Ashley Pfannenstein Courtney Thompson Justin Tarbell Investigating Predictors of Nonacademic ESO earners!

" iteracy Ability #o$ E%$ & #yu$ J% '"()*+% Investigating predictors of nonacademic esol learners, l" ability% In Journal of Research and Practice for Adult Literacy, Secondary, and Basic Education 'Summer "()* ed%$ -ol% "$ pp% ."/)((+% Columbia$ N01 2The factors determining foreign language abilities have received copious attention from foreign language studies$ and these research findings provided highly converging pedagogical implications for language teachers% 3o4ever$ not many studies have focused on non/academic learners especially 4ith respect to their literacy s5ills% To fill this gap$ the present study investigated )66 non/academic adult English learners, literacy s5ills by conducting bac5ground surveys and a placement test 4hich 4ere then analy7ed 4ith standard and se8uential multiple/regression% The ma9or finding of this study 4as that the model that includes the length of time studying English$ self evaluation of reading$ and education level 4as the most efficient combination of bac5ground variables to predict both 4riting and reading scores of this particular population%: '#o$ ."+% The 8uestions addressed in this study are1 ;hat factors might predict 4riting ability< = ;hat factors might predict reading ability< = Are the predictors the same< = ;hat is the most efficient combination of bac5ground variables to predict 4riting and reading abilities< The groups observed for this study 4ere )66 " learners of both genders '))) females$ ** males+$ of varying ages '")/>*+ 4ith different educational bac5grounds 'middle school to doctoral degrees+$ from different areas of the 4orld and different )s including Spanish$ -ietnamese$ Cambodian$ and Italian% The areas in 4hich the sub9ects 4ere studied 4ere in " reading and 4riting abilities= more specifically$ length of time studying English$ and length of stay in English/spea5ing country% 2There seems to be a lin5 bet4een 4hat the participants have learned in their previous e?perience 4ith English education and their current literacy s5ills: '#o @A+% The main factors that contribute to predicting reading and 4riting abilities are self/evaluation and perception of s5ills$ education level$ and length of time studying English% This study sho4s that )66 non/academic English learners 4ere able to perform 4ell on placement tests and surveys% The results of this study indicate that the more e?posure individuals have in obtaining an " the more success they 4ill have in learning the "% ;hen teaching students in the target language$ it is imperative to allo4 for ample opportunities to learn and e?plore their "% The focus of educating an " should have a stronger focus on culture and immersion rather than dedicating their time and effort to performing in academic settings%

After completing the survey$ the study indicates that there is a disconnect bet4een the variables studied and personal factors affecting their testing% This disconnect is much more apparent in 4riting samples than reading samples% The possibility of an?iety to4ards producing their " could potentially diminish their scores on these placement tests and surveys% In addition$ 4hen studying individuals$ there are al4ays intangible factors that are acting on an individual at any given time that are impossible to measure and ta5e in to account 4hen recording data% T4o e?amples of these factors are type of e?posure to the " and different an?ieties affecting an individual%