scholarly journals Re-Envisioning ESL for Short-Term Programs

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 26-37
Author(s):  
Marcellino A. Berardo ◽  
Baiba Šedriks ◽  
Geri Lamer ◽  
Marina Greene

ESL professionals have traditionally taught the four language skills, vocabulary, and grammar in Intensive English Programs (IEPs) to help incoming students satisfy the university’s ESL requirement. As international education continues to change, however, the ESL profession will need to re-conceptualize its role and make explicit its evolving relevance. IEPs and traditional ESL classes are not necessarily applicable to short-term programs, whose purpose is to give participants some experience at a US institution with a focus on a specific discipline or area of study.  This paper demonstrates two ways ESL professionals re-envisioned their role at the university for short-term programs (STPs) by creating English courses for the international education experience. With linguistic and cultural guidance from the ESL instructors, participants in these English courses critically analyzed impactful observations, perceptions, ideas, or events from the STP and gave PowerPoint presentations at a program-wide conference on their analysis of one academic or non-academic concept or observation that had the most impact.

Author(s):  
Ferit Kılıçkaya

This chapter attempts to investigate which ICT applications are employed by language learners to assess themselves. The study focuses mainly on 500 universities in the intensive English programs that aim to furnish students with essential language skills to pursue their studies in their subsequent departments or programs. The participants were directed to an online questionnaire in which they were asked to indicate the ICT applications that they did employ informally outside the classroom. Moreover, the participants were also asked to explain how they used these applications during the interviews. The findings of the study indicated that the participants employed websites and applications mainly for listening and grammar and that the participants had fewer options regarding speaking and writing assessment activities. Regarding the participants' choices of the applications that they could use to assess themselves, several reasons were provided that show the cost of the application and easy access and use.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-207
Author(s):  
Jonathan K. McNair ◽  
Eric Friginal ◽  
Alison Camacho

A major focus of Intensive English Programs (IEPs) in most universities in the United States (U.S.) is English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which prepares English language learners for undergraduate and graduate study, delivered or facilitated in English across scholarly and professional settings. The same EAP approach may also be successfully implemented for short-term, inbound study abroad programs for international students and professionals hosted in the U.S. This qualitative review of current best practices aims to (1) to explore and document measurable trends on the efficacy of outbound study abroad programs from U.S. universities that may, ultimately, help develop short-term, inbound EAP programs, (2) provide a framework that could help IEP directors and coordinators in running short-term EAP courses, and (3) discuss innovations and future directions in hosting short-term EAP programs in an IEP setting in the U.S. Data sources include an extensive review of literature in the field (especially focusing on faculty-led study abroad courses overseas), ethnographic interviews of various stakeholders, and assessment/evaluation results from EAP materials developed specifically for international students in short-term IEP programs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Lelawati Jamaludin ◽  
David Lackland Sam ◽  
Gro Mjeldheim Sandal

This study aims to understand factors predicting destination-loyalty intention in international education. A sample of 378 long-term (n=195) and short-term (n=183) international students participated in the study carried out in 2014 through an on-line survey at the University of Bergen, Norway. Using a series of hierarchical regression analyses, the researchers found that among short-term students, destination motivation (pull), orientation to mainstream and heritage culture together with psychological adaptations were the most important variables influencing their decision to revisit and to recommend the destination to others. Among long-term students, the same variables with the exception of psychological adaptation in addition to sociocultural adaptation were the significant predictors of destination-loyalty intention. This study discusses the results from a social, psychological and international education perspective as well as their implications for destination management.


Author(s):  
Anne Roosipõld ◽  
Krista Loogma ◽  
Mare Kurvits ◽  
Kristina Murtazin

In recent years, providing higher education in the form of work-based learning has become more important in the higher education (HE) policy and practice almost in all EU countries. Work-based learning (WBL) in HE should support the development of competences of self-guided learners and adjust the university education better to the needs of the workplace. The study is based on two pilot projects of WBL in HE in Estonia: Tourism and Restaurant Management professional HE programme and the master’s programme in Business Information Technology. The model of integrative pedagogy, based on the social-constructivist learning theory, is taken as a theoretical foundation for the study. A qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with the target groups. The data analysis used a horizontal analysis to find cross-cutting themes and identify patterns of actions and connections. It appears, that the challenge for HE is to create better cooperation among stakeholders; the challenge for workplaces is connected with better involvement of students; the challenge for students is to take more initiative and responsibility in communication with workplaces.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Schmidt

Intensive English programs (IEPs) exist as an additional pathway into higher education for international students who need additional language support before full matriculation. Despite their long history in higher education, there is little research on the effectiveness of these programs. The current research examines the effectiveness of an IEP by comparing IEP students to directly-admitted international students. Results from regression models on first-semester and first-year GPA indicated no significant differences between these two student groups. Follow-up equivalence testing indicated statistical equivalence in several cases. The findings lead to the conclusion that the IEP is effective in helping students perform on par with directly-admitted international students. These findings imply further support for IEPs and alterative pathways to direct admission.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annamaria Szilagyi

Abstract This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that investigated seven female Saudi Arabian students of the University of Liverpool’s online Masters programmes. Qualitative, first-person research methods and hermeneutic phenomenology were chosen for the analysis and interpretation of transcripts (Langeveld, 1983; van Manen, 1997; Creswell, 2007, Roth, 2012). The principles of cultural anthropology (Hall & du Gay, 1996; Hannerz, 1992; Lull, 2001; Coleman, 2010) were used to take a snapshot of the interviewees’ particular world to provide an overview of the Saudi Arabian culture where the role of women is at the centre of academic, political, religious and social debate These findings reflect the participants’ everyday lives, identities, values and beliefs, presented in a self-reflective, personal ‘life-world’ story of one single Saudi Arabian woman. The findings demonstrate that the primary motivators in choosing online international education to further study are existing limitations of travelling to a university campus and customary gender-segregated education in Saudi Arabia. As a contrast, international online education offers the opportunity to gain up-to-date research-based knowledge in their chosen profession, learn critical thinking and problem solving skills and communicate with male and female students from different cultures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 640-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Barrette ◽  
Katherine Harman

Context: Pain in sport has been normalized to the point where athletes are expected to ignore pain and remain in the game despite the possible detrimental consequences associated with playing through pain. While rehabilitation specialists may not have an influence on an athlete’s competitive nature or the culture of risk they operate in, understanding the consequences of those factors on an athlete’s physical well-being is definitely in their area of responsibility. Objective: To explore the factors associated with the experiences of subelite athletes who play through pain in gymnastics, rowing, and speed skating. Design: The authors conducted semistructured interviews with subelite athletes, coaches, and rehabilitation specialists. They recruited coach participants through their provincial sport organization. Athletes of the recruited coaches who were recovering from a musculoskeletal injury and training for a major competition were then recruited. They also recruited rehabilitation specialists who were known to treat subelite athletes independently by e-mail. Setting: An observation session was conducted at the athlete’s training facility. Interviews were then conducted either in a room at the university or at a preferred sound-attenuated location suggested by the participant. Participants: The authors studied 5 coaches, 4 subelite athletes, and 3 rehabilitation specialists. Interventions: The authors photographed athletes during a practice shortly before an important competition, and we interviewed all the participants after that competition. Our photographs were used during the interview to stimulate discussion. Results: The participant interviews revealed 3 main themes related to playing through pain. They are: Listening to your body, Decision making, and Who decides. Conclusion: When subelite athletes, striving to be the best in their sport continue to train with the pain of an injury, performance is affected in the short-term and long-term consequences are also possible. Our study provides some insight into the contrasting forces that athletes balance as they decide to continue or to stop.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Hennings ◽  
Shin Tanabe

Many Japanese universities have created short-term study abroad programs with the aim of offering a satisfying study abroad experience to international students. Based on a survey of 131 international students, this paper analyzes these students’ objectives and their relation to student satisfaction. As the results show, many students regard their experience of living in Japan as more important than their academic pursuits. Furthermore, for students with prior knowledge of Japanese, improving language skills tends to result in higher satisfaction, while for students who do not speak the local language, achieving cross-cultural skills is a major factor for having a satisfying experience.


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