A qualitative case study of how an English language program at a U.S. university prepares Chinese students for U.S. undergraduate programs and communicative competence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mingming Wang
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Language Program ◽  
Undergraduate Programs ◽  
The U.S

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Chinese students account for about one-third of the international students at U.S. universities from 2013 to the present year 2020; however, many of them, after their arrival, feel it is difficult to fit into U.S. college learning environments. This study focused on how to get Chinese students ready for U.S. undergraduate programs. A qualitative case study method was utilized, and the case was the Intensive Language Program (ILP), a full-time program of an English language center at a Midwestern public university that is designed to support international students. Using theoretical frameworks on college readiness (Conley, 2010a, 2014b) and communicative competence (Canale and Swain, 1980, 1983), I explored how ILP prepared Chinese students for U.S. undergraduate programs in general, and I paid particular attention to how ILP improves Chinese students' communicative competence. My specific research questions were: 1. How do ILP teachers and leaders prepare students for U.S. undergraduate programs? 2. How do Chinese students who have finished the ILP program perceive ILP and how well it has prepared them for U.S. undergraduate programs? 3. How does ILP enhance Chinese students' communicative competence? The findings demonstrated that the ILP program provided valuable and comprehensive support to Chinese students in five overarching components: Think, Know, Act, Go, and Talk. Specifically, ILP added five great values to Chinese students: research, MLA and APA, writing, transition, and presentation. However, as they started their undergraduate program learning, Chinese students also shared two greatest needs: reading and the U.S. History course. The results are significant to the practices of the U.S. English language centers and international schools in China.

scholarly journals Narrowing the Gap between EFL and ESL:

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-98
Author(s):  
Xin Chen
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
International Graduate Students ◽  
Discourse Communities ◽  
Academic English ◽  
International Graduate ◽  
The U.S

The sharp increasing number of international students in the U.S. has warranted more research into the academic literacy development of those students whose first language is not English. A great number of studies have found that how to socialize themselves into the new discourse communities at university remains a challenge for most international students because of language and cultural barriers. The gap between learning the English language in EFL contexts and using the language in ESL contexts also becomes an issue in international students’ academic performance that needs to be addressed. This case study examines how a graduate student from Korea (an EFL country) developed her academic English when pursuing her degree in the U.S. (an ESL context for her). The research demonstrated her strategies of surviving the academic life despite the language limitations and investigated the factors that influenced her language development. Implications for how to support international graduate students in improving linguistic and cross-cultural competences are discussed.

scholarly journals International Student Spouses and the English Language

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1172-1190
Author(s):  
Adam Thomas Grimm ◽  
Dana Kanhai ◽  
Jessica Landgraf
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
International Student ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Advanced Degree ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Study Techniques

In the context of the internationalization of U.S. higher education, millions of international students have come to study at U.S. institutions. Some students, particularly those pursuing advanced degree, bring their spouses. As part of a larger study, we set out to examine the experiences of international student spouses at a Midwestern university. This article examines the experiences from the perspective of grappling with the English language, a theme cross-cutting through spouses’ experiences. Experiences with English, the focus of this article, are both a discrete element of spouses’ lived experiences and a useful way to understand challenges and opportunities not directly related to language. Utilizing qualitative case study techniques, we found that English language is experienced through anxieties as well as ambitions by the participants in our study. 

College-Bound Figured Worlds: Case Studies of Three Urban High Schools

2021 ◽  
pp. 001312452110275
Author(s):  
Meredith R. Naughton
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
College Graduates ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Figured Worlds ◽  
Public High Schools ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Peer Mentors ◽  
Compare And Contrast

This qualitative case study explored the unique ways recent college graduates serving as full-time, near-peer mentors supported students along the path to college in three different urban public high schools. By applying the theory of figured worlds to school spaces and practices, this study sought to both define the physical and figurative ways mentors helped students envision and enact college-bound identities and compare and contrast the differences in these spaces across schools. Data and thematic analysis indicate that promoting the development and enactment of college-bound identities requires intentionality about how school culture, people, and policies enable real and figurative spaces for college-bound exploration and support.

scholarly journals Exploring the Writing Challenges Faced by M.Phil. and Ph.D. Scholars: A Case

2021 ◽  
Vol VI (IV) ◽  
pp. 34-41
Author(s):  
Hina Iqbal ◽  
Muhammad Saeed
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Interactive Programming ◽  
Report Quality ◽  
Grammatical Errors ◽  
Language Courses

Academic writing plays a pivotal role in developing research proposals. The present study aimed to explore the grammatical errors that M.Phil/PhDs scholars commit in academic writing. The present study employed a qualitative case study designed to explore the challenges in the English language faced by the M.Phil and PhDs scholars. The 20 Ph.D. and 36 M.Phil scholars were selected by busing purposive sampling technique. Data were collected by using two self-developed semi-structured interviews protocol. Thematic analysis approach was employed for data analysis. The findings revealed that all the participants reported that correct use of tenses was a big hurdle that entailed the other grammatical mistakes and reduced the report quality because all the lexical aspects are linked with these mechanics. The study recommended that English language courses be offered to postgraduate, M. Phil and Ph.D. scholars to learn the technical aspects of the language and provide students with online interactive programming.

scholarly journals English Language University Teachers’ Difficulties in Research Engagement: A Case Study in Vietnam

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Huong Hoang Le
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Research Engagement ◽  
Cultural Framework ◽  
The One

The study uses a qualitative case study framed within a socio-cultural framework to investigate Vietnamese English language university teachers’ difficulties in their research engagement. The study was conducted among 21 English language university teachers in Hong Duc University in Vietnam. Skype semi-structured interview was employed to collect necessary data to explore teacher participants’ perceived obstacles to research. The findings of the study show that there was a gap between Vietnamese authorities’ expectations of research outputs and the realities of English language university teachers’ research capabilities. Such gap has caused serious challenges to those teachers and prevented them from effectively engaging in research. On the one hand, Vietnamese authorities hope to increase universities’ research output to keep up with the international academic ranking. On the other hand, the working realities of university teachers hinder their engagement in research. However, no official investigation has been done to reduce such gap and the enforcement of research activity in universities has been taken for granted. In this sense, the significance of this study is an opportunity for English language university teachers to voice their opinions about the enforced nature of research activity in universities in Vietnam.

scholarly journals A Case Study of Chinese Students’ and IEP Faculty Perceptions of a Creativity and Critical Thinking Course

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Badger
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
International Students ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Intensive English ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Intensive English Programs ◽  
Analytic Skills

The attention to fostering learners’ critical thinking and creativity skills in secondary school and college students is growing in Western and non-Western countries. This study investigated the integration of a creativity and critical thinking course in an Intensive English Programs (IEP) to determine how the same course may contribute to international students’ linguistic skills and analytic abilities in preparation for college. Perry’s (1970) conceptual framework was adopted to analyze Chinese students’ views of problems presented in a creativity and critical thinking course, and how the same knowledge related to the Chinese students’ prior educational experiences as well as connect to their future studies. IEP faculty and administrator’s perceptions provided an additional perspective into the purpose and learning outcomes of the same course. Findings from this research address a gap in the literature that seeks effective strategies and models for IEPs to foster international students’ analytic skills in preparation for college studies.

scholarly journals Graduand Student Attributes: A Canadian Case

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Kanuka ◽  
Summer Cowley
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Education ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Flexible Display ◽  
The Core ◽  
Program Of Study ◽  
Usual Process ◽  
Problem Solvers ◽  
Undergraduate Programs

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain insights into how academics understand undergraduate graduand attributes. The findings reveal some alignment in views about student attributes, including that they are engaged citizens, are self-directed, have imagination, are questioning, are flexible, display leadership, are problem solvers, and possess character. This consistency, however, does not include the spectrum of views on how these attributes are conceived and developed. The findings reveal a range of interpretations regarding the kinds and levels of understandings of how graduand student attributes are developed throughout an undergraduate program of study. The findings indicate that (i) a shared understanding does not exist on how academics construe student attributes, (ii) academics do not share common meanings about the core achievements of a higher education, or how these are developed through students’ undergraduate programs, and (iii) student attributes tend not to be perceived as developing from the usual process of an undergraduate education.  

scholarly journals Linguistic Impediments of Communicative Proficiency: A Case Study of Students in the CSHS, Shaqra University, Thadiq, KSA

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Hatim Hassan Tawfiq ◽  
Abdelshafie Alrayeh Abdelshafie
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Linguistic Barriers ◽  
Language Communication

This paper examines the linguistic barriers that impede English language communicative proficiency of the students of English language in the college of sciences and humanity studies, Thadiq, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. The paper gives the specific linguistic problems that detain attaining a perfect English language communicative competence. The paper also examines the teaching strategies that help students reach competency in oral skill. It concludes with some suggestions that help students to achieve a higher proficiency in English language communication. 

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