Employer Views on ESL Writing Inaccuracy and Academic Implications

Jim Hujhu@tru.ca

BC TEAL 2014Richmond, BC

Overview

Introduction/rationale

Research questions

Study methodology

Results and discussion

Summary and Conclusions

Further research

1. IntroductionPurpose of the presentation Report on a study of employers' perspectives on writing

inaccuracy of ESL employees and the implications for academia.

Rationale for the study

Many ESL students have no interest in improving writing 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).

However, as ESL writing instructors and/or researchers, many of us believe writing accuracy is important. 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 the importance of language accuracy.

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 unfavorable view of writing errors. E.g.,• Beason (2001): “Although errors can impede meaning, a

more complex and equally important problem is how readers use errors to construct a negative image of a writer or organization” (p. 58).

However, little research has pursued this issue since 2001, especially re. ESL writing. Our study responds to Ferris' call and contributes to the research by examining employers' perspectives on writing inaccuracy of ESL employees.

2. Research Questions

1. What are the expectations of employers regarding writing accuracy of ESL employees?

2. What language problems do employers believe ESL employees 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?

Defining terms Language problems include those in the following categories: grammar, vocabulary spelling, punctuation, upper/lower cases Academic/professional writing style (Hu, 2011), avoiding

a. contracted forms, e.g., isn’t 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).

Grammatical Accuracy

Semantic Clarity

Pragmatic Appropriaten

ess

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 in Western Canada in 2012-2013.

Participants 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+

4. Results and Discussion

1.1 What kinds of writing do ESL employees need to do for work?Table 2

Part. Institution Kinds of Writing

A Tourism Report, website update, Facebook update, press release draft, client business letters, newsletter articles, emails

C High Tech 1 Internal emails, technical reports for products, drawings & descriptions of drawing

D Medical service Handwritten notes in 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

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.

Table 41.3 Do you think writing correctly and clearly is important for success?

Part. Institution Importance of Writing Correctly & Clearly

A Tourism Yes…to 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 can’t read the writing [due to spelling, grammar, meaning problems] or understand the abbreviations. Critical: clear communication for patient care.

E High Tech 2

To excel in the job and to excel in your career, most likely. For a software developer, it’s less about communicating in writing; it’s more oral and the quality of your work.

H Consulting Absolutely. Writing is our deliverable.

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 image of the company.

F Law Yes. It’s reflective of our work product overall. If a document is filed in court with one digit or letter off, then it doesn’t get accepted. The implications are great in our environment.

G Architec-ture

No. We’d like them to do as best they can. I expect them to strive to improve over time.

H Consulting services

Yes. If they can’t, then we don’t typically hire them. We are International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certified; that’s part of our quality system.

J High Tech 3

Yes. It allows you to communicate more effectively and makes everything more efficient.

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 concerns…spelling and grammar mistakes… not thorough enough.

H Consulting Services

We’ve had to let people go because we’ve 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 the road 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 didn’t write to the correct audience.

1.6 If you have/had ESL employees with writing problems, what types of language problems do/did they have? Table 7

Part.

Institution

Types of writing problems

B Banking Grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, idiomatic expressions and professional writing style were all problems with the email correspondence. 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

It’s usually grammar… it might be vocabulary and spelling. Professional writing style… Clear expressions.

I Education Counseling

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 style including writing for the appropriate audience.

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, word choice – 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. For internal, technical jobs, I don’t 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 would depend on the position.

F Law Yes, we would consider not hiring. It’s [language proficiency] a requirement of the job.

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 shouldn’t 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. For students trying to integrate into Canadian companies, it’s an essential tool for them to write and communicate effectively; therefore, it’s time well-invested for professors to focus on language errors.

C High Tech 1

Yes because it’s 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.

"I think we’re being pushed more and more to prepare our students for the job market“ (Harriet Lewis, May 21, 2014, University Affairs).

5. Summary and Conclusions

1. What are the expectations of employers regarding writing accuracy of ESL

employees?

Research Question

Study results indicate employers mostly maintain the same writing standards for ESL employees as for native English speakers.

Resumes containing inaccurate or unclear writing often are discarded during screening.

ESL employees are expected to write accurate standard English in communication with the external world

(minor errors are often tolerated in internal communication, e.g., emails.)ESL employees are generally expected to complete writing tasks

with minimal assistance from colleagues.

2. What language problems do employers believe ESL employees have in work-related writing?

Research Question

•The interviewees were varied in responses reflecting different writing contexts. However, some problems noted were grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, idiomatic expressions and professional writing style, word order, clarity.

3. How might writing inaccuracy affect the career opportunities and success of ESL employees?

Research Question

•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 internal

colleagues only or requiring limited language skills. 

4. What are the implications for academia?

Research Question

The study suggests that since employers often hold writing 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 (see Hu, 2010).

Universities should provide adequate resources for the writing center to help ESL students help themselves (see also Hoare & Hu, 2013).

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.

THANKS

to Alana Hoare and Joel Heng Hartse for helping with the research project.

Jim Hujhu@tru.ca

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