Evaluating Phonological Skills in Adult ESOL Learners

A Research Project Funded by TCALL, Texas A&M University
by Robin Lovrien Schwarz, M. Sp. Ed: LD

TABLES

Table 1: Amount of Formal Education

Level/amount of formal education	Number/comments/details
Post graduate degree, training	4 (MD, JD, MBA, Petroleum engineer)
Completed college	2
Some college	5
Post Secondary Certificate	1 (Chef’s training certificate)
Secondary diploma	8
Some secondary education	1
Completed elementary education (8 yrs)	0
Some elementary school	6
< 1 year elementary school	2
Total	29

Table 2: Languages and Countries

Primary Language	Number
Spanish Mexico Nicaragua Venezuela Ecuador El Salvador	14
Viet- Nam Ese	4
Farsi Iran	2
Thai	1
Hmong Thailand	1
Turkish Uzbekistan	1
Uzbek	1
Korean	1
Amharic Ethiopia	1
Russian Azerbaijan	1
French Cote D’Ivoire	1
Kriol Haiti	1

Table 3: Years of English Instruction in and out of US

Number of Years of English Instruction (formal)	In US	In Country of Origin
< 1 year	13	0
1-3 years	3	6
4-5 years	4	5
> 5 years (non-specific)	1	0
6-7 years	0	3
8 or more years	0	2
TOTAL Years of Instruction	21	16

Table 4: Frequency of "Poor" Scores by Literacy Level of Participants

Number of “Poor” Scores out of 8 tasks	High literate (HS Dip. or higher)=20	Literate (completed elementary [8 years of school])=2	Low Literate (Some elementary school—did not complete)=7
0	4	0	1
1	7	0	1
2	6	1	1
3	3	1	2
4	0	0	1
5	0	0	1
Total	20	2	7

Table 5: Overall Skill Area Scores by Literacy Level

Phonological Skill	High Literacy	Intermediate Literacy	Low Literacy	Total
Phonological Awareness Good Fair Poor	14 6 0	0 2 0	1 5 1	15 13 1
Phonological Memory Good Fair Poor	11 8 1	1 1 0	1 4 2	13 13 3

Table 6: Item Scores and Literacy Levels

Item/score	High Lit.	Int. Literate	Low Literate	Total=29
Rhyme perception Good Fair Poor	13 7 0	1 1 0	1 5 1	15 13 1
Rhyme production Good Fair Poor	10 5 5	1 0 1	2 2 3	13 7 9
Sentence repetition Good Fair Poor	2 5 13	0 0 2	1 0 6	3 5 21
Word counting Good Fair Poor	8 7 5	0 1 1	0 3 4	8 11 10
Repeat real words Good Fair Poor	17 2 1	0 2 0	6 1 0	23 5 1
Count Syllables Good Fair Poor	12 5 3	1 1 0	4 1 2	17 7 5
Repeat nonsense words Good Fair Poor	11 6 3	1 1 0	5 1 1	17 8 4
Deletion Good Fair Poor	13 6 1	1 0 1	4 1 2	18 7 4