TEAL 2014 Presentation

8/10/2019 TEAL 2014 Presentation

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Employer Views on ESLWriting Inaccuracy andAcademic Implications

Jim [email protected]

BC TEAL 2014Richmond, BC
http://www.tru.ca/home.htmlhttp://www.tru.ca/home.html


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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.

Jim [email protected]


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References

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Communication, 53, 33-64.

Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book: An ESL/EFL teacher's course.Boston, MA:

Heinle & Heinle.

Hairston, M. (1981). Not all errors are created equal: Nonacademic readers in the professions respond to lapses

in usage. College English, 43, 794-806.

Ferris, D. (2002). Treatment of error in second language student writing.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Ferris, D. (2011). Treatment of error in second language student writing(2nd ed.). Ann Arbor: University of

Michigan Press.

Hoare, A., & Hu, (October, 2012). Transition into academics: ESL student preparedness and academic faculty

response. Paper presented at the TESL Canada Conference, Kamloops, BC, Canada.

Hoare, A. & Hu, J. (February, 2013). Best teaching practices for academic ESL students. Paper presented at the

Teaching Practice Colloquium, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, B.C., Canada.

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Hu, J. (2010). Faculty Perceptions of Chinese Graduate Students' Communication Challenges in the Science and

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Progressive & Practical - Proceedings of the BC TEAL 2009 Interior Conference.Retrieved from

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TEAL 2014 Presentation