The CATESOL Journal

In this study, I investigated how adult Latino ESL students reacted to two alternative methods of instruction: Total Physical Response (TPR) and Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPRS).The research regarding adult Latino attitudes suggests that this population expects a grammar-driven and “traditional” classroom atmosphere (Gault, 2003, 2004). The TPR and TPRS methods deviate from what is considered a “traditional classroom” because of their implicit and kinesthetic nature. I, therefore, researched the students’ expectations as well as their affective reactions to the kinesthetic class. I first collected a survey to find out the students’ learning preferences. Then, the students experienced a total of five hours of teaching, which consisted of a combination of TPR and TPRS. The students’ attitudes were collected through questionnaires, video recording, and professional observation. The data revealed that the students showed overwhelmingly positive attitudes toward these two methods, despite the fact that the students had more “traditional” expectations of English class. Although further research is necessary, teachers could use the findings of this study as an impetus to use alternative methods in their adult classes and to encourage teachers to conduct action research as a means to assess students’ attitudes toward various teaching methodologies.

This article recounts the 8-year (1997-2005) history of the Service- Learning Program at San Jose City College, with a particular focus on the key involvement of the ESL Program in the dramatic growth of service-learning there. The author, who has coordinated the program from its inception, and who also teaches ESL, examines various aspects of integrating service-learning into the ESL curriculum, reports on student learning experiences at their preferred sites, and analyzes results of a longitudinal report on student evaluations and on learning outcomes. The Service-Learning Program at San Jose City College may be a model for how effective service-learning can be at enhancing the learning of ESL students and at helping them become involved members of their communities.

Success in higher education requires a functional proficiency in academic literacy and the concomitant motivation to further develop one’s linguistic abilities. For underserved populations, service-learning may provide a conduit for increasing the matriculation of diverse communities at the college as well as university level. Studies of community literacy practices have traditionally focused on monolingual populations. Moreover, the notion of literacy as a tool for creating positive social change is certainly not a novel idea; however, as the higher education population becomes increasingly diverse, there is a pressing need for increased research on the interactions between the first and second languages in higher educational settings. The fundamental principle operative in this tutoring program is that projects are designed and implemented exclusively by adult education students in their second language. The secondary discourses that evolve from these activities become instrumental in facilitating vocational goals and proficiencies that are taught in academic course work at the college level. Finally, the motivation to become an active participant in service-learning projects derives from the ability to successfully employ second language literacy in social action.

This article outlines an ongoing collaborative service-learning project conducted at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The project involves matching ESL students with sociology students for several interviews during one semester. The sociology students interview the ESL students to collect real-world data by which to examine sociological concepts. The ESL students practice their listening and speaking during these interviews and are exposed to American culture and difficult vocabulary. At the beginning of the semester both groups are apprehensive. The sociology students are uncomfortable with what they consider an atypical classroom activity and the ESL students are self-conscious about their speaking abilities. At the end of each semester, however, reflections have shown that the ESL students have increased confidence in their ability to communicate in English and the sociology students have an increased awareness of a variety of cultures. This project has proven to be beneficial to all participants.

Intensive English programs in the US have begun to take advantage of a growing service-learning movement as a means of involving nonnative speakers in their new communities while improving their language skills. This article describes a service-learning class taught through an IEP program at a small California extension program through which university-aged foreign students volunteer on a weekly basis at various local and national organizations. It discusses the phases and aspects of the service-learning course, from initial placement with organizations, to in-class and academic assignments related to the volunteer work, to how students reflect on their own learning. The article also describes common challenges and benefits of employing a service-learning curriculum and provides resources at the end.

This study describes the results of a survey administered to present and former students enrolled in a Master’s in TESOL Program at a large urban university in Southern California. Respondents who had had a service-learning or experiential learning assignment were asked to identify to what extent and in which areas their service-learning or experiential learning experience benefited them. Responses by students and alumni who had had a service-learning experience and those who had not had a service-learning experience were also compared for significance. In addition, responses of service-learners by gender, language background, and visa status were compared to identify important trends in perceived benefits of ser vicelearning. Overall, students were quite positive about their service-learning experiences with most benefit indicated in general teaching theory and second language acquisition and least benefit in citizenship and civics. Results of a MANOVA indicated significant differences in benefits for service-learners versus non–servicelearners.

In a service-learning project designed for preservice teachers of an undergraduate linguistics course, survey results determined that the service-learning component of the course transformed student thinking about teaching in the public school classroom, working with English language learners (ELLs), and interacting with students of other cultures and languages. Students reported a great difference in understanding the applicability of the material being studied, and they were much more satisfied with the course based on their real-world experience. In turn, public schools that partnered in the service-learning project reported that the elementary students who participated in the project showed greater attendance, more enthusiasm for schoolwork, greater oral participation in class, and increased reading ability. This service-learning project was designed to not only benefit the preservice teachers at the university and the elementary ELLs they worked with but to create a future school system that has better-prepared teachers for the benefit of the entire community

This article explores the perspectives of 2 Mexican immigrant women enrolled in an English as a Second Language family literacy program in California. Through describing the women’s participation in storybook reading and writing short compositions, the article illustrates how these learners were able to expand on their current literacy practices in order to adopt new school literacies they could share with their children. To this end, the article explores the learners’ histories with L1 literacy practices and discusses the ways that classroom participation in new L2 genres was congruent with these women’s sense of their own identities, and their goals for themselves and their children. In so doing, the article contends that Bakhtin’s (1981, 1986) theories of language can provide helpful guidance for teachers who want to build on the strengths of adult learners in such programs.

This study examines the relationship between Japanese women’s attitudes toward learning English and the improvement in their ability to judge grammaticality. Fourteen women temporarily living in the United States, who were neither working nor attending school full time, were interviewed regarding their English learning experiences. Data analysis reveals that attitudes toward American people correlate with improvement in ability to judge grammaticality. Tendencies to learn with others and to think actively about the learning process and its applications to daily activities also correlate with higher levels of improvement. The Johnson and Newport (1989) grammaticality judgment task served as the testing instrument, with pre- and posttests administered 11 weeks apart for each subject. Gardner’s (1985) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery measured subjects’ attitudes toward American culture and motivations for learning English. Oxford’s (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning and interviews conducted in Japanese were used to gather information on subjects’ methods of, and preferences for, learning English.

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine the influence of culture on classroom participation patterns. Methodologically, this study involved participant observations and interviews with the Russian-speaking students and their American ESL instructors in three types of postsecondary institutions in California. The results revealed areas of mismatch between the students’ learning behavior and the instructors’ methodologies. The cultural differences in the language classrooms were analyzed within the critical theory framework, which takes into account the social and cultural antecedents of the studied situation. Teachers and administrators of language programs will be provided with recommendations on how to improve methods of teaching English as a second or foreign language.

While some attention has been paid recently to LGBT/queer issues in ESL, voices of queer ESL students have rarely been recorded. This article describes a study in which 10 such students were interviewed, and it focuses on the voices of 3 students from the San Francisco Bay Area, because although there are so many lesbians and gays in the area, these interviews contradicted our expectation that the liberal, gayfriendly San Francisco Bay Area would provide a safe and comfortable atmosphere for queer ESL students. The study is set in the context of queer theory, identity theory, and critical pedagogy. We conclude with pedagogical implications for ESL classes and the larger institutions housing them, as well as with implications for the TESOL profession.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of using think alouds to identify and teach reading comprehension strategies. Part 1 was an analysis of the think-aloud protocols of nonnative speakers of English successfully completing their junior year at a university who, on the basis of test scores and professor judgment, had been identified as proficient readers. The analysis identified the strategies these students used when reading course materials. Part 2 was a teaching experiment in which think alouds were used to teach strategies identified in Part 1 to intermediate-level students enrolled in an intensive English program at the same university. This part of the study investigated whether the instructional procedure resulted in acquisition of the target strategies and comprehension of a reading passage. Results indicate that think alouds were an effective means of identifying reading strategies and may be a useful technique for helping nonnative speakers of English learn and apply reading strategies.

This action research investigated the effects of the Social-Interactive Writing for English Language Learners (SWELL) method on the social interaction and cognitive writing processes of a pair of elementary school Mandarin-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in California. In the study, the researcher modified Topping’s paired-writing method, a highly structured process-writing approach, and designed a new model called the SWELL method to teach the pair of ELLs. Complex social and cognitive behaviors of participants were found in the study. The teacher’s constant modeling of strategies to promote a positive attitude in the SWELL method played a crucial role. Use of L1 between partners was also found to be important, since it helped promote more in-depth discussions during the interaction. Furthermore, contrary to Vygotsky ’s (1934/2000) idea of pairing an expert with a novice to promote effective learning, this study indicated that pairing intermediate-level novice ELLs also led to constructive social collaboration and high-level cognitive thinking skills.

The American educational curriculum has historically lacked images of diversity and differing worldviews. Although progress has been slow in changing this fact, multicultural books for K-8 students are more widely available than in the past several decades. Authors, illustrators, publishers, and educators are more committed to providing a large collection of culturally responsive resources. Nevertheless, teachers are responsible for choosing high-quality books to share with their students. This process requires carefully evaluating each work. Just because a book is approved by the district, a gift from a publisher, or the result of funding from a large corporation, it isn’t necessarily an appropriate choice for students. In this article two teachers model the process of choosing high-quality culturally responsive books for students, using a comprehensive list of guidelines to critically examine both text and illustrations.

The article describes how the author created the curriculum for an advanced class of adult students at an Intensive English Program (IEP), and how she piloted the course during an 8-week summer program. The level of this class of 20 students from 9 different countries was distinctly above the usual 7 levels practiced at the IEP. Thus, there was no guidance, no texts, and no curriculum set for the course. Choosing the thematic approach suggested by Stoller and Grabe (1997), and settling on the theme of children and parents as presented in literature, the writer takes us through ways of creating background knowledge, keeping momentum, integrating all 4 skills, and approaching language learning through individual and interactive strategies.

In today’s current climate of international business expansion, traditional language institutes frequently have the opportunity to serve a growing language-learner population: nonnative English speakers working in local international companies. In this paper, we examine a university-based English language program’s experience in providing business English courses for one company, from initially assessing its need for English language training to evaluating the courses after completion. The courses were a success overall, meeting the primary expressed needs of a group of the company’s English language learners. However, designing the courses also presented a series of challenges. Through the process, we achieved success in teaching and also learned a great deal about providing workplace English language training, including working within the parameters of individual corporate situations and designing courses for specific business English needs.