2008 Woodie Awards
ESL students slipping through cracks, director says
By nna E. Billingsley
Last update: 5/17/06 at 8:24 AM CST
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There's a glitch in the system.
Many international students at this college are not ready for college-level English courses because of a language barrier, Dr. Carol Swanson, who teaches English and English-as-a-second-language courses, said in an interview.
Most international students are focused and eager to learn but somewhere in the midst of choosing their academic course, many of them get misdirected, she said.
English as a second language exists in two separate divisions of the college - continuing education training network and the foreign languages department.
The programs have two distinct differences, Swanson said.
The ESL classes in the foreign languages department, identified with the rubric ESOL, focus on grammar and composition, such as writing papers for ensuing classes.
ESL in continuing education is designed to help individuals with conversational English so they can get a job, she said.
Swanson said many students get lost in the maze of remedial classes, become frustrated and end up not succeeding in their college-level work.
"There is no system," she said.
She said international students should sign up for ESL in the foreign languages department so they can focus on overcoming their difficulty with language - a process she calls "getting the foreignness" out of their English.
Swanson said sometimes international students think that just because they can speak English with their friends, they are able to integrate into English and other writing-intensive courses.
This isn't so, Swanson said.
Learning to read and write at the academic level this college requires takes dedication and the right instructors, she said.
Nursing sophomore Jung Song Keun said understanding teachers are hard to find.
Keun is struggling in ENGL 1301, Freshman Composition 1.
Keun said his teacher, Professor Sharon Argo, told him his level is in remedial English and she does not have time to teach him to bring him up to the academic par she expects in her class, he said in an interview.
Argo did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
Betty Lee Birdsall, director of academic development, admits this college has an obstacle to overcome when it comes to academic success for those with language barriers.
Birdsall is co-chairwoman of a new committee with a mission to alleviate this problem.
The Developmental Education Task Force is made up of counselors and instructors seeking the answer to the same nagging question, how does this college ensure students with a language barrier don't fall through the cracks?
The committee is in the beginning stages of researching the problem. The final report is due to President Robert Zeigler this summer, she said.
The faculty, while being admittedly frustrated, is committed to finding why many international students reach college-level courses without being able to write academic-level papers, Birdsall said.
"We have a strong desire to help and be more effective," she said.
Swanson said there is a deeper issue at stake.
Many times for remedial classes, an instructor will issue an IP or "in progress" grade in lieu of giving a failing grade.
"The purpose of an IP is to put a hold on the student registering for upper-level classes," Swanson said.
This isn't happening, she said.
Students end up in college-level English courses after having received IP grades for ESL courses and never having repeated them, she said.
Because of this, international students are at a disadvantage because they go on to upper-level classes and are not able to write papers and understand the material as well as they should, Swanson said.
Rosemarie Hoopes, director of admissions and records, said the IP grade has nothing to do with keeping international students from going into college-level courses.
The system normally does put an automatic hold on students with an IP grade, but because ESOL classes are not required, and international students make up such a small majority, the system is not programmed to scan for that particular grade, she said
Birdsall is optimistic about finding a solution to the problem, she said.
In the meantime, international students having trouble with language can use an English enrichment program on the computers in the academic development department for free, she said.
The program is designed to help students with the grammar and mechanics of the English language, she said.
Swanson contends that for the problem to be fixed, there must be clear direction from counselors for international students as to where they should register for the appropriate ESL classes.
"When someone registers for classes and obviously has an accent, this should trigger more questions," she said.
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anonymous1010
anonymous1010
posted 4/04/06 @ 4:24 PM CST
While ColorinColorado.org is a preK-12 site for educators and parents of English language learners, you can find useful resources such as lists of commonly-used words, and English-Spanish cognates. (Continued…)
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