The CATESOL Journal

This article will consider using TOEFL scores for purposes of placement and advising for international graduate students at a northern California research university. As the number of international students is on the rise and the funds for the graduate ESL program are diminishing, the way in which the university is handling the influx of international students is undergoing substantial changes. One aspect of the system that is gaining attention is the graduate-level ESL placement exam. To find out if using TOEFL scores for placement is a viable option, I have looked at the Pearson r coefficient for TOEFL scores and university placement exam scores from years 2007-2011. Results from this study show a moderate correlation between the TOEFL and placement exam and suggest that students at this university with TOEFL scores 110 and above should be exempt from any ESL requirement while students with TOEFL scores below 90 need to take ESL courses.

Graduate-level ESL students in Education are future multicultural educators and promising role models for our diverse K-12 students. However, many of these students struggle with academic English and, in particular, writing. Yet, little research or program development addresses the specific writing support needs of this group. This article shares curriculum development for an Academic Writing Seminar serving linguistically diverse graduate students in Education. It reports on a study of the student backgrounds, writing experiences, writing self-efficacy, and instructional feedback preferences. Most participants had low writing self-efficacy and an eagerness to receive detailed feedback on grammar and mechanics in their writing. Problems in their writing were similar to common issues in college writing, but the participants expressed a distinct willingness to share their work for peer editing and conferences. Further research is needed on ways to mobilize such strengths and provide targeted writing support for ESL graduate students in Education.

The goal of this action research is to increase student awareness of context clues, with an emphasis on student use of visual cues in making predictions. Visual cues in the classroom were used to differentiate according to the needs of student demographics (Herrera, Perez, & Escamilla, 2010). The purpose of this intervention was to improve students’ prediction-making skills as well as to ensure active reading and thinking skills. The research team focused on the research question: What is the relationship between the use of visual cues and predicting skills as a readingcomprehension strategy for 3rd- and 9th- grade English language learners (ELLs)? Our team conducted research in 2 schools, focusing on 1 group of elementary school students and 1 group of high school students. Data collection occurred for approximately 6 weeks in each school. Triangulation of data sources was used to attain a more cohesive understanding of how visual cues relate to students’ ability to make predictions during reading

As international student enrollment increases on college campuses across the US, the landscape of the composition classroom is among the first to observe the shift in the student demographic. Though some international students benefit from developmental English and ESL initiatives, most will eventually experience the mainstream writing classroom. With inclusion, the linguistic divides between international students, native speakers, and course texts are exacerbated, and it is on the instructor to find ways to provide universal access to course material and engage students in an equitable manner. This pilot study examines the viability of multimodal theme-sets as a means of bridging the literacy and cultural divides that often subjugate international students within the mainstream composition classroom. This quasi-experimental study examines 2 linguistically diverse, mainstream writing classrooms with significant L2 international student enrollment to identify how multimodal theme-sets can more effectively engage students across existing cultural and literacy barriers.

Teacher educators need linguistic tools to help preservice teachers develop a deeper understanding of the academic language demands of the literacy practices required by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) serves as a tool for developing teachers’ knowledge of contentarea language. Teachers’ increased knowledge of language facilitates the construction of language-focused instruction to support the academic literacy development of English language learners. I introduce SFL theory and illustrate how I put the theory into practice to support the literacy development of beginning-level English language learners in a middle school classroom. I include recommendations for teachers and teacher educators regarding how to embed the theory in classroom practice and teacher preparation.

Though research has established a relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic success and identified features to guide the L2 word learner through academic tasks (see Nation, 2013), less is known regarding student perceptions of academic vocabulary and the conscious decision-making process of these learners while they are writing. In this pilot case study, 9 advanced students at an Intensive English Program in California wrote an essay, completed a survey on vocabulary strategy use, and participated in an interview to illuminate lexical choices they had made in their compositions. The insights gleaned from these data were then analyzed for patterns, and 10 classroom applications were devised to help L2 academic writing teachers address the vocabulary needs of their students.

This article is a reflection on teaching British literature to multilingual/Generation 1.5 students in the US. By studying the literature and culture of England, undergraduates were better able to examine and write about the language and culture of the US. Students learned about variation among World Englishes, including variations in transgressive language and the rhetorical force of such language. Students thus gained a greater understanding of the ways sociolinguistic factors such as register affect social and academic life.

ESL and Language Arts teachers have noted a growing population of transnational students who—because of family migration patterns—have complex educational histories that straddle both Mexico and the US. Yet US teachers know little about the Englishlanguage training that such students receive in Mexico. This study attempts to bridge that gap, reporting on a survey-based study conducted in Mexico of 76 Mexican teachers of English. Included are recommendations about English instruction in both Mexican and US contexts, as well as recommendations for greater collaboration between US and Mexican English teachers.