Adult

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Reading;

Target Population: High school, post-secondary (non-collegiate)

Research Questions the Report Poses:

1. What is the policy background for the provision of ESL courses in California? What distinguishes adult schools from other providers?
2. How has the ESL target population changed throughout the state since 1980? What is the level of predicted enrollment and what demographic changes affect enrollment in ESL courses?
3. What are the trends in the provision of ESL courses by adult schools and community colleges statewide and in the different regions of the state? Does the adult school funding formula limit adult school enrollment? To what extent do adult school districts exceed their level of funding?
4. What do adult schools that exceed their funding limit forgo in terms of quality of adult education classes and future growth of adult education programs? How much does the redistribution of unused funding alleviate the challenges facing high-demand regions? How would adult education providers benefit from increased funding?

Findings:

• There is a $15.7 million gap between money spent by adult schools on ESL programs and money awarded to these schools by the state of California.
• Though the adult ELL demographic is growing across the state, it is growing at different rates in different parts of the state.
• Close to 60 percent of adult schools in California exceed their funding limit.
• Among adult schools that do over-enroll students, nearly 80 percent exceed their funding limit by over 2.5 percent.

Policy Recommendations:

The authors recommend:

• Increased overall funding to adult ESL programs
• More mechanisms for distributing funds for ESL programs to areas and schools that have high demand
• Increasd enrollment caps so that schools do not have to pay out of their own pocket to have adult ESL programs

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Public Policy Institute of California 500 Washington Street Suite 800 San Francisco, California 94111

Gonzalez, A. California's Commitment to Adult English Learners: Caught Between Funding and Need. (2007). San Francisco, CA: Public Policy Institute of California.

Tags: Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: Are Hispanic students well-informed about their financial aid options for higher education? How does knowledge about financial aid affect Hispanic students' choices to pursue higher education?

Findings:

• 98% of respondents in the survey said that they felt it was important to have a college education
• 38% of respondents did not feel the benefits of college outweigh the costs
• Not being able to work and incurring debt were the opportunity costs associated with going to college
• The opportunity costs associated with going to college were not being able to work and incurring debt
• More than 50% of the respondents incorrectly thought students have to be U.S. citizens to apply for college financial aid
• Few respondents could accurately estimate the cost of attending either the University of California or California State University
• Overall, respondents demonstrated a lack of familiarity with government grants for education

Policy Recommendations:

• Students need to be better informed about the "less tangible, but real, social status differences that exist between the college-educated and the non-college educated" so that they feel that the opportunity costs of attending college are worth paying
• Because of misperceptions about how much college actually costs, Latino students may continue to be underrepresented on college campuses. To this end, perceptions must be corrected by presenting students with information about the realistic costs of attending college.
• Latino students need to be better informed about Cal Grants and Pell Grants, as well as other grant and loan opportunities available through state and federal government.
• Students and their parents both need to be educated about the system of college finances, including scholarships, loans, grants, and government guaranteed loans.
• Student perceptions about the significance of legal residency status vs. U.S. citizenship status need to be corrected, especially given the citizenship status of many students' parents

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a

Zarate, E.Z., and Pachon, H.P. (2006). Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth. Tomas Rivera Policy Institute: Los Angeles, CA.

Tags: Asian ELL Students; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Fluency; Motivation;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are some nonnative English speakers' experiences regarding the way native speakers treat them?
• How have nonnative English speakers' experiences of ethnic acceptance or ethnic prejudice affected their learning of English?
• What do nonnative English speakers think they need in order to lower their anxiety as they learn a new language?
• What can native English speakers do to lower nonnative speakers' anxiety?
• What can nonnative English speakers do to lower their anxiety with native English speakers?

Findings:

• All of the participants experienced both ethnic acceptance and ethnic prejudice, though they tended to be positive and accepting.
• Successful immigrants overcome their fear and anxiety by making friends with native and nonnative speakers alike.
• To achieve greater communicative competence English learners must take the initiative to speak English, while native English speakers must learn strategies for listening and understanding, accepting and reinforcing the nonnative speakers.
• The two ethnic groups of participants viewed prejudice and learning English differently: the Vietnamese believed they could move past prejudice and learn English as a means to belong in American culture, while the Mexican participants fostered a nostalgia for and stronger desire to return to their homeland.
• The six participants in this study all recognized the importance of encouragement and motivation in learning English, whether by needing English to communicate in ethnically mixed neighborhoods, or community ESL classes showing them they were not alone in learning English.
• The participants all expressed the opinion that individual effort and perseverance are keys to progress in acquiring English: one needs to take action, reach out, and not give up regardless of the experiences of prejudice.

Policy Recommendations:

The authors recommend:

• Mixed ESL groupings in class — combining immigrants from different countries so they cannot resort to home language.
• Closed-caption reading methodology
• Encouraging immigrants to make friends who are native speakers
• Improved workplace ESL programs
• Cultural survival techniques — acquiring goods and services in home language to buffer transition, while still venturing out into English–speaking places.

• Read the Full Report

LaBelle, J. (2007.) Vietnamese American Experiences of English Language Learning. Journal of Southeast Asian American Education & Advancement. Retrieved from: http://jsaaea.coehd.utsa.edu/index.php/JSAAEA/article/view/4