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A between groups comparison of gains in English proficiency in a sheltered English immersion program Crittenden, Rose Elizabeth
Abstract
Some second language learners are more successful than others. Students in the University of British Columbia/Ritsumeikan Joint Academic Exchange Programme, a sheltered English-as-a-second-language (ESL) immersion program, have in the past exhibited varying degrees of gain in English proficiency in their writing, reading, speech, and academic achievement during their stay in Vancouver. The explanation of why some learners become proficient in a second language may lie in our understanding the interactions of such individual attributes as the learner's age, language aptitudes, autonomy and motivation, attitudes, personality, cognitive style, learning strategies, background in language and knowledge of other languages. In this study the gain in English proficiency of all the students in the program was examined first and then the gain of two different groups of students who were categorized and "low" and "high" on the basis of their entry level scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The standardized tests used in this program were supplemented with two additional tests to measure gain in proficiency. A language experience questionnaire was given to all students and interviews of selected students from each group were conducted. The results of the standardized tests were analyzed and a significant difference in the gain of English proficiency between these two groups was found. An evaluation of the individual language learning histories and the interview data was conducted to further understand the language proficiency gains found from the psychometric measures. Implications for instruction and further research were reached.
Item Metadata
Title |
A between groups comparison of gains in English proficiency in a sheltered English immersion program
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1996
|
Description |
Some second language learners are more successful than others. Students in
the University of British Columbia/Ritsumeikan Joint Academic Exchange
Programme, a sheltered English-as-a-second-language (ESL) immersion program,
have in the past exhibited varying degrees of gain in English proficiency in their
writing, reading, speech, and academic achievement during their stay in Vancouver.
The explanation of why some learners become proficient in a second language may
lie in our understanding the interactions of such individual attributes as the
learner's age, language aptitudes, autonomy and motivation, attitudes, personality,
cognitive style, learning strategies, background in language and knowledge of other
languages.
In this study the gain in English proficiency of all the students in the program
was examined first and then the gain of two different groups of students who were
categorized and "low" and "high" on the basis of their entry level scores on the Test
of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The standardized tests used in this
program were supplemented with two additional tests to measure gain in
proficiency. A language experience questionnaire was given to all students and
interviews of selected students from each group were conducted. The results of the
standardized tests were analyzed and a significant difference in the gain of English
proficiency between these two groups was found. An evaluation of the individual
language learning histories and the interview data was conducted to further
understand the language proficiency gains found from the psychometric measures.
Implications for instruction and further research were reached.
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Extent |
8716853 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-02-11
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0054899
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1996-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.