In this "Distance Learning" Special Issue, Errol Craig Sull introduces the "Try This" series of articles to assist In The Classroom. Sull notes, where once the idea of offering ESL (English as a second language) assistance and courses was a minor afterthought in postsecondary education, it has become crucial, for it recognizes…

While community colleges have traditionally been the leading providers of adult learner programs and the entry point for many minority students into higher education, very few English language learners (ELLs) transition to higher education. This qualitative gap analysis of the systems in place at a large urban public community college in the…

This dissertation had a three-pronged approach by examining (1) the role and sustainability of university-based intensive English programs (IEPs), (2) the value of a master's in Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and (3) relevance of attending an IEP for international/English as a second language (ESL) students. IEPs face…

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 document includes two technical appendices that accompany the full report, "English as a Second Language in California's Community Colleges." The two appendixes include: (1) Key terms, data and methods; and (2) Figures and tables. [These appendices were written with research support from Sergio Sanchez and Stephanie Pulles. For the…

This paper strives to explore the impact of Native Language use on Foreign Language vocabulary learning on the basis of empirical and available data. The study is carried out with special reference to the English Language Programme students in Buraydah Community College, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. The Native Language of these students is…

This study was conducted to determine how to motivate technical college students to learn English for specific purposes (ESP) courses through corpus building and enhance their language proficiency during the coursework for their majors. This study explores corpus building skills, how to simplify ESP courses by corpus building for English as second…

Public education reform designed for K-12 and higher education exists to transform teaching and learning within the United States in order to graduate today's student. One specific initiative on the federal, state, and local levels is the implementation of Chinese language programs. Some of the Chinese language programs in the K-12 education…

Adults who immigrate to the United States recognize the value of fluency in the dominant language as a bridge to social mobility in their new homeland. In California, many of them invest time and energy in noncredit English as a Second Language (ESL) programs offered within the community college system to gain communicative competence and enhance…