Re-Imagining the Place of ESL in the Community College

Eileen F. Kelley, Ed.D. Yulia Stone, C.A.G.S.Holyoke Community College

March 27, 201044th TESOL ConventionBoston, MA

ESL Program at HCC

■ Began in 1986■ 5 Levels - Beginning to Advanced

(25-30 sections per semester)■ All classes carry academic credit■ Approximately 250 students per

semester■ 10 Support Services Coordinators in 24

years

ESL Student Enrollment (Spring semesters)

127148

180 179

265

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Years

Where do our ELLs come from?Spring 2010 survey ESL levels 4 and 5

Other Caribbean6%

Central & SouthAmerica

11%

Former Soviet Union12%

Europe4%

Unknown6%Asia

8%

Africa5%

Middle East1%

Puerto Rico47%

ESL Student Profile Spring 2010 Survey ESL Levels 4 and 5

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Unknown 4%

HS Diploma

(no previous college)

63%

Did not graduate

High School (GED / ATB)11%

College 4+ years

19%

College 1 to 4 years

4%

STUDENTS' WORK HOURS PER WEEK

Do Not Work55%

1 - 20 Hours17%

20 + Hours26%

Unknown2%

MAJOR CHOICE

EarlyChildhood Ed.

1%

Health12%

Business8%

CriminalJustice

2%

Social Science

1%

Liberal Arts/Undecided

70%

HumanService

4%

IT2%

Demographic Facts of Area Surrounding HCC

■ Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, 2008– 19%■ Language other than English spoken at home, 2000 –

22.3%■ Between 1990 and 2000, the Hispanic population of

Massachusetts grew by 49.1%(Hampden County Quick Facts from the US Census Bureau and Massachusetts State Data Center)

■ “The number of Latinos in Springfield increased more than 50 percent from 1990 to 2000 when 27.2 percent of the city’s population identified themselves as Hispanic.” (“The Springfield Republican”, 2005)

The Research Project

■ CCLA (Community College Leadership Academy)

■ The Research Question

Why do non-ESL faculty and staff

experience failure when working with

ELLs? (“Why don’t your students do

better?”)

Purpose of the Study

■ Are community colleges ‘underprepared’ for ELLs?

■ Are we in a ‘developmental’ phase?■ Does everyone know about support

services available?■ Results from questionnaires give

answers…

Faculty responses

CCLA Questionnaire 2

Adjunct49%

Unspecified15% Full time

36%

Full timeAdjunctUnspecified

Responses across Divisions

Distribution of Responses Across Divisions

SEM31%

Humanities44%

Nursing3%

Business5%

Social Sciences8%

Unspecified9%

Humanities

SEM

Unspecified

Social Sciences

Business

Nursing

ELLs in your class?Number of ELLs in Class

No7%

Not sure3%

Yes90%

Yes

No

Not sure

Expertise with ELLs

Little expertise33%

No response7%

None5%

Great deal of expertise

18%

Some expertise37%

Great deal of expertiseSome expertise

Little expertise

None

No response

Knowledge of HCC Support Services Available for ELLs

Little knowledge25%

No response8%

None4%

Great deal of knowledge

15%

Some knowledge

48%

Great deal of knowledge

Some knowledge

Little knowledge

None

No response

Findings – led us to re-imagine the place of our ESL program on campus – we’re more important than we think!

■ Many faculty members admit that they don’t have expertise in working with ELLs

■ Many faculty members are unaware of the support services that are available to their ELL students

■ Faculty are asking for help so that they may be more effective with ELLs – the data shows that they need us!

■ The traditional organizational structure of community colleges does not provide for collaboration/connections between support services and classroom – it’s up to us

■ Programs that may be beneficial to ELLs have tenuous connections, or no connection at all, to the ESL program at HCC (some grant funded)

■ Faculty need access to a resource person or department for consultation

Success is the responsibility of all on campus – not just ESL

“Increasing numbers of educators realize that it will take more than strong institutional English as a second language (ESL) programs to best serve the needs of immigrant learners. It will also require the support and commitment of non-ESL faculty and administrators to ensure successful retention, program completion, and career placement of these students.” (Johnson and Marchwick, 2006)

Recommendations

■ “The administration should be aware of unprepared faculty who are openly frustrated about having ESL students in their classes, and should embark on programs to educate faculty and give them the tools necessary to improve their teaching”. (Casey, 2006)

■ The ESL program is a conduit for diversity, but it cannot single-handedly support linguistically-diverse students. That is the job of the entire college. Allocate appropriate resources – not program specific, but for the entire college to collaborate in this effort

■ ESL faculty members can provide training in SLA (Second Language Acquisition) issues that affect student performance in college classes

Focus on language

“Without an emphasis…on the role

of language in teaching and

learning, teachers will be

increasingly underprepared to work

with the growing linguistic diversity

in schools.” (Johnson and Marchwick, 2006)

Initiatives and Outcomes■ Close collaboration with Nursing department –

Multicultural Nursing Club■ Learning Communities

1. Women’s Health and English

2. English 101 and ESL RW5

3. English 101 and Themes in ESL

4. RW4 and MTH 075

5. ENG 101 for ELLs

■ Close collaboration with Early Childhood department – PET, QUEST, TRACS

■ SoTL project on ELLs and Nursing■ Intro. to Health Careers■ ESL for Sustainable Energy Technology

Re-imagining your place■ Reposition, not just re-imagine – tie in to college priorities –

ESL as a conduit for diversity■ Get involved in other divisions■ Be innovative – add something new (SI for ESL classes)■ Build relationships – get on committees, meet key people,

offer your services, go to classes, make phone calls, let them know where you are and who to contact – teach with faculty from other disciplines

■ Review your assumptions – faculty and staff may want help but not know how/where to get it

■ Review your assumptions again – do you believe that your program deserves more status?

■ Make your successes visible to the administration – get ‘the numbers’ and use them to get what you need

Benefits that last…■ Students get more support■ Faculty get more support

1. They know where to go for help

2. They learn more about effective teaching

when partnering with ESL faculty members

■ Curriculum changes reflect the needs of ELLs

■ Our ESL program gets more support and higher status