Use of English Language Proficiency Data to Better Assess Reading Growth for English Language Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Heath Marrs ◽  
Melissa De Leon ◽  
Timothy Lawless
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Sultan H. Alharbi

The term ‘struggling language learner’ is one that is usually ascribed to students who are trying, without much success to master the English language in an academic setting. As a case study, this study was carried out to gain insights into the ‘struggles’ of the struggling English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Ten students were selected from those with the 20th least percentile in their English language courses. Observation of and discussion with these categories of learners revealed that many language learners had a point at which they began to take learning English language more seriously. In such positive or negative situations, their language learning journey improved therefrom. The findings showed that 80% of the participants believed that their English language proficiency was ‘very good’, while 20% of these participants believed that their English language proficiency was ‘average’. Also, the findings indicated that there was a statistically significant association (i.e., p < .05) between English language proficiency of the learners and the following observable attributes: willingness to learn for educational purposes; willingness to learn for career development; and students’ continuation without losing focus. The study proposes a fresh evaluation of the problems faced by EFL struggling learners by bringing to light a multifaceted, meaningful consideration of their learning attitudes from socio-psychological point of view, offering a comprehensive account of these learners and their learning difficulties as well as their attitudes and outlook while taking lessons as freshmen at the university.  


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacky Deng ◽  
Malek Rahmani ◽  
Alison Flynn

Constructing scientific arguments is an essential skill for members of society, especially in a world facing complex socioscientific issues. Educators can help students develop scientific argumentation skills; however, argumentation is a complex linguistic practice and little is known about how English language learners construct arguments in English. We investigated how undergraduate science students’ English language proficiency and history were associated with their level of reasoning in scientific arguments (N = 166). We found that participants’ English language experiences, including their proficiency and history, were associated with the level of reasoning demonstrated. These findings suggest a need to identify the associated barriers faced by students from diverse language backgrounds and design equitable educational supports and assessments.


2020 ◽  
pp. 073194872093042
Author(s):  
R. Alex Smith ◽  
Erica S. Lembke

This study represents an initial examination of the potential of word dictation (WD), a form of curriculum-based measure, to identify risk in writing for young English language learners (ELs). The sample included 73 ELs with beginning to advanced English language proficiency in the first to third grades attending schools in one Midwestern school district. This district used an English-only model of instruction and students completed two forms of WD in the fall, winter, and spring. The criterion measure, a common English language proficiency assessment, was administered in the winter. Results indicated that WD maintained similar reliability and validity coefficients between the ELs in this study and previous studies with the general population. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustapha Boughoulid

The increase in the needs of the English language learners (ELLs) and their endless demands in terms of achievement and proficiency in all the educational systems all over the world urged teachers and educators to call for new teaching strategies that sound more adequate and appropriate in the classroom. The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model emerged as one of the worldwide prominent teaching methods that guarantee the ELLs success, especially when it has to do with the understanding of the content and language learning meanwhile. With its diverse culture and prominent engagement in terms of education, Morocco represents a fertile field for the implementation of the SIOP Model that has proven in different contexts its adequacy in helping ELLs achieve proficiency. This study is about a quasi-experimental research that is implemented in an urban school known for its diversification in terms of mother tongue, socio-economic status, gender, and background. Given these different circumstances of the learners, the findings reported after the adoption of the SIOP Model as a teaching approach showed that it is a reliable and adequate teaching method in terms of content and language proficiency. The use of wh-questions as key indicators to measure the learners’ capacity of understanding and responding correctly throughout the experiment phase showed the superiority of the ELLs in the SIOP classes in contrast to the learners in the mainstream classes. This superiority is embodied, especially in terms of the high scores obtained in providing correct answers in a short duration of time. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0726/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>


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