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Running head: ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM1
Assessing the Information Literacy Skills of
ESL Undergraduate Students Attending
a Bilingual Spanish/English IL Program
A Research Proposal
Matthew Chase
INFO 285
San Jose State University
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM2
Introduction
While information literacy instruction is a predominant theme and practice among
U.S. academic libraries, it nonetheless faces the challenges of an increasingly diverse
college population across the country. According to the National Center for Education
Statistics (2016), undergraduate enrollments have steadily increased since 1970, with
over 17 million undergraduates enrolled nationally by 2014. This exponential growth in
undergraduate levels has observed a parallel growth across ethnic and racial diversity for
Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders, blacks, Native Americans, and Alaska natives. In
particular, the percentage of Latino students increased from 4 percent in 1976 to 17
percent by 2014.
The concept of a traditional college student is rapidly experiencing a sense of
obsolescence with these ongoing demographic trends. It raises questions of how
universities will be able to address the needs of its diversifying student populations,
including academic libraries and their embedded roles in developing students’
information literacy skills. As English-only instruction remains the prevalent practice
among many academic libraries, it raises issues of how might ESL undergraduate interact
with information literacy across language differences and barriers. Kanno and Varghese
(2010) called for a transformative policy shift in higher education that challenges the
institutional framing of ESL students as deficient in linguistic capital and the structural
obstacles being established as a result. Bilingual information literacy instruction could
posit a potential alternative model for which ESL undergraduates can experience a
mutual enrichment of both their linguistic and information literacy skills. This study aims
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM3
to explore the impact of this alternative model by asking the following research
questions:
1. How effectively do ESL undergraduate students locate and access information of
specific topics that will support their use of library resources?
2. How do ESL undergraduate students critically evaluate sources of information?
3. How effectively do ESL undergraduate students perform ethical use of
information?
Based on the above-mentioned research questions, my proposed study postulates
the following hypothesis: ESL undergraduate students in a bilingual IL program will
report significantly better information literacy skill development than ESL students in
an English-only IL program.
Literature Review
In order to achieve insight into the dynamics and complexities of how bilingual
instruction can develop the information literacy skills of ESL undergraduate students, it is
important to begin with a comprehensive review of the existing literature. Previous LIS
research has already observed meaningful links between language barriers and
information literacy, creating new spaces for further exploration and study. While the
literature is still relatively new and thus small in terms of bilingual instruction, it can
nonetheless offer valuable understanding regarding the relationship between language
and information literacy in higher education settings. This relationship is central to
supporting my research questions.
The first key component to understanding the relationship for ESL undergraduates is
to delve into their experiences and struggles with information literacy. Johnston,
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM4
Partridge, and Hughes (2014) get to the heart of these issues as their study revealed the
major impact of language on information literacy development. Specifically, they found
that ESL students experienced considerable difficulty across all stages of literature
searching, including locating relevant sources, evaluating their relevance and quality, and
using them effectively. Due to these language barriers, the students would resort to
shortcut and other adaptive strategies such as reading only the abstracts or using only
short articles to quickly scan for information they can understand. Academic English
vernacular and contexts were particularly difficult for these students to comprehend. As a
result, having to translate information from English to their native language took
considerable time, often resulted in mistakes and misunderstandings, and produced
unsatisfactory searches overall (Johnston et al., 2014). These findings would suggest a
real need for information literacy instruction to better account for language barriers in
regards to information access, especially for international and ESL students as they
navigate the intricacies of context, translation, and definition.
These language barriers have real negative effects on the achievements and
development of many students in which English is a second language. Macdonald (2008)
found that students with English as a second language have poor information literacy, and
thus they lack the access to information that could improve their learning and overall
quality of life. This impact is particularly devastating to refugee and immigrant students.
There are strong correlations between information literacy and their feelings of inclusion
at school and in the broader society (Macdonald 2008). It is also not to suggest that ESL
students are completely lacking in information literacy. The literature indicates otherwise
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM5
as ESL students demonstrate certain IL skills, but they are largely grounded in
understanding of their own language (Johnston et al., 2014).
Ultimately, the literature shows that information literacy cannot be beholden to a
single language. In an increasingly globalized world, there is the parallel need for a more
global learning model. It requires a self-reflective teaching approach that goes beyond the
skills-based direction that has long predominated IL instruction. Rather, as Kutner and
Armstrong (2012) argued, information literacy should be reframed and expanded to also
include cultural, social, and linguistic contexts. It would allow for ESL students to learn
how these contexts affect their ability to access, retrieve, use, and create information. A
bilingual instruction could potentially provide these students with a greater insight into
these differences and resulting challenges, with an added appreciation for their difficult
experiences with information literacy. By instilling a bilingual component to information
literacy competence, ESL students might have a more positive experience with
navigating the growing information landscapes.
Positioning information literacy in a globalized, multilingual framework opens new
opportunities for pedagogical and instructional approaches. A number of different models
and programs have been developed in response to dismantling the language barriers
inherent to English-only instruction. Significant lessons could be gleaned from the
performance of these approaches in creating an effective bilingual information literacy
instruction.
When it comes to advancing instruction for ESL undergraduate students, the literature
offers several recommendations. A major finding has been the collaborative partnership
between the librarian and an ESL instructor. Martin, Reaume, Reeves, and Wright (2012)
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM6
found that this collaboration allowed for the librarian to build trust with the ESL students,
enhancing the instruction by incorporating critical thinking skills as part of information
literacy. The librarian could gain feedback from the ESL instructor regarding the
students’ cultural beliefs, practices, and values. This knowledge helped the librarian to
better understand how the students perceived information literacy as a cultural and a
conceptual product. By working together, the librarian and the ESL instructor can engage
in pedagogy where both support information literacy through activities and discussions
relevant to the needs of their students. The full integration of IL instruction in courses
with ESL instructors made the learning process more consistent for ESL students,
fostering their confidence as well as their skill in using information literacy (Bendriss,
Saliba, & Birch, 2015). It also significantly reduced the time and energy costs for both
librarian and instructor in establishing a positive conducive learning experience for ESL
students.
However, the gap with much of the existing literature is the lack of discussion on the
potential benefits from implementing a fully bilingual instruction experience for ESL
students. Rather, the focus has remained on developing cultural competence on part of
the librarian, either through culturally relevant pedagogy and/or partnership with ESL
instructors. Although both have provided significant advances to engaging in meaningful
learning of information literacy with ESL students, the language barriers found in
previous research are not necessarily being addressed.
The progressive models being offered by the literature have scarcely covered a
bilingual component to the instruction experience. Luly and Lenz (2015) have been one
of the few scholars so far to study the impact of implementing a language-oriented library
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM7
instruction. This instructional model involved having the instruction delivered in the
language of the target population. This delivery included providing all instruction
materials and information being translated into the target language. They found that
employing instruction in a language other than English offered the ESL students a richer
experience and supported their information literacy development in an increasingly
multicultural context. The students were able to utilize their language skills to improve
their skills in locating, accessing, evaluating, and using relevant information.
Given the literature presented, it strongly supports a language-positive instructional
approach. It not only facilitates increased engagement between librarian and ESL
students, but also significant improvements in students’ IL skills and critical thinking of
information. Although the literature offers considerable support for my research
questions, there are still challenges and limitations to be confronted. As I mentioned
before, very few studies have engaged in a language-oriented approach as observed in
Luly and Lenz’s (2015) research. Yet even their approach only sought to immerse the
instructional experience in the target language rather than a bilingual/multilingual
environment. It remains largely unexplored as to the real impact and value of creating
bilingual instruction.
In terms of targeted user groups, the literature has addressed a wide array of
populations within the international student community. The populations in focus have
ranged from immigrants and refugees to various racial and ethnic groups such as
Europeans, Middle Easterners, and Asians. Interestingly enough, none of the studies I
have discussed raised the language barriers for Latina/os and Spanish-speaking
communities, particularly in the United States. This gap could yield potentially insightful
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM8
results from my own assessment as I examine the effects of bilingual Spanish/English
information literacy instruction for ESL undergraduate students whose native language is
Spanish.
Although the literature has its own limitations as discussed above, they can
nonetheless become valuable opportunities and avenues for my own assessment research.
There is a clear need to address how bilingual instruction can influence the IL
development for ESL undergraduate students. My assessment further explores the gaps
left in the existing research as well as their interlocking complexities regarding how
librarian-faculty collaborations, language immersion, and inter-cultural contexts can
shape information literacy for these students. There remains an opportunity to study the
nuances of language as a barrier in an English-only environment and as a potentially
positive strategy in a bilingual environment. My hypothesis ultimately emerges: ESL
undergraduate students in a bilingual IL program will report significantly better
information literacy skills than ESL undergraduate students in an English-only IL
program.
Methodology
Participants
Thirty-five Spanish/English-speaking undergraduate students attending a four-
year public university in San Marcos, California will be recruited to participate in the
study through convenience sampling. Flyers inviting participation will be posted at
several points on campus as well as having faculty promote the study in their classes. The
students will become part of the bilingual Spanish/English IL course. The program will
consist of a ninety-minute session in the library. The librarian is a native Spanish speaker.
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM9
The program contains a significant research component as it requires students to research
their chosen topics in Spanish and English, and the librarian will introduce research skills
and library resources for them to use. The librarian will explain and demonstrate five
library resources available to students: (1) online library catalog, (2) Interlibrary Loan,
(3) the library’s discovery search tool, (4) San Diego Circuit, and (5) Academic Search
Premier. The librarian will also cover the effective use of keywords, synonym selection,
Boolean logic to broaden and narrow search results, popular vs. scholarly sources, and
ethical information use. As a control group, another thirty-five Spanish/English-speaking
undergraduate students attending the same university will participate in a program of the
same structure and content, but instructed only in English. Informed consent will be
acquired from the participants. An incentive will be provided to encourage participation.
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Students will be able to identify differences between scholarly and popular
sources.
2. Students will be able to select appropriate information tools for locating different
information types.
3. Students will be able to identify strategies for determining a source’s relevance
and accuracy to a specific topic.
4. Students will be able to differentiate between ethical and unethical information
use.
Assessment Design
The study will utilize a survey-based approach to evaluating participants’
information literacy development. An online pre-test survey will be sent to the students’
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM10
campus emails, one week before the scheduled program, to assess their pre-existing
knowledge of library resources and services. The pre-test will also record demographic
data such as student level (e.g., freshman, senior, etc.), academic major, race/ethnicity,
native language, perceived fluency in second language (if applicable), and gender. See
Figure 1.
Immediately following the program, students will receive an online skill-based
post-survey through their campus emails to reevaluate their knowledge and skills, to be
completed within a week after the session. See Figure 2. The survey will include both
questions drawn from the pre-test as well as four open-ended skills-based questions. The
foundation of the skills-based questions will be presented as four scenarios corresponding
with the SLOs. Participant answers will be measured by breadth and depth. Breadth
represents the number of different ideas and resources that the student proposes in a given
scenario. Depth represents the number of distinct ideas provided to describe their Breadth
answers. The scenarios will be constructed around real-life situations so the student can
better relate and apply their information literacy skills. Each scenario will measure a
specific SLO, and the post-test results will be compared by student’s perceived fluency in
English, student level, race, and gender to observe any differences in student performance
and IL development between the two program sessions.
For the pre- and post-test surveys, it is important that they are presented to the
students in Spanish as well as English to ensure consistency in the bilingual program. The
surveys will be hosted through Google Forms.
Ethical Implications
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM11
The sample is composed of adult college students who can give informed consent
as participants, and articulate for themselves how the program affects their information
literacy development. Given their ESL status, these students can provide relevant insights
into the issues of IL instruction in relation to their own research skills and knowledge. It
is not to suggest that are no ethical considerations to be mentioned.
Given that the study asks the students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills,
participants may be reluctant to give their honest input in light of their bilingual
proficiency. They might feel embarrassed or ashamed about any gaps in their research
skills. It is important to inform before and during the study that their participation is
completely voluntary, and they can exit out of the study at any point in time. All of their
personal data will be kept strictly confidential, secured in a locked cabinet accessible only
to the researcher, and their input in the study will be completely anonymous. Participants
will be followed up a post-study interview from the researcher to inquire about their
experiences as well as offer mental health resources available on campus.
Results
Based on the content of the program, the possible value range for the Breadth
responses is 0-5. For example, students can choose among the five different library
resources covered: interlibrary loan, San Diego Circuit, online library catalog, Academic
Search Premier, and discovery search tool. The Depth responses will also be a 0-5
possible value range, corresponding to the articulated explanations for using the different
sources chosen in their Breadth response. The mean and standard deviation of both
Breadth and Depth will be obtained from both the bilingual program and the English-only
program. Statistical significance will be determined using a multivariate regression
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM12
model, analyzing survey responses between the two programs with the control
demographic variables of gender, race/ethnicity, student level, and perceived English
fluency.
Discussion and Conclusion
The results of this study will be evaluated in relation to the hypothesis, SLOs, and
research questions. If the findings show support for the hypothesis, then the impact of a
bilingual IL program can significantly improve ESL undergraduate students in their
information literacy skills and knowledge. Practical implications and programming
recommendations will be discussed in consideration of the results.
Limitations of the proposed research will be identified after the study is
conducted. A potential limitation of the current study is that the sample is drawn from
only one public university, in which future studies could expand the sampling to multiple
universities to further generalize the findings. Also, the study’s focus does not address
different ESL student populations such as international students or different immigrant
generations, which might be another site of research to explore.
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM13
Timeline
June 15 – August 15
Sampling; participant recruitment
August 21
Send out pre-test to participants; participation required by program session
August 28
Hold bilingual IL program
Hold English-only IL program
Send out post-test survey to participants
Collection of pre-test data
September 4
Collection of post-test survey data
September 5-October 3
Data analysis
Write drafts of analysis
Revise methods write-up to reflect what actually occurred
October 4-December 4
Finalize full study report
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM14
References
Bendriss, R., Saliba, R., & Birch, S. (2015). Faculty and librarians’ partnership:
Designing a new framework to develop information fluent future doctors. The
Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41, 821-838.
doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2015.09.003
Johnston, N., Partridge, H., & Hughes, H. (2014). Understanding the information literacy
experiences of EFL (English as a foreign language) students. Reference Services
Review, 42(4), 603-715. doi:10.1108/RSR-05-2014-0015
Kanno, Y., & Varghese, M. M. (2010). Immigrant and refugee ESL students’ challenges
to accessing four-year college education: From language policy to educational
policy. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 9, 310-328. Retrieved from
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hlie20/current
Kutner, L., & Armstrong, A. (2012). Rethinking information literacy in a globalized
world. Communications in Information Literacy, 6(1), 24-33. Retrieved from
http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/libfacpub/10/
Luly, S., & Lenz, H. (2015). Language in context: A model of language oriented library
instruction. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41, 140-148.
doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2015.01.001
Macdonald, K. (2008). ESL library skills: An information literacy program for adults
with low levels of English literacy. Australian Library Journal, 57(3), 295-309.
doi:10.1080/00049670.2008.10722481
Martin, J. A., Reaume, K. M., Reeves, E. M., & Wright, R. D. (2012). Relationship
building with students and instructors of ESL: Bridging the gap for library
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM15
instruction and services. Reference Services Review, 40(3), 352-367.
doi:10.1108/00907321211254634
National Center for Education Statistics. (2016). Enrollment: Fast facts. Retrieved from
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM16
Appendix
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/
1FAIpQLSc0EMBMPV6yn8wwACutt5wfQlNOzcK7je0jjiHZQSi5pyR3XA/viewform
Figure 1. URL to sample draft of pre-test survey in Google Forms.
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM17
ESL UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN BILINGUAL IL PROGRAM18
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/
1FAIpQLSeDCjDwBrjBbyryTm7jSMoZyACQ0FcrnRBPfaOoy3pSGT2s3A/viewform
Figure 2. URL to sample draft of post-test survey in Google Forms.