Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
This paper proposes a research study that will test and determine the effects of
language proficiency, critical thinking, and study skills approach on improving the
The aim of this paper is to determine and examine the specific advantages and
disadvantages of the three approaches mentioned. The purpose of this study is to build
new theories in ESL learning and to further contribute on knowledge about ESL learning
and teaching.?
?
?
?
?
Currently in the United States, there is great impetus for ESL programs because
of the continuous increase of non-English speaking immigrants in the country since the
latter 1990s (Schmidt, 2001; Kuntz, 2003; August, 2003). Immigrants who cannot speak
fluent English cannot contribute much to the American society because of their limited
capacity to comprehend and communicate with the American people. The effort made
by the government to ensure that these immigrants develop the will to learn English is
through a constitutional amendment that English is the official language and the state
requirements that citizens need to possess proficient English skills (Kuntz, 2003). As a
result, there are now many types of ESL programs being implemented by different
schools.?
?
strategies that are usually approached with language proficiency improvements, critical
thinking, and study skills. However, such ESL programs are still misunderstood and are
not yet proven effective (Zen, 2001). Zen (2001), with a number of actual cases
reviewed, concluded that ESL education fails because the programs hold no standards
or clearly or clearly defined expectations for their learners. Furthermore, Zen (2001)
emphasized that ESL students are not well understood and adequately addressed.
Moreover, another problem is the lack of qualified and trained teachers to do the job
(Zen, 2001).?
?
Zen's (2001) conclusion as well others that will be discussed in the second
chapter indicate that continuous evaluation of different approaches on ESL learning and
teaching is needed and will continue to do so unless results will show that more and
language proficiency, critical thinking and study skills of ESL students on their English
language vocabulary and comprehension. The following objectives, on the other hand,
teaching and learning, specifically the importance of focusing on several areas such as
understand more about the skills they need in learning English as fast as possible. It
may also help them reflect on their English language skills and may be influenced to
improve them.?
?
Also, this study is significant to ESL educators because it will help them identify
several issues that they can reflect on their teaching styles. The findings that will be
collated from this study may also help them improve their teaching skills by knowing
?
c c?
?
?
?
The need for ESL programs is imperative because of the increasing number of
immigrants in the United States (Ignash, 1992; Schmidt, 2000; Kuntz, 2003; August,
2003). ESL programs are programs where the primary language of instructions is
intermediate, and advance ± in program types such as pull-out classes, class period
and resource center (ERIC Digest, 1993; North Carolina State Department of Public
Instructions, 1995). ESL is different from bilingual teaching because unlike the latter,
ESL convey academic content in the absence of the student's native language (Walling,
1993).?
?
According to Walling (1993), the goals of ESL instructions are simple. They are
to: teach students English; maintain and produce academic progress; provide for the
student's integration into the mainstream of school and society; and validate and
preserve student's native language and culture (Walling, 1993). Walling (1993) also
emphasized several important points to remember such as the need for the student to
maintain academic skills along with language skills, as well as the importance of parent
The Federal Monitoring Guidelines stated that in order to determine the progress
of the students in ESL, one must examine the following: the need for proficiency in both
primary and secondary language; the ability to comprehend and interpret text at the age
and grade-appropriate level; the ability to understand the language of the teacher,
written text with content; and the ability to use oral language appropriately and
In terms of effectiveness, ESL is still questionable. Zen (2001) stated that there
is still a prevalence of poor outcomes in ESL programs and reasons behind those
failures include poor quality of teachers, lack of service, and lack of well-established
curriculum and assessment system. It does not hold high expectations for ESL learners
and teachers have no guidelines to follow when teaching ESL (Zen, 2001).?
?
Brigaman (2002) also stated the need for effective teachers and learning
environment in teaching ESL. The school climate should be supportive of the program
and the learning environment customized (Brigaman, 2002). There is also a need for
systematic student assessment, staff development, and home and parent improvement
(Brigaman, 2002).?
?
inMadison, Wisconsin and found that there is a great demand in the area for such a
service. Kuntz (2001) also found that there is indeed a lack of standard on ESL
instructions because the study shows that curriculum varied widely in different
institutions. Kuntz (2001) stated that some programs provided a text book and a brief
curricular plan, while others supplied teachers with a library of materials and
encouraged them to develop a curriculum based upon student needs. There are still
issues such as lack of Federal guidelines and assessment, as well as licensing and
salaries of teachers.?
?
Braine (1993), on the other hand, investigated the placement options on ESL
high school students. Braine (1993) argued that ESL students excel better when placing
them in classes that best design their needs. Braine (1993) stated that mainstreaming
ESL students is detrimental because they may feel penalized for being culturally diverse
and may affect their performance. However, Braine (1993) stated that special classes
for ESL students are implemented only by few schools because of barriers such as: lack
of sufficient ESL students to justify special classes; special classes may be seen as
remedial; can be seen as a form of remediation; and there are problems in creating new
programs. There is, however, several types of ESL classes and they often include
1992).?
?
?
Chen (2000) stated that ESL student writers are frequently labeled as having
poor language proficiency skills, poor writing skills and poor organizational skills.
However, in Chen's (2000) study, it was found that they have language and writing
proficiency, but the writing proficiency is closely related with their native-language
writing. Furthermore, the English proficiency of ESL students works with their writing
expertise.?
ESL proficiency tests take many forms. Christopher (1993) stated that this may
involve placement tests, multiple choice tests with vocabulary, grammar and reading
comprehension sections; writing tests; and listening tests. However, there are still
doubts on whether these tests measure language proficiency among ESL students
effectively. Christopher (1993) examined the validity of testing through writing scores
and found that they are not effective in measuring language proficiency among
personified by the No Child Left behind Act. In the Reading First program, all schools
are held accountable to ensuring that all students know how to read by third grade
skills; and reading comprehension strategies" (Kauerz, 2002; Antunez, 2002). However,
the problem with these instructions is that they are not specifically designed to educate
Critical thinking is also being claimed as important tools for ESL students. For
instance, Chamot (1995) stated that ESL teachers have to turn the classroom into a
community of thinkers. In a particular control group study, it was found that critical
thinking skills can indeed make a different for ESL students (Davidson and Dunham,
1996). Critical thinking-based instructions have been found more effective than that of
The rationale for critical thinking is that students learn to think about their own
thinking and reflect on the ways to which they learn. They basically discover why they
learn and why they fail to learn (Sapp, 2002). However, critical thinking instructions are
also being criticized in its application to ESL teaching. Curry (1999) explored critical
thinking in ESL and found that there are many limitations in its incorporation ESL
instructions. For instance, critical thinking is not clearly defined and there is a lack of
skills of their students to improve problem-solving abilities and study habits. Several
study skills that were found useful include: survey, question, read, recite, review;
improving the study skills of students is necessary in earning better grades and making
the most of their talents. Study skills basically involve planning and critical thinking as
well. It also emphasizes the use of text books, better listening skills, and organizing
study tasks.?
Sinfield (2000) examined if study skills empower students and the results show
positive relationship between the two variables. The study shows that students are often
anxious and require support from teachers and classmates to ensure that they are on
the right track. Study skills may help keep them on that track and give them the proper
?
Hayes and Salazar (2001) conducted a districtwide evaluation of the
Structured English Immersion classrooms in grades 1-3. Two models were used in the
study: teaching in English, with the primary language for clarification, and teaching
primarily in English, with other instruction in the primary language. They found that the
predominant language of instruction was English. Listening, oral reading, oral speech
production, and writing were most often observed. There were few English language
development lessons or experiential hands-on learning activities, and very little primary
language support was seen. Considerable confusion occurred about the definition and
implementation of the two Structured English immersion models, resulting in uneven
implementation of the program. Teachers noted a lack of resources and training. They
also reported that parents could not help students with homework. Seven appendixes
include information on the study and tables and charts on ELL education.?
?
only in English. Also, Ma (2001) found that achievement gaps between native English
speakers and ELLs are widening, and teachers are seriously demoralized.?
?
?
?
Ê
?
?
?
The study will use interpretivism as its research philosophy. Interpretivism is the
necessary research philosophy for this study because it allows the search, the 'details of
the situation, to understand the reality or perhaps a reality working behind them
(Remenyi et al., 1998). On the other hand, the design will be deductive, which is
term.?
?
V
?
?
group. Both groups of participants are pre tested on the dependent variable and then
post tested after the experimental treatment condition has been administered to the
experimental group. This approach controls for all of the standard threats to internal
validity. Differential attrition may or may not be a problem depending on what happens
?
?
The latest SPSS software will be used to analyze the results of the pretest-
The study will have four stages of implementation: the preparation stage; the
The first stage or the preparation stage will deal specifically with the preparation
of materials that will be needed in the study. This stage also involves the search and
review of literatures related in the study. This involves choosing the project site, the
respondents, and the persons that will help in the control group process.?
?
The second stage, on the other hand, will involve the whole control group
process. The project site will be two ESL private tutoring classes composed of 6
of a diverse background and will be referred by a local community college. The 6 will be
divided into two groups (3 on each). The first group will be the control group, while the
second will be the experimental. The control group will take ESL tutoring without
emphasis on language proficiency, critical thinking and study skills instructions. On the
other hand, the experimental group will be given language proficiency instructions,
critical thinking instructions and study skills instructions. A tutor will also be hired and
will meet twice a week with the 6 students at a local public library in order to implement
the plan that should last 8 weeks. These students must take a placement or Pretest in
order to place them in any of five ESL levels for tutoring. The pretest will be
administered at the beginning and then a post test will be conducted. The control group
The third stage will be the analysis stage and will involve the comparison of the
results of the study. An SPSS analysis will be used to compare the grades of the
students on the tests given during the control group design process. On the other hand,
analytical interpretation will be used on the observations and interview data will the
students.?
?
The final stage will involve writing the conclusion and recommendation for the
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
*5' *+)*,*>*-4 4 !""#
c
Ê
,
c :""2
?
c+*.4 !22#
V
V
c,'*-%+.('$(-4+%(-(,,''( +',' ?
?
*'-> !""#
%V
)&*%(+(//%%(+
($.'*' '+1'- ?
?
+> !""# %(-5 ($ c+-&%(+ %+ *)%(+ %&(+%+ c
(&/'+;2; ?
?
*4 !""# +
+
V
-+
+
* . *
:;"2
?
?
(-.*-(,%+**''0*-/'+($<,%&c+-&%(+!223#
Ê
/
(-.*-(,%+**''0*-/'+($<,%&c+-&%(+*,'%. ?
?
'+%(+ !223# )5 6%,, *+) -%%&*, .%+6%+ --%&,/ $(-
)(,'&'+%+*5&.%*-5-'*/'+'+'- -%&(&/'+":;" ?
?
'/'+5% %,,%*/
*+) ?*-> !22@# Ê
"
c
"
(+)(+*' ?
?
*00 !""# -%%&*,.%+6%+(//+%5'-1%&'*+)*-%&%0*(-5
''*-&.'-&-%+.' /'-%&*++%1'-%5$(-*-*/'?(-6($'*-+%+ ?
?
%+$%',) !"""# *
-
V
.V'00"
*
+
c V
1
%
-''+')*.' ++*, ''%+
($-(0'*+(+$'-'+&'(+=*,%5%+*-,5.%,).(() (+)(++,*+) ?
?
&./%) !""#
V !c
V
V
9$(-)
?
?
.'c+)%*+**-''-*+)('&(+)*-5 )1*+&'/'+'+'-!22:#
/
Ê
cVVc
.'c+)%*+**-''-*+)('&(+)*-5 )1*+&'/'+'+'-
,((/%+(+ ?
?
*,,%+ !22# +,%.**'&(+)*+*'3='%(+*+) +?'-
.%',**00*)&*%(+*,(+)*%(+
,((/%+(+c+)%*+* ?
?
A'+ !""# .*%-(+?%.-(-*/%+&.((,B*0'--''+')*
.' ++*, ''%+($ %)8 /'-%&*'*&.'-($+,%.(0'*6'-($.'-
*+*'?
?
cC?
c
" ?
?
Parent's name: _____________________ Child's name: _______________?
Interventionist: ______________________ Date: ______________________?
?
Location? Activity? Type and LearningOpportunity? Why
Frequency? Important?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?
?
?
*<,'c+'-1'+%(+ *-%9?
?
??
÷
?
? ?
?????????
???
?
!?"!
!?#? $
?%
?
%
? && !?!'#
!?
%
(?
? ?
?
!?"!
!?#? $
?%
?
%
? && !?!'#
!?
%
(?
? ?
(%
?) *' +?
? ?
%+6%.%+?
è
á ?
!? ? !?
?
?!#?!?