teal 2014 presentation
TRANSCRIPT
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Employer Views on ESLWriting Inaccuracy andAcademic Implications
BC TEAL 2014Richmond, BC
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OverviewIntroduction/rationale
Research questions
Study methodology
Results and discussion
Summary and Conclusions
Further research
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1. IntroductionPurpose of the presentation
Report on a study of employers' perspectives onwriting inaccuracy of ESL employees and theimplications for academia.
Rationale for the study
Many ESL students have no interest in improvingwriting accuracy (Ferris, 2002, 2011) because they
lack confidence in writing competence rely too much on institutional support, and/or have academic faculty not emphasizing language
accuracy while focusing on content (e.g., Hoare & Hu,2012; Hu, 2000, 2010; Hyland, 2013).
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However, as ESL writing instructors and/or
researchers, many of us believe writing accuracy isimportant. How can ESL students and university
faculty be persuaded to pay attention to student
writing problems?
Ferris (2002, 2011) calls for research to explore
the views of prospective employers on
inaccurate and unclear writing to raise ESL
student and faculty consciousness of theimportance of language accuracy.
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Studies on error gravity in terms non-academic
readers views prior to Ferris (2002) (e.g., Beason,2001; Hairston,1998; Leonard & Gilsdorf,1990)suggested that non-academics have an unfavorableview of writing errors. E.g., Beason (2001): Although errors can impede meaning,
a more complex and equally important problem is howreaders use errors to construct a negative image of awriter or organization (p. 58).
However, little research has pursued this issue
since 2001, especially re. ESL writing. Our studyresponds to Ferris' call and contributes to theresearch by examining employers' perspectives onwriting inaccuracy of ESLemployees.
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2. Research Questions
1. What are the expectations of employers regarding writingaccuracy of ESL employees?
2. What language problems do employers believe ESLemployees have in work-related writing?
3. How might writing inaccuracy affect the career opportunities
and success of ESL employees?
4. What are the implications for academia?
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Defining termsLanguage problemsinclude those in the following categories:
grammar, vocabulary
spelling, punctuation, upper/lower cases
Academic/professional writing style (Hu, 2011), avoiding
a. contracted forms, e.g.,isnt
b. colloquial expressions
c. choppy sentences, i.e., Ss w/ < 10 words each, in a row
clear expressions
concise expressions
On 3 dimensions of grammar, see
Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999, p. 4).
GrammaticalAccuracy
SemanticClarity
PragmaticAppropriateness
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3. Study Methodology
The study employed semi-structured in-depth qualitative individual interviews with
ten managers and executives representing
six institutions in a small city and four
institutions in a metropolitan area inWestern Canada in 2012-2013.
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Part ic ipants
Table 1: Administrators and executives interviewed
Participant Institution Type Position Gender ESL Employees
A Tourism Manager Female 5
B Banking Manager Male 6
C High tech President Male 2
D Medical service Director Female 4+
E High tech HR Manager Female 12
F Law HR Director Female 20-25
G Architecture Managing Director Female 8
H Consulting Services HR Manager Female 10
I Education
Counseling
Associate Director Male 8
J High tech IT Manager Male 15+
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4. Results and Discussion
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1.1 What kinds of writing do ESL employees need to do for work?
Table 2
Part. Institution Kinds of WritingA Tourism Report, websiteupdate, Facebookupdate, pressrelease
draft, client businessletters, newsletterarticles, emails
C High Tech 1 Internal emails, technical reports for products, drawings &
descriptions of drawing
D Medical service Handwritten notesin point form, clear & concise notes
E High Tech 2 Basic emails, specification documents, point form notes &
diagrams, reports, ppt presentations, instant messaging
F Law Written communication, i.e. legal court documents
G Architecture Email, meeting minutes, design documents
H Consulting Serv Technical report writing, emails, memos, business writing
I Ed Counseling Emails, newsletters, online and print edition orientation
booklets
J High Tech 3 Emails, procedural steps, status reports, error reports
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Table 3
1.2 What are your expectations or standards for their writing re. language
quality? Same for both ESL and NES employees?
Part. Institution Writing Expectations/Standards
A Tourism On par with NES; able to work independently
B Banking Error free; errors impact company negatively
C High Tech 1 Higher standards than average when communicating
with the public; for internal documents, ability to
communicate message is most important
D Medical
service
Standards are high for patient safety, e.g., in
documentation, email, assessment tools
E High Tech 2 When dealing with customers, the requirements are
higher. In tech support positions language proficiency is
more flexible.
F Law Standards are high; for lawyers, we expect perfection.
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Table 4
1.3 Do you think writing correctly and clearly is important for success?
Part. Institution Importance of Writing Correctly & Clearly
A Tourism Yesto constantly correct grammar adds more to the
workload of the (other) staff.
B Banking Yes, for external emails and loan-notes.
C High Tech
1
Yes, very much. Includes grammar, lang. form, content &
ideas.
D Medical
Service
Yes, the most common issue is we cant read the writing
[due to spelling, grammar, meaning problems] or
understand the abbreviations. Critical: clearcommunication for patient care.
E High Tech
2
To excel in the job and to excel in your career, most likely.
For a software developer, its less about communicating in
writing; its more oral and the quality of your work.
H Consulting Absolutely. Writing is our deliverable.
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Table 5
1.4 Do you think the ESL employees should write work-related English
with accuracy?
Part. Institution Work-related English with Accuracy
A Tourism All areas are very important. Newsletters and articles
require employees to perform at high levels to maintain a
good imageof the company.
F Law Yes. Its reflective of our work product overall. If a documentis filed in court with one digit or letter off, then it doesnt get
accepted. The implications are great in our environment.
G Architec-
ture
No. Wed like them to do as best they can. I expect them to
strive to improve over time.
H Consulting
services
Yes. If they cant,then we dont typically hire them. We are
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
certified; thats part of our quality system.
J High Tech
3
Yes. It allows you to communicate more effectively and
makes everything more efficient.
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Table 6
1.5 If you have/had ESL employees, is/was their ability to write English correctly
and clearly ever a problem for them and/or you?
Part. Institution Ability to Write English Correctly & Clearly
A Tourism Yes, poor English standards (probably at grade 4/5 level); negative
impacts on work quality; negative influences to hire ESL students;
resumes not the best method.
D Medical
Service
Yes. Report writing concernsspelling and grammar mistakes
not thorough enough.
H Consulting
Services
Weve had to let people go because weve tried and tried and tried.
They had really good technical skills and we thought we could
teach them writing.
I Education
Counseling
Yes. A co-op student built our online orientation. He had great
technical skills but poor English. This created problems down theroad because it was more effort to fix it than it was to just start from
scratch.
J High Tech 3 Yes. Most of the errors are verbal; however, I have asked some
people to rewrite reports because of style issues, i.e. they didnt
write to the correct audience.
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1.6 If you have/had ESL employees with writingproblems, what types of
language problems do/did they have?Table 7
Part. Institution Types of writing problems
B Banking Grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, idiomatic expressions andprofessional writing stylewere all problems with the emailcorrespondence. Word order, clarity.
C High Tech 1 #1: vocabulary, #2: grammar
E High Tech 2 Clear expressions.
F Law Grammar and tense usage Singular vs. plural Clarity
G Architecture Its usually grammar it might be vocabulary and spelling.
Professional writing style Clear expressions.
I EducationCounseling
Grammar Vocabulary Professional writing style (i.e. informal,abbreviations)
J High Tech 3 Style issues, i.e. using jargon. Some vocabulary problems with
word choice, punctuation, grammar. Professional writing styleincludingwriting for the appropriate audience.
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1.7 Would you consider NOT hiring ESL employees in the future who make
frequent or systematic errors in English writing?Table 8
Part. Institution Not hiring ESL Employees
A Tourism Yes, because of past experience.
B Banking Yes. If there are errors in the content spelling, wordchoice then those resumes are discarded. Attention to
detail is a red flag.
C High Tech 1 For certain jobs, yes, for public and website jobs. Forinternal, technical jobs, I dont have an issue.
D Medical
Service
Significant concerns may lead to termination but most
likely would start with a learning plan.
E High Tech 2 Yes, for grammar issues. For everything else it woulddepend on the position.
F Law Yes, we would consider not hiring. Its [language
proficiency] a requirement of the job.
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1.8 What would you suggest universities and university instructors do re.language errors in ESL student writing?
Table 9
Part. Institution Suggestions to universities
B Banking Academic professors shouldnt be required to spend extra
time on language errors but it would be very helpful for
students with the goal of finding employment in Canada. Forstudents trying to integrate into Canadian companies, its an
essential tool for them to write and communicate effectively;
therefore, its time well-invested for professors to focus on
language errors.
C High Tech
1
Yes because its important for employability. The university
experience should be more than the raw subject material,
should focus both on subject matter and written language
The point of university is to prepare students for jobs;
therefore, they should be learning the skills to communicate
effectively in the workplace.
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"I think were being pushedmore and more to prepare
our students for the job
market (Harriet Lewis, May
21, 2014, UniversityAffairs).
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5. Summary and Conclusions
1. What are the expectations of employersregarding writing accuracy of ESL
employees?
Research Question
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Study results indicate employers mostly maintain the samewriting standards for ESL employees as for native Englishspeakers.
Resumes containing inaccurate or unclear writing often arediscarded during screening.
ESL employees are expected to write accurate standardEnglish in communication with the external world
(minor errors are often tolerated in internalcommunication, e.g., emails.)ESL employees are generally expected to complete writing tasks
with minimal assistance from colleagues.
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2. What language problems do employers
believe ESL employees have in work-
related writing?
Research Question
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The interviewees were varied inresponses reflecting different writing
contexts. However, some problems noted
were grammar, vocabulary, punctuation,
idiomatic expressions and professional
writing style, word order, clarity.
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3. How might writing inaccuracy affect
the career opportunities and success
of ESL employees?
Research Question
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ESL employees who write inaccurate or
unclear English may: have difficulty finding certain employment
be dismissed
be offered a learning plan have limited opportunities for advancement
assigned roles dealing with internalcolleagues only or requiring limited
language skills.
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4. What are the implications for
academia?
Research Question
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The study suggests that since employers often holdwriting quality expectations for ESL employees on
par with native English speakers, ESL students need
to develop competent writing skills.ESL and academic faculty should try to help ESL
students improve writing accurately and clearly (seeHu, 2010).
Universities should provide adequate resources forthe writing center to help ESL students helpthemselves (see also Hoare & Hu, 2013).
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6. Further ResearchFuture research will include surveys and more
interviews, ideally representing more varied
industries that hire ESL graduates.
Further research may also involve academia to
consider the possibility of implementing employers
suggestions.
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THANKS
to Alana Hoare and Joel Heng Hartse for helping with the
research project.
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