Title:
THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE, AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS IN THE
READING COMPREHENSION OF ADULT NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH
ENROLLED IN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES COURSES
Problem Statement:
This study will investigate the cognitive, affective, and demographic factors that affect the
reading comprehension of adult non-native speakers on English who are enrolled in college
English for Academic Purposes courses.
Purpose:
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Nonnative speakers of English who are enrolled in English for Academic Purposes
(EAP) courses must take the placement test required by the State of Florida upon
completion of the EAP course sequence before entering college-level studies.
The College Placement Test (CPT) was used until the 2011-1, the CPT or the
Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (P.E.R.T.) in 2011-1, and the P.E.R.T.
exclusively from 2011-2 on.
Available data indicates that the percentage of students who are exempt from further
remediation in reading after taking the reading subtest is around 50%, while the
percentage of students who are exempt from further remediation in writing after taking
the writing subtest is over 60%.
For instance, in 2008-2, 555 level 6 EAP students took the College Placement Test at
Miami Dade College. Of the 401 EAP level 6 students who took all three subtests
(reading, writing, and mathematics), 129 (32.2%) passed all three subsections; thus, the
majority (76.8%) needed further remediation in at least one area. Exempt from further
remediation were 49.5% of EAP students in reading, 60.2% in writing, and 58.5% in
mathematics. Of the seven level 5 students who attempted to take the CPT test early in
2008-2, only two (28.6%) passed 0the reading portion. Of the nine who took the writing
portion, seven (77.8%) passed, and of the eleven who attempted the mathematics
portion, six (54.5%) passed (Rodriguez, 2010).
This study will make a contribution to one of the implementation goals of MDC3, the
Miami Dade College-specific Completion by Design initiative, is to "[d]esign an English
for Academic Purposes (EAP) and Developmental Education curriculum that will serve
as a more efficient "on ramp" to college-level programs of study" (MDC3 Newsletter).
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Various factors that predict foreign language achievement have been investigated over
the years; however, Gardner et al. (1197) stated that "there is a lack of research
examining the relationships among all those variables simultaneously" (p. 344)
Criterion variable:
P.E.R.T. Reading subtest score (or some other measure of reading comprehension)
Predictor variables:
Cognitive:
* Academic achievement (GPA)
* L1 literacy (reading)
* English proficiency
* Years of prior education in home country (may be demographic)
* Lg. of prior education in home country (native lg, English, other lg.) (may be
demographic)
* Years of formal study of English (may be demographic)
* Expectation of achievement in the course
Affective:
* Lg. anxiety
* Perceived scholastic competence
* Perceived intellectual ability
* Test anxiety
Demographic:
* Gender
* Age
* Semester course load
* Work load
* Use of English outside of school
Personality----maybe
* Level of cooperativeness
* Individualism
References
Gardner, R.C., Tremblay, P.F., & Masgoret, A.M. (1997). Towards a full model of second
language learning: An empirical investigation. Modern Language Journal, 81. 344-362
Onwuegbuzie, A., Bailey, P., Daley, C. (2000). Cognitive, Affective, Personality, and
DEmographic Predictors of Foreign-Language Achievement. The Journal of Educational
Research, 94 (1). 3-15.
Rodriguez, S. (2010). CPT Results for Students Enrolled in Level 5 & 6 EAP Courses.
Institutional Research, Miami Dade College. Retrieved November 26, 2010 from
http://www.mdc.edu/ir/iremployees/2010-001_CPT-Level5&6.pdf
MDC3, Miami Dade College (2012). MDC3 Newsletter: May 21, 2012 Issue