This study investigates the effectiveness of integrating smartphone technologies, including QR codes, audio textbook capabilities, and mobile apps, to enhance personalized learning and language acquisition skills among intermediate-level ESOL learners. The research involved ten participants from diverse linguistic backgrounds, employing…

Purpose: What are the best strategies for teaching Generation 1.5 community college students in transfer-level English courses? Why are some students successful and others not? The purpose of this study was to determine through a phenomenological design how Generation 1.5 students describe the experience of receiving validation or invalidation…

This policy brief was adapted from "English as a Second Language at California's Community Colleges: An Early Examination of AB 705 Reforms." In Fall 2021, colleges began implementing reforms to English as a Second Language (ESL) that were mandated by Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705). In recognition of the need for effective and equitable ESL…

Research has largely been silent on English Learner (EL) persistence and completion in U.S. community colleges, yet studies conducted across higher education report that only one in eight ELs completes a bachelor's degree (Kanno & Cromley, 2013). Many interventions have been proposed to improve college student persistence and completion. This…

Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705) sought to increase successful completion of transfer-level math and English courses by addressing systemic problems in traditional placement policies and curricular structures. The law requires colleges to maximize the probability that students who enroll in credit English as a second language (ESL) courses complete…

These technical appendices are for the report, "English as a Second Language at California's Community Colleges: An Early Examination of AB 705 Reforms." Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705 Irwin) sought to increase successful completion of transfer-level math and English courses by addressing systemic problems in traditional placement policies…

Community colleges serve a crucial role in providing higher education access for U.S. English learner (EL) populations. Many ELs are placed in community college academic ESL programs in order to prepare them to transition to taking courses in the wider college. Yet, the success of academic ESL programs has been mixed at best, with these programs…

This article recounts some of the motivations, hurdles, and successes the Cuyamaca ESL Department in San Diego encountered while transforming its curriculum to an accelerated model. The college discovered that the new program, while challenging, increased the success and rate of passing among its language learners and improved the quality of their…

Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) serve the breadth and diversity of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students by developing culturally engaging programs, services, and interventions. This case study focuses on how one public 2-year AANAPISI enacted programs to serve…

This report aims to fill the gap in research on English as a Second Language (ESL) programs at California's community colleges and the effectiveness of reforms aimed at improving student success. A number of colleges have implemented curricular reforms in recent years--accelerating coursework, integrating skills courses, and the like. These…

This study compares two instructional methodologies: extensive reading plus output activity and intensive reading plus grammar-translation with regard to improvement of non-English major EFL learners' reading comprehension and fluency development in a Japanese junior college. It identifies the minimum number of words an individual should read for…

The "NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements for Intercultural Communication" (2017) task educators with helping students better recognize "obviously inappropriate behaviors in familiar everyday situations" (p.15), yet today's L2 classroom rarely includes pragmatic speech acts in curriculum, especially with regard to online language…

This article describes process and outcome evaluations of a blended Cyber ESL program for native Spanish speakers in Chicago who could not use regular ESL classes. The outcomes measured against before and after scores and several comparison groups showed large gains in English language proficiency. 58% percent of students from the cohorts which…

Latinx community college students have lower persistence and completion rates than White and Asian students (Causey et al., 2022). Results of a systematic literature review found the following root causes for these low retention rates: financial barriers, lack of institutional support, educational preparation, psychosocial considerations, and…

An interdisciplinary approach provides many benefits that warrant the need for its use at technical universities teaching foreign language as an academic discipline. This article reviews recent Russian researches focused on interdisciplinary integration, summarizes advantages and proves overall high efficacy of the interdisciplinary approach to…