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Aspects of the Effect of a Computer-based Program on English Second Language Students at TUT, Mpumalanga, South Africa Abstract
Introduction and background
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Aspects of the Effect of a Computer-based Program on English Second Language Students at TUT, Mpumalanga, South Africa




Abstract


This paper is a very brief summary of certain aspects of a phenomenon I have explored via the case study method. The aim of this paper is to briefly report on my exploration of the effect of a software program with regard to improving the knowledge base and proficiency of a specific group of English Second Language (ESL) students at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), eMalahleni Campus. Emalahleni Campus is in the Mpumalanga province, one of nine provinces in South Africa. The aim of the computer-based program, Reading Excellence™, is to improve ESL students’ reading comprehension and speed. This predominantly qualitative case study explored the particular phenomenon by means of mixed methodology. I employed various data collection methods, resulting in triangulation or, more to the point, crystallisation. I used computer technology in the exploration process, including Endnote™, Atlas.ti™ and Turnitin™.

Keywords:

  • ESL, CALL, Business English, computer program, e-learning, evaluation, Reading Excellence™, multimedia, TUT


While the original dissertation and its addenda were 190 pages, the reader should bear in mind the difficulties in summarising the entire process in approximately five pages. I have allocated a relatively substantial part of this paper to the introduction and background, where I have tried my best to very briefly describe the setting and circumstances of the case study, to provide the reader with an elaborate description of the phenomenon I had explored. The downside, of course, is that there was limited space for the rest of this paper.

Introduction and background


The majority of tertiary students at South African universities of technology speak English as a second language. At TUT approximately eighty percent of students registered in 2006 indicated that English was not their home language (TUT, 2007). The fact that students study in English, which is not their mother tongue, may act as a barrier to academic success (FERGUSON, S. D., 2003:46). These students would probably benefit from developing their English knowledge base and proficiency. Tertiary institutions should strive to help students in this regard. When students’ reading and comprehension skills are improved, they may be empowered to be more comfortable with copious amounts of study material, and may be more comfortable with English subject content. Many South African universities, however, do not have sufficient staff to develop suitable material and manage large numbers of ESL students.

In this paper I refer to a number of Business English subjects. I use this term in the context of subjects that are common to South African universities of technology. These subjects are often compulsory, and their syllabi contain a number of outcomes that are inextricably intertwined with students’ ESL proficiency.

Examination reports at TUT (TUT, 2006) indicate that the success rate of a number of Business English subjects is unsatisfactory. This may apply to other universities of technology in South Africa. Many TUT students’ mother tongue is not English (TUT, 2007), and it is possible that ESL may be a general problem among many TUT students. Students’ limited ESL knowledge base and insufficient reading skills probably contribute to poor success rates. Insufficient ESL proficiency has a compound effect on Business English subjects, because these subjects’ syllabi are biased towards students whose mother tongue is English.

Subjects that exhibit consistently low success rates have a very negative effect on logistics, such as timetables, student and staff morale, class attendance, subsidies (due to low graduation rates), the institution’s financial situation and also the standard and quality of teaching and learning. Consistently low success rates in particular subjects have a cumulative effect: it compounds problems and the result is escalating damage that becomes increasingly difficult to contain and manage. Some students at tertiary institutions experience high levels of alienation (FERGUSON, S. D., 2003:44), and I would not be surprised if this is the case among the students who fail to pass their subjects at the first attempt.

During the thirteen years I have been a Business English lecturer, I have not experienced a significant and sustained increase in success rates for many of the Business English subjects. I have witnessed the anxiety experienced by these students due to the problems that have resulted from their repeated unsuccessful attempts at passing their compulsory Business English subject. I have discussed these observations with other Business English lecturers and they have reported similar experiences.

I am interested in exploring all possible avenues to address poor success rates – of Business English subjects in particular – and have been involved in computer-based ESL interventions to improve the ESL knowledge base of students at eMalahleni Campus. It was probably inevitable that I would investigate the effect of one of these interventions, an ESL computer program, as I have high regard for the contributions of computer technology as a supplement to regular classes.

I was closely involved in the process of implementing the Reading Excellence™ computer-based ESL program. I have, however, no vested interests in this program, and have no ties whatsoever with the proprietors of the program. Reading Excellence™ is a South African computer program that focuses on improving students’ ESL reading speed and comprehension. It contains a wide variety of activities: numerical, perceptual, multiple options, reading for reading speeds, reading for comprehension, and scanning (TUT, 2004:3). The program aims to improve students’ reading speed whilst simultaneously improving comprehension. It addresses all grades, or levels, from Grade One to Grade Twelve. The levels vary from level A2 – the equivalent of Grade One – to level D3, which is similar to Grade Twelve. The instruction manual (READING EXCELLENCE, 2004:25) provided by the proprietor of the Reading Excellence™ program explains the different levels and indicates the minimum number of words per minute (WPM) the student should be able to read per level. In terms of proficiency level, levels A2 and A3 are on the Foundation level, Levels B2 and B3 on the Intermediate level, levels C2 and C3 on the Senior level and levels D1 to D4 are on the post-Grade Twelve level.

The Reading Excellence™ program automatically tests each student’s reading comprehension and speed when the student uses it for the first time, after which the program decides on which level the student should start their training. The student progresses through each of the levels in the hierarchy: the program’s reading speed is increased automatically by ten WPM if the student attains seventy percent comprehension (READING EXCELLENCE, 2004:27).

One of the advantages of Reading Excellence™ program is that it does not require the presence of a facilitator when students are using it. It requires only an assistant monitoring each class (to answer any technical questions and make sure the program is running perfectly on each desktop computer in the reading laboratory). This makes Reading Excellence™ more cost-effective, since student assistants imply a substantially smaller financial investment, and lecturers are free to focus on regular classes. At eMalahleni Campus various groups attended Reading Excellence™ classes in 2006, including the five groups I included in the study.