Examining Community College Students’ Progression Through the English as a Second Language Sequence

Abstract

Objective: Although immigrant students placed in English as a Second Language (ESL) sequence at community colleges are a growing student population, there is a dearth of research focused on these students in college. This study provides descriptive estimates of community college students’ progression through the credit-earning ESL sequence and disaggregates the findings by Generation 1.5/2.0 status. As community colleges seek to better support students whose primary language is not English, this study provides some of the first empirical evidence on who is placing where and how long it takes students to progress through the ESL sequence. Method: This study uses transcript data from a community college in California that enrolls a large proportion of students in the ESL sequence and estimates a Cox proportional hazards model with time to completing English 101 as the dependent variable. Results: Most Generation 1.5/2.0 students who take the ESL placement test start three levels or below college-level English. Furthermore, Generation 1.5/2.0 students attempt and complete English 101 at a lower rate than international students. Results from the Cox proportional hazards model show that international students are more likely to complete English 101 than U.S. citizens at any given point in time. Among the Generation 1.5/2.0 subsample, female permanent residents are more likely to complete English 101 than citizens. Conclusion: The findings suggest a need to reassess the ESL placement process so that all students placed in ESL are able to successfully progress toward college-level English.