Correlation between ESL students - Research Paper Example

Correlation between ESL students Contents Introduction 2 Background information 2 Millennial Learners 3 Discussion 3 Implications 6 Recommendations 6 Conclusion 6 References 8 Introduction Demand for highly qualified teachers in world/foreign language in Russian, Chinese and Arabic speaking countries by the United States Department of States is very high. This implies that existing instructional gaps between ESL and grades students get in IELTS (Elder & O’Loughlin, 2003). The need to build U.S. language was identified as the way forward in not only bridging instructional gaps but also enhancing economic growth of the country. To achieve such demands by millennial learners, many learning institutions in the U.S. have incorporated critical need languages as core units in teachers’ training institutions. The units are meant to enable the teachers teach millennial learners effectively. Such teachers are supposed to be equipped with skills and knowledge in instructional practices that are learner-centered and standards-based. All the above efforts were geared towards enhancing student performance, teacher expertise besides creating new information for teaching foreign students particularly those from cultures or countries with critical need languages. Previous studies indicate there is a strong relationship between educational and cultural influences on the performance in IELTS for ESL students (Goh & Hu, 2014). The paper will investigate whether the notion that ESL students exposed to American culture do really score higher grades in IELTS or not. The research will interrogate various literatures on the topic to establish the true picture. Background information Two studies were done in regards to preparing instructors to teach critical languages particularly Chinese and Arabic before joining US schools (Newton et al., 2014). The examination was geared towards illuminating the effects of on-going professional opportunities and pedagogical training. The need to train the teachers was informed by lack of background on different religious practices, cultures and ethnicities by pre-service teachers. Lack of exposure to diverse cultures by most of the foreign teachers impacted on their teaching since they relied mostly on myths and stereotypical misconceptions. The ultimate result was poor performance for ESL students not exposed to American culture in IETLS. Millennial learners are racially diverse. They have exhibit varying ethnic, religious, educational, cultural behaviours and characteristics leading to differences in the ability and capacity to adapt new languages particularly English. Millennial Learners According to Ota (2013), millennial learners vary across regions as per socio-economic conditions. It is more dependent on familiarity and use of digital technologies, media and communications. There is a gap between efforts students have in the classroom and what they finally score in IELTS leading to a need to carry out a qualitative analysis on more than 100 participants particularly millennial learners to establish whether narratives on ESL and IELTS especially in regards to bridging the gap between the two. Discussion Newton et al. (2014) believes Arabic students in particular face multiple challenges ranging from personal, linguistic, political, and cultural and education perspectives when enrolled in American ESL schools and institutes before joining universities. The major issue faced by Saudi students being taught IELTS in U.S. according to Newton et al. (2014) is cultural adaptation. It is evident that we have some “Englishism” the students are being exposed to in regards to the topics within the IELTS context. Moreover, spelling issues are common to Middle Eastern students as well. Research has established that most students from Asia in upper intermediate level surpass those in advanced levels from Saudi Arabia in spelling skills. The reason has been associated with varying SLA approaches amongst countries. The distinction between sounds particularly P/B is another phonetic issue evident amongst the students. Above all, the major issue has been the difference emanating from Occident and Orient writing caused by variations in education or culture. Writing differences between the two systems are evident in organizations, styles and structures (Newton et al., 2014). According to the study by Goh & Hu (2014), unlike their Asian and English counterparts who can study while sitting for hours in the library, Arabs are oral communicative and social in nature since they are fond of talking and listening rather than writing and reading. The differences are strongly associated to high English writing ability to speaking by Asian students. On the contrary, Saudi students score better marks in speaking English than in writing since they spend most of the time speaking the language but not writing. All in all, Arab students score lower marks in English writing skills and higher marks in speaking skills in the same language. The opposite applies to Asian students. Moreover, Goh & Hu (2014) contents there is a problem observed in talkative cultures in regards to accuracy as was observed in Latin students. According to studies, students from talkative cultures have spelling issues when it comes to ESL students not exposed to American culture since they are more concerned with fluency than accuracy. Asian students for example, have an education system that is not embrace communicative approach leading to exposure to grammar “banging.” In many Asian countries, English is taught as a second language as opposed to Arabic students who are taught as a foreign language. Arguments often erupt between Arabic students and their teachers in higher classes in regards to penalizing spelling mistakes in IELTS (Goh & Hu, 2014). The main reason has been due to how English is taught at elementary level whereby spelling mistakes are not given priority. Culture too plays a vital role. Research has shown that expatriates who should be multi-cultural in principle vary across cultures. Whereas expatriates from Arabic speaking nations prefer speaking in native languages, their counterparts embrace English as a communication language. Goh & Hu (2014) cites comprehension issue is another factor contributing to ESL students’ performance in IELTS. He believes Arabic students lack comprehension skills since they are not exposed to English culture in their curriculum and texts which are traditionally geared. Some teachers in such countries do not balance the four main skills including writing, understanding, reading and speaking in primary and secondary schools while some learning institutions have less hour allocated to learners of English. Such factors impact on their scores in IELTS. Further the same research indicates exposing students to native speakers enhances their skills in intonation, pronunciation, speed and stress of such teachers. Arabic students not exposed to English native speakers have found it difficult catching up lecturers thereby forcing some students to join language schools to adapt with the pronunciation and hearing. Arabic students when writing English think in Arabic language leading to more difficulties (Goh & Hu, 2014). Moreover, Kraut & Wulff (2013) asserts ESL student from Arabic speaking nations have difficulties in hearing pronunciation of English words as spoken by native lecturers. It was therefore recommended that early exposure to native speakers enhance students’ understanding and comprehension of English particularly in getting the right pronunciation, catching up with speed, managing stress and using the right intonation. Due to such issues, some students have enrolled in language schools to improve their hearing and pronunciation in order to perform well in IELTS. It is disastrous when one thinks in one language and writes in the other language because by so doing, students getting it wrong (Ota, 2013). Implications The gap between ESL students not exposed to American culture and their scores in IELTS cannot be wished away. The major issues impacting on ESL students not exposed to American culture in achieving higher grades in IELTS are largely related to diversity in cultures. However, with globalization and the advent of social media platforms, people across the world have formed social networks geared towards bridging such gaps. Recommendations Going forward, it would better to expose students from the 13 critical need languages right from the primary level to English speakers to enhance their skills and ability to comprehend and catch up with speed of teachers of IELTS. By so doing, the students would not only enhance their skills in English but also appreciate other cultures across the globe. Conclusion In summary, it is evident that the U.S. Department of State recognizes 13 languages as critical need languages but Russian, Arabic and Chinese are the most critical ones (Ota, 2013). Millennial learners find it difficult to score high grades in IELTS due to various factors as mention in the discussion and literature review. The study established why ESL students score low grades in IELTS. Many issues were identified all pointing at cultural differences in the way we value or adopt learning skills. Arabic culture embraced oral communication as opposed to English culture that advocates for listening and writing. Other issues were in value of fluency as opposed to accuracy in writing whereby ESL students particularly from Arabic speaking countries had issues with accuracy. It was established bridging the gap between such issues required more effort from ESL students including getting enough expose to English speaking speakers to enhance their speed and comprehension of English words. References Elder, C., & O’Loughlin, K. (2003). Investigating the relationship between intensive English language study and band score gain on IELTS. IELTS research reports, 4(6), 207-254. Goh, C. C., & Hu, G. (2014). Exploring the relationship between metacognitive awareness and listening performance with questionnaire data. Language Awareness, 23(3), 255-274. Kraut, R., & Wulff, S. (2013). Foreign-accented speech perception ratings: a multifactorial case study. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 34(3), 249-263. Newton, V., Matsuo, H., Wang, E., & Giovanoni, A. (2014). Perceived English Competency among International College Students from China in ESL/EAP Classrooms. International Journal, 2(2), 43-61. Ota, A. (2013). Factors Influencing Social, Cultural, and Academic Transitions of Chinese International ESL Students in US Higher Education. Sawir, E., Marginson, S., Forbes-Mewett, H., Nyland, C., & Ramia, G. (2012). International student security and English language proficiency. Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(5), 434-454. Read More