Assessing English Language Learners - Case Study Example

Case Study: Assessment of English language proficiency Introduction Linguistic or language proficiency is the capability of a person to speak an obtained language. Theories as to what constitutes proficiency vary among pedagogue, and there is little consistency as to how this concept is classified by various organizations (Jack, R. & National Learning Corporation, 1997). In addition, language competence and fluency are normally recognized as being linked, but detached controversial subjects (Bruce, 2007). Studies show that, proficient speakers in the United States demonstrate both fluency and accuracy, and apply a range of discourse strategies (Bruce, 2007). Therefore, native speakers can be fluent but lack proficiency. This report will focus on a non-native English speaker, whose first language is Arabic while English is a foreign language, which he had learned from intermediate and secondary school. The main aim of this assessment is to evaluate the proficiency in English language in order to determine the level of English language command. It is true that, the capability for an individual to have proficiency in English is vital, as it is a precondition for one to enroll in most of the colleges around the globe. The assessment will focus on various aspects of the learner including his background in English proficiency; fluency which encompasses various skills such as listening, speaking, reading comprehension, writing, and body language; and accuracy which will cover pronunciation, lexis, and grammar. Accuracy and fluency are equally essential but in most cases, it all depends with an individual’s objective of learning English (Labov, 2003). Background I have chosen one of my friends, Ahmed, as a case study for this report, which will assess and analyze his English language proficiency. Ahmed is 25 years old, and I have been living with him in college since the beginning of the semester. I have known him at a personal level and we have been living together for about four months. Ahmed comes from Saudi Arabia, and was born and brought up in Al-Ahsa, a medium sized town located near Dammar City, on the Southern part of Saudi Arabia. English to him is a foreign language because he knows Arabic as his first language. He started learning English from intermediate and secondary school. However, Ahmed has maintained a learning style that lays more emphasis on reading, writing and memorizing English grammar, with less emphasis on the use of English language in his daily living. He attended schools from his own native country and therefore he only needed English for learning (Stockwell, and Minkova, 2001). When he got out of class, he used his native language to interact with the friends and family. He also studied his first degree in Saudi Arabia, King Faisal University, which justifies the fact that Ahmed only required English for the purpose of his studies and could not use it outside because he lived in his native country where Arabic is the main language. He then proceeded to study his master degree, accounting, in Australia. However, before beginning his accounting course, he was required to study English first since English was one of the qualifications for this course. He also needed to learn the English language because he needed it to be able to interact with the other students, as well as the teachers. Besides, Ahmed has visited a few of the English speaking countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, where he added some basics to his English language. The methodology used relied on continuous observations over a period of four months. Most of the aspects regarding English language proficiency could be easily detected through observation (Margo, 2006). For instance, when it comes to pronunciation and his writing, it could be easy to identify areas where he faced difficulties and areas where he was more proficient. In addition, Ahmed accepted to conduct certain online tests to assess his grammar and reading comprehension. This is an online method of testing English language proficiency (Talmy, 1993). Assessment Process This part will encompass fluency and accuracy in English language proficiency. In the fluency part, we will analyze Ahmed’s proficiency in writing, listening, speaking, reading comprehension, and body language; while in the accuracy section, we will focus on his pronunciation, lexis and grammar. Fluency Fluency is usually defined as the capability of a person to deliver information more easily and with a lot of expertise. It is listed in studies as one of the major element in creative thinking. It is the capacity for an individual to speak, read, and write without difficulty, efficiently, and expressively. Fluency in English encompasses an individual’s capability to be understood effectively by both non-native and native listeners. Bilingualism, which is considered to be a higher level, indicates that, an individual is native in two languages, which may either be learned simultaneously or one after the other (Schultz & Kirchhoff, 2008). In this part, we will give an explanation of Ahmed’s competence in the aforementioned skills putting much focus on his strengths and weaknesses on these skills. Listening Listening is seen as the most essential skill for effective communication. Effective and active listening boosts ones understanding (Rothwell, 2010). This allows the listener to interpret and evaluate what the speaker says (Margo, 2006). It is true that, Ahmed has mastered the listening skill in some way, although his listening skill is deemed quite limited. This skill, which necessitates more concern especially in schools to facilitate students learning, is not very evident in Ahmed. He only engages in listening that is academic based. It is also apparent that, Ahmed having studied his bachelor degree in King Faisal University back in Saudi Arabia, is not very acquainted with English language. In addition, he has only been in a few English speaking countries such as United States in 2008 and United Kingdom in 2009. This is not enough time to make him more conversant with the English language. As a result, Ahmed had difficulties listening in class for the first few weeks in particular when the lecturer was a native speaker. Nevertheless, to facilitate his survival in those few weeks, he had to come up with good strategies. For instance, he used to remain focused all through, scribble helpful notes and thereafter discuss them with his friends to facilitate better understanding. Although Ahmed puts less emphasis on practicing English language in his daily life, he also understands that, he has to learn to listen if he is to survive in an English native country. Ahmed’s listening skills have somehow improved since he came to Australia. This has been influenced by the fact that, he has made several Australian friends which he has to listen and speak to, attending tutorial sessions in the college, and class discussion groups, whereby, students meet and discuss what they have learnt in the class. Ahmed has six lectures in a week and all of these necessitate careful and effective listening in order to understand. To rate the listening skills of Ahmed, he has not yet mastered it as required and as a result, he requires more practice on this in order to improve his academic performance and also, be able to communicate with his international friends adequately. Speaking Ahmed’s speaking ability has been inconsistent. He first learned English from intermediate and secondary school. However, one important thing to note when it comes to learning English is the consistency when it comes to its practical use (Jack, and National Learning Corporation, 1997). It is recommended that the language be applied routinely to enable the learner grasp it first. However, Ahmed concentrated on reading, writing and memorizing the English grammar disregarding the need to put the language into his daily use. English language was only applicable to him while he was in class, but continued to use his native language out of class (Stockwell, and Minkova, 2001). He also obtained his first degree from his native country and therefore still applied English in the classroom setting. However, when he moved to Australia to study his master degree, he required to speak English in order to be able to interact with others. Considering the fact that his speaking skills were too low, he was required to study English first before starting his accounting course. This improved his speaking skills since he could interact with the others during his free time. However, considering the fact that most of his work was limited to the use of computer, he could not get enough time to speak. Besides, the one-month break we had was a drawback to his speaking ability too, since he traveled back to his native home. However, from my observation, he is improving since most of the teachers are congratulating his ability to answer questions in class. He can also be seen interacting with other students during class discussions, which shows his ability to speak the English language, considering the fact that English is the language that is applicable in classroom discussions (Jack, and National Learning Corporation, 1997). Reading comprehension Reading is defined as the ability of an individual to decode symbols with an aim of deriving meaning more easily and understand certain text written in the language (reading comprehension) (Rothwell, 2010). Reading is a way of communication, language acquisition, and sharing ideas. Reading is usually shaped by the reader’s previous experiences, knowledge, and language community. The process necessitates constant practices, development and refinement (Margo, 2006). Reading is seen as a major skill in order to succeed academically. This skill assists learners to gather various vocabularies which in turn make them better readers (Brown, 2008). In our case, Ahmed have maintained a learning style in English that emphasis more reading. This means that, he engages in wide range of readings which has given him enough exposure to read in difficult or academic books. He usually reads a lot of accounting books written in English. In addition, as a hobby, Ahmed reads a wide range of English novels, magazines and newspapers to keep up to date and acquire more vocabularies to use in his daily life. Moreover, Ahmed usually contributes and participates extensively in discussion groups due to the wide range of vocabularies gained from his readings. He always responds to arguments and he rarely uses a dictionary to enquire meaning. This as a result has exceedingly improved his English language and academic performance as he is not left behind by other students. Ahmed's English proficiency is evidenced by the fact that, he was able to pass with high marks in the online proficiency test. He was able to score 98 percent acquiring 148 points out of 150. He answered all questions correctly in the reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is one of the skills that Ahmed has mastered very well compared to other skills. Writing Writing is one of the areas Ahmed puts more emphasis. This is one of the skills that are mostly practiced in schools and especially at the secondary school level, since students are often asked to write essays and comprehensions using the words learnt. However, this cannot be used as a determinant of professionalism when it comes to English language writing (Evelyn, et al. 2008). However, his writing was greatly improved when he moved to Australia because he added some of the English basics to his writing. I found one of his term papers, he had written while doing his undergraduate studies and just to outline a paragraph, this is how he had written. I am sure given the time to improve the presentation; I will do at my best. This is because I am willing to do so. I asked him to rewrite the statement, and this is how he wrote. I am certain; I will do my best, given the opportunity to do so. I have the will. I was able to note some improvement in his writing, since he is able to use synonyms and make some sentence structure changes. However, the writing duties have now been significantly reduced since, most the masters studies are done through the computer software. He still faces writing problems when it comes to spelling and the use of punctuation marks. Body language Ahmed could sometimes use body language to explain concepts, which proved difficult to be pronounced in English (Katamba, 1994). In some cases, he could apply the facial expressions and gestures that would suggest some meaning. I specifically noted one instance where he pointed to a particular direction, in trying to explain the place he had gone to have his dinner. This is because he had difficulties in locating the exact place. He could also apply unintentional gestures such as scratching the head, to show that he was dealing with a tough situation, maybe a difficult question (Biber et al., 2002). In most instances, whenever I asked him something that, he was not able to provide an immediate answer; he would often scratch his head and laugh. He would then take some time to come up with the some meaning that he would provide as an answer. However, his use of the body language has considerably improved. Some time back, Ahmed used more of the body language because he applied it as a substitute to provide explanation in areas he did not understand well. However, as his mastery of the language progressed, his use of the body language subsequently reduced because he can now speak out. Therefore, the use of body language acted as a substitute in areas where he could not understand. Accuracy Accuracy is the other factor that determines the achievement of the English language. It is defined as an individual’s capability to produce correct sentences by employing correct vocabulary and grammar. Accuracy in a language assists learners to produce grammatically correct, written and spoken English (Schultz & Kirchhoff, 2008). Accuracy activities encompass pronunciation, grammar and lexis. In this case, we will evaluate these activities in Ahmed’s English language. Pronunciation This refers to how a person speaks/utters a language or a word (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, 2006). Pronunciation differs from individual to individual as a result of many factors including the ethnic group, country of origin, or/and their education (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, 2006). Ahmed, who is Arabic by birth, therefore, Arabic is his first language faces some difficulties in English pronunciation (a foreign language). His living in Australia and having visited a few English speaking countries have assisted in improving, to some degree, his pronunciation. He produces the Australian accent to some level due to his frequent contact with international friends, and his behavior of reading widely and memorizing the English language. This as a result has assisted him in becoming more understanding while speaking with his friends. In the current times, Ahmed has become accustomed to even pronouncing the difficult words as he usually sees their pronunciation in the dictionary. Although to some extent he faces difficulties in pronouncing some words, he can be rated good and the fact that, English is a foreign language proves that, Ahmed has put a lot of effort in learning the language (Carstairs-McCarthy, 2002). Grammar Ahmed had learnt some basics about English grammar, though his teachers pointed out that he often faced difficulties when it comes to differentiating between past, present and future tense. He took an online test regarding the use of grammar and he managed to score 55 per cent, which shows he still has a lot to do in order to improve on his grammar. Ahmed requires more training in order to be able to perfect his grammar. For instance, he writes, I have dance to the tune, instead of I have danced to the tune. He still encounters problems when it comes to sentence construction especially regarding the use of tenses. However, one of the main reasons as to why Ahmed encounters grammatical problems is because he has an aspect of memorizing grammar (Carter and McCarthy, 2006). He therefore finds it difficult identifying the varying concept of the English grammar. This specifically regards the verbs, whereby it becomes difficult to interpret the verbs in relation to the changing tenses. Lexis Ahmed is deemed to be familiar with a wide range of vocabularies. Most of these words are attained from his wide readings and the enthusiasm to know their meanings. He usually comes across most of the vocabularies in the college and due to his active nature of wide readings; he usually comprehends and applies them whenever required. Ahmed rarely uses a dictionary to check meanings of words. Most of these words are very clear to him for instance annihilation and negotiation. Moreover, Ahmed usually conveys his ideas in few words which indicate his English proficiency. For instance, instead of using long sentences such as ‘when I arrived there’ to shorter meaningful sentences such as ‘on arrival’. In addition, he is very proficient in generating nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives. For instance, given a noun, he can be able to yield the adverb and adjective from it. Ahmeds ability to differentiate different words with their meanings, especially words with similar pronunciations (homophone) such as night and knight, too, and two. This proficiency has helped Ahmed improve academically. Conclusion Ahmed is good in reading, writing and memorizing English grammar. He is good at these three areas considering the fact that during his first encounter with the English language, while at intermediate and secondary school, Ahmed required English primarily for his learning activities. He did not make the practical use of it since he lived in his own native country and could use his first language to interact with his friends and family. However, he had difficulties when it comes to speaking because he was so much used to his native language. He often made grammatical errors, especially when it comes to differentiating between past, present and future tense. His requirement to learn English before commencing his master degree worked to improve his English proficiency in a great deal. He was able to improve his ability to speak the language despite the few persistent challenges he faced such as grammatical errors, and pronunciation. Therefore, Ahmed needs put more practice on his weak areas in order to strengthen his proficiency in mastering the language. The overall analysis of the proficiency test conducted for Ahmed revealed that his proficiency level is 71 per cent, meaning that he still ha to put more effort in mastering the English language. 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