Training University Tutors to Work with Bilingual Students

The purpose of this project was to train university tutors to improve their support of bilingual students (ESL/ELL students). We developed an evidence-based training session that emphasizes university connectedness and cultural inclusion. This one-hour training included background information, tutoring tips, and time for discussion. The majority of tutors (44 out of 47) reported learning something helpful they could use when tutoring. While this intervention was specifically designed to target bilingual students, most evidence-based tips discussed here are applicable to all students. It is crucial to provide tutors with the skills and resources necessary to better connect with their students

Factors that Influence Academic Satisfaction in University English as a Second Language Students

English as a Second Language (ESL) students are a growing population in U.S. universities. Previous research has been conducted on general students’ satisfaction as well as ESL students’ academic success. However, not many studies have investigated ESL university students’ academic satisfaction. The present study measured four factors that could affect academic satisfaction in ESL students: English proficiency, cultural inclusion, connectedness to school, and faculty relationships. A survey containing measures for all of these variables was distributed to ESL students at Eastern Kentucky University. The variables Cultural Inclusion and Connectedness were strongly and positively correlated with ESL student Academic Satisfaction, while Faculty Relationships were moderately and positively correlated with Academic Satisfaction. However, English Proficiency seemed to have no effect on Academic Satisfaction. The results from this study can be used to directly benefit ESL students by creating teaching resources and providing training to faculty and tutors across campus. Keywords: ESL, academic satisfaction, university, English proficiency, cultural inclusion, connectedness, faculty relationshipshttps://encompass.eku.edu/swps_undergraduategallery/1300/thumbnail.jp

Factors that Influence Academic Satisfaction in University English as a Second Language Students

English as a Second Language (ESL) students are a growing population in U.S. universities. Previous research has been conducted on general students’ satisfaction as well as ESL students’ academic success. However, not many studies have investigated ESL university students’ academic satisfaction. The present study measured four factors that could affect academic satisfaction in ESL students: English proficiency, cultural inclusion, connectedness to school, and faculty relationships. A survey containing measures for all of these variables was distributed to ESL students at Eastern Kentucky University. The variables Cultural Inclusion and Connectedness were strongly and positively correlated with ESL student academic satisfaction, while English Proficiency and Faculty Relationships seemed to have no effect on academic satisfaction. The results from this study can be used to directly benefit ESL students by creating teaching resources and providing training to faculty and tutors across campus

Proyecto Ñ - A Digital Humanities Student and Faculty Co-Creative Project

Proyecto Ñ is an EKU student-faculty co-created Google Site for the exploration of Latinx cultures. Modeling a relationship rich pedagogy, Proyecto Ñ stimulates greater meaning and purpose for course assignments, and it encourages students enrolled in Spanish 301 at EKU to learn collectively and build relationships as a learning community.https://encompass.eku.edu/pedagogicon_postergallery/1016/thumbnail.jp

Factors that Influence Academic Satisfaction in University English as a Second Language Students

Hamilton, H. (2022) Factors that Influence Academic Satisfaction in English as a Second Language University Students. [Undergraduate senior thesis]. Eastern Kentucky University. English as a Second Language (ESL) students are a growing population in universities across the U.S. Previous research has been conducted on the academic satisfaction of students in the general population, as well as the academic success of ESL students. However, not many studies have investigated the academic satisfaction of ESL students. The present study measured four potential influences on academic satisfaction: English proficiency, cultural inclusion, university connectedness, and faculty relationships. A survey containing measures for all of these variables was distributed to ESL students at Eastern Kentucky University. The variables cultural inclusion and university connectedness were strongly and positively correlated with academic satisfaction, and faculty relationships were moderately and positively correlated with academic satisfaction. However, English proficiency had no effect on academic satisfaction. The results from this study can be used to increase the satisfaction of ESL students by developing interventions targeted at improving university connectedness and cultural inclusion. Keywords: ESL, academic satisfaction, English proficiency, cultural inclusion, connectedness, faculty relationship

Do Foreign Accents Influence the Perceived Difficulty of a Sentence?

Everyone has an accent. Accents that are perceived as foreign can influence listeners’ ease of understanding and empathy. We examined whether a speaker\u27s accent influenced the perceived difficulty of a sentence. In particular, whether sentences spoken by foreign-accented speakers were perceived as more difficult to understand. Our results indicated that, when listeners rate the difficulty of the sentence, they are influenced by the speaker’s accent. Listeners consistently rated sentences spoken by a foreign speaker as more difficult than sentences spoken by a native speaker, despite asking them to focus on the difficulty of the sentence itself. These results point to the conclusion that listeners are unable to discern between difficulties they are experiencing due to the speaker and difficulties they are experiencing due to the sentence. Implications of these findings can inform how diverse speakers are perceived in different settings like the classroom and the workplace

Factors that Influence Academic Satisfaction in University English as a Second Language Students

The present project is based on a study that measured four factors that could affect academic satisfaction in English as a Second Language (ESL) students: English proficiency, cultural inclusion, connectedness to school, and faculty relationships. The results from this study were used to directly benefit ESL students by creating teaching resources and providing training to faculty and tutors across campus. During two of the tutor sessions provided as training, tutors at EKU provided feedback on the helpfulness of the session, advice for ESL students, and advice for professors at the university. This feedback was analyzed and will be discussed in this poster.https://encompass.eku.edu/pedagogicon_postergallery/1014/thumbnail.jp