing stroke rehabilitation?

PubMed

Davies, Sarah E; Dodd, Karen J; Tu, April; Zucchi, Emiliano; Zen, Stefania; Hill, Keith D

2016-07-01

To determine whether English proficiency and/or the frequency of interpreter use impacts on health outcomes for inpatient stroke rehabilitation. Retrospective case-control study. People admitted for inpatient stroke rehabilitation. A high English proficiency group comprised people with native or near native English proficiency (n = 80), and a low English proficiency group comprised people who preferred a language other than English (n = 80). Length of stay (LOS), discharge destination and Functional Independence Measure (FIM). The low English proficiency group showed a greater improvement in FIM from admission to discharge (p = 0.04). No significant differences were found between groups in LOS, discharge destination and number of encounters with allied health professionals. Increased interpreter usage improved FIM efficiency but did not significantly alter other outcomes. English proficiency does not appear to impact on health outcomes in inpatient rehabilitation with a primarily in-house professional interpreter service. However, there is a need for a larger powered study to confirm these findings. Implications for rehabilitation People with low English proficiency undergoing inpatient stroke rehabilitation in a setting with a primarily in-house professional interpreter service, achieved similar outcomes to those with high English proficiency irrespective of frequency of interpreter usage. A non-significant increase of 4 days length of stay was observed in the low English proficiency group compared to the high English proficiency group. For patients with low English proficiency, greater change in Functional Independence Measure efficiency scores was observed for those with higher levels of interpreter use relative to those with low interpreter use. Clinicians should optimise use of interpreters with patients with low English proficiency when possible.

Graduating as a "Native Speaker": International Students and English Language Proficiency in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benzie, Helen Joy

2010-01-01

The current concern about low levels of English proficiency among international students who graduate from degree courses--that students' English language skills are not being developed during their higher education experience--reflects negatively on the quality of Australian higher education and its graduates. More careful selection of students…

Limited English Proficiency and Socioemotional Well-Being among Asian and Hispanic Children from Immigrant Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Hannah S.; Haddad, Eileen; Chen, Chuansheng; Greenberger, Ellen

2014-01-01

Research Findings: Previous research has suggested that children from immigrant families face multiple stressors associated with acculturation. One component of acculturation that has not been widely explored in relation to children's socioemotional development is limited English proficiency (LEP). Given that English is the main language used in…

Developing Autonomous Learning for Oral Proficiency Using Digital Storytelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Why do some countries publish more than others? An international comparison of research funding, English proficiency and publication output in highly ranked general medical journals.

PubMed

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.

National Evaluation of Title III Implementation Supplemental Report: Exploring Approaches to Setting English Language Proficiency Performance Criteria and Monitoring English Learner Progress. Draft

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Gary; Linquanti, Robert; Chinen, Marjorie; Jung, Hyekyung

2012-01-01

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 inaugurated important changes in assessment and accountability for English Learner (EL) students. Specifically, Title III of the law required states to develop or adopt English-language proficiency (ELP) standards aligned with language demands of…

Effects of M[superscript 3] Curriculum on Mathematics and English Proficiency Achievement of Mathematically Promising English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Seokhee; Yang, Jenny; Mandracchia, Marcella

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Mentoring Mathematical Minds (M3) units on gains in mathematics achievement and English proficiency of mathematically promising English language learners (MPELLs) in the third grade. The M3 program, developed by Gavin et al., was implemented for 1 year with treatment MPELLs (n = 86) but not…

Effects of Curriculum and Teacher Professional Development on the Language Proficiency of Elementary English Language Learner Students in the Central Region. Final Report. NCEE 2012-4013

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arens, Sheila A.; Stoker, Ginger; Barker, Jane; Shebby, Susan; Wang, Xin; Cicchinelli, Lou F.; Williams, Jean M.

2012-01-01

This study responds to regional and national needs by examining the impact on students' English language proficiency of a particular set of ELL-specific classroom materials in combination with a specific teacher professional development program. The classroom materials used in this study, entitled On Our Way to English (OWE), were authored by…

Geodes Like Sky Blue Popsicles: Developing Authorship Literacy in Limited English Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Time to English Reading Proficiency. Research Brief. RB 1201

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shneyderman, Aleksandr; Froman, Terry

2012-01-01

The time it takes for an English Language Learner (ELL) to reach reading proficiency in English depends on the grade level of entry into the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program and on the student's initial English proficiency level. The summary table below presents the average years to English proficiency across different grade…

Adherence to antipsychotics among Latinos and Asians with schizophrenia and limited English proficiency

PubMed Central

Gilmer, Todd P.; Ojeda, Victoria D.; Barrio, Concepcion; Fuentes, Dahlia; Garcia, Piedad; Lanouette, Nicole M.; Lee, Kelly C.

2011-01-01

OBJECTIVES We examined the relationship between preferred English, Spanish, or an Asian language for mental health services and adherence to treatment with antipsychotic medication and Medi-Cal beneficiaries with schizophrenia in San Diego, California. METHODS Data included 31,560 person-years from 1999–2004. Pharmacy records were analyzed to assess adherence to antipsychotic medication, based on the medication possession ratio (MPR). Clients were defined as nonadherent (MPR<0.5), partially adherent (0.5<=MPR<0.8), adherent (0.8<=MPR<=1.1), or as an excess filler (MPR>1.1). Regression models were used to examine adherence, hospitalization, and costs by race/ethnicity and language status. RESULTS Limited English proficient Latinos were more likely to be adherent to antipsychotic medications than English proficient Latinos (40.8% vs. 35.9%, P<0.001). Limited English proficient Latinos were less likely to be excess fillers than English proficient Latinos (15.1% vs. 20.4%, P<0.001). Limited English proficient Asians were less likely to be adherent than English proficient Asians (40.1% vs. 45.1%, P=0.034). Compared to English proficient Asians, limited English proficient Asians were more likely to be nonadherent (28.7% vs. 22.0%, P<0.001) and less likely to be excess fillers (12.5% vs. 17.4%, P=0.004). Controlling for adherence and comorbidities, limited English proficient clients had lower rates of hospitalization and health care costs than English proficient and white clients. CONCLUSIONS Adherence to antipsychotic medications varies among and within ethnic groups by English proficiency. Policies supporting the training of bilingual and multicultural ethnic minority providers, and interventions that capitalize on existing social support networks, may improve adherence to treatment among linguistically diverse populations. PMID:19176410

Research Project on Occupational Knowledge and Sex-Role Stereotyping of Limited English-Proficiency Students. Final Report 1981-82.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bound Brook Board of Education, NJ.

A research project focused on the development and use of sex-fair occupational knowledge materials with a sample of limited English-proficient students. First, researchers examined existing instructional materials from vocational education sources in order to identify materials that are written on a level appropriate for limited English-proficient…

Local Navajo Norms for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: Third Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tempest, Phyllis

1998-01-01

A project developed Navajo norms for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III). Urban Navajo students and those who were proficient in English had higher WISC-III verbal scores than rural Navajo students and those who were functional in English. English-language proficiency did not affect scores on nonverbal…

Theoretical Considerations in the Measurement of the English-Language Proficiency of Limited-English-Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbott, Muriel M.

Limited-English-proficient (LEP) students who are not sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in an English-speaking instructional environment must be identified for placement in an appropriate educational program. Their progress through an instructional program that is designed to improve their acquisition of English…

Phonological awareness and oral language proficiency in learning to read English among Chinese kindergarten children in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Yeung, Susanna S; Chan, Carol K K

2013-12-01

Learning to read is very challenging for Hong Kong children who learn English as a second language (ESL), as they must acquire two very different writing systems, beginning at the age of three. Few studies have examined the role of phonological awareness at the subsyllabic levels, oral language proficiency, and L1 tone awareness in L2 English reading among Hong Kong ESL kindergarteners. This study aims to investigate L1 and L2 phonological awareness and oral language proficiency as predictors of English reading among children with Chinese as L1. One hundred and sixty-one typically developing children with a mean age of 5.16 (SD=.35) selected from seven preschools in Hong Kong. Participants were assessed for English reading, English and Chinese phonological awareness at different levels, English oral language skills, and letter naming ability. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both oral language proficiency and phonological awareness measures significantly predicted L2 word reading, when statistically controlled for age and general intelligence. Among various phonological awareness units, L2 phonemic awareness was the best predictor of L2 word reading. Cross-language transfer was shown with L1 phonological awareness at the tone level, uniquely predicting L2 word reading. The present findings show the important role of phonological awareness at the subsyllabic levels (rime and phoneme) and oral language proficiency in the course of L2 reading development in Chinese ESL learners. The significant contribution of L1 tone awareness to L2 reading suggests that phonological sensitivity is a general competence that ESL children need to acquire in early years. The findings have significant implications for understanding L2 reading development and curriculum development. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

Do Decision Rules Matter? A Descriptive Study of English Language Proficiency Assessment Classifications for English-Language Learners and Native English Speakers in Fifth Grade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carroll, Patricia E.; Bailey, Alison L.

2016-01-01

English language proficiency assessments (ELPA) are used in the United States to measure annually the English language progress and proficiency of English-language learners (ELLs), a subgroup of language minority students who receive language acquisition support mandated and largely funded by Title III (NCLB, 2001). ELPA proficient and…

Relationship between English Language Learners' Proficiency in Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking and Proficiency on Maryland School Assessments in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, C. Michael

2013-01-01

Mathematics proficiency of English language learners (ELLs) on the Maryland School Assessments (MSA) for mathematics continues to lag behind the proficiency level of students who are proficient English speakers. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a statistically significant relationship between English language learner's…

The influence of English proficiency on access to care.

PubMed

Shi, Leiyu; Lebrun, Lydie A; Tsai, Jenna

2009-12-01

The number of individuals with limited English proficiency in the USA is large and rapidly growing. Consequently, addressing language barriers in access to medical care is becoming increasingly important. Previous studies have reported that individuals with limited English proficiency have more difficulty gaining access to care, compared to English-proficient individuals. We assessed the impact of English language proficiency on access to medical care, accounting for health and socioeconomic status, using nationally representative data. Cross-sectional data from the 2006 National Health Interview Survey (n=29,868). The main outcome measures of interest were self-reported delayed medical care, forgone needed care, and visits to a health care professional. In unadjusted analyses, individuals with limited English proficiency were more likely to forgo needed medical care and less likely to have a health care visit, compared to individuals who were proficient in English. There was no significant association between language proficiency and reports of delayed care. After accounting for individuals' health and socioeconomic status, only the relationship between limited English proficiency and health care visits remained statistically significant. Most associations between language proficiency and access to care did not differ across various racial/ethnic groups. Results indicate that the choice of access measure may influence conclusions about language barriers in health care. Given the growing proportion of US residents with limited English proficiency, health care settings need to better address potential language barriers.

Learning Science, Talking Science: The Impact of a Technology-Enhanced Curriculum on Students' Science Learning in Linguistically Diverse Mainstream Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryoo, Kihyun

2009-01-01

The significant increase of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States raises complex questions about how to provide these students with access to high quality education that can improve both their content knowledge of school subjects and their English proficiency, particularly their academic English proficiency. The development of…

Project VOICE (Vocational Occupations for Industrial Communications English): A Competency Based Education Curriculum for the Limited English Proficient in Building Maintenance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chaloupka, Diana; Papierniak, Kathleen, Ed.

Developed for vocational educators of short-term or long-term programs, this manual presents a complete competency-based curriculum in building maintenance for the advanced limited English proficient student. Following instructions on use of the manual and recommended references, a student tracking system and record sheet are provided, which list…

Creating a Next-Generation System of K-12 English Learner Language Proficiency Assessments. Research Report. ETS RR-16-06

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

76 FR 81958 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Limited English Proficiency...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

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...

English Language Proficiency and Employability Framework for Australian Higher Education Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arkoudis, Sophie; Baik, Chi; Bexley, Emmaline; Doughney, Lachlan

2014-01-01

This report presents the "English Language Proficiency" (ELP) and Employability Framework", which has been designed to inform and support higher education institutions' (HEIs) policies and practices on ELP and graduate employability. The "Framework" was developed through a review of the national and international…

A Survey of Aviation English Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alderson, J. Charles

2010-01-01

The Lancaster Language Testing Research Group was commissioned in 2006 by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) to conduct a validation study of the development of a test called ELPAC (English Language Proficiency for Aeronautical Communication), intended to assess the language proficiency of air traffic…

Analysis of English language learner performance on the biology Massachusetts comprehensive assessment system: The impact of english proficiency, first language characteristics, and late-entry ELL status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

76 FR 66318 - Announcement of Funding Awards; Limited English Proficiency Initiative Program (LEPI), Fiscal...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-26

... 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... activities for persons who, as a result of national origin, are limited in the English proficiency (LEP...

A Revised Spanish/English Oral Proficiency Test, 1974 Field Test Results. Research and Development Memorandum No. 134.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Arnulfo G.; Politzer, Robert L.

A revised Spanish/English oral-proficiency test battery was administered to 40 Spanish-surnamed pupils equally divided by sex at grade levels 1, 3, 5, and 7. The test battery included parallel Spanish and English versions of: (1) a 12-item vocabulary pretest, (2) a 32-item vocabulary-by-domain test consisting of four sections--home, neighborhood,…

Developing Academic English Language Proficiency Prototypes for 5th Grade Reading: Psychometric and Linguistic Profiles of Tasks. CSE Technical Report 727

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Alison L.; Huang, Becky H.; Shin, Hye Won; Farnsworth, Tim; Butler, Frances A.

2007-01-01

Within an evidentiary framework for operationally defining academic English language proficiency (AELP), linguistic analyses of standards, classroom discourse, and textbooks have led to specifications for assessment of AELP. The test development process described here is novel due to the emphasis on using linguistic profiles to inform the …

Supporting the Language Development of Limited English Proficient Students through Arts Integration in the Primary Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Effects of English Vocabulary Mastery on Geometry Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rockhold, Jonas

2013-01-01

This study examines socioeconomic status (SES), English language proficiency (ELP), vocabulary proficiency (VP), and math proficiency (MP) of students to determine if SES, as determined by the Free and Reduced Lunch Program (FRL), as well as English language proficiency (ELP) and vocabulary proficiency (VP), as measured by CELLA scale scores and…

25 CFR 39.134 - How does a school identify a Limited English Proficient student?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... student? 39.134 Section 39.134 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR EDUCATION THE INDIAN SCHOOL EQUALIZATION PROGRAM Indian School Equalization Formula Language Development Programs § 39... limited English proficient (LEP) by using a nationally recognized scientifically research-based test. ...

Project Porvenir, 1988-89. Evaluation Section Report. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Lista, Carlos A.

In its first year, Project Porvenir provided instructional and support services to Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency in bilingual and special education in four Bronx (New York) elementary schools. Project goals were to increase students' English language proficiency and develop native language skills, provide career…

75 FR 42754 - Solicitation of Nomination for Appointment to the Advisory Committee on Minority Health

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-22

... individuals who lack proficiency in speaking the English language, enter into contracts with public and... and innovative models; (4) Increase knowledge and understanding of health risk factors; (5) Develop... for individuals with limited proficiency in speaking the English language. Activities under the...

Proyecto para la participacion de los padres de los estudiantes con competencia limitada en ingles (LEP) (Limited English Proficient (LEP) Parent Involvement Project).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pecoraro, Diane; Phommasouvanh, Bounlieng

The Limited English Proficient (LEP) Parent Involvement Project, a collaborative project between two state agencies, aims to help refugee and immigrant parents to be effective in their new American culture. Materials are provided that were developed for use in various adult education settings such as English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes,…

Instructional Services for Limited English Proficient Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Malley, J. Michael

1982-01-01

The 1978 Children's English and Services Study (United States) contains five findings for limited English proficient children aged 5-14, e.g., one-third are served by bilingual education/English (second language); Federal and state support for special types of instruction are received predominantly by limited English proficient children within the…

Vietnamese Immigrant and Refugee Women's Mental Health: An Examination of Age of Arrival, Length of Stay, Income, and English Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Superordinate Precision: An Examination of Academic Writing Among Bilingual Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students.

PubMed

Scott, Jessica A; Hoffmeister, Robert J

2018-04-01

Academic English is an essential literacy skill area for success in post-secondary education and in many work environments. Despite its importance, academic English is understudied with deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students. Nascent research in this area suggests that academic English, alongside American Sign Language (ASL) fluency, may play an important role in the reading proficiency of DHH students in middle and high school. The current study expands this research to investigate academic English by examining student proficiency with a sub-skill of academic writing called superordinate precision, the taxonomical categorization of a term. Currently there is no research that examines DHH students' proficiency with superordinate precision. Middle and high school DHH students enrolled in bilingual schools for the deaf were assessed on their ASL proficiency, academic English proficiency, reading comprehension, and use of superordinate precision in definitions writing. Findings indicate that student use of superordinate precision in definitions writing was correlated with ASL proficiency, reading comprehension, and academic English proficiency. It is possible that degree of mastery of superordinate precision may indicate a higher overall level of proficiency with academic English. This may have important implications for assessment of and instruction in academic English literacy.

Teaching English through English: Proficiency, Pedagogy and Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

A National Survey to Evaluate Graduate Medical Education in Disparities and Limited English Proficiency: A Report From the AAIM Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

PubMed

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.

Developing Academic English Language Proficiency Prototypes for 5th Grade Reading: Psychometric and Linguistic Profiles of Tasks. An Extended Executive Summary. CSE Report 720

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Alison L.; Huang, Becky H.; Shin, Hye Won; Farnsworth, Tim; Butler, Frances A.

2007-01-01

Within an evidentiary framework for operationally defining academic English language proficiency (AELP), linguistic analyses of standards, classroom discourse, and textbooks have led to specifications for assessment of AELP. The test development process described here is novel due to the emphasis on using linguistic profiles to inform the …

The Effect of Sociolinguistic Factors and English Language Proficiency on the Development of French as a Third Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bérubé, Daniel; Marinova-Todd, Stefka H.

2014-01-01

The classroom demographics in French immersion (FI) programs across Canada are changing: There are a growing number of multilingual students who are learning English as a second language (L2) and French as a third language (L3). However, little is known about the development of French language proficiency and reading skills of multilingual…

Development and validation of the Spanish-English Language Proficiency Scale (SELPS).

PubMed

Smyk, Ekaterina; Restrepo, M Adelaida; Gorin, Joanna S; Gray, Shelley

2013-07-01

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. The SELPS assesses syntactic complexity, grammatical accuracy, verbal fluency, and lexical diversity based on 2 story retell tasks. In Study 1, 40 children were given 2 story retell tasks to evaluate the reliability of parallel forms. In Study 2, 76 children participated in the validation of the scale against language sample measures and teacher ratings of language proficiency. Study 1 indicated no significant differences between the SELPS scores on the 2 stories. Study 2 indicated that the SELPS scores correlated significantly with their counterpart language sample measures. Correlations between the SELPS and teacher ratings were moderate. The 2 story retells elicited comparable SELPS scores, providing a valuable tool for test-retest conditions in the assessment of language proficiency. Correlations between the SELPS scores and external variables indicated that these measures assessed the same language skills. Results provided empirical evidence regarding the validity of inferences about language proficiency based on the SELPS score.

Facebook: Facilitating Social Access and Language Acquisition for International Students?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Kent; Ranta, Leila

2014-01-01

Many international students come to Canada to improve their English language proficiency and develop friendships with Canadians and other international students. However, gaining access to host nationals (i.e., Canadians) is not an easy task for most English as a second language (ESL) learners. Factors such as language proficiency may hamper…

Woodworking Safety. A Guide for Teachers of Limited English Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Umatilla Education Service District, OR.

This packet of materials was developed (1) to address the liability concerns of woodworking instructors by providing safety instruction materials and tests for limited English proficient (LEP) or Spanish-speaking students, and (2) to provide some ideas, strategies, and resources for working effectively with LEP students in the vocational…

Principes de la conception de tests destines a l'evaluation prealable d'etudiants etrangers venant etudier en Grande-Bretagne (Criteria for the Development of English Proficiency Tests for Foreign Students Enrolling in British Universities).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seaton, Ian

1981-01-01

Describes the criteria behind the development of the English Language Testing Service system, a new language proficiency evaluation instrument developed by the British Council. This system is based on an analysis of foreign students' communication needs in the context of their professional training and academic life. Societe Nouvelle Didier…

English in the Workplace: McDonald's Executive English.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pagurek, Joyce; Fitzgerald, Brigid

The McDonald's Executive English Course was developed by Carleton University's Centre for Applied Language Studies in response to a francophone supervisor's request. As a basis for course development, information was gathered on English language use on the job, the level of English proficiency needed, and the personalities, backgrounds, and goals…

United States Special Operations Command’s Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus at ILR 1/1+: Initial Review and Recommended Changes to Improve Results and Lower Cost

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

to be useful for proficiency development, and with the limited research available, Doughty found that instructed language learners moved further...absolute speaking proficiency in languages taught at the Foreign Service Institute. Arlington, VA: Author. SOFLO Support Project USSOCOM’s Foreign...on language and linguistics 1999: Language in our time: Bilingual education and official English , ebonics and standard English , immigration and the Unz

Examining the Relationship between Math Scores and English Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henry, Denfield L.; Nistor, Nicolae; Baltes, Beate

2016-01-01

Multiple studies propose that English proficiency dictates English language learners' (ELLs) performances on mathematics assessments. The current study investigates the predictive power of English proficiency on mathematics scores, while controlling for gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and grade level among ELLs at a south Florida elementary…

The Development of Instructional Materials for Vocational Personnel Serving Students Who Are Speakers of Other Languages and Have Limited English Proficiency. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adamsky, Richard A.; And Others

The first part of this document provides a brief account of a project to develop learning modules on the microcomputer and the microscope for use with limited English-proficient speakers of other languages who are enrolled in vocational education courses. The bulk of the document consists of appendixes presenting the modules themselves. The…

What Is the Criterion of Interest in Identifying Limited-English Speaking Students: Language Dominance or Proficiency?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estes, Gary D.; Estes, Carole

The issue of using language proficiency or language dominance to assess programs for high school students with limited English speaking backgrounds is addressed. The development and initial analyses of the Competency Based Oral Language Assessment (COLA) are discussed. Three components of oral language are rated separately: semantics; syntax and…

Model Developmental Program of Bilingual Education, Community School District 3, 1992-93. Final Evaluation Report. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera, Natasha F.

The federally funded Model Development Program of Bilingual Education served 385 students at one elementary and one middle school in Manhattan (New York) in 1992-93, its third year of operation. Participants included 168 native Spanish-speaking, limited-English-proficient (LEP) students and 217 English-proficient (EP) students, both…

The Role of Oral Communicative Tasks (OCT) in Developing the Spoken Proficiency of Engineering Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shantha, S.; Mekala, S.

2017-01-01

The mastery of speaking skills in English has become a major requisite in engineering industry. Engineers are expected to possess speaking skills for executing their routine activities and career prospects. The article focuses on the experimental study conducted to improve English spoken proficiency of Indian engineering students using task-based…

Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficiency Students: Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP 1988-89. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Keyes, Jose L.

The Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficient Students (Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP), bilingual special education classes totalling 375 Spanish-speaking students at 10 elementary schools in the Bronx, is evaluated. The project proposed to assist site teachers in developing appropriate lesson plans and effective teaching techniques and…

State Child Care Policies for Limited English Proficient Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firgens, Emily; Matthews, Hannah

2012-01-01

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the largest source of federal funding for child care assistance available to states, provides low-income families with help paying for child care. Studies have shown that low-income LEP (limited English proficient), as well as immigrant families, are less likely to receive child care assistance.…

Interrogating the Construct of Aviation English: Feedback from Test Takers in Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Hyejeong; Elder, Catherine

2015-01-01

This paper explores the underlying construct of both the English proficiency test for pilot and air traffic controller radiotelephony communication developed and administered in Korea and the ICAO language proficiency testing policy on which the test in Korea is based. It does so by canvassing the opinions of Korean airline pilots and air traffic…

Association between pediatric asthma care quality and morbidity and English language proficiency in Ohio.

PubMed

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.

Relationships Between English Language Proficiency, Health Literacy, and Health Outcomes in Somali Refugees.

PubMed

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.

Modeling the Development of L1 and EFL Writing Proficiency of Secondary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoonen, Rob; van Gelderen, Amos; Stoel, Reinoud D.; Hulstijn, Jan; de Glopper, Kees

2011-01-01

This longitudinal study investigates the development of writing proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL), in contrast to the development of first language (L1) writing proficiency in Dutch L1, in a sample of almost 400 secondary school students in the Netherlands. Students performed several writing tasks in both languages in three…

An Exploration of English Language Learners Reading Proficiency Assessment, the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System, as Perceived by Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moreno-Hewitt, Andrea

2015-01-01

This qualitative phenomenological research study used narrative inquiry to explore teachers' perceptions of their students' reading proficiency as demonstrated on the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System's reading test. Ten teachers participated in the study, and responses pertaining to their perceptions of reading instruction and…

English use among older bilingual immigrants in linguistically concentrated neighborhoods: Social proficiency and internal speech as intracultural variation

PubMed Central

Schrauf, Robert W.

2013-01-01

This research focuses on patterns of English proficiency and use-of-English among older immigrants living in linguistically concentrated, ethnic neighborhoods. A sample (n=60) of older Puerto Ricans, who moved from the island to the mainland in their twenties, were divided into English proficiency groups (fluent, high intermediate, low intermediate) via the Adult Language Assessment Scales. Participants then provided self-ratings of their English proficiency (understanding, speaking, reading, and writing), their use of English in social domains (language spoken with own-family, in-laws, spouse, children, neighbors, and workmates), and their use of English in private psychological domains (language of talking to oneself, counting, writing notes to oneself, thinking, dreaming, praying, and expressing feelings). Finally, all participants completed the Puerto Rican Bicultural Scale. Results show a cohort of immigrant elders whose first language is protected by their ethnic neighborhoods but whose domestic and private lives are increasingly permeated by English. In particular, children emerge as powerful forces of language socialization in English for their parents. Further, there are important individual differences by level of proficiency, with a lowest proficiency group that is less acculturated, lower in socioeconomic status, and even more linguistically isolated than groups with higher proficiency. In essence, level of second language proficiency is a potent source of intracultural variation. Methodologically, the paper makes the important point that self-rated patterns of language use are consistent with scores on formal measures of proficiency. The paper also provides empirical verification of the logic of dividing language use into external, social speech and internal, psychological speech. PMID:19184621

The Factor Structure of the English Language Development Assessment: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuriakose, Anju

2011-01-01

This study investigated the internal factor structure of the English language development Assessment (ELDA) using confirmatory factor analysis. ELDA is an English language proficiency test developed by a consortium of multiple states and is used to identify and reclassify English language learners in kindergarten to grade 12. Scores on item…

Issues in Vertical Scaling of a K-12 English Language Proficiency Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Use of Audio Prompting to Assist Mothers with Limited English Proficiency in Tutoring Their Pre-Kindergarten Children on English Vocabulary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooke, Nancy L.; Mackiewicz, Sara Moore; Wood, Charles L.; Helf, Shawnna

2009-01-01

Parents with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) may find it difficult to become involved in their children's education due to their lack of English proficiency. The present study examined the effects of using audio prompting to assist mothers with LEP in teaching their preschool children English vocabulary. Mothers were trained to tutor their…

Identifying Affirmative Beliefs about English Language Learning: Self-Perceptions of Thai Learners with Different Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Tuntiga; Rajprasit, Krich

2015-01-01

Theoretically, beliefs about English language learning have a psychological factor, such as predicting the rate of success or failure among learners in the classroom context. However, learners with different levels of language proficiency may perceive such beliefs in a different way, which may lead to the development of special needs, in terms of…

English language proficiency and the accommodations for language non-concordance amongst patients utilizing chiropractic college teaching clinics.

PubMed

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 to address this language discordance. There is a need to further develop accurate and meaningful accommodations to address language disparity in the chiropractic teaching clinics.

Developing Oral Language Skills in Middle School English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Mother-adolescent language proficiency and adolescent academic and emotional adjustment among Chinese American families.

PubMed

Liu, Lisa L; Benner, Aprile D; Lau, Anna S; Kim, Su Yeong

2009-04-01

This study examined the role of adolescents' and mothers' self-reports of English and heritage language proficiency in youth's academic and emotional adjustment among 444 Chinese American families. Adolescents who were proficient in English tended to exhibit higher reading achievement scores, math achievement scores, and overall GPA. Mothers who were English proficient tended to have children with higher academic achievement and fewer depressive symptoms. Results also indicated that adolescents' heritage language maintenance was associated with positive adjustment, particularly amongst foreign-born youth and for youth whose parents were highly proficient in the heritage language. Mother-adolescent match in heritage language proficiency was related to higher math achievement scores and overall GPA. Additionally, higher heritage language proficiency was associated with fewer depressive symptoms for foreign-born but not U.S.-born youth. Overall, the findings suggest that proficiency in both the English and heritage language may confer advantages to Chinese American youth.

The Politics of Aviation English Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alderson, J. Charles

2011-01-01

The International Civil Aviation Association has developed a set of Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs) and a Language Proficiency Rating Scale, which seeks to define proficiency in the language needed for aviation purposes at six different levels. Pilots, air traffic controllers and aeronautical station operators are required to achieve at…

Reading Habits of University ESL Students at Different Levels of English Proficiency and Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Impacts of a Literacy-Focused Preschool Curriculum on the Early Literacy Skills of Language-Minority Children

PubMed Central

Goodrich, J. Marc; Lonigan, Christopher J.; Farver, Jo Ann M.

2017-01-01

Spanish-speaking language-minority (LM) children are at an elevated risk of struggling academically and display signs of that risk during early childhood. Therefore, high-quality research is needed to identify instructional techniques that promote the school readiness of Spanish-speaking LM children. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention that utilized an experimental curriculum and two professional development models for the development of English and Spanish early literacy skills among LM children. We also evaluated whether LM children's proficiency in one language moderated the effect of the intervention on early literacy skills in the other language, as well as whether the intervention was differentially effective for LM and monolingual English-speaking children. Five hundred twenty-six Spanish-speaking LM children and 447 monolingual English-speaking children enrolled in 26 preschool centers in Los Angeles, CA participated in this study. Results indicated that the intervention was effective for improving LM children's code-related but not language-related English early literacy skills. There were no effects of the intervention on children's Spanish early literacy skills. Proficiency in Spanish did not moderate the effect of the intervention for any English early literacy outcomes; however, proficiency in English significantly moderated the effect of the intervention for Spanish oral language skills, such that the effect of the intervention was stronger for children with higher proficiency in English than it was for children with lower proficiency in English. In general, there were not differential effects of the intervention for LM and monolingual children. Taken together, these findings indicate that high-quality, evidence-based instruction can improve the early literacy skills of LM children and that the same instructional techniques are effective for enhancing the early literacy skills of LM and monolingual children. PMID:28970649

Adherence to antipsychotics among Latinos and Asians with schizophrenia and limited English proficiency.

PubMed

Gilmer, Todd P; Ojeda, Victoria D; Barrio, Concepcion; Fuentes, Dahlia; Garcia, Piedad; Lanouette, Nicole M; Lee, Kelly C

2009-02-01

The authors examined data for 7,784 Latino, Asian, and non-Latino white Medi-Cal beneficiaries with schizophrenia to determine the relationship between patients' preferred language for mental health services--English, Spanish, or an Asian language--and their adherence to treatment with antipsychotic medications. Data reflected 31,560 person-years from 1999 to 2004. Pharmacy records were analyzed to assess medication adherence by use of the medication possession ratio (MPR). Clients were defined as nonadherent (MPR<.5), partially adherent (MPR=.5-<.8), or adherent (MPR=.8-1.1) or as an excess filler of prescriptions (MPR<1.1). Regression models were used to examine adherence, hospitalization, and costs by race-ethnicity and language status. Latinos with limited English proficiency were more likely than English-proficient Latinos to be medication adherent (41% versus 36%; p<.001) and less likely to be excess fillers (15% versus 20%; p<.001). Asians with limited English proficiency were less likely than English-proficient Asians to be adherent (40% versus 45%; p=.034), more likely to be nonadherent (29% versus 22%; p<.001), and less likely to be excess fillers (13% versus 17%; p=.004). When analyses controlled for adherence and comorbidities, clients with limited English proficiency had lower rates of hospitalization and lower health care costs than English-proficient and white clients. Adherence to antipsychotic medications varied by English proficiency among and within ethnic groups. Policies supporting the training of bilingual and multicultural providers from ethnic minority groups and interventions that capitalize on patients' existing social support networks may improve adherence to treatment in linguistically diverse populations.

Evaluating the spoken English proficiency of graduates of foreign medical schools.

PubMed

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.

The Relationship between Demotivation and EFL Learners' English Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Rou-Jui Sophia

2011-01-01

To what extent does demotivation affect EFL learners' English language proficiency attainment? The present study addresses this question by investigating the relationship between technological institute EFL students' past demotivating factors and their English language proficiency. Although the role of demotivation in foreign language achievement…

Popular Culture, English Out-of-Class Activities, and Learner Autonomy among Highly Proficient Secondary Students in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Development of an In-Service Course To Assist Subject-Matter Teachers in Addressing the Unique Needs of Students Having Limited English Proficiency.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piscitelli, Christine D.

An inservice teacher education course was designed to address the problems of content-area teachers in teaching limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. Goals were for content-area teachers: (1) to gain sensitivity to and understanding of the special needs of this population; (2) to become aware of the cultural and linguistic diversity and…

Limited English Proficiency Students in Wisconsin: Cultural Background and Educational Needs. Part I: Hispanic Students (Mexican and Puerto Rican).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knop, Constance K.

A training manual was developed to acquaint teachers and administrators with the history and culture of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans in Wisconsin so that they can better meet the educational needs of their limited English proficient students. This manual is one of three such manuals intended for use with allied audiovisual materials.…

Language Learning Strategies and English Proficiency: Interpretations from Information-Processing Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Washington English Language Proficiency Assessment (WELPA). Form C 2015. Interpretation Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2015

2015-01-01

The "Washington English Language Proficiency Assessment" (WELPA) is a No Child Left Behind (NCLB)-compliant instrument that is used in Grades K-12 as a formal and standardized method of measuring language proficiency. The test results provide important information for classifying English Language Learners (ELLs) and subsequently for…

English Proficiency and Participation in Online Discussion for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coombe, Christine; Davidson, Peter

2014-01-01

The Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) is a large-scale, high-stakes, English language proficiency/placement test administered in the United Arab Emirates to Emirati nationals in their final year of secondary education or Grade 12. The purpose of the CEPA is to place students into English classes at the appropriate government…

75 FR 38821 - Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-06

... National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons AGENCY: Office for Civil Rights... origin discrimination affecting limited English proficient persons. This proposed guidance is issued... affecting limited English proficient persons. 75 FR 34465. Due to inadvertence, the date specified for...

Fractionating English Language Proficiency: Policy and Practice in Australian Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Paul J.; Harrington, Michael

2016-01-01

Policy-makers and practitioners in Australian higher education increasingly view English language proficiency (ELP) as a tripartite construct consisting of English proficiency for academic study, interpersonal communication, and more recently, the workplace. This paper examines this assumption and identifies the significant implications it has for…

Occupational health and safety experiences among self-identified immigrant workers living or working in Somerville, MA by ethnicity, years in the US, and English proficiency.

PubMed

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.

"More & Earlier": Neoliberalism and Primary English Education in Mexican Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sayer, Peter

2015-01-01

As global English expands, developing countries feel the pressure that, in order to remain globally competitive, they must increase the number of people with English proficiency. In response, many countries have significantly expanded English instruction in public schools by implementing primary English language teaching (PELT) programs. This is…

Driver Education. Supplemental Lessons and Activities for Use with Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students Enrolled in ESL or Special Education Classes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fairfax County Schools, VA.

A curriculum for use with limited English proficient students in English-as-a-second-language or special education classes who are enrolled in the driver education course is described. The 14 lessons require a basic proficiency in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing English. The lessons cover such topics as vocabulary and idioms related…

Mother-Adolescent Language Proficiency and Adolescent Academic and Emotional Adjustment Among Chinese American Families

PubMed Central

Benner, Aprile D.; Lau, Anna S.; Kim, Su Yeong

2009-01-01

This study examined the role of adolescents’ and mothers’ self-reports of English and heritage language proficiency in youth’s academic and emotional adjustment among 444 Chinese American families. Adolescents who were proficient in English tended to exhibit higher reading achievement scores, math achievement scores, and overall GPA. Mothers who were English proficient tended to have children with higher academic achievement and fewer depressive symptoms. Results also indicated that adolescents’ heritage language maintenance was associated with positive adjustment, particularly amongst foreign-born youth and for youth whose parents were highly proficient in the heritage language. Mother-adolescent match in heritage language proficiency was related to higher math achievement scores and overall GPA. Additionally, higher heritage language proficiency was associated with fewer depressive symptoms for foreign-born but not U.S.-born youth. Overall, the findings suggest that proficiency in both the English and heritage language may confer advantages to Chinese American youth. PMID:19636729

[Japanese learners' processing time for reading English relative clauses analyzed in relation to their English listening proficiency].

PubMed

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.

English language proficiency and smoking prevalence among California's Asian Americans.

PubMed

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.

Proposed English Standards Promote Aviation Safety.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS): The Speaking Test.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Early Mathematics Achievement Trajectories: English-Language Learner and Native English-Speaker Estimates, Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey

PubMed Central

Roberts, Greg; Bryant, Diane

2012-01-01

This study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten Class of 1998 –1999, to (a) estimate mathematics achievement trends through 5th grade in the population of students who are English-language proficient by the end of kindergarten, (b) compare trends across primary language groups within this English-language proficient group, (c) evaluate the effect of low socioeconomic status (SES) for English-language proficient students and within different primary language groups, and (d) estimate language-group trends in specific mathematics skill areas. The group of English-language proficient English-language learners (ELLs) was disaggregated into native Spanish speakers and native speakers of Asian languages, the 2 most prevalent groups of ELLs in the United States. Results of multilevel latent variable growth modeling suggest that primary language may be less salient than SES in explaining the mathematics achievement of English-language proficient ELLs. The study also found that mathematics-related school readiness is a key factor in explaining subsequent achievement differences and that the readiness gap is prevalent across the range of mathematics-related skills. PMID:21574702

Variables Affecting Proficiency in English as a Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santana, Josefina C.; García-Santillán, Arturo; Escalera-Chávez, Milka Elena

2017-01-01

This study explores different variables leading to proficiency in English as a second language. Level of English on a placement exam taken upon entering a private university in Mexico was correlated to several variables. Additionally, participants (N = 218) were asked their perception of their own proficiency. A linear regression and a one-factor…

34 CFR 403.16 - What are the personnel requirements regarding coordination with programs for individuals of...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... coordination with programs for individuals of limited English proficiency? 403.16 Section 403.16 Education... with programs for individuals of limited English proficiency? (a) A State desiring to participate in... individual responsible for administering programs for students of limited English proficiency to review all...

Limited English Proficient Students: Progress of 2008-09 High School Cohort. Data Trends. D&A Report No. 13.14

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baenen, Nancy

2013-01-01

Students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) entering U.S. schools in grade 9 face a tight timeline to simultaneously learn English and graduate from high school in four or five years. This study focuses on student outcomes and progress indicators for the cohort of ninth graders new to WCPSS in 2008-09 who had limited English proficiency. Based…

Newcomers Developing English Literacy through Historical Thinking and Digitized Primary Sources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franquiz, Maria E.; Salinas, Cinthia S.

2011-01-01

The traditional approach to the education of newcomer students separates English language development from content instruction. It is assumed that English language proficiency is a prerequisite for subject-matter learning. The authors take the alternate view that the integration of historical thinking and digitized primary sources enhances English…

The Association Between Limited English Proficiency and Unplanned Emergency Department Revisit Within 72 Hours.

PubMed

Ngai, Ka Ming; Grudzen, Corita R; Lee, Roy; Tong, Vicky Y; Richardson, Lynne D; Fernandez, Alicia

2016-08-01

Language barriers are known to negatively affect many health outcomes among limited English proficiency patient populations, but little is known about the quality of care such patients receive in the emergency department (ED). This study seeks to determine whether limited English proficiency patients experience different quality of care than English-speaking patients in the ED, using unplanned revisit within 72 hours as a surrogate quality indicator. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in an urban adult ED in 2012, with a total of 41,772 patients and 56,821 ED visits. We compared 2,943 limited English proficiency patients with 38,829 English-speaking patients presenting to the ED after excluding patients with psychiatric complaints, altered mental status, and nonverbal states, and those with more than 4 ED visits in 12 months. Two main outcomes-the risk of inpatient admission from the ED and risk of unplanned ED revisit within 72 hours-were measured with odds ratios from generalized estimating equation multivariate models. Limited English proficiency patients were more likely than English speakers to be admitted (32.0% versus 27.2%; odds ratio [OR]=1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11 to 1.30). This association became nonsignificant after adjustments (OR=1.04; 95% CI 0.95 to 1.15). Included in the analysis of ED revisit within 72 hours were 32,857 patients with 45,546 ED visits; 4.2% of all patients (n=1,380) had at least 1 unplanned revisit. Limited English proficiency patients were more likely than English speakers to have an unplanned revisit (5.0% versus 4.1%; OR=1.19; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.45). This association persisted (OR=1.24; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.53) after adjustment for potential confounders, including insurance status. We found no difference in hospital admission rates between limited English proficiency patients and English-speaking patients. Yet limited English proficiency patients were 24% more likely to have an unplanned ED revisit within 72 hours, with an absolute difference of 0.9%, suggesting challenges in ED quality of care. Copyright © 2016 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Codeswitching Techniques: Evidence-Based Instructional Practices for the ASL/English Bilingual Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrews, Jean F.; Rusher, Melissa

2010-01-01

The authors present a perspective on emerging bilingual deaf students who are exposed to, learning, and developing two languages--American Sign Language (ASL) and English (spoken English, manually coded English, and English reading and writing). The authors suggest that though deaf children may lack proficiency or fluency in either language during…

Learning Strategies in Alleviating English Writing Anxiety for English Language Learners (ELLs) with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Ecobehavioral Variables within a Classroom with Limited English Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chavez, Gene T.; Arreaga-Mayer, Carmen

A study analyzed the effects of classwide peer tutoring on science vocabulary spelling achievement for three language groups in one school's sixth grade. The groups consisted of: (1) Spanish-dominant and limited-English-proficient (LEP) students (n=8); (2) students proficient at grade level in both Spanish and English (n=14); and (3) monolingual…

English Proficiency and Acculturation among Chinese Immigrant Youth in Canada: A Reciprocal Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Predictors of second language acquisition in Latino children with specific language impairment.

PubMed

Gutiérrez-Clellen, Vera; Simon-Cereijido, Gabriela; Sweet, Monica

2012-02-01

This study evaluated the extent to which the language of intervention, the child's development in Spanish, and the effects of English vocabulary, use, proficiency, and exposure predict differences in the rates of acquisition of English in Latino children with specific language impairment (SLI). In this randomized controlled trial, 188 Latino preschoolers with SLI participated in a small-group academic enrichment program for 12 weeks and were followed up 3 and 5 months later. Children were randomly assigned to either a bilingual or an English-only program. Predictors of English growth included measures of Spanish language skills and English vocabulary, use, proficiency, and exposure. Performance on English outcomes (i.e., picture description and narrative sample) was assessed over time. A series of longitudinal models were tested via multilevel modeling with baseline and posttreatment measures nested within child. Children demonstrated growth on the English outcomes over time. The language of intervention, Spanish skills, English vocabulary, and English use significantly predicted differences in rates of growth across children for specific measures of English development. This study underscores the role of the child's first language skills, the child's level of English vocabulary development, and level of English use for predicting differences in English acquisition in Latino preschoolers with SLI. These factors should be carefully considered in making clinical decisions.

Report on the Formal Trialling of the Australian Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ASLPR).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingram, D. E.

Results of testing the validity and reliability of the Australian second language proficiency ratings (ASLPR) are presented. In addition to providing a framework for planning English as a second language programs for immigrants to Australia, the ASLPR was developed to specify second language proficiency in terms of practical language skills. The…

Nobody Seems to Speak English Here Today: Enhancing Assessment and Training in Aviation English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Douglas, Dan

2014-01-01

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…

Knowing English is Not Enough! Cultivating Academic Literacies among High School Newcomers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franquiz, Maria E.; Salinas, Cinthia

2013-01-01

Secondary school teachers face remarkable challenges when they are asked to incorporate language objectives because the traditional approach to the education of English Language Learners (ELL) separates English language development from content instruction. The underlying assumption is that English language proficiency is a prerequisite for…

English-for-Teaching: Rethinking Teacher Proficiency in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeman, Donald; Katz, Anne; Garcia Gomez, Pablo; Burns, Anne

2015-01-01

The expansion of English teaching in state education systems places increasing demands on English language teachers and how they are trained. A major thrust of these efforts has focused on improving teachers' English language proficiency. This expectation is manifested in policy and pedagogical directives that teachers "teach English in…

Occupational Health and Safety Experiences among Self-Identified Immigrant Workers Living or Working in Somerville, MA by Ethnicity, Years in the US, and English Proficiency

PubMed Central

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

Investigating the Impact of Professional Development on Teachers' Instructional Time and English Learners' Language Development: A Multilevel Cross-Classified Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tong, Fuhui; Luo, Wen; Irby, Beverly J.; Lara-Alecio, Rafael; Rivera, Hector

2017-01-01

We examined the direct impact of an ongoing, intensive, and structured professional development (PD) within an English-as-second-language (ESL) instructional intervention on (a) teachers' time allocation in cognitive--academic language proficiency (CALP) and (b) Spanish-speaking English language learners' (ELLs) CALP development from the second to…

English Language Development Policy: Foreign Teachers, Hegemony, and Inequality of Education in Thailand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Influence of Second Language Proficiency and Syntactic Structure Similarities on the Sensitivity and Processing of English Passive Sentence in Late Chinese-English Bilinguists: An ERP Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Use and Impact of English-Language Learner Assessment in Arizona

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Basic Education for Limited English Proficient Students: The "BELEPS" Program, 1982-1985. Final Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McConnell, Beverly B.

Begun in 1980 with 358 students, the Yakima (Washington) Public Schools' Basic Education for Limited English Proficient Students (BELEPS) Program served 1,250 grade K-12 students (94% Hispanic) in 1985. Its four programs were based on the degree of the students' English proficiency, and taught (1) reading only in Spanish, (2) reading in Spanish…

Teachers' Views on the Implementation of the English Language Proficiency Programme in Namibia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ngololo, Elizabeth N.; Nekongo-Nielsen, Haaveshe

2017-01-01

The study explores teachers' views on the impact of the English Language Proficiency Programme in Namibian schools that was implemented over a period of five years, from 2011 to 2015. The program aimed at improving teachers' proficiency in English. The summative evaluation was conducted in 2016 in the following five (5) regions: Erongo, Hardap,…

76 FR 14954 - National Professional Development Program; Office of English Language Acquisition, Language...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

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...

Teaching Intercultural English Learning/Teaching in World Englishes: Some Classroom Activities in South Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

77 FR 22583 - Allocations, Common Application, Waivers, and Alternative Requirements for Community Development...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-16

... persons with disabilities and limited English proficiency. Each grantee must ensure that program... Recipients Regarding Title VI, Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English...

A Growth Curve Analysis of Literacy Performance among Second-Grade, Spanish-Speaking, English-Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Dual Language Development of Latino Children: Effect of Instructional Program Type and the Home and School Language Environment

PubMed Central

Collins, Brian A.

2014-01-01

Latino dual language children typically enter school with a wide range of proficiencies in Spanish and English, many with low proficiency in both languages, yet do make gains in one or both languages during their first school years. Dual language development is associated with how language is used at home and school, as well as the type of instructional program children receive at school. The present study investigates how changes in both Spanish and English proficiencies of Latino, second-generation immigrant children (n =163) from kindergarten to second grade relate to instructional program type as well as language use at home and school. A series of MANCOVAs demonstrated significant dual language gains in children who were in bilingual classrooms and schools where Spanish was used among the teachers, students, and staff. Furthermore, only in classrooms where both Spanish and English were used did children reach age-appropriate levels of academic proficiency in both languages. Home language use was also significantly associated with dual language gains as was maternal Spanish vocabulary knowledge before controlling for maternal education. Educational implications and potential benefits associated with bilingualism are discussed. PMID:25264401

Self-Ratings of Spoken Language Dominance: A Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) and Preliminary Norms for Young and Aging Spanish-English Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Identity processing styles and language proficiency among Persian learners of English as a foreign language.

PubMed

Razmjoo, Seyyed Ayatollah; Neissi, Sina

2010-12-01

The relationship between identity processing styles and language proficiency in English as foreign language (EFL) was investigated among the Persian EFL learners. 266 Persian candidates taking part in a Ph.D. examination at Shiraz University took part. The Language Proficiency Test was used to measure language proficiency in English. The Identity Styles Inventory was used to measure normative, informational, and diffuse-avoidant identity processing styles. Relationships between normative and informational styles and language proficiency and its subscales (grammar, vocabulary, and reading) were positive and significant. Negative relationships between diffuse-avoidant style and language proficiency and its subscales (grammar, vocabulary, and reading) were observed. There were significant sex differences for diffuse-avoidant style and for vocabulary.

English Learner Students' Readiness for Academic Success: The Predictive Potential of English Language Proficiency Assessment Scores in Arizona and Nevada. REL 2017-172

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

76 FR 18538 - Applications for New Awards; National Professional Development Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-04

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [CFDA 84.195N] Applications for New Awards; National Professional Development Program AGENCY: Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic... Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students...

Identifying and preventing medical errors in patients with limited English proficiency: key findings and tools for the field.

PubMed

Wasserman, Melanie; Renfrew, Megan R; Green, Alexander R; Lopez, Lenny; Tan-McGrory, Aswita; Brach, Cindy; Betancourt, Joseph R

2014-01-01

Since the 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report To Err is Human, progress has been made in patient safety, but few efforts have focused on safety in patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). This article describes the development, content, and testing of two new evidence-based Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) tools for LEP patient safety. In the content development phase, a comprehensive mixed-methods approach was used to identify common causes of errors for LEP patients, high-risk scenarios, and evidence-based strategies to address them. Based on our findings, Improving Patient Safety Systems for Limited English Proficient Patients: A Guide for Hospitals contains recommendations to improve detection and prevention of medical errors across diverse populations, and TeamSTEPPS Enhancing Safety for Patients with Limited English Proficiency Module trains staff to improve safety through team communication and incorporating interpreters in the care process. The Hospital Guide was validated with leaders in quality and safety at diverse hospitals, and the TeamSTEPPS LEP module was field-tested in varied settings within three hospitals. Both tools were found to be implementable, acceptable to their audiences, and conducive to learning. Further research on the impact of the combined use of the guide and module would shed light on their value as a multifaceted intervention. © 2014 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

Can Higher-Proficiency L2 Learners Benefit from Working with Lower-Proficiency Partners in Peer Feedback?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu, Shulin; Hu, Guangwei

2017-01-01

Informed by Vygotsky's conceptualization of the Zone of Proximal Development, this case study investigated the benefits of peer feedback on second language (L2) writing for students with high L2 proficiency and the factors that may influence their learning in peer feedback in the Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language context. Specifically, the…

Do Proficiency and Study-Abroad Experience Affect Speech Act Production? Analysis of Appropriateness, Accuracy, and Fluency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taguchi, Naoko

2011-01-01

This cross-sectional study examined the effect of general proficiency and study-abroad experience in production of speech acts among learners of L2 English. Participants were 25 native speakers of English and 64 Japanese college students of English divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 22) had lower proficiency and no study-abroad experience.…

Empirical Studies on Correlations between Lexical Knowledge and English Proficiency of Chinese EFL Learners in Mainland China over the Past Two Decades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Yao; Dai, Zhongxin

2016-01-01

Knowledge of English vocabulary contributes to the learner's proficiency of English as a foreign language, but how the learner's lexical knowledge behaves in the contribution. Researchers in mainland China have conducted studies of various kinds in order to find out how the learner's lexical knowledge correlates with his proficiency. This article…

Interpretation and Use of K-12 Language Proficiency Assessment Score Reports: Perspectives of Educators and Parents. WCER Working Paper No. 2016-8

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Ahyoung Alicia; Kondo, Akira; Blair, Alissa; Mancilla, Lorena; Chapman, Mark; Wilmes, Carsten

2016-01-01

A number of English language proficiency exams target grades K-12 English language learners (ELLs) because of the rising need to identify their needs and provide appropriate support in language learning. A good example is the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs (hereafter ACCESS), designed to measure the English language proficiency of students identified as…

Research and Policy Considerations for English Learner Equity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson-Cimpian, Joseph P.; Thompson, Karen D.; Umansky, Ilana M.

2016-01-01

English learners (ELs), students from a home where a language other than English is spoken and who are in the process of developing English proficiency themselves, represent over 10% of the US student population. Oftentimes education policies and practices create barriers for ELs to achieve access and outcomes that are equitable to those of their…

Global Expansion and English Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrade, Maureen Snow

2016-01-01

Demand for higher education is global. As institutions extend opportunities beyond their borders, English language proficiency must be considered. This chapter focuses on considerations related to global expansion, with an emphasis on the role of distance English language courses and the distinct considerations in their development.

Topical Knowledge and ESL Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Ling; Shi, Ling

2012-01-01

This study investigates the effects of topical knowledge on ESL (English as a Second Language) writing performance in the English Language Proficiency Index (LPI), a standardized English proficiency test used by many post-secondary institutions in western Canada. The participants were 50 students with different levels of English proficiency…

American Sign Language and Academic English: Factors Influencing the Reading of Bilingual Secondary School Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students.

PubMed

Scott, Jessica A; Hoffmeister, Robert J

2017-01-01

For many years, researchers have sought to understand the reading development of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students. Guided by prior research on DHH and hearing students, in this study we investigate the hypothesis that for secondary school DHH students enrolled in American Sign Language (ASL)/English bilingual schools for the deaf, academic English proficiency would be a significant predictor of reading comprehension alongside ASL proficiency. Using linear regression, we found statistically significant interaction effects between academic English knowledge and word reading fluency in predicting the reading comprehension scores of the participants. However, ASL remained the strongest and most consistent predictor of reading comprehension within the sample. Findings support a model in which socio-demographic factors, ASL proficiency, and word reading fluency are primary predictors of reading comprehension for secondary DHH students. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@.com.

Multilingual Proficiency in Fiji Primary Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shameem, Nikhat

2002-01-01

Determined language proficiency among multilingual Indo-Fijian primary school children who have the languages, Fiji-Hindi, Standard Hindi, Urdu, English, Fijian, and Fijian English in their speech repertoire. Identifies the variables that affect multilingual proficiency in this group and determines whether classroom practice reflects educational…

The Construction of a Second Language Acquisition Index of Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larsen-Freeman, Diane; Strom, Virginia

Compositions written by 48 university students of English as a Second Language (ESL) were examined as a step in the development of an index for proficiency in a second language. A feature analysis of the compositions revealed the following tendencies: (1) syntactic sophistication and tense usage improved as proficiency increased, (2) errors in…

Assessing Bilingual Knowledge Organization in Secondary Science Classrooms =

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jason S.

Improving outcomes for English language learners (ELLs) in secondary science remains an area of high need. The purpose of this study is to investigate bilingual knowledge organization in secondary science classrooms. This study involved thirty-nine bilingual students in three biology classes at a public high school in The Bronx, New York City. Methods included an in-class survey on language use, a science content and English proficiency exam, and bilingual free-recalls. Fourteen students participated in bilingual free-recalls which involved a semi-structured process of oral recall of information learned in science class. Free-recall was conducted in both English and Spanish and analyzed using flow-map methods. Novel methods were developed to quantify and visualize the elaboration and mobilization of ideas shared across languages. It was found that bilingual narratives displayed similar levels of organizational complexity across languages, though English recalls tended to be longer. English proficiency was correlated with narrative complexity in English. There was a high degree of elaboration on concepts shared across languages. Finally, higher Spanish proficiency correlated well with greater overlapping elaboration across languages. These findings are discussed in light of current cognitive theory before presenting the study's limitations and future directions of research.

The relationship between English language learning strategies and proficiency of pre-university students: A study case of UMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

English Language Proficiency and Content Assessment Performance: A Comparison of English Learners and Native English Speakers Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miley, Suzi Keller; Farmer, Aarek

2017-01-01

As a result of the accountability requirements established in Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Educational Act (ESEA) legislation, English Learners (ELs) are expected to make progress in both content area academic achievement and English Language Proficiency (ELP). In Tennessee ELs progress is measured by administering WIDA-Access to…

Exploring the Relationship among International Students' English Self-Efficacy, Using English to Learn Self-Efficacy, and Academic Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Examining the Validity of the Arizona English Language Learners Assessment Cut Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florez, Ida Rose

2012-01-01

The Arizona English Language Learners Assessment (AZELLA) is used by the Arizona Department of Education to determine which children should receive English support services. AZELLA results are used to determine if children are either proficient in English or have English language skills in one of four non-proficient categories (pre-emergent,…

The challenge of regional accents for aviation English language proficiency standards: a study of difficulties in understanding in air traffic control-pilot communications.

PubMed

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.

Evidence That International Undergraduates Can Succeed Academically Despite Struggling with English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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.…

The Effects of English Language Proficiency on Adjustment to University Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrade, Maureen Snow

2009-01-01

Higher education institutions in the United States recognize the economic and educational benefits of international students. Although non-native English speakers (NNES) submit evidence of English language proficiency for admission purposes, many struggle with the demands of English. This study draws on qualitative and quantitative data to provide…

Production of lexical stress in non-native speakers of American English: Kinematic correlates of stress and transfer

PubMed Central

Chakraborty, Rahul; Goffman, Lisa

2013-01-01

Purpose To assess the influence of L2 proficiency on production characteristics of rhythmic sequences in 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. Method Twenty Bengali-English bilinguals, 10 with low proficiency and 10 with high proficiency in English, and 10 monolingual English speakers participated. Lip and jaw movements were recorded while the bilinguals 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. Results Evidence of L1 to 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. Interpretation Even in the face of L1-L2 lexical stress transfer, non-native speakers demonstrated knowledge of prosodic contrasts. Movement duration appears to be more amenable to modifications than amplitude. PMID:21106699

The Impact of an Instructional Intervention on the Science and Language Learning of Middle Grade English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

August, Diane; Branum-Martin, Lee; Cardenas-Hagan, Elsa; Francis, David

2010-01-01

The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an intervention--Quality English and Science Teaching (QuEST)--designed to develop the science knowledge and academic language of middle grades English language learners studying science in their second language and their English-proficient classmates. Both English language learners and…

Key Factors in Obstetric Delivery Decision-Making among Asian and Pacific Islander Women by English Proficiency.

PubMed

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.

Predictors of Second Language Acquisition in Latino Children With Specific Language Impairment

PubMed Central

Gutiérrez-Clellen, Vera; Simon-Cereijido, Gabriela; Sweet, Monica

2012-01-01

Purpose This study evaluated the extent to which the language of intervention, the child’s development in Spanish, and the effects of English vocabulary, use, proficiency, and exposure predict differences in the rates of acquisition of English in Latino children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method In this randomized controlled trial, 188 Latino preschoolers with SLI participated in a small-group academic enrichment program for 12 weeks and were followed up 3 and 5 months later. Children were randomly assigned to either a bilingual or an English-only program. Predictors of English growth included measures of Spanish language skills and English vocabulary, use, proficiency, and exposure. Performance on English outcomes (i.e., picture description and narrative sample) was assessed over time. A series of longitudinal models were tested via multilevel modeling with baseline and posttreatment measures nested within child. Results Children demonstrated growth on the English outcomes over time. The language of intervention, Spanish skills, English vocabulary, and English use significantly predicted differences in rates of growth across children for specific measures of English development. Conclusions This study underscores the role of the child’s first language skills, the child’s level of English vocabulary development, and level of English use for predicting differences in English acquisition in Latino preschoolers with SLI. These factors should be carefully considered in making clinical decisions. PMID:22230174

Linguistically Directed Attention to the Temporal Aspect of Action Events in Monolingual English Speakers and Chinese-English Bilingual Speakers with Varying English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Jenn-Yeu; Su, Jui-Ju; Lee, Chao-Yang; O'Seaghdha, Padraig G.

2012-01-01

Chinese and English speakers seem to hold different conceptions of time which may be related to the different codings of time in the two languages. Employing a sentence-picture matching task, we have investigated this linguistic relativity in Chinese-English bilinguals varying in English proficiency and found that those with high proficiency…

Modeling Oral Reading Fluency Development in Latino Students: A Longitudinal Study Across Second and Third Grade

PubMed Central

Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Petscher, Yaacov; Williams, Rihana S.; Pappamihiel, N. Eleni; Dyrlund, Allison K.; Connor, Carol

2009-01-01

This study examines growth in oral reading fluency across 2nd and 3rd grade for Latino students grouped in 3 English proficiency levels: students receiving English as a second language (ESL) services (n = 2,182), students exited from ESL services (n = 965), and students never designated as needing services (n = 1,857). An important focus was to learn whether, within these 3 groups, proficiency levels and growth were reliably related to special education status. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the authors compared proficiency levels and growth in oral reading fluency in English between and within groups and then to state reading benchmarks. Findings indicate that oral reading fluency scores reliably distinguished between students with learning disabilities and typically developing students within each group (effect sizes ranging from 0.96 to 1.51). The growth trajectory included a significant quadratic trend (generally slowing over time). These findings support the effectiveness of using oral reading fluency in English to screen and monitor reading progress under Response to Intervention models, but also suggest caution in interpreting oral reading fluency data as part of the process in identifying students with learning disabilities. PMID:25132688

Transcultural Education Model. A Guide for Developing Transitional ESL/LEP and Bilingual Programs Kindergarten through Adult Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donaldson, Judy P.

The Transcultural Education Model presents a unified working model for teaching limited English proficient, English-as-Second-Language (ESL), or English-as-Second-Language transcultural (ESLT) students to read, write, and speak English. The model is designed for students and teachers in elementary, secondary, and adult schools. The model is…

Developing Teacher Oral Competency Framework for Secondary School Teachers: Moving towards Meaningful Teaching of English Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Predictors and Outcomes of Early versus Later English Language Proficiency among English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halle, Tamara; Hair, Elizabeth; Wandner, Laura; McNamara, Michelle; Chien, Nina

2012-01-01

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,…

Do the AZELLA Cut Scores Meet the Standards? A Validation Review of Arizona English Language Learner Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florez, Ida Rose

2010-01-01

The Arizona English Language Learners Assessment (AZELLA) is used by the Arizona Department of Education to determine which children should receive English support services. AZELLA results are used to determine if children are either proficient in English or have English language skills in one of four pre-proficient categories (pre-emergent,…

Reading Proficiency and Comparability of Mathematics and Science Scores for Students from English and Non-English Backgrounds: An International Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ercikan, Kadriye; Chen, Michelle Y.; Lyons-Thomas, Juliette; Goodrich, Shawna; Sandilands, Debra; Roth, Wolff-Michael; Simon, Marielle

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research is to examine the comparability of mathematics and science scores for students from English language backgrounds (ELB) and non-English language backgrounds (NELB). We examine the relationship between English reading proficiency and performance on mathematics and science assessments in Australia, Canada, the United…

Time to Proficiency for Hispanic English Learner Students in Texas. REL 2018-280

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slama, Rachel; Molefe, Ayrin; Gerdeman, Dean; Herrera, Angelica; Brodziak de los Reyes, Iliana; August, Diane; Cavazos, Linda

2017-01-01

English learner students are challenged by the difficult task of learning English concurrently with learning content in areas such as reading and math. English learner students who have not attained proficiency in English or learned core course content by the middle and upper grades may not have the requisite skills to enroll in courses required…

A Study of Interactions among Ambiguity Tolerance, Classroom Work Styles, and English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Improving English Listening Proficiency: The Application of ARCS Learning-Motivational Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Integrating Scaffolding Strategies into Technology-Enhanced Assessments of English Learners: Task Types and Measurement Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolf, Mikyung Kim; Guzman-Orth, Danielle; Lopez, Alexis; Castellano, Katherine; Himelfarb, Igor; Tsutagawa, Fred S.

2016-01-01

This article investigates ways to improve the assessment of English learner students' English language proficiency given the current movement of creating next-generation English language proficiency assessments in the Common Core era. In particular, this article discusses the integration of scaffolding strategies, which are prevalently utilized as…

A School's Activity System of Supporting Upper-Elementary Newcomers' English Language Proficiency Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowdrick, Kara E.

2018-01-01

Using the sociocultural theoretical framework of activity theory, this intrinsic case study sought to investigate how administrators, mainstream teachers, and English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) teachers in one school support newcomers' English language proficiency growth. Newcomers are English learners (ELs) who moved to the United…

Chunk Use and Development in Advanced Chinese L2 Learners of English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hou, Junping; Loerts, Hanneke; Verspoor, Marjolijn H.

2018-01-01

The use of 'chunks' is not only a common and characteristic feature of first language use, but may also be a distinguishing factor between less and more proficient second language users. The present study aimed at investigating potential correlations between chunk use and holistically rated proficiency scores and development over time in advanced…

Internet Cognitive Failure and Fatigue Relevant to Learners' Self-Regulation and Learning Progress in English Vocabulary with a Calibration Scheme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Influence of English proficiency on patient-provider communication and shared decision-making.

PubMed

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 < .01). Similarly, SDM was more commonly self-reported as "poor" among patients who reported 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.

Negative pragmatic transfer in Chinese students' complimentary speech acts.

PubMed

Ren, Juanjuan; Gao, Xiaofang

2012-02-01

Summary.-This study was designed to examine negative pragmatic transfer of the speech act of English compliments by Chinese who learn English as a foreign language and to estimate the correlation between the amount of negative pragmatic transfer and English proficiency of the Chinese learners. Frequencies of students' performance showed that both in the favored compliments and the response strategies, differences were evident between Chinese English learners and native English speakers. This indicated that Chinese learners had trouble with the "slang" or "idioms" of the target language and tended to transfer negatively their L1 pragmatic norms to their L2 communication. Moreover, the favored compliment response strategies used by two groups of Chinese learners--who had different levels of English proficiency--differed, and negative pragmatic transfer decreased as proficiency in English increased.

The effect of English language proficiency on length of stay and in-hospital mortality.

PubMed

John-Baptiste, Ava; Naglie, Gary; Tomlinson, George; Alibhai, Shabbir M H; Etchells, Edward; Cheung, Angela; Kapral, Moira; Gold, Wayne L; Abrams, Howard; Bacchus, Maria; Krahn, Murray

2004-03-01

In ambulatory care settings, patients with limited English proficiency receive lower quality of care. Limited information is available describing outcomes for inpatients. To investigate the effect of English proficiency on length of stay (LOS) and in-hospital mortality. Retrospective analysis of administrative data at 3 tertiary care teaching hospitals (University Health Network) in Toronto, Canada. Consecutive inpatient admissions from April 1993 to December 1999 were analyzed for LOS differences first by looking at 23 medical and surgical conditions (59,547 records) and then by a meta-analysis of 220 case mix groups (189,119 records). We performed a similar analysis for in-hospital mortality. LOS and odds of in-hospital death for limited English-proficient (LEP) patients relative to English-proficient (EP) patients. LEP patients stayed in hospital longer for 7 of 23 conditions (unstable coronary syndromes and chest pain, coronary artery bypass grafting, stroke, craniotomy procedures, diabetes mellitus, major intestinal and rectal procedures, and elective hip replacement), with LOS differences ranging from approximately 0.7 to 4.3 days. A meta-analysis using all admission data demonstrated that LEP patients stayed 6% (approximately 0.5 days) longer overall than EP patients (95% confidence interval, 0.04 to 0.07). LEP patients were not at increased risk of in-hospital death (relative odds, 1.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.9 to 1.1). Patients with limited English proficiency have longer hospital stays for some medical and surgical conditions. Limited English proficiency does not affect in-hospital mortality. The effect of communication barriers on outcomes of care in the inpatient setting requires further exploration, particularly for selected conditions in which length of stay is significantly prolonged.

Attitudes and Attained English Language Proficiency of University Students in Thailand: A Sociolinguistic Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Game On! Young Learners' Incidental Language Learning of English Prior to Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Wilde, Vanessa; Eyckmans, June

2017-01-01

In this paper the incidental language acquisition of 11-year-old Flemish children (n = 30) who have not received any formal English instruction is investigated. The study looks into children's English proficiency and the learner characteristics that can be associated with it. In order to measure the children's English proficiency, a receptive…

English Language Proficiency and Teacher Judgments of the Academic and Interpersonal Competence of English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freberg, Miranda E.

2014-01-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate how English language proficiency is related to teacher judgments of students' academic and interpersonal competence. It was hypothesized that English Language Learner (ELL) students would generally be perceived as having weaker academic and interpersonal skills than their non-ELL counterparts regardless…

Accommodations for English Language Learners with Disabilities in Federally-Mandated Statewide English Language Proficiency Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuti, Laura M.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this research study was to conduct exploratory research to examine federally-mandated annual English language proficiency (ELP) assessment of English language learners (ELLs) and their use of accommodations on the assessment. First the researcher provides a review of the literature regarding accommodations provided for ELLs,…

Reading Strategies Employed by University Business English Majors with Different Levels of Reading Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Learning English through Automotive Electronics (Project LETAE), Final Evaluation Report, 1992-93. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Making English Learner Reclassification to Fluent English Proficient Attainable or Elusive: When Meeting Criteria Is and Is "Not" Enough

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estrada, Peggy; Wang, Haiwen

2018-01-01

Employing longitudinal, multisite comparative mixed-methods, we describe patterns of reclassifying and not reclassifying eligible English learner (EL) students to fluent English proficient, and we identify factors impeding and facilitating reclassification. Analyses of administrative data for 7 cohorts of students over 3 years in one district and…

Predictive Validity of Curriculum-Based Measures for English Learners at Varying English Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

English Language Proficiency and Early School Attainment among Children Learning English as an Additional Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whiteside, Katie E.; Gooch, Debbie; Norbury, Courtenay F.

2017-01-01

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…

More than Use it or Lose it: The Number of Speakers Effect on Heritage Language Proficiency

PubMed Central

Gollan, Tamar H.; Starr, Jennie; Ferreira, Victor S.

2014-01-01

Acquiring a Heritage Language (HL), a minority language spoken primarily at home, is often a major step toward achieving bilingualism. Two studies examined factors that promote HL proficiency. Chinese-English and Spanish-English undergraduates and Hebrew-English children named pictures in both their languages, and they or their parents completed language history questionnaires. HL picture-naming ability correlated positively with the number of different HL speakers participants spoke to as children, independent of each language’s frequency of use, and without negatively affecting English picture naming ability. HL performance increased also when primary caregivers had lower English proficiency, with later English age-of-acquisition, and (in children) with increased age. These results suggest a prescription for increasing bilingual proficiency is regular interaction with multiple HL speakers. Responsible cognitive mechanisms could include greater variety of words used by different speakers, representational robustness from exposure to variations in form, or multiple retrieval cues, perhaps analogous to contextual diversity effects. PMID:24942146

A Comprehensive Inventory of Language Development Documentation Data in the Ontario-Montclair School District.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Douglas E.; Karam, Rita

The report describes a project to document the content, nature, and effectiveness of services to limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in the Ontario-Montclair School District (California), which has a high concentration of LEP students and a variety of English language development (ELD) programs. The district developed a comprehensive…

The Benefits of the Use of Children's Literature in English Language and Global Citizenship Education in Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takenaga, Yuji

2012-01-01

This study discusses how children's literature can play an important role in achieving two goals: developing Japanese students' English proficiency levels and cultivating them to be global citizens. English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Japan should be provided with more opportunities to engage with the English language outside the…

A Language Support Program for English-Medium Instruction Courses: Its Development and Evaluation in an EFL Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Ji-Yeon; Kim, Wooyeon; Lee, Heewon

2017-01-01

Many English as a foreign language universities have increased the number of English-medium instruction (EMI) courses regardless of their students' preparedness for them. As a result, previous studies have reflected the necessity of additional language assistance to students who have to take EMI courses with limited English proficiency. Drawing…

A Changing Paradigm in Language Planning: English-Medium Instruction Policy at the Tertiary Level in Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Measurement of Change in English Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nallaya, Sasikala

2012-01-01

This study investigated the measurement of change in English language proficiency levels of pre-service and in-service teachers enrolled in a public university in Malaysia. Path analysis was used to measure change on three occasions by examining the effects of student characteristics, learning needs and multimodal technology on proficiency levels.…

Student Engagement in Long-Term Collaborative EFL Storytelling Activities: An Analysis of Learners with English Proficiency Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Anxiety in Chinese EFL Students at Different Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Meihua

2006-01-01

This paper reports a study on anxiety in Chinese undergraduate non-English majors at three different proficiency levels. By way of survey, observations, reflective journals and interviews, the study revealed that (1) a considerable number of students at each level felt anxious when speaking English in class, (2) the more proficient students tended…

Developing the Assessment Literacy of University Proficiency Test Users

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Loughlin, Kieran

2013-01-01

The rapidly increasing use of English language proficiency test scores by universities around the world to select international students has resulted in a range of admissions, marketing, academic and teaching support staff interacting with the tests in different ways. To date, there has been little research investigating the assessment literacy…

Temporal features of word-initial /s/+stop clusters in bilingual Mandarin-English children and monolingual English children and adults.

PubMed

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.

Can Integrated Skills Tasks Change Students' Learning Strategies and Materials?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Wei

2017-01-01

The use of integrated skills tasks in language tests has been debated for many years and international English test developers such as Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Pearson Tests of English (PTE) already use such tests to assess English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' language proficiency. Empirical research has rarely investigated…

Vocational English as a Second Language: A Partnership with Industry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilde, Cindy

This monograph offers a process model developed by the Fremont Union High School District (California) for the implementation of Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) at industry sites for minority employees who have limited English proficiency and are unable to continue classes in a traditional manner. The following areas are covered:…

Improving Techniques in Teaching English for the Job.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macdonald, Ross; And Others

Using a non-technical presentation, this guide shows how computer analysis of job-relevant text materials can be used in developing language instruction for limited-English-proficient students. The chapters deal with the following issues: (1) how English language skills that are needed for success on the job can be taught more efficiently and…

Improving Science and Vocabulary Learning of English Language Learners. CREATE Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

August, Diane; Artzi, Lauren; Mazrum, Julie

2010-01-01

This brief reviews previous research related to the development of science knowledge and academic language in English language learners as well as the role of English language proficiency, learning in a second language, and first language knowledge in science learning. It also describes two successful CREATE interventions that build academic and…

Family Literacy: A Critical Inquiry-Based Approach to English Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

VESL Resources. A Guide to Instructional Materials for Vocational English as a Second Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Los Angeles Community Coll. District, CA. Office of Occupational and Technical Education.

The bibliography is designed for learning center instructors at the Los Angeles Community College District who are involved in vocational education for limited-English-proficient (LEP) adults. The bibliography emphasizes vocational English-as-a-Second-Language (VESL) materials that develop occupation-related language skills. In addition to VESL…

Library Programs. Library Services for Individuals with Limited English Proficiency. Fiscal Year 1987.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neff, Evaline B.

Libraries have played an important role in developing and operating programs which enhance English-language skills and ease assimilation into U.S. society. This report presents descriptions of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) grants which funded library programs and projects benefitting individuals with limited English-speaking…

Proficiency Differences in Syntactic Processing of Monolingual Native Speakers Indexed by Event-related Potentials

PubMed Central

Pakulak, Eric; Neville, Helen J.

2010-01-01

While anecdotally there appear to be differences in the way native speakers use and comprehend their native language, most empirical investigations of language processing study university students and none have studied differences in language proficiency which may be independent of resource limitations such as working memory span. We examined differences in language proficiency in adult monolingual native speakers of English using an event-related potential (ERP) paradigm. ERPs were recorded to insertion phrase structure violations in naturally spoken English sentences. Participants recruited from a wide spectrum of society were given standardized measures of English language proficiency, and two complementary ERP analyses were performed. In between-groups analyses, participants were divided, based on standardized proficiency scores, into Lower Proficiency (LP) and Higher Proficiency (HP) groups. Compared to LP participants, HP participants showed an early anterior negativity that was more focal, both spatially and temporally, and a larger and more widely distributed positivity (P600) to violations. In correlational analyses, we utilized a wide spectrum of proficiency scores to examine the degree to which individual proficiency scores correlated with individual neural responses to syntactic violations in regions and time windows identified in the between-group analyses. This approach also employed partial correlation analyses to control for possible confounding variables. These analyses provided evidence for the effects of proficiency that converged with the between-groups analyses. These results suggest that adult monolingual native speakers of English who vary in language proficiency differ in the recruitment of syntactic processes that are hypothesized to be at least in part automatic as well as of those thought to be more controlled. These results also suggest that in order to fully characterize neural organization for language in native speakers it is necessary to include participants of varying proficiency. PMID:19925188

Temporal Features of Word-Initial /s/+Stop Clusters in Bilingual Mandarin-English Children and Monolingual English Children and Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Jing

2018-01-01

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…

Early Development of Emerging and English-Proficient Bilingual Children at School Entry in an Australian Population Cohort

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldfeld, Sharon; O'Connor, Meredith; Mithen, Johanna; Sayers, Mary; Brinkman, Sally

2014-01-01

Children who enter school with limited proficiency in the language of instruction face a range of challenges in negotiating this new context, yet limited data have been available to describe the early developmental outcomes of this subpopulation in the Australian context. The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is a teacher-rated checklist…

The Gap That Can't Go Away: The Catch-22 of Reclassification in Monitoring the Progress of English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, William M.; Marcelletti, David J.

2013-01-01

When English Learners (ELs) demonstrate English language proficiency, they are reclassified as Fluent English Proficient (RFEP). Subsequently they are often left out of the analysis of EL progress because they are, technically, no longer ELs. This article examines the effects of including and excluding RFEPs from the analysis of EL progress. Based…

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Reasons Underlying Arab Student-Teachers' Inadequate English Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Issa, Ali S. M.; Al-Bulushi, Ali Hussain; Al-Zadjali, Rima Mansoor

2017-01-01

Despite the emphasis laid on demonstrating English language proficiency by Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (NNESTs), research has shown that for various reasons English language teachers graduating from a state-owned university in an Arab country for the past 25 years or so have been found lacking communication skills due to reasons pertinent…

English Proficiency and Attitude Formation in a Merged Corporation with a Swedish-English Profile

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mobarg, Mats

2012-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between proficiency in English and language-related attitudes among Swedish professionals at the English-speaking AstraZeneca R&D site in Molndal, Sweden. AstraZeneca is the result of a merger between a Swedish and a British pharmaceutical company, and the aim of the study is to see to what extent their…

Teachers' Sense of Self-Efficacy, English Proficiency, and Instructional Strategies: A Study of Nonnative EFL Teachers in Iran

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eslami, Zohreh R.; Fatahi, Azizullah

2008-01-01

This study examined the efficacy beliefs of nonnative English speaking (NNES) Iranian EFL teachers. EFL teachers' perceptions of their teaching efficacy in terms of personal capabilities to teach English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and their perceived English language proficiency level were examined. A modified version of the Teacher Sense of…

The Anxiety-Proficiency Relationship and the Stability of Anxiety: The Case of Chinese University Learners of English and Japanese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Evaluation of Bilingual Secondary Education in the Netherlands: Students' Language Proficiency in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Admiraal, Wilfried; Westhoff, Gerard; de Bot, Kees

2006-01-01

In this longitudinal study, we examined the effects of the use of English as the language of instruction in the first 4 years of secondary education in The Netherlands on the students' language proficiency in English and Dutch, and achievement in subject matters taught through English. Compared to a control group in regular secondary education,…

Next-Generation Summative English Language Proficiency Assessments for English Learners: Priorities for Policy and Research. Research Report. ETS RR-16-08

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Correlates of Academic Performance for English Language Learner Students in a New England District. REL 2014-020

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Caroline E.; O'Dwyer, Laura M.; Irwin, Clare W.

2014-01-01

This study examined student and program characteristics that are related to English proficiency and content area achievement for English language learner (ELL) students in one urban district in Connecticut. The study found that ELL students in special education had English proficiency scores significantly lower than the mean for all ELL students…

34 CFR 427.3 - What activities may the Secretary fund?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... contracts for— (1) Bilingual vocational training projects for limited English proficient out-of-school youth... training projects for limited English proficient out-of-school youth and adults who have already entered the labor market but who desire or need English language skills and job skills training or retraining...

Cultutal Factors Affecting English Proficiency in Rural Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Honing Language Skills Using Blogs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhavana, A. R.

2009-01-01

Proficiency in English is a prerequisite for students to bag a place in the on/off campus interviews. Irrespective of the profession, vocation and background the students have to hone their LSRW skills in English. Selection procedures like group discussion and video conferencing are hurdles to students who lack language proficiency in English. All…

A Resource Book for Building English Proficiency.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guillen, Leonor; And Others

This resource book is a collection of articles, annotated references, and resource lists to supplement the accompanying handbook and trainer's guide for educators planning or working with English language programs for limited English proficient (LEP) students. The first part presents resources of interest to administrators adapting programs for a…

Teaching Mathematical Problem Solving to Students with Limited English Proficiency.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Examining the Relationship between Math Scores and English Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henry, Denfield L.

2013-01-01

English language learners (ELLs) at a south Florida elementary school have consistently struggled with the mathematics segment of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Examining the relationship between ELLs' mathematics scores and English proficiency might provide local educators with ideas for reversing a downward trend in ELLs' mathematics…

Rater Judgment and English Language Speaking Proficiency. Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2006

2006-01-01

This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report examines the effect of "Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs" used in combination. The goal of "Instructional Conversations" is to help English language learners develop reading comprehension ability along with English language proficiency. "Instructional…

The 15-item version of the Boston Naming Test as an index of English proficiency.

PubMed

Erdodi, Laszlo A; Jongsma, Katherine A; Issa, Meriam

2017-01-01

The present study was designed to examine the potential of the Boston Naming Test - Short Form (BNT-15) to provide an objective estimate of English proficiency. A secondary goal was to examine the effect of limited English proficiency (LEP) on neuropsychological test performance. A brief battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 79 bilingual participants (40.5% male, M Age  = 26.9, M Education  = 14.2). The majority (n = 56) were English dominant (EN), and the rest were Arabic dominant (AR). The BNT-15 was further reduced to 10 items that best discriminated between EN and AR (BNT-10). Participants were divided into low, intermediate, and high English proficiency subsamples based on BNT-10 scores (≤6, 7-8, and ≥9). Performance across groups was compared on neuropsychological tests with high and low verbal mediation. The BNT-15 and BNT-10 respectively correctly identified 89 and 90% of EN and AR participants. Level of English proficiency had a large effect (partial η 2  = .12-.34; Cohen's d = .67-1.59) on tests with high verbal mediation (animal fluency, sentence comprehension, word reading), but no effect on tests with low verbal mediation (auditory consonant trigrams, clock drawing, digit-symbol substitution). The BNT-15 and BNT-10 can function as indices of English proficiency and predict the deleterious effect of LEP on neuropsychological tests with high verbal mediation. Interpreting low scores on such measures as evidence of impairment in examinees with LEP would likely overestimate deficits.

Does Language Proficiency Modulate Oculomotor Control? Evidence from Hindi-English Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Niharika; Mishra, Ramesh Kumar

2012-01-01

Though many previous studies have reported enhanced cognitive control in bilinguals, few have investigated if such control is modulated by language proficiency. Here, we examined the inhibitory control of high and low proficient Hindi-English bilinguals on an oculomotor Stroop task. Subjects were asked to make a saccade as fast as possible towards…

Public Education: Meeting the Needs of Students with Limited English Proficiency. Report to Congressional Requesters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaul, Marnie S.

This report examines: how long children with limited English proficiency need to become proficient, what approaches are used to teach them, and what requirements the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) expects school districts to meet. Researchers reviewed available studies; talked to experts; reviewed Department of Education survey data; contacted 12…

The Effects of Language Environment and Oral Language Ability on Phonological Production Proficiency in Bilingual Spanish-English Speaking Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scarpino, Shelley E.

2011-01-01

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine if phonological production proficiency in bilingual Spanish-English preschoolers could be predicted by their language environment, language ability, and phonological production proficiency in their other language. Method: Participants were 199 Latino children and their families. Children ranged in age…

The Unified Language Testing Plan: Speaking Proficiency Test. Spanish and English Pilot Validation Studies. Report Number 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Defining English Language Proficiency for Malaysian Tertiary Education: Past, Present and Future Efforts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heng, Chan Swee

2012-01-01

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…

Understanding the Relationship between Language Proficiency, Language Impairment and Rehabilitation: Evidence from a Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

A Quantitative Causal-Comparative Nonexperimental Research Study of English Language Learner and Non-English Language Learner Students' Oral Reading Fluency Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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.…

Early Oral Language and Later Reading Development in Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners: Evidence from a Nine-Year Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Impact of an Instructional Intervention on the Science and Language Learning of Middle Grade English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

August, Diane; Branum-Martin, Lee; Cardenas-Hagan, Elsa; Francis, David J.

2009-01-01

The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an intervention--Quality English and Science Teaching (QuEST)--designed to develop the science knowledge and academic language of middle grades English language learners studying science in their second language and their English-proficient classmates. Ten sixth-grade science teachers in 5…

The Effects of Phonological Awareness of Zulu-Speaking Children Learning to Spell in English: A Study of Cross-Language Transfer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

English language proficiency and academic performance: A study of a medical preparatory year program in Saudi Arabia

PubMed Central

Kaliyadan, Feroze; Thalamkandathil, Nazer; Parupalli, Srinivas Rao; Amin, Tarek Tawfik; Balaha, Magdy Hassan; Al Bu Ali, Waleed Hamad

2015-01-01

Introduction: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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 <0.001) and the oral exam (P = −0.003) parts respectively of the medical examination. Significant correlation with the English exam score was not obtained for the other components of the medical assessment, namely; student assignments, presentations and portfolios. Conclusion: English language proficiency is an important factor in determining academic proficiency of medical students in our college at the preparatory year level. PMID:26629471

English language proficiency and academic performance: A study of a medical preparatory year program in Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

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 <0.001) and the oral exam (P = -0.003) parts respectively of the medical examination. Significant correlation with the 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.

34 CFR 428.22 - What additional factors does the Secretary consider?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... limited English proficiency within the affected State. (b) The Secretary may select other applications for... individuals with limited English proficiency within the affected State; or (2) Geographical distribution of...

Immigrant Arab Americans and alcohol use: longitudinal study.

PubMed

Arfken, Cynthia L; Broadbridge, Carissa L; Jamil, Hikmet; Arnetz, Bengt B

2014-12-01

English proficiency is associated with alcohol use in some immigrants groups, but little is known about its association among Arab Americans. Ethnographic work suggests gender, religion, education, and age influence prevalence of alcohol use among Arab Americans. Two years prospective study of recent Iraqi refugees and non-Iraqi Arab immigrants in Michigan using bilingual surveys and interviewers. At Time 1, prevalence of lifetime alcohol use was 20.5 % with males, Christians, better educated, older, and those with greater proficiency in English more likely to report ever drank. At Time 2, lifetime prevalence of drinking had increased to 34.0 %. In analysis of male new drinkers, risk factors were Christian, older age and greater proficiency in English. This study confirms drinking among recent immigrant Arab Americans varies by subgroups and suggests English proficiency may contribute to the increase in prevalence over time.

Program Evaluation of the English Language Proficiency Program for Foreign Students a Case Study: University of the East, Manila Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salimi, Esmaeel Ali; Farsi, Mitra

2016-01-01

This study on evaluating an English program of studies for foreign students seeking admission to the UE Graduate School attempts to examine the prevailing conditions of foreign students in the UE Graduate School with respect to their competence and competitiveness in English proficiency. It looks into the existing English programs of studies in…

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Title III: Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students. 107th Congress, 1st Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, Washington, DC.

This report describes the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Title III: Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students. Part A describes the English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act. Its four subparts include the following: (1) grants and subgrants for English language acquisition…

Assessment of Academic Literacy Skills: Preparing Minority and LEP (Limited English Proficient) Students for Postsecondary Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuehn, Phyllis

Addressing the problem of the language-related barriers to successful postsecondary education for underprepared college students, an assessment of academic language proficiency and a curriculum to help students improve their academic language skills were developed. The nature of the language tasks required in the undergraduate curriculum was…

Evaluation of English Language Development Programs in the Santa Ana Unified School District. A Report on Data System Reliability and Statistical Modeling of Program Impacts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Douglas E.; Destino, Tom; Karam, Rita

In response to concern about the effectiveness of programs for English-as-a-Second-Language students in California's schools, the Santa Ana Unified School District, in which over 80 percent of students are limited-English-proficient (LEP) conducted a study of both the operations and effectiveness of the district's language development program,…

Cross-District Collaboration: Curriculum and Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Short, Deborah J.; Cloud, Nancy; Morris, Patricia; Motta, Julie

2012-01-01

Secondary English as a second language (ESL) curricula that address four levels of ESL proficiency and prepare students for the English language arts (ELA) curricula and state-mandated ELA tests are not common. A curriculum jointly developed by two districts is even rarer. Yet two urban districts in Rhode Island undertook such a curriculum…

Applying an SIOP-Based Instructional Framework for Professional Development in Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Kim Hyunsook

2016-01-01

Nonnative English speaking teachers' oral proficiency and instructional strategies are the significant factors to become effective language teachers where English is not used as a daily communication medium. The study focuses on improvement of EFL teachers' instructional strategies. The main goal of the study is to develop an EFL instructional…

Developing and Integrating Courseware for Oral Presentations into ESP Learning Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Shu-Chiao

2010-01-01

This study reports on the development of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) multimedia courseware on oral presentations, and its integration into self-study learning and elective courses for students with different English proficiencies, as one solution to problems in ESP courses in Taiwan. The courseware design is based on Mayer's multimedia…

Language Development Support Systems: Project L.D.S.S. 1988-89. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Velasquez, Clara

Language Development Support Systems (Project LDSS) offered 215 limited English proficient (LEP) students at two New York City elementary schools the opportunity to improve their English skills through special language learning centers. These language learning centers were established at both schools and provided students with instruction in…

A Basic Engineering English Word List for Less Proficient Foundation Engineering Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Jeremy

2009-01-01

This paper concerns the teaching of English to learners who are studying, or will soon study, engineering and who are expected to do at least part of their studying through textbooks written in English. Such students, especially in universities in developing countries, often find themselves very poorly equipped by their secondary education for…

Korea's "Model Minority": A Case Study of an American-Korean Bilingual Student's Challenges Learning English in South Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

How Deaf American Sign Language/English Bilingual Children Become Proficient Readers: An Emic Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Storyboards and Reading Comprehension of Literary Fiction in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Learner Autonomy as an Element in Chinese Education Reform: A Case of English Language Subject

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Connecting English Language Learning and Academic Performance: A Prediction Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kong, Jadie; Powers, Sonya; Starr, Laura; Williams, Natasha

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of English language proficiency and academic reading assessment scores to predict the future academic success of English learner (EL) students. Data from two cohorts of middle-school ELs were used to evaluate three prediction models. One cohort of students was used to develop the prediction…

Hispanic Orientation to Life in America. Project HOLA, 1987-88. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Mohagdam, Val

In its fifth year, the Hispanic Orientation to Life in America Project (Project HOLA) served 472 Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency. The aim of the program was to help students develop English language skills, enter mainstream classes, and understand Spanish and American culture. The program provided instruction in English as…

Linguistic and Cultural Issues in Developing Disciplinary Literacy for Adolescent English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Schonewise, Estella Almanza; Klingner, Janette K.

2012-01-01

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the student population. An understanding of the diversity these students bring to contexts of disciplinary learning is critical to determining how best to teach them. At the secondary level, ELLs are required to learn content and build English language proficiency simultaneously.…

Park West High School Vocational and High School Equivalency Bilingual Program 1985-86. OEA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Office of Educational Evaluation.

The Vocational and High School Equivalency Bilingual Program helped students with limited English proficiency develop their English language skills enough to enable them to participate effectively in mainstream classes and compete successfully in the United States labor market. During 1985-86 the program provided English as a second language and…

Re-Conceptualizing EFL Professional Development: Enhancing Communicative Language Pedagogy for Thai Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Lottie L.

2016-01-01

The spread of globalization means an accompanying growth in the importance of English as a lingua franca. Efforts to increase English proficiency are especially pronounced in Southeast Asia with the opening of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. A common strategy to enhance English learning in Asian countries is to begin instruction at the…

Facilitating the Interpretation of English Language Proficiency Scores: Combining Scale Anchoring and Test Score Mapping Methodologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

"Glue": A Technique for Eliminating Fragments and Run-Ons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Helaine W.; DeCapua, Andrea

2010-01-01

Many students who are nonnative speakers of English, yet highly proficient, are placed into basic writing or English as a Second Language courses when they enter college. While these students may have advanced oral English proficiency, their writing frequently suffers from a lack of training in academic writing and commonly contains fragments and…

Two-Way Immersion Students' Home Languages, Proficiency Levels, and Responses to Form-Focused Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tedick, Diane J.; Young, Amy I.

2018-01-01

Two-way immersion (TWI) programs in the U.S. integrate learners with different home languages and varied proficiencies in Spanish and English. Although both English home language (EHL) and Spanish home language (SHL) TWI students succeed academically in English, they often experience incomplete acquisition (Montrul 2011. "Morphological Errors…

76 FR 34743 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Emergency Comment Request; Notice...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-14

...) for Fiscal Year 2010 Limited English Proficiency Initiative (LEPI) Program; Notice of Proposed... English proficient (LEP) communities have access to information in their native languages on HUD programs.... LEP individuals are persons who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited...

The Correlation between Learner Autonomy and English Proficiency of Indonesian EFL College Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capps, Randy; Fix, Michael; McHugh, Margie; Lin, Serena Yi-Ying

2009-01-01

This new report by Migration Policy Institute's (MPI's) National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy examines the funding formula used to distribute Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II federal funds for adult education, literacy, and English as a Second Language instruction. Though all adults with limited English proficiency (LEP) are…

English Proficiency and Competency Background of Social Science and Humanities Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pelayo, Jose Maria G., III; Kutschera, P. C.; Capili, Claire Ann P.

2014-01-01

The study focuses on the background of Social Science and Humanities students (specifically in the course General Psychology) on their English education and competence. This research aims to identify the common factors of these students in terms of their English Proficiency. The students will answer survey questions that will give us information…

The Effect of Exposure on Syntactic Parsing in Spanish-English Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dussias, Paola E.; Sagarra, Nuria

2007-01-01

An eye tracking experiment examined how exposure to a second language (L2) influences sentence parsing in the first language. Forty-four monolingual Spanish speakers, 24 proficient Spanish-English bilinguals with limited immersion experience in the L2 environment and 20 proficient Spanish-English bilinguals with extensive L2 immersion experience…

Limited english proficiency accessibility program : demonstration program.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-03-01

In 2006, the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) secured grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration : (FTA) that enabled the agency to launch a creative and ambitious Limited English Proficiency (LEP) demonst...

Academic Achievement of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in an ASL/English Bilingual Program

PubMed Central

Wilbur, Ronnie B.

2016-01-01

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. PMID:26864688

IMMIGRANT ARAB AMERICANS AND ALCOHOL USE: LONGITUDINAL STUDY

PubMed Central

Arfken, Cynthia L.; Broadbridge, Carissa L.; Jamil, Hikmet; Arnetz, Bengt B.

2014-01-01

INTRODUCTION English proficiency is associated with alcohol use in some immigrants groups, but little is known about its association among Arab Americans. Ethnographic work suggests gender, religion, education, and age influence prevalence of alcohol use among Arab Americans. METHODS Two year prospective study of recent Iraqi refugees and non-Iraqi Arab immigrants in Michigan using bilingual surveys and interviewers. RESULTS At Time 1, prevalence of lifetime alcohol use was 20.5% with males, Christians, better educated, older, and those with greater proficiency in English more likely to report ever drank. At Time 2, lifetime prevalence of drinking had increased to 34.0%. In analysis of male new drinkers, risk factors were Christian, older age and greater proficiency in English. DISCUSSION This study confirms drinking among recent immigrant Arab Americans varies by subgroups and suggests English proficiency may contribute to the increase in prevalence over time. PMID:24322655

Modeling the language learning strategies and English language proficiency of pre-university students in UMS: A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

"Review of English Language Proficiency Tests," J. Alderson, K. Krahnke & C. Stanfield, Eds. Book Review.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Nancy; Ovando, Carlos, Ed.

1988-01-01

Reviews a volume of descriptive and evaluative information on 47 commercially available English language proficiency tests used in North America, Great Britain, and Australia. The book includes discussions of uses and misuses of tests, and overviews of English as second language testing in North America and Great Britain. (SV)

The Complex Relationship between Bilingual Home Language Input and Kindergarten Children's Spanish and English Oral Proficiencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Language Assessment Scales, Level 2, LAS II, for Grades 6 and Up, English/Spanish. Examiner's Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duncan, Sharon E.; De Avila, Edward A.

Language Assessment Scales, Level 2 (LAS II) are used to assess the linguistic proficiency of limited-English-speaking or non-English-speaking adolescents. LAS II, like its predecessor, LAS I, provides a picture of oral linguistic proficiency based on a student's performance across four linguistic subsystems: phonemic, lexical, syntactic and…

Validating a Standards-Based Classroom Assessment of English Proficiency: A Multitrait-Multimethod Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Llosa, Lorena

2007-01-01

The use of standards-based classroom assessments to test English learners' language proficiency is increasingly prevalent in the United States and many other countries. In a large urban school district in California, for example, a classroom assessment is used to make high-stakes decisions about English learners' progress from one level to the…

Project L'Ouverture, 1982-1983. O.E.E. Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clesca, Monique; Schulman, Robert

This multisite project, in its third and final year of funding, served approximately 350 recently immigrated Haitian students of limited English proficiency at three New York City high schools in Brooklyn and Queens. The students varied in their proficiency in Creole, French, and English. The major program goal was to expedite English and native…

Dear Colleague Letter: English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Justice, 2015

2015-01-01

Forty years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States determined that in order for public schools to comply with their legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), they must take affirmative steps to ensure that students with limited English proficiency (LEP) can meaningfully participate in their educational…

Recurrent Word Combinations in EAP Test-Taker Writing: Differences between High- and Low-Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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.…

Investigation into Korean EFL Learners' Acquisition of English /s/ + Consonant Onset Clusters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Jungyoun

2016-01-01

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-…

Assessing English Language Learners' Opportunity to Learn Mathematics: Issues and Limitations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abedi, Jamal; Herman, Joan

2010-01-01

Background/Context: English language learner (ELL) students are lagging behind because of the extra challenges they face relative to their peers in acquiring academic English language proficiency, and the added burden of learning content in a language in which they are not proficient. The mandated inclusion of ELL students in the nation's…

Conceptualizing Accessibility for English Language Proficiency Assessments. Research Report. ETS RR-16-07

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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,…

The Relationship between English Language Proficiency, Academic Achievement and Self-Esteem of Non-Native-English-Speaking Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Teaching and Learning Science with Understanding to Limited English Proficient Students: Excellence through Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutman, Francis X.; Guzman, Ana

This paper, which considers effective science teaching and learning for limited English proficient (LEP) students in U.S. schools, is based on the assumption that science and English language can be effectively learned together without excessive emphasis on students' native language, although teachers and aides who have knowledge of LEP students'…

Age, Marital Status and Time in U.S. as Correlates to English Language Proficiency of Male Arab University Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Addou, Ibrahim Hassan; Hodinko, Bernard A.

A study examined the difficulties that 400 male Arab students, attending five universities in the District of Columbia, experienced with academic English while seeking college degrees. A survey investigated problems with nine aspects of English language proficiency: (1) expressing ideas correctly, (2) understanding lectures, (3) taking class…

Accommodations for English Language Learners Taking Large-Scale Assessments: A Meta-Analysis on Effectiveness and Validity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kieffer, Michael J.; Lesaux, Nonie K.; Rivera, Mabel; Francis, David J.

2009-01-01

Including English language learners (ELLs) in large-scale assessments raises questions about the validity of inferences based on their scores. Test accommodations for ELLs are intended to reduce the impact of limited English proficiency on the assessment of the target construct, most often mathematic or science proficiency. This meta-analysis…

Ethnic and language disparities in diabetes care among California residents.

PubMed

Choi, Sarah; Lee, Jung-Ah; Rush, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

We examined ethnic and language disparities in diabetes care and management among California residents with type 2 diabetes based on ethnicity and English-language proficiency. Data were drawn from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey with a total of 3,531 Asian, Latino, and Caucasian adults with diabetes. Latino and Asian groups were subdivided by their limited English proficiency (LEP) level. Population-weighted regression analyses were conducted to examine group differences, controlling for socioeconomic and clinical variables. Latino English Proficient (EP) and Latino LEP respondents received fewer hemoglobin A1c checks (EP: b = -0.11, P < .05; LEP: b = -0.27, P < .01) than Caucasians. Latino and Asian LEP respondents checked their glucose less frequently than Caucasians (Latino LEP: b = -0.49, P < .05; Asian LEP: b = -0.79, P < .01). Asian LEP respondents were less likely to receive feet checks than Caucasians (Asian LEP: b = -.52, P < .001). Asian LEP respondents received significantly fewer feet checks than Asian EP respondents (P < .05). Ethnic disparities in disease management exist among California residents. However, beyond ethnicity, English proficiency should be taken into account when examining diabetes management among minority groups. Diabetic Californians who belong to ethnic minorities and speak limited English, particularly Asians, are less likely to receive the standard of care for diabetes than English proficient Caucasians. From a policy perspective, care should be taken to ensure that adequate information about diabetes management is available in multiple languages for patients with limited English skills.

Recommending a minimum English proficiency standard for entry-level nursing.

PubMed

O'Neill, Thomas R; Marks, Casey; Wendt, Anne

2005-01-01

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 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.

Chinese Learners of English See Chinese Words When Reading English Words.

PubMed

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.

The impact of simulation-based learning on students' English for Nursing Purposes (ENP) reading proficiency: a quasi-experimental study.

PubMed

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 (p<.001), and comprehension (p<.001) compared to the control group. Also, the intervention students showed more improvement in their English reading, both from quantitative and qualitative findings. Simulation-based learning may have some advantages in improving the English reading ability on English written nursing journals among nursing students. However, the benefits to the students of this study is still to be determined, and further exploration is needed with well designed research and a universal method of outcome measurement. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relationship between spoken English proficiency and participation in higher education, employment and income from two Australian censuses.

PubMed

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.

How Well Do U.S. High School Students Achieve in Spanish When Compared to Native Spanish Speakers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sparks, Richard L.; Luebbers, Julie; Castañeda, Martha E.

2017-01-01

Foreign language educators have developed measures to assess the proficiency of U.S. high school learners. Most have compared language learners to clearly defined criteria for proficiency in the language (criterion-referenced assessment) or to the performance of other monolingual English speakers (norm-referenced assessment). In this study, the…

Roles of Position, Stress, and Proficiency in L2 Children's Spelling: A Developmental Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Effect of a Performing Arts Program on the Oral Language Skills of Young English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenfader, Christa Mulker; Brouillette, Liane; Farkas, George

2015-01-01

Although English oral language proficiency in the primary grades is critical to the literacy development of English learners (ELs), we know little about how to foster these skills. This study examined a yearlong K-2 drama and creative movement intervention. A randomized experimental design (N = 5,240) was used to address two research questions:…

Enhancing the Interpretability of the Overall Results of an International Test of English-Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papageorgiou, Spiros; Morgan, Rick; Becker, Valerie

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to enhance the meaning of the scores of an English-language test by developing performance levels and descriptors for reporting overall test performance. The levels and descriptors were intended to accompany the total scale scores of TOEFL Junior® Standard, an international test of English as a second/foreign…

Effects of L1 Definitions and Cognate Status of Test Items on the Vocabulary Size Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elgort, Irina

2013-01-01

This study examines the development and evaluation of a bilingual Vocabulary Size Test (VST, Nation, 2006). A bilingual (English-Russian) test was developed and administered to 121 intermediate proficiency EFL learners (native speakers of Russian), alongside the original monolingual (English-only) version of the test. A comparison of the bilingual…

Effect of Developing Pragmatic Competence through Telecollaboration on Improving English as Foreign Language Learners' Writing Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rafieyan, Vahid; Rafieyan, Ali; Rafieyan, Navid; Rafieyan, Saeid; Rafieyan, Parvaneh; Rafieyan, Mohamad

2015-01-01

The very information structure of written communication depends not just on the writer's meaning and purpose but rather on the extent to which writer and reader share knowledge of pragmatic features of the language. To assess the actual effect of developing target language pragmatic competence through telecollaboration on improving English as…

Opportunities and Outcomes: The Role of Peers in Developing the Oral Academic English Proficiency of Adolescent English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carhill-Poza, Avary

2015-01-01

Although researchers often acknowledge the importance of linguistically rich interactions in the academic language development of emergent bilingual students, few studies have explicitly examined the role of linguistic peer support and the underlying structure of social relationships in the second language learning experiences and outcomes of…

The New York City Staff Development Program in Mathematics for High School Teachers and Supervisors, 1987-1988.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Friedman, Grace Ibanez

The state-funded New York City Staff Development Program in Mathematics was a five-workshop series serving bilingual/English-as-a-Second-Language teachers teaching mathematics, and mathematics teachers unfamiliar with the special needs of limited-English-proficient (LEP) high school students. Supervisors were also invited to participate. Workshop…

William H. Taft High School Project HOLA, 1986-1987. OEA Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez, Ana L.; And Others

In its fourth year of Title VII funding, Project HOLA at William H. Taft High School served 383 Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency from low-income families. The program's goals were to develop English language skills for mainstreaming, to develop an understanding and awareness of American culture and society, to develop…

Mele-Maat Revisited.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, James C.

1984-01-01

This study evaluates the quality of the teaching in an English immersion program on a South Pacific island. Naturalistic versus rationalistic language acquisition is discussed. The language proficiency of nonnative English speaking teachers is tested and related to the children's language proficiency. (MT)

The measure matters: Language dominance profiles across measures in Spanish–English bilingual children*

PubMed Central

BEDORE, LISA M.; PEÑA, ELIZABETH D.; SUMMERS, CONNIE L.; BOERGER, KARIN M.; RESENDIZ, MARIA D.; GREENE, KAI; BOHMAN, THOMAS M.; GILLAM, RONALD B.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if different language measures resulted in the same classifications of language dominance and proficiency for a group of bilingual pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners. Data were analyzed for 1029 Spanish–English bilingual pre-kindergarteners who spanned the full range of bilingual language proficiency. Parent questionnaires were used to quantify age of first exposure and current language use. Scores from a short test of semantic and morphosyntactic development in Spanish and English were used to quantify children’s performance. Some children who were in the functionally monolingual range based on interview data demonstrated minimal knowledge of their other languages when tested. Current use accounted for more of the variance in language dominance than did age of first exposure. Results indicate that at different levels of language exposure children differed in their performance on semantic and morphosyntax tasks. These patterns suggest that it may be difficult to compare the results of studies that employ different measures of language dominance and proficiency. Current use is likely to be a useful metric of bilingual development that can be used to build a comprehensive picture of child bilingualism. PMID:23565049

Socio-emotional skills, behavior problems, and Spanish competence predict the acquisition of English among English language learners in poverty.

PubMed

Winsler, Adam; Kim, Yoon Kyong; Richard, Erin R

2014-09-01

This article analyzes the role that individual differences in children's cognitive, Spanish competence, and socio-emotional and behavioral skills play in predicting the concurrent and longitudinal acquisition of English among a large sample of ethnically diverse, low-income, Hispanic preschool children. Participants assessed at age 4 for language, cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral skills were followed through kindergarten. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that Spanish-speaking preschoolers with greater initiative, self-control, and attachment and fewer behavior problems at age 4 were more successful in obtaining English proficiency by the end of kindergarten compared to those initially weaker in these skills, even after controlling for cognitive/language skills and demographic variables. Also, greater facility in Spanish at age 4 predicted the attainment of English proficiency. Social and behavioral skills and proficiency in Spanish are valuable resources for low-income English language learners during their transition to school.

Dynamic spatial organization of the occipito-temporal word form area for second language processing.

PubMed

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. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Software Assurance Curriculum Project Volume 4: Community College Education

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

no previous programming or computer science experience expected) • Precalculus -ready (that is, proficiency sufficient to enter college-level... precalculus course) • English Composition I-ready (that is, proficiency sufficient to enter college-level English I course) Co-Requisite Discrete

33 CFR 385.18 - Public outreach.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... communities and traditionally under served communities, persons with limited English proficiency, and socially... agreement or consensus on solutions to emerging issues. (b) General requirements. (1) The Corps of Engineers... individuals with limited English proficiency, and communities are provided opportunities to review and comment...

Personal and Academic Aspects That Contributed to the Development of the English Language Competence of Students from a Language Teacher Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herrera-Mosquera, Leonardo; Tovar-Perdomo, Alejandra

2017-01-01

Students from the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Program targeted in the present study are expected to achieve a C1 level of English proficiency according to the Common European Framework (CEF). However, only a five per cent of the students has evidenced this level on the institutional English exam (Ileusco Test, henceforth IT) for the past…

Attitudes of Jordanian University Students towards Using Online Chat Discourse with Native Speakers of English for Improving Their Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Instructional Practices That Promote Reading Proficiency for English Language Learners in Grades 3 and 5

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smiley-Blanton, Regina

2010-01-01

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that all public school students, including English language learners, achieve proficiency in reading, math, and science by 2014 as measured on state assessments. English language learners enrolled in public schools for the first time receive a 1-year deferment from these state assessments in subjects…

Guidance Oriented Acquisition of Learning Skills (Project GOALS). Final Evaluation Report, 1992-93. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Musante, Patricia

Guidance Oriented Acquisition of Learning Skills (Project GOALS) was a federally-funded project in three Brooklyn (New York) high schools in its fourth year of operation in 1992-93. It served 312 limited-English-proficient and 57 English-proficient students through instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), native language arts (NLA) in…

An Exploration of the Relationship between Vietnamese Students' Knowledge of L1 Grammar and Their English Grammar Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Validity and Reliability of Rhythm Measurements in Automatically Scoring the English Rhythm Proficiency of Chinese EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Jin; Lin, Jianghao; Li, Xinguang

2015-01-01

This article aims to find out the validity of rhythm measurements to capture the rhythmic features of Chinese English. Besides, the reliability of the valid rhythm measurements applied in automatically scoring the English rhythm proficiency of Chinese EFL learners is also explored. Thus, two experiments were carried out. First, thirty students of…

Communication Strategies Used by Pre-Service English Teachers of Different Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Effectiveness of Internet-Based Peer Feedback Training on Chinese EFL College Students' Writing Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Building Teachers' Assessment Capacity for Supporting English Language Learners through the Implementation of the Step Language Assessment in Ontario K-12 Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Viegen Stille, Saskia; Jang, Eunice; Wagner, Maryam

2015-01-01

The Ontario Ministry of Education recently implemented the Steps to English Proficiency (STEP) language assessment framework to build educator capacity for addressing the needs of English language learners (ELLs) in K-12 schools. The STEP framework is a set of descriptors-based language proficiency scales that specify observable linguistic…

Investigating Problems of English Literature Teaching to EFL High School Students in Turkey with Focus on Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isikli, Ceren; Tarakçioglu, Asli Ö.

2017-01-01

Introduction of English literature as a separate school subject into Turkish high school curriculum has revealed a huge number of problems during its practical applications: students' low levels of proficiency in English, teacher incompetence, low motivation, lack of confidence, limited resources, lack of materials etc. Given the great extent and…

English Language Proficiency and Test Performance: An Evaluation of Bilingual Students with the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Effects of 'Face' on Listening Comprehension: Evidence from Advanced Jordanian Speakers of English.

PubMed

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.

Recommending a minimum English proficiency standard for entry-level nursing.

PubMed

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.

CAR: A Means for Motivating Students to Read

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Komiyama, Reiko

2009-01-01

Reading is an important skill for English language learners in today's world; it supports the development of overall proficiency and provides access to crucial information at work and in school. With English being the dominant language of the Internet, international business, and academia (including science), beginning and advanced students alike…

Project Reach 1988-89. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Lista, Carlos A.

Project Reach, serving 390 students of limited English proficiency at William H. Taft high school in New York, was fully implemented in 1988-89. Project Reach endeavored to help students develop their English and native language skills and make academic progress through bilingual content area courses. During the school year, participating students…

Language, Mathematics and English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Scaffolding Content and Language Demands for "Reclassified" Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubinstein-Avila, Eliane

2013-01-01

Students who are reclassified from English Language Learners (ELLs) to Fluent English Proficient (FEPs) do not necessarily developed the complex linguistic competencies to succeed across content areas. Through vivid snapshots of two middle school lessons (Science and Reading), the author points out that content area teachers can (and should)…

Proficiency in English sentence stress production by Cantonese speakers who speak English as a second language (ESL).

PubMed

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.

Conceptual Representation Changes in Indonesian-English Bilinguals.

PubMed

Hartanto, Andree; Suárez, Lidia

2016-10-01

This study investigated conceptual representations changes in bilinguals. Participants were Indonesian-English bilinguals (dominant in Indonesian, with different levels of English proficiency) and a control group composed of English-dominant bilinguals. All completed a gender decision task, in which participants decided whether English words referred to a male or female person or animal. In order to explore conceptual representations, we divided the words into gender-specific and gender-ambiguous words. Gender-specific words were words in which conceptual representations contained gender as a defining feature, in both English and Indonesian (e.g., uncle). In contrast, gender-ambiguous words were words in which gender was a defining feature in English but not a necessary feature in Indonesian (e.g., nephew and niece are both subsumed under the same word, keponakan, in Indonesian). The experiment was conducted exclusively in English. Indonesian-English bilinguals responded faster to gender-specific words than gender-ambiguous words, but the difference was smaller for the most proficient bilinguals. As expected, English-dominant speakers' response latencies were similar across these two types of words. The results suggest that English concepts are dynamic and that proficiency leads to native-like conceptual representations.

When learning a second language does not mean losing the first: bilingual language development in low-income, Spanish-speaking children attending bilingual preschool.

PubMed

Winsler, A; Díaz, R M; Espinosa, L; Rodríguez, J L

1999-01-01

This article discusses two investigations which explored the bilingual language development outcomes of comparable groups of low-income, Spanish-speaking, Mexican American children who either did or did not attended a bilingual (Spanish/English) preschool. Study 1 is a replication of a study by Rodríguez, Díaz, Duran, and Espinosa, involving a new sample of 26 children who attended bilingual preschool for one year and 20 control children who remained at home. Study 2 represents a 1-year, longitudinal follow-up of Rodríguez et al.'s, sample of children during and after the children spent another year at home or in the preschool. In both investigations, standardized, objective measures of three components of children's language proficiency (productive language, receptive language, and language complexity) in English and Spanish were obtained at the beginning and end of the academic year. Contrary to fears that have been expressed by some that early exposure to English would lead to children's native language loss, the results of both studies offered no evidence of Spanish proficiency loss for children attending bilingual preschool. Children who attended bilingual preschool, compared to those who remained at home, showed significant and parallel gains in Spanish language development as well as significant and greater increases in English language proficiency over time. Results are discussed in terms of the need for more systematic research to be conducted in this area to inform policy and practice in the early education and development of language-minority children.

Academic Achievement of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in an ASL/English Bilingual Program.

PubMed

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.

Poverty, Depression, or Lost in Translation? Ethnic and Language Variation in Patient-Reported Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

PubMed

Katz, Patricia P; Barton, Jennifer; Trupin, Laura; Schmajuk, Gabriela; Yazdany, Jinoos; Ruiz, Pedro J; Yelin, Edward

2016-05-01

Despite advances in therapies, disparities in outcomes have been documented for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients for both ethnicity and English language proficiency. The goals of these analyses were to compare differences in RA patient-reported outcomes, by both self-identification of ethnicity and English language proficiency, and to identify factors that might explain differences among groups. Data were collected through structured telephone interviews of a longitudinal cohort with physician-diagnosed RA (n = 438); only women were included (n = 335). Three groups were defined based on self-reported ethnicity and English proficiency: white/English (n = 219), Hispanic/English (n = 39), and Hispanic/Spanish (n = 77). Outcomes examined were patient-reported physical functioning, pain, and presence of moderate or severe fatigue. Multivariate regression analyses compared outcomes among groups, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, health and disease factors, and depression. Hispanic/Spanish women had worse function, pain, and fatigue than either English-proficient group. Depression was associated with all outcomes (P < 0.0001), and accounted for greater differentials in scores than ethnicity/language proficiency. In interaction analyses, differences between women who were and were not depressed were greater for Hispanic/English than for Hispanic/Spanish. Nondepressed Hispanic/Spanish scores were significantly worse than nondepressed Hispanic/English, i.e., the impact of depression was less for Hispanic/Spanish women because both depressed and nondepressed women in this group reported worse outcomes. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors and depression, language remained significantly associated with outcomes. Disparities in patient-reported outcomes may be driven less by ethnicity than by sociodemographic or psychological factors. Measurement instruments that are not culturally appropriate and equivalent may also hamper meaningful analyses of disparities. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

Homeroom Teachers or Specialist Teachers?: Considerations for the Workforce for Teaching English as a Subject at Elementary Schools in Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okumura, Shinji

2017-01-01

In Japan, English will be officially taught as an academic subject for elementary fifth and sixth graders from 2020. This is a strong initiative of language-in-education policy, aiming at efficient articulation between elementary and junior high schools and targeting the development of English proficiency from early ages simultaneously. However,…

Transition in Modern Foreign Languages: A Longitudinal Study of Motivation for Language Learning and Second Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Impact of Phonetic Instruction on the Oral Proficiency of English Language Learners in a Cooperative Learning Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Hsuan-Yu

2009-01-01

Oral proficiency is an important goal in second language learning not only for communication, but also for developing reading and writing skills. Use of cooperative learning (CL) strategies has been shown to successfully improve second language learning in many cases for its focus on individual accountability and positive interdependence (Kagan &…

TOEFL Junior® Design Framework. TOEFL Junior® Research Report. TOEFL JR-02. ETS Research Report No. RR-15-13

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

So, Youngsoon; Wolf, Mikyung Kim; Hauck, Maurice C.; Mollaun, Pamela; Rybinski, Paul; Tumposky, Daniel; Wang, Lin

2015-01-01

This paper presents the theoretical and empirical foundations of the "TOEFL Junior"® assessment and its development process. The TOEFL Junior test was developed to address the increasing need for objective measures of English language proficiency for young adolescent learners, who are being introduced to English as a second or foreign…

Sanchez and Metz Elementary Schools: Dos Idiomas, Un Mundo. Dual Language Project. Title VII First-Year Evaluation Report, 1995-96.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ernest, Harishini M.; Gonzalez, Rosa Maria

The first-year evaluation of a two-way Spanish/English bilingual education program at two Austin (Texas) elementary schools is presented. The developmental program has as its objectives the development of students' oral proficiency in Spanish and English, development of grade-level appropriate literacy in both languages, increase in academic…

The Effect of Speed Reading Instruction on Japanese High School Students' English Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Underwood, Paul; Myskow, Gordon; Hattori, Takahiko

2012-01-01

This study investigated the effects of a six-month course in speed reading in three areas of reading proficiency development: 1) general reading comprehension, 2) knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary, and 3) reading-rate and accuracy. The participants (N = 105) were Japanese students studying English as a foreign language in Grade 10 at a…

Bilingual Resource Instruction for the Development of Gainful Employment Skills. Project BRIDGES 1988-89. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Plotkin, Donna

Project BRIDGES, a 3-year program conducted for students of limited English proficiency (LEP) at three High Schools in Brooklyn (New York City) sought to develop the English language, academic, and vocational skills of a high-risk LEP population. The native languages of the participating students were Haitian Creole, Spanish, Chinese, Hebrew, and…

Parents Helping Their Children Learn to Read: The Effectiveness of Paired Reading and Hearing Reading in a Developing Country Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shah-Wundenberg, Mihika; Wyse, Dominic; Chaplain, Roland

2013-01-01

This paper reports research that investigated parental support for children's reading of English in an inner-city school in the developing country context of an Indian city, Ahmedabad. Children had oral proficiency in the regional language but were beginning to acquire conventional forms of literacy in English. Sociocultural mediation theory…

How Is No Child Left Behind Affecting Proficient and Advanced Students on the California STAR Test in English Language Arts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levine, Susan

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether students who enter high school in ninth grade and score proficient or advanced on their CST in English Language Arts remain proficient or advanced 2 years later in 11th grade. The effects of NCLB will be considered as a contributing factor to the difference in student scores. This study was…

Assessment of Young English Language Learners in Arizona: Questioning the Validity of the State Measure of English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Consumer Finance: Factors Affecting the Financial Literacy of Individuals with Limited English Proficiency. Report to Congressional Committees. GAO-10-518

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cackley, Alicia Puente

2010-01-01

According to Census data, more than 12 million adults in the United States report they do not speak English well or at all. Proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and understanding the English language appears to be linked to multiple dimensions of adult life in the United States, including financial literacy--the ability to make informed…

Bilingual Test as a Test Accommodation to Determine the Mathematics Achievement of Mainstream Students with Limited English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shanmugam, S. Kanageswari Suppiah; Lan, Ong Saw

2013-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the validity of using bilingual test to measure the mathematics achievement of students who have limited English proficiency (LEP). The bilingual test and the English-only test consist of 20 computation and 20 word problem multiple-choice questions (from TIMSS 2003 and 2007 released items. The bilingual test…

New Measures of English Language Proficiency and Their Relationship to Performance on Large-Scale Content Assessments. REL 2009-No. 066. Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Caroline E.; Louie, Josephine; O'Dwyer, Laura

2009-01-01

Using assessment results for 5th and 8th grade English language learner students in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the report finds that the English language domains of reading and writing (as measured by a proficiency assessment) are significant predictors of performance on reading, writing, and mathematics assessments and that the…

New Measures of English Language Proficiency and Their Relationship to Performance on Large-Scale Content Assessments. Issues & Answers. REL 2009-No. 066

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Caroline E.; Louie, Josephine; O'Dwyer, Laura

2009-01-01

Using assessment results for 5th and 8th grade English language learner students in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the report finds that the English language domains of reading and writing (as measured by a proficiency assessment) are significant predictors of performance on reading, writing, and mathematics assessments and that the…

Vocabulary Use by Low, Moderate, and High ASL-Proficient Writers Compared to Hearing ESL and Monolingual Speakers.

PubMed

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.

34 CFR 300.27 - Limited English proficient.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 34 Education 2 2011-07-01 2010-07-01 true Limited English proficient. 300.27 Section 300.27 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR THE EDUCATION OF...

34 CFR 300.27 - Limited English proficient.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Limited English proficient. 300.27 Section 300.27 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR THE EDUCATION OF...

Using Complementary Learning Clusters in Studying Literature to Enhance Students' Medical Humanities Literacy, Critical Thinking, and English Proficiency.

PubMed

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.

Effects of language proficiency and language of the environment on aphasia therapy in a multilingual

PubMed Central

Goral, Mira; Rosas, Jason; Conner, Peggy S.; Maul, Kristen K.; Obler, Loraine K.

2011-01-01

We examined the relative proficiency of four languages (Spanish, German, French, English) of a multilingual speaker with aphasia, JM. JM’s self-rated proficiency was consistent with his naming accuracy for nouns and verbs (The Object and Action Naming Battery, Druks & Masterson, 2000) and with his performance on selected subtests of the Bilingual Aphasia Test (Paradis & Libben, 1987). Within and between-language changes were measured following two periods of language treatment, one in a highly-proficient language (Spanish) and one in a less-proficient language (English). The various outcome measures differed in their sensitivity to treatment-associated changes. Cross-language treatment effects were linked to the language of the environment at the time of testing and to relative language proficiency. PMID:23185107

Interactions between Bilingual Effects and Language Impairment: Exploring Grammatical Markers in Spanish-Speaking Bilingual Children

PubMed Central

Castilla-Earls, Anny P.; Restrepo, María Adelaida; Perez-Leroux, Ana Teresa; Gray, Shelley; Holmes, Paul; Gail, Daniel; Chen, Ziqiang

2015-01-01

This study examines the interaction between language impairment and different levels of bilingual proficiency. Specifically, we explore the potential of articles and direct object pronouns as clinical markers of primary language impairment (PLI) in bilingual Spanish-speaking children. The study compared children with PLI and typically developing children (TD) matched on age, English language proficiency, and mother’s education level. Two types of bilinguals were targeted: Spanish-dominant children with intermediate English proficiency (asymmetrical bilinguals, AsyB), and near-balanced bilinguals (BIL). We measured children’s accuracy in the use of direct object pronouns and articles with an elicited language task. Results from this preliminary study suggest language proficiency affects the patterns of use of direct object pronouns and articles. Across language proficiency groups, we find marked differences between TD and PLI, in the use of both direct object pronouns and articles. However, the magnitude of the difference diminishes in balanced bilinguals. Articles appear more stable in these bilinguals and therefore, seem to have a greater potential to discriminate between TD bilinguals from those with PLI. Future studies using discriminant analyses are needed to assess the clinical impact of these findings. PMID:27570320

The Moderating Role of English Proficiency in the Association Between Immigrant Chinese Mothers' Authoritative Parenting and Children's Outcomes.

PubMed

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.

Poor knowledge of methotrexate associated with older age and limited English-language proficiency in a diverse rheumatoid arthritis cohort

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Introduction Our objective was to determine rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients’ understanding of methotrexate and assess whether knowledge varies by age, education, English language proficiency, or other disease-related factors. Methods Adults with RA (n = 135) who were enrollees of an observational cohort completed a structured telephone interview in their preferred language between August 2007 and July 2009. All subjects who reported taking methotrexate were asked 11 questions about the medication in addition to demographics, education level, and language proficiency. Primary outcome was a total score below the 50th percentile (considered inadequate methotrexate knowledge). Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were performed. Covariates included demographics, language proficiency, education, and disease characteristics. Results Of 135 subjects, 83% were female, with a mean age of 55 ± 14 years. The majority spoke English (64%), followed by 22% Spanish and 14% Cantonese or Mandarin. Limited English language proficiency (LEP) was reported in 42%. Mean methotrexate knowledge score was 5.4 ± 2.6 (range, 0 to 10); 73 (54%) had a score lower than 5 (of 10). Age older than 55, less than high school education, LEP, better function, and biologic use were independently associated with poor knowledge. Conclusions In a diverse RA cohort, overall methotrexate knowledge was poor. Older age and limited proficiency in English were significant correlates of poor knowledge. Identification of language barriers and improved clinician-patient communication around methotrexate dosing and side effects may lead to improved safety and enhanced benefits of this commonly used RA medication. PMID:24432366

Sweet Science for ALL! Supporting Inquiry-Based Learning through M&Ms Investigation for English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Making Learning Active with Interactive Whiteboards, Podcasts, and Digital Storytelling in ELL Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hur, Jung Won; Suh, Suhyun

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine effective ways to integrate an interactive whiteboard, podcast, and digital storytelling for language proficiency development in English language learners. Researchers integrated these three technologies into a 60-hour intensive summer English program and investigated their impacts on student vocabulary…

Predictors of Second Language Acquisition in Latino Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutierrez-Clellen, Vera; Simon-Cereijido, Gabriela; Sweet, Monica

2012-01-01

Purpose: This study evaluated the extent to which the language of intervention, the child's development in Spanish, and the effects of English vocabulary, use, proficiency, and exposure predict differences in the rates of acquisition of English in Latino children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method: In this randomized controlled trial,…

The Grade 3 Provincial Achievement Tests: In Need of Revamping?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roessingh, Hetty

2012-01-01

This article advances an argument for retaining but revamping the grade 3 Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs). Alberta's demographic landscape is rapidly changing to include significant numbers of English language learners who are still in the early stages of developing English language proficiency at grade 3. Online tools are used to generate…

Programs Under Bilingual Education Act (Title VII, ESEA): Manual for Project Applicants and Grantees.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bureau of Elementary and Secondary Education (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC.

The Bilingual Education Program, designed to help children having limited English-speaking ability develop greater competence in English, become more proficient in their dominant language, and profit from increased educational opportunity, is described in this manual for project applicants and grantees. Eight chapters include a review of: (1)…

A Manual for the Anchorage School District Bilingual Education Program Revised Scope and Sequence, K-3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heinrich, Maria Nieves Bumanlag Lilagan

The manual offers a systematic set of procedures and relevant information to facilitate effective use of the Anchorage school district (ASD) bilingual education program (BEP). The historical background of the program's development is presented, available manuals for teaching English to limited English proficiency (LEP) students and related…

A Comparative Study of the Effect of CALL on Gifted and Non-Gifted Adolescents' English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tai, Sophie; Chen, Hao-Jan

2015-01-01

Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has gained increasing acceptance since it provides learners with abundant resources. Most researches confirm the beneficial effect of CALL on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' cognitive, metacognitive, and affective developments. However, the diversity of students' intelligence is associated…

Improving Learning in Science and Basic Skills among Diverse Student Populations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutman, Francis X.; Guzman, Ana

This monograph is a rich resource of information designed to strengthen science and basic skills teaching, and improve learning for limited English proficient (LEP) minority student populations. It proposes the use of hands-on science investigations as the driving force for mathematics and English language development. The materials included in…

Bilingualism in the Computer Age 1988-89. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Alvarez, Rosalyn

In the 1988-89 school year, Bilingualism in the Computer Age completed its final year of instruction at Morris High School in the Bronx. The project provided bilingual instructional and support services to 240 Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency (LEP) and utilized computers to develop students' English skills and native…

Training EFL Learners in Self-Regulation of Reading: Implementing an SRL Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morshedian, Mahboobeh; Hemmati, Fatemeh; Sotoudehnama, Elaheh

2017-01-01

This study examined whether training English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in a self-regulated learning (SRL) model could help them develop the ability to self-regulate their reading in English and whether their proficiency level could moderate the efficacy of self-regulation training. Two experimental groups received instruction in…

Evaluative Case Study on the Efficacy of the ELPS Program in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perez, Malia Ann

2013-01-01

The English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) program was developed to address the need to effectively integrate second language acquisition with quality content area instruction. English language learners (ELLs) have struggled on standardized tests and there has been little empirical evidence regarding the impact of the ELPS program on…

The Working Experience. Teacher's Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Jeanne H.; Ringel, Harry

A teacher's manual is presented for "The Working Experience," a series of three texts for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. The series builds on oral skills to develop reading and writing ability while still expanding oral English-language proficiency. Because one of the basic principles underlying the series is the idea that students…

Grover Cleveland High School Project CAUSA 1983-1984. O.E.A. Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn. Office of Educational Assessment.

This document evaluates Project CAUSA (Career Advancement Utilizing Student Abilities), which provides instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), native language development, and content-area courses, in addition to a career and vocational training program, to 115 students of limited English proficiency (LEP) from Italy and Spanish…

English Proficiency and Behavioral Change in Spanish-Speaking Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cordova, Joe E.

The purpose of this study was to improve the English competence of Spanish-speaking students, to increase their success in school, and to help them develop stronger self-concepts. Control and experimental groups of students were selected from kindergarten, second, and fourth grades of elementary schools with a predominantly Chicano population.…

78 FR 55068 - Request for Information To Inform the Title III Evaluation and Research Studies Agenda

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-09

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [Docket ID ED-2013-OELA-0117] Request for Information To Inform the Title III Evaluation and Research Studies Agenda AGENCY: Office of English Language Acquisition, Language..., Title III of the ESEA requires States to develop English language proficiency (ELP) standards that are...

English-Language Learners, Fan Communities, and 21st-Century Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Rebecca W.

2009-01-01

This article draws from literature on language, literacy studies, and 21st century skills to explore how English-language learning (ELL) youths, through their engagement with digital technologies and popular media, are developing the sort of proficiencies that have been identified as crucial to effective participation in an increasingly globalized…

Students' Attitudes towards Learning English Grammar: A Study of Scale Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akay, Emel; Toraman, Çetin

2015-01-01

Learning a language means not only studying four skills of proficiency, but also understanding the system of rules underlying. In this respect, learners' attitudes towards grammar are also of vital importance. The main objective of this descriptive study is to determine English language learners' attitudes towards grammar and to analyze these…

Setting Language Proficiency Score Requirements for English-as-a-Second-Language Placement Decisions in Secondary Education. Research Report. ETS RR-16-17

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Integrating Students of Limited English Proficiency into Standards-Based Reform in the Abbott Districts. Abbott Implementation Resource Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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.…

Number Frequency in L1 Differentially Affects Immediate Serial Recall of Numbers in L2 between Beginning and Intermediate Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sumioka, Norihiko; Williams, Atsuko; Yamada, Jun

2016-01-01

A list number recall test in English (L2) was administered to both Japanese (L1) students with beginning-level English proficiency who attended evening high school and Japanese college students with intermediate-level English proficiency. The major findings were that, only for the high school group, the small numbers 1 and 2 in middle positions of…

Approaches to Automated Scoring of Speaking for K-12 English Language Proficiency Assessments. Policy Information Report and ETS Research Report Series No. RR-17-18

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evanini, Keelan; Hauck, Maurice Cogan; Hakuta, Kenji

2017-01-01

This report is the fifth in a series concerning English language proficiency (ELP) assessments for English learners (ELs) in kindergarten through 12th grade in the United States. The series, produced by Educational Testing Service (ETS), is intended to provide theory and evidence-based principles and recommendations for improving next-generation…

English L3 Learning in a Multilingual Context: The Role of Parental Education and L2 Exposure within the Living Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

L2 Acquisition of Prosodic Properties of Speech Rhythm: Evidence from L1 Mandarin and German Learners of English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Empirical Assessment of English for Specific Business Purpose (ESBP) among Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) Staff

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Prueba de Aptitud para el Aprendizaje de Lenguas Extranjeras (PAPALE) Language Aptitude Test (LAT) (First and Second Versions). English for Special Purposes. Emergency Care Attendant.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit for native speakers of Mandarin: Production and perception of English word-final voicing contrasts

PubMed Central

Hayes-Harb, Rachel; Smith, Bruce L.; Bent, Tessa; Bradlow, Ann R.

2009-01-01

This study investigated the intelligibility of native and Mandarin-accented English speech for native English and native Mandarin listeners. The word-final voicing contrast was considered (as in minimal pairs such as `cub' and `cup') in a forced-choice word identification task. For these particular talkers and listeners, there was evidence of an interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit for listeners (i.e., native Mandarin listeners were more accurate than native English listeners at identifying Mandarin-accented English words). However, there was no evidence of an interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit for talkers (i.e., native Mandarin listeners did not find Mandarin-accented English speech more intelligible than native English speech). When listener and talker phonological proficiency (operationalized as accentedness) was taken into account, it was found that the interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit for listeners held only for the low phonological proficiency listeners and low phonological proficiency speech. The intelligibility data were also considered in relation to various temporal-acoustic properties of native English and Mandarin-accented English speech in effort to better understand the properties of speech that may contribute to the interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit. PMID:19606271

Large-Scale Assessment of Language Proficiency: Theoretical and Pedagogical Reflections on the Use of Multiple-Choice Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argüelles Álvarez, Irina

2013-01-01

The new requirement placed on students in tertiary settings in Spain to demonstrate a B1 or a B2 proficiency level of English, in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL), has led most Spanish universities to develop a program of certification or accreditation of the required level. The first part of this…

Effects of Two-Way Bilingual Education on the Literacy Development of Students in Kindergarten and the First Grade.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez, Maria G.; Tashakkori, Abbas

The purpose of this study was to examine the short-term effects of a two-way bilingual education program on the literacy development of students in kindergarten and first grade. Two groups of children were compared in terms of their academic achievement in English language arts. The groups included students with limited English proficiency (LEP)…

The Influence of Dual Language Education upon the Development of English Reading Skills of Kindergarten through Grade Two Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reynolds, Corey W.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this inductive and quantitative research study is to examine the influence of dual language education upon the development of literacy skills in English proficient kindergarten through grade 2 students. Secondly, this research is purposed to aid in filling the void in the limited way in which educational researchers have examined…

Improving communication between health-care professionals and patients with limited English proficiency in the general practice setting.

PubMed

Attard, Melanie; McArthur, Alexa; Riitano, Dagmara; Aromataris, Edoardo; Bollen, Chris; Pearson, Alan

2015-01-01

Quality service provision and patient safety and satisfaction in encounters with health-care professionals relies on effective communication between the practitioner and patient. This study aimed to identify effective practices for improving communication between clinical staff in general practice and patients with limited English proficiency, and to promote their implementation in general practice. Effective interventions and strategies were identified from a review of international research. Experiences with their use in practice were explored via focus group discussions with general practitioners and practice nurses. The results suggest that, wherever possible, communication in the patient's primary language is preferable; use of a qualified medical interpreter should be promoted, and practices should have a standardised and documented procedure for accessing interpreter services. General practice staff must increase their awareness about services that are available to facilitate communication with patients with limited English proficiency, and also develop attitudes, both individual and organisational, that will maximise the effectiveness of these strategies. These findings were used to develop brief, evidence-based practice guidelines that were disseminated to focus group participants for evaluation of utility and general feedback. This evidence-based guidance is now available to assist clinical and administrative general practice staff across regional and metropolitan South Australia.

28 CFR 544.42 - Procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Mandatory English-as-a-Second Language Program (ESL) § 544.42 Procedures. (a) The Warden at each federal... proficient are enrolled in the ESL program. Determination of limited English proficiency is made by staff on... demonstrate verified achievement of the eighth grade level, must provide verification or enroll in the ESL...

Advisory Working Alliance, Perceived English Proficiency, and Acculturative Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Competency Testing for Limited-English-Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gold, Norman C.

The competency testing movement will yield few improvements in the schools and will create arbitrary barriers to progress for some students. Although it may stimulate educational improvement for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students, as for other students, by giving cohesion to the curriculum, guiding scarce resources for remediation,…

Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Counseling Services among Chinese International Students: Acculturation, Ethnic Identity, and English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Registered Nurse and Nursing Assistant Perceptions of Limited English-Proficient Patient-Clinician Communication.

PubMed

Shuman, Clayton; Montie, Mary; Galinato, Jose; Patak, Lance; Titler, Marita

2017-12-01

In this article, the authors discuss implications for nurse administrators from a recent qualitative study regarding nursing personnel perceptions of limited English proficient (LEP) patient-clinician communication. Few studies have examined nursing personnel's use and perceptions of communication resources when caring for LEP patients.

Proficiency and the Bilingual Lexicon.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woutersen, Mirjam; And Others

A study investigated lexical decision-making among Dutch-English bilinguals in the auditory modality. Subjects, bilinguals at three proficiency levels (intermediate, high, and near-native) were presented with 40 cognate and 40 non-cognate word pairs, a similar number of English and Dutch distractors, and a similar number of nonsense words in each…

Handbook on Planning for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Student Success.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colorado State Dept. of Education, Denver.

The handbook is designed to help Colorado school systems address the linguistic and educational needs of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students and to provide administrators, school boards members, and educators with resources for understanding state and federal requirements. It is intended to help design and establish local policies and…

Learning Strategies and Motivation among Procrastinators of Various English Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goda, Yoshiko; Yamada, Masanori; Matsuda, Takeshi; Kato, Hiroshi; Saito, Yutaka; Miyagawa, Hiroyuki

2014-01-01

Our research project focuses on learning strategies and motivation among academic procrastinators in computer assisted language learning (CALL) settings. In this study, we aim to compare them according to students' levels of English proficiency. One hundred and fourteen university students participated in this research project. Sixty-four students…

Sentence Processing in High Proficient Kannada--English Bilinguals: A Reaction Time Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ravi, Sunil Kumar; Chengappa, Shyamala K.

2015-01-01

The present study aimed at exploring the semantic and syntactic processing differences between native and second languages in 20 early high proficient Kannada--English bilingual adults through accuracy and reaction time (RT) measurements. Subjects participated in a semantic judgement task (using 50 semantically correct and 50 semantically…

Emergency Immigration Education Act Programs. Summer ESL Welcome Program for Students of Limited English Proficiency, Summer Bilingual Program, Projects Omega, Wise, and Bell. Summer 1994. OER Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Elliott M.

The Emergency Immigration Education Act supported three distinct programs in New York City in the summer of 1994: (1) the Summer English as a Second Language (ESL) Welcome Program for Students of Limited English Proficiency; (2) the Summer Bilingual Program; and (3) Projects Omega, Wise, and Bell. The projects served 3,443 students in all. The…

How Do Algebra I Course Repetition Rates Vary among English Learner Students by Length of Time to Reclassification as English Proficient? REL 2017-222

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaquet, Karina; Fong, Anthony B.

2017-01-01

Research has found high repetition rates for students in Algebra I, with one study finding a repetition rate of 44 percent for students in a large urban high school district. Less is known about how math performance and Algebra I course repetition rates vary among students with different levels of English proficiency. This report examines Algebra…

Second and foreign language listening: unraveling the construct.

PubMed

Tafaghodtari, Marzieh H; Vandergrift, Larry

2008-08-01

Identifying the variables which contribute to second and foreign language (L2) listening ability can provide a better understanding of the listening construct. This study explored the degree to which first language (L1) listening ability, L2 proficiency, motivation and metacognition contribute to L2 listening comprehension. 115 Persian-speaking English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students completed a motivation questionnaire, the Language Learning Motivation Orientation Scale, a listening questionnaire, the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire, and an English-language proficiency measure, as well as listening tests in English and Persian. Scores from all measures were subjected to descriptive, inferential, and correlational analyses. The results support the hypothesis that variability in L2 listening cannot be explained by either L2 proficiency or L1 listening ability; rather, a cluster of variables including L2 proficiency, L1 listening ability, metacognitive knowledge and motivation orientations can better explain variability in L2 listening ability.

Depression Fotonovela: Development of a depression literacy tool for Latinos with limited English proficiency

PubMed Central

Cabassa, Leopoldo J.; Molina, Gregory B.; Baron, Melvin

2010-01-01

Stigma, lack of knowledge, and misconceptions about depression are considered pervasive barriers contributing to the disparities Latino adults with limited English proficiency (LEP) face in accessing and receiving high quality depression care. The development of culturally and linguistically appropriate health literacy tools, such as fotonovelas, can help address these barriers to depression care in the Latino community. Fotonovelas are booklets that use posed photographs with simple text bubbles to portray soap opera stories that convey educational messages. The aim of this manuscript is to describe the development of a depression fotonovela adapted for Latinos with LEP. We present the conceptual model that informed this depression literacy tool and illustrate how findings from several studies were used to identify educational messages. Our production process delineates practical steps of how to use a multi-stakeholder approach to develop a health-related fotonovela. Implications for practice of this innovative depression literacy tool are discussed. PMID:21051325

The Communicative Ability of Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak's Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassan, Sharifah Zakiah Wan; Hakim, Simon Faizal; Rahim, Mahdalela; Noyem, John Francis; Ibrahim, Sueb; Ahmad, Johnny; Jusoff, Kamaruzaman

2009-01-01

This study explores Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sarawak graduating students' oral proficiency, focusing on grammatical accuracy. Oral proficiency in English has always been the benchmark of language proficiency, and in the context of UiTM's language teaching curriculum, efforts to enhance students' oral proficiency are implemented through…

The Use of Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Language Skills (DIBELS) and Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) to Compare Reading Proficiency in Native English Speakers and English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellett, Ryan

2014-01-01

This study compares native English, Spanish, Lao, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, and all other ELL students over one, two, three, and four-year spans to determine if certain groups appear to face more difficulties in developing early reading mastery by third grade. This study also examines whether socio-economic status impacts the…

A Statistical Method of Evaluating the Pronunciation Proficiency/Intelligibility of English Presentations by Japanese Speakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kibishi, Hiroshi; Hirabayashi, Kuniaki; Nakagawa, Seiichi

2015-01-01

In this paper, we propose a statistical evaluation method of pronunciation proficiency and intelligibility for presentations made in English by native Japanese speakers. We statistically analyzed the actual utterances of speakers to find combinations of acoustic and linguistic features with high correlation between the scores estimated by the…

Investigating Correspondence between Language Proficiency Standards and Academic Content Standards: A Generalizability Theory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Chih-Kai; Zhang, Jinming

2014-01-01

Research on the relationship between English language proficiency standards and academic content standards serves to provide information about the extent to which English language learners (ELLs) are expected to encounter academic language use that facilitates their content learning, such as in mathematics and science. Standards-to-standards…

Impact of English Proficiency on Academic Performance of International Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Texas Successful Schools Study: Quality Education for Limited English Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas Education Agency, Austin.

A study by the Texas Education Agency examined the variables contributing to the academic success of economically disadvantaged and language minority students. Data were collected from seven high-achieving elementary schools with high poverty rates and high percentages of limited English proficient (LEP) students via teacher questionnaires;…

The Role of Attachment, Travel Experiences and English Proficiency in International Students' Acculturative Stress and Depressive Symptoms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

The Roles of Suprasegmental Features in Predicting English Oral Proficiency with an Automated System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Okim; Johnson, David

2018-01-01

Suprasegmental features have received growing attention in the field of oral assessment. In this article we describe a set of computer algorithms that automatically scores the oral proficiency of non-native speakers using unconstrained English speech. The algorithms employ machine learning and 11 suprasegmental measures divided into four groups…

Individual Learning Programs for Limited-English-Proficient Students: A Handbook for School Personnel.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Dennis R.

A handbook designed to provide legal, pedagogical, and practical assistance to those responsible for providing a comprehensive educational program for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in California's public schools is intended for schools with both large and small concentrations of LEP pupils. The first section outlines legal requirements…

A Peek at a Bilingual Pre-Kindergarten. Publication No. 82.52.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curtis, Jonathan J.; Arocena, Martin

A total of 21 full-day structured classroom observations were conducted in six classes of the Austin Independent School District Bilingual Preschool Project (Texas) having a high incidence of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. Each class consisted of 15 LEP students and 3 English-proficient students. It was anticipated that…

A Dynamic Online System for Translation Learning and Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tian, Yan

2017-01-01

Translation is one of the items tested in many national English proficiency tests for non-English majors in China because translation competence is regarded as one of the productive language skills which could be used to assess learners' language proficiency. However, the feedback on translation exercises and self-tests are usually provided by…

Indiana Emergent Bilingual Student Time to Reclassification: A Survival Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, April M.; Morita-Mullaney, Trish; Singh, Malkeet

2016-01-01

In this study, we employed a discrete-time survival analysis model to examine Indiana emergent bilingual time to reclassification as fluent English proficient. The data consisted of five years of statewide English language proficiency scores. Indiana has a large and rapidly growing Spanish-speaking emergent bilingual population, and these students…

75 FR 14559 - Household Water Well System Grant Program Announcement of Application Deadlines and Funding

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-26

... greatest need. Central water systems may not be the only or best solution to drinking water problems... Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency. ''For information on limited English proficiency and..., social, financial, or other problems that require solutions. Demonstrate the well owners' need for...

78 FR 38287 - Household Water Well System Grant Program Announcement of Application Deadlines and Funding

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-26

... Americans in greatest need. Central water systems may not be the only or best solution to drinking water... Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency.'' For information on limited English proficiency and... necessary, clearly identify the economic, social, financial, or other problems that require solutions...

77 FR 26245 - Household Water Well System Grant Program Announcement of Application Deadlines and Funding

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-03

... facilities to Rural Americans in greatest need. Central water systems may not be the only or best solution to... Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency. '' For information on limited English proficiency... that require solutions. Demonstrate the well owners' need for financial and technical assistance...

The Effects of English Language Proficiency and Curricular Pathways: Latina/os' Mathematics Achievement in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mosqueda, Eduardo; Maldonado, Saul I.

2013-01-01

This study analyzes nationally-representative quantitative data from the first (2002) and second (2004) waves of the Educational Longitudinal Study to examine the relationship between Latina/o secondary school students' degree of English-language proficiency (ELP), mathematics course-taking measures, and 12th grade mathematics achievement.…

States Clear Initial Hurdle on ELL Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zehr, Mary Ann

2007-01-01

A new report finds that all states and the District of Columbia have now ushered in new English-language-proficiency tests to comply with No Child Left Behind Act requirements for those still learning the language. The report, "English Language Proficiency Assessment in the Nation: Current Status and Future Practice," released by the University of…

Indiana Teachers' Perspectives on Testing Accommodations for Limited English Proficient Students Taking the Graduation Qualifying Exam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Program Assistance for Neophytes. Project PAN, 1988-89. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Hriskos, Constantine

In its fourth year, Program Assistance for Neophytes (Project PAN) served 455 students at 2 high schools. The program provided support services and supplemental instruction to students of limited English proficiency (LEP) as well as English-proficient (EP) students. The project provided LEP students with a transitional period of bilingual…

Secondary Engineering Design Graphics Educator Service Load of Students with Identified Categorical Disabilities and Limited English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities on State English Language Proficiency Assessments: A Review of 2011 State Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christensen, Laurene L.; Albus, Debra A.; Liu, Kristin K.; Thurlow, Martha L.; Kincaid, Aleksis

2013-01-01

English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities are required to participate in all state and district assessments similar to their peers without disabilities. This includes assessments used for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I accountability purposes for demonstrating proficiency in academic content, assessments used…

Guidelines for Serving Students with Limited English Proficiency. Administrative Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biagini, Joyce; And Others

A revision of a manual first produced in 1980, this guide is designed to help local school districts in Minnesota meet the educational needs of their limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in academically and administratively expedient ways. The chapters in the manual, which correspond to topics pertinent to designing and maintaining an LEP…

Linguistic Proficiency and Strategies on Reading Performance in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Manual for Identification of Limited-English Proficiency Students with Special Needs. Report #11785.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ambert, Alba N.; And Others

This manual, intended to assist teachers in identifying students with limited-English proficiency who may have special needs, concentrates on four areas: language, observation, testing, and learning problems. The main part of the manual has eight sections dealing with the following topics: (1) observation techniques and methods; (2) modifications…

Reticence in Chinese EFL Students at Varied Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Meihua; Jackson, Jane

2009-01-01

Reticence in foreign language classes has long been a challenge for both teachers and students. With the advent of globalization, there is a pressing need for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers to help reticent students develop the skills and confidence needed to take an active role in oral English lessons. This article reports on a…

To Change or Not to Change: Investigating the Value of MCQ Answer Changing for Gulf Arab Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Hamly, Mashael; Coombe, Christine

2005-01-01

This study investigates whether the practice of answer changing on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) is beneficial to Gulf Arab students' overall test performance. The proficiency exam used in this study is the Michigan English Language Institute College English Test - Grammar, Cloze, Vocabulary, Reading (MELICET-GCVR), which was developed using…

In the Shadow of Stone Mountain: Identity Development, Structured Inequality, and the Education of Spanish-Speaking Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portes, Pedro R.; Salas, Spencer

2010-01-01

In this article, we draw from cultural historical theory to examine the assimilationist forces embodied by English as a Second Language (ESOL) identification and programming practices in and outside of Georgia. We argue that the categorization of Spanish-speaking schoolchildren as Limited English Proficient is an extension of historical…

Dewitt Clinton High School Project BISECT. O.E.E. Evaluation Report, 1982-1983.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zephirin, Henriot; Schulman, Robert

Project Bilingual Spanish-to-English Career Training (BISECT) in its first year of funding offered bilingual instruction, career awareness development, and supportive services to 255 Hispanic students of limited English proficiency. Title VII, Title I, and tax-levy funds supported the program, which was implemented at DeWitt Clinton High School…

Project ESL-SEDAC. O.E.E. Annual Evaluation Report, E.S.E.A. Title VII. 1982-83.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tobias, Robert; And Others

During 1982-83, the first of three projected program cycles, the Title VII English as a Second Language, Special Education Developmental Approach Curriculum Project (ESL-SEDAC) provided direct instruction to 246 handicapped limited English proficient students in schools throughout New York City. Resource assistance, staff development, and parent…

Redwood City School District ESEA Title VII Bilingual Project LEARN. 1981-1982 Annual and Longitudinal Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Earl; Jones, Eleanor

The Redwood City School District Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title VII Bilingual Education Program offered instruction in English and Spanish through an integrated approach, to take advantage of students' strengths and help them progress as rapidly as possible in concept development while they acquire English proficiency. The limited…

The Bilingual Academic Services and Integrated Career Systems Program, BASICS 1988-1989. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Barrera, Marbella

In its second year, the Bilingual Academic Services and Integrated Career Systems (BASICS) Program served 104 limited-English-proficient students at Bayside High School in Queens (New York City). Project goals were to develop English literacy skills, produce an organizing framework of thinking and language skills across the curriculum, generate a…

Bilingual Education and Academic/Career Outreach for Newcomers: Project BEACON, 1988-89. Evaluation Section Report. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Gritzer, Glenn

The Bilingual Education Academic/Career Outreach for Newcomers Program (Project BEACON) completed its fourth year. The goals of Project BEACON are to facilitate acquisition of English proficiency, develop native language literacy skills, and provide instruction in bilingual and English content area/vocational classes. The project served 753…

The Working Experience Books 1, 2, and 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Jeanne H.; Ringel, Harry

Books 1, 2, and 3 of "The Working Experience," a series of texts for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students, are contained in this document. The series builds on oral skills to develop reading and writing ability while still expanding oral English-language proficiency. Since one of the basic principles underlying the series is the idea that…

Every Body Needs First Aid... A Manual for LEP Students [Draft] and Teacher Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adachi, Patricia

The manual contains both student and teacher materials for instruction in basic physiology and first aid. The instructional materials were developed for use with limited-English-proficient high school students, but are suitable for high school first aid classes because of their simplified English and format, sequential organization, detailed table…

Teacher Education: English Language and Literature in a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Undergraduates' intentions to take a second language proficiency test: a comparison of predictions from the theory of planned behavior and social cognitive theory.

PubMed

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.

Native language change during early stages of second language learning.

PubMed

Bice, Kinsey; Kroll, Judith F

2015-11-11

Research on proficient bilinguals has demonstrated that both languages are always active, even when only one is required. The coactivation of the two languages creates both competition and convergence, facilitating the processing of cognate words, but slowing lexical access when there is a requirement to engage control mechanisms to select the target language. Critically, these consequences are evident in the native language (L1) as well as in the second language (L2). The present study questioned whether L1 changes can be detected at early stages of L2 learning and how they are modulated by L2 proficiency. Native English speakers learning Spanish performed an English (L1) lexical decision task that included cognates while event-related potentials were recorded. They also performed verbal fluency, working memory, and inhibitory control tasks. A group of matched monolinguals performed the same tasks in English only. The results revealed that intermediate learners demonstrate a reduced N400 for cognates compared with noncognates in English (L1), and an emerging effect is visually present in beginning learners as well; however, no behavioral cognate effect was present for either group. In addition, slower reaction times in English (L1) are related to a larger cognate N400 magnitude in English (L1) and Spanish (L2), and to better inhibitory control for learners but not for monolinguals. The results suggest that contrary to the claim that L2 affects L1 only when L2 speakers are highly proficient, L2 learning begins to impact L1 early in the development of the L2 skill.

Specialist English as a foreign language for European public health: evaluation of competencies and needs among Polish and Lithuanian students.

PubMed

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 English teaching methods (going abroad, contacts with native speakers) in comparison with theory-oriented or classroom-based methods of learning (self-studying, Internet courses). Survey showed a growing interest of students in improving English language in the future in Poland and Lithuania.

Investigating Criterial Discourse Features across Second Language Development: Lexical Bundles in Rated Learner Essays, CEFR B1, B2 and C1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Yu-Hua; Baker, Paul

2016-01-01

In this study, we investigated criterial discourse features in L2 writing through the use of recurrent word combinations, a.k.a. lexical bundles, taking a corpus-driven and expert-judged approach by examining L2 English data across various proficiency levels from L1 Chinese learners. Proficiency was determined by a robust rating procedure which is…

Healthcare Access and Utilization among Korean Americans: The Mediating Role of English Use and Proficiency

PubMed Central

Maxwell, Annette E.; Glenn, Beth A.; Herrmann, Alison K.; Chang, L Cindy; Crespi, Catherine M.; Bastani, Roshan

2017-01-01

The literature suggests that Korean Americans underutilize health services. Cultural factors and language barriers appear to influence this pattern of low utilization but studies on the relationships among length of stay in the US, English use and proficiency, and utilization of health services among Korean Americans have yielded inconsistent results. This study examines whether English language use and proficiency plays a mediating role in the relationships between length of stay in the US and health insurance coverage, access to and use of care. Structural equation modeling was used for mediation analysis with multiple dependent variables among Korean Americans (N = 555) using baseline data from a large trial designed to increase Hepatitis B testing. The results show 36% of the total effect of proportion of lifetime in the US on having health insurance was significantly mediated by English use and proficiency (indirect effect = 0.166, SE = 0.07, p<.05; direct effect = 0.296, SE = 0.13, p<.05). Proportion of lifetime in the US was not associated with usual source of care and health service utilization. Instead, health care utilization was primarily driven by having health insurance and a usual source of care, further underscoring the importance of these factors. A focus on increasing English use and proficiency and insurance coverage among older, female, less educated Korean Americans has the potential to mitigate health disparities associated with reduced access to health services in this population. PMID:29057278

Exploring the Impact of Language Services on Utilization and Clinical Outcomes for Diabetics

PubMed Central

Hacker, Karen; Choi, Yoon Susan; Trebino, Lisa; Hicks, LeRoi; Friedman, Elisa; Blanchfield, Bonnie; Gazelle, G. Scott

2012-01-01

Background Significant health disparities exist between limited English proficient and English-proficient patients. Little is known about the impact of language services on chronic disease outcomes such as for diabetes. Methods/Principal Findings To determine whether the amount and type of language services received during primary care visits had an impact on diabetes-related outcomes (hospitalization, emergency room utilization, glycemic control) in limited English proficient patients, a retrospective cohort design was utilized. Hospital and medical record data was examined for 1425 limited English proficient patients in the Cambridge Health Alliance diabetes registry. We categorized patients receiving usual care into 7 groups based on the amount and combination of language services (language concordant providers, formal interpretation and nothing) received at primary care visits during a 9 month period. Bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regression were used to determine relationships between language service categories and outcomes in the subsequent 6 months. Thirty-one percent of patients (445) had no documentation of interpreter use or seeing a language concordant provider in any visits. Patients who received 100% of their primary care visits with language concordant providers were least likely to have diabetes-related emergency department visits compared to other groups (p<0001) in the following 6 months. Patients with higher numbers of co-morbidities were more likely to receive formal interpretation. Conclusions/Significance Language concordant providers may help reduce health care utilization for limited English proficient patients with diabetes. However, given the lack of such providers in sufficient numbers to meet patients' communication needs, strategies are needed to both increase their numbers and ensure that the highest risk patients receive the most appropriate language services. In addition, systems serving diverse populations must clarify why some limited English proficient patients do not receive language services at some or all of their visits and whether this has an impact on quality of care. PMID:22675571

Investigating the Measurement of Grammatical Knowledge and Civics Content Knowledge in the Context of an English-for Specific-Purposes Program Designed for Adult Learners with Low English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dakin, Jee Wha

2010-01-01

In the context of adult learners with low English proficiency enrolled in an organization offering instruction in both language and civics content, the purpose of the study was to determine. (1) the nature of grammatical knowledge in the context in the learners' second language (L2) and the nature of civics content knowledge in the learners' first…

Factors To Consider: Developing Adult EFL Students' Speaking Abilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shumin, Kang

1997-01-01

Suggests that, to provide effective guidance in developing competent speakers of English, it is necessary to examine the factors affecting adult learners' oral communication, components underlying speaking proficiency, and specific skills or strategies used in communication. (Author/VWL)

The effects of phonological awareness of Zulu-speaking children learning to spell in English: a study of cross-language transfer.

PubMed

De Sousa, Diana Soares; Greenop, Kirston; Fry, Jessica

2010-12-01

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 instruction. Thus, whether PA in a L1 impacts on literacy acquisition in the L2 remains unclear. Performance on monolingual PA, monolingual and emergent bilingual spelling was compared. In addition, PA and spelling in emergent bilingual Zulu-English speakers was explored to ascertain cross-language transfer relationships. Thirty emergent bilingual Zulu-English and thirty monolingual English children in grade 2 participated. Emergent bilinguals were assessed on Zulu PA, Zulu and English spelling skills. Monolinguals were assessed on English PA and English spelling skills. Emergent bilinguals had more Zulu PA levels related to spelling English tasks than to spelling Zulu tasks, and both Zulu PA and Zulu spelling were positively related to English spelling tasks. Significant differences were found between L1 Zulu and English phoneme and rime PA levels, and L1 English and L2 English spelling tasks. Findings support the language-universal hypothesis that L1 PA is related to spelling across languages in emergent bilinguals. In emergent bilinguals, both Zulu spoken proficiency and English-only literacy instruction influences the underlying repertoire of PA skills used to spell within the L1 and the L2. Rime and phoneme PA and spelling skills in Zulu/English rely on language-specific orthographic knowledge.

Listening with a foreign-accent: The interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit in Mandarin speakers of English

PubMed Central

Xie, Xin; Fowler, Carol A.

2013-01-01

This study examined the intelligibility of native and Mandarin-accented English speech for native English and native Mandarin listeners. In the latter group, it also examined the role of the language environment and English proficiency. Three groups of listeners were tested: native English listeners (NE), Mandarin-speaking Chinese listeners in the US (M-US) and Mandarin listeners in Beijing, China (M-BJ). As a group, M-US and M-BJ listeners were matched on English proficiency and age of acquisition. A nonword transcription task was used. Identification accuracy for word-final stops in the nonwords established two independent interlanguage intelligibility effects. An interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit for listeners (ISIB-L) was manifest by both groups of Mandarin listeners outperforming native English listeners in identification of Mandarin-accented speech. In the benefit for talkers (ISIB-T), only M-BJ listeners were more accurate identifying Mandarin-accented speech than native English speech. Thus, both Mandarin groups demonstrated an ISIB-L while only the M-BJ group overall demonstrated an ISIB-T. The English proficiency of listeners was found to modulate the magnitude of the ISIB-T in both groups. Regression analyses also suggested that the listener groups differ in their use of acoustic information to identify voicing in stop consonants. PMID:24293741

Dual language profiles of Latino children of immigrants: Stability and change over the early school years

PubMed Central

COLLINS, BRIAN A.; O'CONNOR, ERIN E.; SUÁREZ-OROZCO, CAROLA; NIETO-CASTAÑON, ALFONSO; TOPPELBERG, CLAUDIO O.

2013-01-01

Dual language children enter school with varying levels of proficiencies in their first and second language. This study of Latino children of immigrants (N = 163) analyzes their dual language profiles at kindergarten and second grade, derived from the direct assessment of Spanish and English proficiencies (Woodcock Language Proficiency Batteries–Revised). Children were grouped based on the similarity of language profiles (competent profiles, such as dual proficient, Spanish proficient, and English proficient; and low-performing profiles, including borderline proficient and limited proficient). At kindergarten, the majority of children (63%) demonstrated a low-performing profile; by second grade, however, the majority of children (64%) had competent profiles. Change and stability of language profiles over time of individual children were then analyzed. Of concern, are children who continued to demonstrate a low-performing, high-risk profile. Factors in the linguistic environments at school and home, as well as other family and child factors associated with dual language profiles and change/stability over time were examined, with a particular focus on the persistently low-performing profile groups. PMID:24825925

Disparities in Hypertension Associated with Limited English Proficiency.

PubMed

Kim, Eun Ji; Kim, Taekyu; Paasche-Orlow, Michael K; Rose, Adam J; Hanchate, Amresh D

2017-06-01

Limited English proficiency (LEP) is associated with poor health status and worse outcomes. To examine disparities in hypertension between National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) respondents with LEP versus adequate English proficiency. Retrospective analysis of multi-year survey data. Adults 18 years of age and older who participated in the NHANES survey during the period 2003-2012. We defined participants with LEP as anyone who completed the NHANES survey in a language other than English or with the support of an interpreter. Using logistic regression, we estimated the odds ratio for undiagnosed or uncontrolled hypertension (systolic blood pressure (SBP) > 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > 90 mmHg) among LEP participants relative to those with adequate English proficiency. We adjusted for sociodemographic, acculturation-related, and hypertension-related variables. Fourteen percent (n = 3,269) of the participants had limited English proficiency: 12.4% (n = 2906) used a Spanish questionnaire and 1.6% (n = 363) used an interpreter to complete the survey in another language. Those with LEP had higher odds of elevated blood pressure on physical examination (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.47 [1.07-2.03]). This finding persisted among participants using an interpreter (AOR = 1.88 [1.15-3.06]) but not among those using the Spanish questionnaire (AOR = 1.32 [0.98-1.80]). In a subgroup analysis, we found that the majority of uncontrolled hypertension was concentrated among individuals with a known diagnosis of hypertension (AOR = 1.80 [1.16-2.81]) rather than those with undiagnosed hypertension (AOR = 1.14 [0.74-1.75]). Interpreter use was associated with increased odds of uncontrolled hypertension, especially among patients who were not being medically managed for hypertension (AOR = 6.56 [1.30-33.12]). In a nationally representative sample, participants with LEP were more likely to have poorly controlled hypertension than those with adequate English proficiency. LEP is an important driver of disparities in hypertension management and outcomes.

Codeswitching techniques: evidence-based instructional practices for the ASL/English bilingual classroom.

PubMed

Andrews, Jean F; Rusher, Melissa

2010-01-01

The authors present a perspective on emerging bilingual deaf students who are exposed to, learning, and developing two languages--American Sign Language (ASL) and English (spoken English, manually coded English, and English reading and writing). The authors suggest that though deaf children may lack proficiency or fluency in either language during early language-learning development, they still engage in codeswitching activities, in which they go back and forth between signing and English to communicate. The authors then provide a second meaning of codeswitching--as a purpose-driven instructional technique in which the teacher strategically changes from ASL to English print for purposes of vocabulary and reading comprehension. The results of four studies are examined that suggest that certain codeswitching strategies support English vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. These instructional strategies are couched in a five-pronged approach to furthering the development of bilingual education for deaf students.

Oral English Language Proficiency and Reading Mastery: The Role of Home Language and School Supports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Assessing Students with Disabilities and Limited English Proficiency. Working Paper Series. Working Paper No. 95-13.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houser, James

In recent assessments, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has permitted schools to exclude some students with disabilities or limited English proficiency because it believed that its assessments would not accurately measure the ability and achievement levels of these students. The exclusion of a portion of students from…

Teaching Science to Students with Limited English Proficiency through Nested Spiral Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chyu, Chi-oy W.

The Nested Spiral Approach (NSA) is a teaching technique designed for students of limited English proficiency that integrates four aspects of motivated learning: contents, language, culture, and real life experiences. The approach consists of: (1) effective use of student strengths; (2) three teaching cycles for each lesson; and (3) five steps in…

Teaching Mathematics Problem Solving to Students with Limited English Proficiency through Nested Spiral Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chyu, Chi-Oy W.

The Nested Spiral Approach (NSA) is an integrated instructional approach used to promote the motivated learning of mathematics problem solving in limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. The NSA is described and a trial use is discussed. The approach extends, elaborates, and supplements existing education and instruction theories to help LEP…

The Effect of Dual-Language and Transitional-Bilingual Education Instructional Models on Spanish Proficiency for English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Audrey Figueroa

2014-01-01

The effects of "transitional-bilingual" and "dual-language" educational models on proficiency in students' home language (Spanish) were examined in a study of English language learners in the first and second grades in a large urban elementary school. In each grade, students were taught with either a transitional-bilingual…

34 CFR 270.3 - What definitions apply to these programs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... under 34 CFR part 272. (Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2000c-2000c-2, 2000c-5) Limited English proficiency has the... their national origin, including providing students of limited English proficiency with a full...) School board means any agency or agencies that administer a system of one or more public schools and any...

Motivation for Staying in College: Differences Between LEP (Limited English Proficiency) and Non-LEP Hispanic Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fong, Carlton J.; Krause, Jaimie M.; Acee, Taylor W.; Weinstein, Claire Ellen

2016-01-01

The study investigated motivational differences and higher education outcomes between limited English proficiency (LEP) Hispanic students compared with non-LEP Hispanic students. With a sample of 668 Hispanic community college students, we measured various forms of achievement motivation informed by self-determination theory, grade point average…

Parental Interactions with Latino Infants: Variation by Country of Origin and English Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cabrera, Natasha J.; Shannon, Jacqueline D.; West, Jerry; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2006-01-01

This study examined variation in mother-infant interactions, father engagement, and infant cognition as a function of country of origin, socioeconomic status, and English language proficiency in a national sample of Latino infants (age 9 months) born in the United States and living with both biological parents (N=1,099). Differences between…

The Effects of Video SCMC on English Proficiency, Speaking Performance and Willingness to Communicate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iino, Atsushi; Yabuta, Yukiko

2015-01-01

This paper introduces a case course with videoconferencing as a way of Synchronous Computer Mediated Communication (SCMC) for foreign language education in Japan. Research questions were to see the effects of videoconferencing on the learners' speaking ability and general English language proficiency, and also to see how the learners'…

U.S. School Reform Policy, State Accountability Systems and the Limited English Proficient Student.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyes, Pedro; Rorrer, Andrea

2001-01-01

Addresses the political and policy environment that has shaped the educational agenda for rising U.S. state accountability systems, highlighting these policies' effects on the limited-English-proficient learner. The hope for language-minority students lies in pressures on school officials to narrow the white/minority achievement gap. (Contains 64…

Proficiency in English, Linguistic Shift and Ethnic Capital: An Intergenerational Analysis of Non-English Speaking Background Immigrant Groups in Sydney, Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

Effect of WhatsApp on Critique Writing Proficiency and Perceptions toward Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

A Comparison of Reliability and Precision of Subscore Reporting Methods for a State English Language Proficiency Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Longabach, Tanya; Peyton, Vicki

2018-01-01

K-12 English language proficiency tests that assess multiple content domains (e.g., listening, speaking, reading, writing) often have subsections based on these content domains; scores assigned to these subsections are commonly known as subscores. Testing programs face increasing customer demands for the reporting of subscores in addition to the…

Early Literacy Skills and English Language Learners: An Analysis of Students in a Title I School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

English Proficiency and Admission and Graduation of Post-Secondary Students at a Puerto Rican University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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…

"English Is the Vehicle to Communicate!" International Graduate Students' Perceptions of the Connection between Language Proficiency and Academic Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rawjee, Roopa

2010-01-01

This case study was conducted at a large four year institution of higher education located in southern California. The purpose was to answer the question, "What are international graduate students' perceptions of the connection between English language proficiency and academic success?" The participants were six international graduate…

Accent, Perpetual Foreigner Stereotype, and Perceived Discrimination as Indirect Links between English Proficiency and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese American Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Su Yeong; Wang, Yijie; Deng, Shiying; Alvarez, Rocio; Li, Jing

2011-01-01

The current study uses Garcia Coll et al.'s (1996) developmental competence model of ethnic minority children and Kim's (1999) racial triangulation theory as frameworks for investigating the mechanisms whereby early adolescent English proficiency relates to perceived discriminatory experiences and adolescent depressive symptoms. Data from 444…

An Examination of Rater Performance on a Local Oral English Proficiency Test: A Mixed-Methods Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yan, Xun

2014-01-01

This paper reports on a mixed-methods approach to evaluate rater performance on a local oral English proficiency test. Three types of reliability estimates were reported to examine rater performance from different perspectives. Quantitative results were also triangulated with qualitative rater comments to arrive at a more representative picture of…

Understanding Intermediate-Level Speakers' Strengths and Weaknesses: An Examination of OPIc Tests from Korean Learners of English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, Troy L.

2017-01-01

This study profiled Intermediate-level learners in terms of their linguistic characteristics and performance on different proficiency tasks. A stratified random sample of 300 Korean learners of English with holistic ratings of Intermediate Low (IL), Intermediate Mid (IM), and Intermediate High (IH) on Oral Proficiency Interviews-computerized…

Southeast Asian Refugee English Proficiency & Education in Texas: Findings from the Texas Refugee Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Eric H.; Barton, Lisa S.

This document is the first in a series of reports about Texas's refugees and is an analysis of more than 1,000 Vietnamese and Laotian refugee interviews. What follows is an examination of the relationships English proficiency and education have with Southeast Asian refugees' income, mammogram screenings, smoking, citizenship, possession of a…

Fostering and Eliciting Emergent Literacy Skills in Potentially English Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beers, Elizabeth A.

This report describes an early intervention program to elicit emergent literacy skills in Potentially English Proficient kindergarten students. The school is located in a suburb of a large city near a naval base. The problem, lack of literacy readiness skills, was documented with a battery of tests given prior to entrance in kindergarten and the…

Cross-Language Activation Begins during Speech Planning and Extends into Second Language Speech

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, April; Fricke, Melinda; Kroll, Judith F.

2016-01-01

Three groups of native English speakers named words aloud in Spanish, their second language (L2). Intermediate proficiency learners in a classroom setting (Experiment 1) and in a domestic immersion program (Experiment 2) were compared to a group of highly proficient English-Spanish speakers. All three groups named cognate words more quickly and…

Translation Recognition in Highly Proficient Hindi-English Bilinguals: The Influence of Different Scripts but Connectable Phonologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sunderman, Gretchen L.; Priya, Kanu

2012-01-01

This study investigates the phonological nature of the lexical links in the bilingual lexicon using different-script bilinguals. Highly proficient Hindi-English bilinguals performed a translation recognition task (i.e., decide whether two words presented sequentially are a correct translation pair). For the critical trials, the second word was a…

English Proficiency and Peer Interethnic Relations as Predictors of Math Achievement among Latino and Asian Immigrant Students

PubMed Central

Barrett, Alice N.; Barile, John P.; Malm, Esther K.; Weaver, Scott R.

2013-01-01

Studies show math achievement to be the best predictor of entering post-secondary education. However, less is known about the predictors of math achievement, particularly among immigrant youth. This study examined English proficiency and peer interethnic relations as predictors of mathematics achievement among Latino and Asian high school students, postulating an interaction between the predictors and mediation by academic motivation. A multilevel moderated-mediation model was used to analyze data from a national sample of 2,113 non-native English speaking Latino and Asian students attending high school in the U.S. We found that higher academic motivation mediated the relationship between English proficiency during their sophomore year and gains in senior math achievement scores for both Asian and Latino students. For Latino students however, this indirect path was only significant for students whose perceptions of positive peer interethnic relations at school were average or above average. PMID:22959129

Needs of Foreign Students from Developing Nations at U.S. Colleges and Universities.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-03-01

variations among the students. Sex, age, and marital status were part of these variations. English language proficiency, as measured by TOEFL scores...varies by the command of English students have. The command of English was measured by two measures; (1) TOEFL score ranges, and (2) the self evaluation...coefficients from a statistical point of view. However, when the coefficients were examined substantive- ly, TOEFL score ranges did not account for 5% or more of

Promoting English oral communication and higher-order thinking in Taiwanese ESL students through the use of knowledge visualization techniques.

PubMed

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.

Adapting Evidence-Based Practices to Meet the Needs of English Learners with Mathematics Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doabler, Christian T.; Nelson, Nancy J.; Clarke, Ben

2016-01-01

Convincing evidence suggests that a considerable number of U.S. students struggle to develop mathematics proficiency. One subgroup of students who have a high probability of mathematical failure is English learners (ELs), who now represent 10% of the U.S. student population; 70% of these students speak Spanish at home (Fry & Passel, 2009). ELs…

The Anxiety Factors among Saudi EFL Learners: A Study from English Language Teachers' Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asif, Fariha

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that trigger language anxiety among Saudi learners in English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. The factor of anxiety is especially found among learners while developing proficiency in over all communication and speaking skills as felt by the EFL teachers. The study also seeks to answer…

Beyond High School Graduation Requirements: What Do Students Need To Learn at The International High School?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaGuardia Community Coll., Long Island City, NY. International High School.

The International High School opened on the campus of LaGuardia Community College in September 1985, with the goal of developing basic English language proficiency through a program of substantive study in a high school/college curriculum for students of limited English language abilities. This curriculum guide presents seven areas of discussion,…

George W. Wingate High School Bilingual Demonstration College Preparatory Program, 1981-1982. O.E.E. Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zephirin, Henriot; And Others

In its first year of operation, 1981-82, the Bilingual Demonstration College Preparatory Program in New York City served 81 students of Hispanic origin with limited English proficiency. The program stresses the acquisition of English skills as well as the development of the students' native language and is geared toward mainstreaming students as…

Investigating the Homogeneity and Distinguishability of STEP Proficiency Descriptors in Assessing English Language Learners in Ontario Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jang, Eunice Eunhee; Cummins, Jim; Wagner, Maryam; Stille, Saskia; Dunlop, Maggie

2015-01-01

Research on issues concerning the assessment of school-age English language learners (ELLs) in curriculum-learning contexts has been relatively less productive than assessment of adult language learners. A growing demand for assessing school-age ELLs has led to the development of assessment frameworks that provide the opportunity to examine the…

Park West High School Vocational and High School Equivalency Bilingual Program, 1987-88. OREA Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berney, Tomi D.; Alvarez, Rosalyn

In its fifth and final year of federal funding, the Vocational and High School Equivalency Program at New York's Park West High School served 254 students in grades 9-12. The program's purpose was to help students of limited English proficiency develop English language skills while receiving occupational training after school. The transitional…

An Investigation into the Use of Word Frequency Lists in Computing Vocabulary Profiles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coniam, David

1999-01-01

Investigates word frequency as an indicator of language proficiency in the written English of Grade 13 learners of English in Hong Kong. The study develops Laufer and Nation's (1995) work on Lexical Frequency Profile in which student writing was analyzed for the frequency of word families, with vocabulary profiles produced from the scripts on the…

Curricular Change Using an ID (Instructional Development) Model: Application within a Malaysian/American Cooperative University Setting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilhelm, Kim Hughes

A project to improve a program in English for academic purposes in Malaysia is described. The program is a university preparatory curriculum for Malaysian students wishing to attend colleges in the United States. In the program, students are placed in one of three tracks based on English language proficiency. The project was intended to integrate…

English proficiency, knowledge, and receipt of HPV vaccine in Vietnamese-American women.

PubMed

Yi, Jenny K; Anderson, Karen O; Le, Yen-Chi; Escobar-Chaves, Soledad L; Reyes-Gibby, Cielito C

2013-10-01

Cervical cancer is one of the most important disease burdens experienced by Vietnamese-American women. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the etiological agent in almost all cases of cervical cancer. We surveyed Vietnamese-American women to determine receipt of HPV vaccine and assessed if limited English proficiency and knowledge related to HPV vaccine were associated with HPV vaccine uptake. Of the 113 Vietnamese-American women who participated in the study, 58 % (n = 68) was born in Vietnam. The mean years of residency in the United States was 12.75 years. Only 16 (14 %) reported receiving HPV vaccine and 11 (9 %) reported receiving all three shots. Thirteen women responded that they are not at all likely to receive HPV vaccine. Of the whole sample, 47 % (n = 53) reported proficiency in spoken and written English. English proficiency was significantly associated with receipt of HPV vaccine (OR = 4.4; confidence interval (95 % CI) = 1.2; 16.50; p = 0.03). Of the knowledge items, 70 % (n = 79) responded correctly that HPV increases the risk for cervical cancer. However, as many as 60 % responded incorrectly, that HPV infection can be cured with medication. The item, "People infected with HPV can be cured with medication," was the most important variable associated with receipt of HPV vaccine. Specifically, those with correct response were 3.8 times more likely to report receiving the HPV vaccine (OR = 3.8; 95 % CI = 1.1; 13.5; p = 0.04). Important public health needs are the development and evaluation of educational programs on HPV and cervical cancer that are designed for Vietnamese-American women.

Sea Turtles and Strategies for Language Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tippins, Deborah; And Others

1993-01-01

Describes teaching strategies, including science activities, for challenging students' misconceptions about turtles and helping limited-English-proficiency students enhance their language proficiency. (PR)

The Emergence of a Phoneme-Sized Unit in L2 Speech Production: Evidence from Japanese–English Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Nakayama, Mariko; Kinoshita, Sachiko; Verdonschot, Rinus G.

2016-01-01

Recent research has revealed that the way phonology is constructed during word production differs across languages. Dutch and English native speakers are suggested to incrementally insert phonemes into a metrical frame, whereas Mandarin Chinese speakers use syllables and Japanese speakers use a unit called the mora (often a CV cluster such as “ka” or “ki”). The present study is concerned with the question how bilinguals construct phonology in their L2 when the phonological unit size differs from the unit in their L1. Japanese–English bilinguals of varying proficiency read aloud English words preceded by masked primes that overlapped in just the onset (e.g., bark-BENCH) or the onset plus vowel corresponding to the mora-sized unit (e.g., bell-BENCH). Low-proficient Japanese–English bilinguals showed CV priming but did not show onset priming, indicating that they use their L1 phonological unit when reading L2 English words. In contrast, high-proficient Japanese–English bilinguals showed significant onset priming. The size of the onset priming effect was correlated with the length of time spent in English-speaking countries, which suggests that extensive exposure to L2 phonology may play a key role in the emergence of a language-specific phonological unit in L2 word production. PMID:26941669

Facility with the English language and problem-based learning group interaction: findings from an Arabic setting.

PubMed

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 < 0.01). The educational level of the student's mother was highly predictive of 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.

Health Literacy, Acculturation, and the Use of Preventive Oral Health Care by Somali Refugees Living in Massachusetts

PubMed Central

Hunter Adams, Jo; Penrose, Katherine L.; Cochran, Jennifer; Rybin, Denis; Doros, Gheorghe; Henshaw, Michelle; Paasche-Orlow, Michael

2013-01-01

Background This study investigated the impact of English health literacy and spoken proficiency and acculturation on preventive dental care use among Somali refugees in Massachusetts. Methods 439 adult Somalis in the U.S. ≤ 10 years ago were interviewed. English functional health literacy, dental word recognition, and spoken proficiency were measured using STOFHLA, REALD, and BEST Plus. Logistic regression tested associations of language measures with preventive dental care use. Results Without controlling for acculturation, participants with higher health literacy were 2.0 times more likely to have had preventive care (p=0.02). Subjects with higher word recognition were 1.8 times as likely to have had preventive care (p=0.04). Controlling for acculturation, these were no longer significant, and spoken proficiency was not associated with increased preventive care use. Discussion English health literacy and spoken proficiency were not associated with preventive dental care. Other factors, like acculturation, were more predictive of care use than language skills. PMID:23748902

An Investigation into Pragmatic Knowledge in the Reading Section of TOLIMO, TOEFL, and IELTS Examinations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karbalaei, Alireza; Rahmanzade, Mehrnaz Kashkooli

2015-01-01

The present study focused on the analysis of listening sections of two international English proficiency tests, i.e. IELTS and TOEFL tests, and one local English proficiency test, i.e. TOLIMO from pragmatic perspective. An attempt was made to explore the areas of pragmatic knowledge presented, and to assess test takers' pragmatic knowledge. For…

34 CFR 472.33 - How must projects that serve adults with limited English proficiency provide for the needs of...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false How must projects that serve adults with limited English proficiency provide for the needs of those adults? 472.33 Section 472.33 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF VOCATIONAL AND ADULT EDUCATION...

34 CFR 472.33 - How must projects that serve adults with limited English proficiency provide for the needs of...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false How must projects that serve adults with limited English proficiency provide for the needs of those adults? 472.33 Section 472.33 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF VOCATIONAL AND ADULT EDUCATION...

34 CFR 472.33 - How must projects that serve adults with limited English proficiency provide for the needs of...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false How must projects that serve adults with limited English proficiency provide for the needs of those adults? 472.33 Section 472.33 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF VOCATIONAL AND ADULT EDUCATION...

34 CFR 472.33 - How must projects that serve adults with limited English proficiency provide for the needs of...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false How must projects that serve adults with limited English proficiency provide for the needs of those adults? 472.33 Section 472.33 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF VOCATIONAL AND ADULT EDUCATION...

Prospects: The Congressionally Mandated Study of Educational Growth and Opportunity. First Year Report on Language Minority and Limited English Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moss, Marc; Puma, Michael

This report presents descriptive findings from the Language Minority/Limited English Proficiency Student Supplement of "Prospects," a six-year longitudinal evaluation concerning the impact of federal Chapter 1 programs. These programs provide supplemental instruction to low-achieving elementary and secondary school students in low-income schools.…

Academic Achievement of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in an ASL/English Bilingual Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hrastinski, Iva; Wilbur, Ronnie B.

2016-01-01

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…

A Comparative Study of the Oral Proficiency of Chinese Learners of English across Task Functions: A Discourse Marker Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Ming

2011-01-01

This study investigated the use of discourse markers (DMs) by college learners of English in China. It compared the use of DMs for four discourse functions by students at different proficiency levels. An audio-video instrument called Video Oral Communication Instrument was conducted to elicit ratable speech samples. Fraser's (1999) taxonomy was…

Educator User Guide for Adminstrators and Educational Personnel. A Supplement to the Texas Successful Schools Study: Quality Education for Limited English Proficient Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas Education Agency, Austin.

The Texas Successful Schools Study profiled the contributions of programs, policies, and school personnel to the academic success of limited English proficient (LEP) students in seven successful elementary schools. This guide shares study information with school administrators to assist them in designing, implementing, and enhancing programs for…

Using Nonsense Word Fluency to Predict Reading Proficiency in Kindergarten through Second Grade for English Learners and Native English Speakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fien, Hank; Baker, Scott K.; Smolkowski, Keith; Smith, Jean L. Mercier; Kame'enui, Edward J.; Beck, Carrie Thomas

2008-01-01

This study examined the validity of Nonsense Word Fluency as an index of beginning reading proficiency for students in kindergarten through second grade. Validity evidence for Nonsense Word Fluency is addressed in the context of research-based instructional practices implemented on a large scale. Technical adequacy data are presented for all…

A Review of the Literature on Students with Limited English Proficiency and Assessment. State Assessment Series: Minnesota, Report 11.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Kristin; Thurlow, Martha; Erickson, Ronald; Spicuzza, Richard; Heinze, Kathryn

In order to encourage school districts to include students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in educational assessments, this report discusses issues involved in assessing students with LEP. Topics include: (1) the role of testing in education and the different types of tests mandated by educational reform legislation; (2) characteristics of…

A Multi-Method Analysis of Evaluation Criteria Used to Assess the Speaking Proficiency of Graduate Student Instructors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plough, India C.; Briggs, Sarah L.; Van Bonn, Sarah

2010-01-01

The study reported here examined the evaluation criteria used to assess the proficiency and effectiveness of the language produced in an oral performance test of English conducted in an American university context. Empirical methods were used to analyze qualitatively and quantitatively transcriptions of the Oral English Tests (OET) of 44…