Bergen Community College (BCC) wanted to find out what happens to the ESL students in its American Language Program (ALP) after they complete their courses. Via email and telephone, we surveyed graduates of the program in the last 5 years. Graduates were asked questions concerning their country of origin, length of time in the United States, levels completed, and reasons for studying in the program. Further questions revealed their educational and professional activities since graduation.

We wanted to know whether the graduates achieved the goals they set for themselves upon entering the program and how satisfied they were with their experiences. The data collected in this study helped both BCC and the ALP to better evaluate the success of the program and to make changes based on the survey results.

Methodology

Once we decided on what information we wanted to find out, we generated a list of questions that would get us that information. After the list was finalized, it was piloted with three upper level classes. Then, we generated a list of more than 2,000 students who had completed the ALP over the previous 5 years. One thousand names were randomly chosen and emailed the survey questions through SurveyMonkey, an online survey service. We received a total of 120 responses, giving us a 12% response rate.

In addition, I conducted 63 telephone and personal interviews, which were very useful in getting more detailed answers to the survey questions. Twenty of those interviewed were from the original 120 respondents, and 30 were randomly chosen from the original list of 2,000. In addition, I conducted 13 personal interviews with graduates of the program who are now working in a variety of positions at BCC as college employees.

Results

Reasons for attending the ALP are outlined in Table 1.

Table 1. Reasons for Attending the American Language Program

Approximately 70% of the students responding said that the ALP helped them meet those goals, while about 10% said it didn’t. (The remaining 20% were neutral.)

Survey participants were also asked to indicate how much specific courses in the ALP helped them to improve in English (Table 2).

Table 2. Student Ratings: English Improvement via the American Language Program

Overall, 75% of students indicated that they were satisfied with their experience in the ALP, but an even higher percentage (81.5%) were satisfied with their experience at BCC in general.

We also asked survey respondents to indicate what they did after completing the ALP (Table 3):

Table 3. Student Activity After Graduation

Clearly, the majority of ALP graduates become BCC students. See Table 4 for their majors:

Table 4. Majors of American Language Program Graduates (Includes BCC and other colleges)

When asked if they found employment in their major, almost 60% of graduates said that they are still attending school. The remainder is almost equally divided among those who found employment in their major and those who didn’t. About 57% of those responding to the survey said that they are working. The 57% of respondents who said they are working are working in the following fields full time (54.8%) and part time (45.2%; Table 5):

Table 5. Fields of Working American Language Program Graduates (57% of respondents)

More interesting are the comments, suggestions, and opinions that respondents wrote based on their experience in the ALP. The vast majority of comments were favorable, though, of course, there were a number of negative ones as well. Positive comments concerned the diversity at the college; the English Language Resource Center (the school’s ESL tutoring center); the teachers; the conversation groups; and the grammar, writing, and speech classes. Students said that they gained confidence, improved their writing, and felt more comfortable speaking English. The negative comments revealed that students felt that the program was too expensive, in addition to the fact that they weren’t getting college credit for their classes. Some commented on the poor quality of their evening teachers, the length of the program, and the required exit tests. Others felt that the program didn’t prepare them to take harder regular college classes.

The following are some student suggestions from the SurveyMonkey online survey on how to improve the ALP:

“Grammar and writing get harder when we enter to take regular classes. We still have to look back at the notes of ALP. It will be fine if ALP students get more homework or exercises in those areas.”

“Writing skills should be teach more carefully.”

“I think the program should concentrate more on the grammar and writing.”

“Personally, I think that some professors are too generous their grades. For better preparation regular courses, there are much more intensive lecture classes and assignments too. Of course, professors are also have to prepare more, so when cooperate with both, the results will be much more than now, I think.”

Suggestions for improvement from the telephone and personal interviews included the following:

• There should be more intense speech classes with more pronunciation, intonation, and conversation practice.

• Students need to practice and talk more, and must use English outside the classroom.

• There should be a work program for international students and more social opportunities to use English outside of school.

• Students learn more when the professors are strict.

• The tests given by the professors should be difficult, like the exit tests.

• Students need a higher level of English and more homework to practice.

• Students need material from regular college classes in their ALP classes.

• Students should take regular classes and ALP classes at the same time.

• Students should also take a college experience course and ALP courses simultaneously.

Conclusion

A number of changes to the ESL program in content and in instruction were made as a result of the study.

Some students in the survey said that there should be more speech classes with more pronunciation, intonation, and conversation practice. As a result, a new speech class emphasizing idioms, conversation, and American culture was added. Additionally, some students may not have been aware of our two pronunciation courses in basic and advanced pronunciation. We have increased the promotion of these one-credit courses on information flyers that are hung around campus and distributed at the academic advising center.

Other students commented that they need to practice and speak more and must use English outside the classroom. The faculty recognized this need and created the Intercultural Conversation Partners Program, which matches native English speakers and English language learners for conversation practice in the tutoring center. It gives our ESL students the opportunity to freely interact with American college students on any topic they wish.

In addition, some students commented that a TOEFL prep course was needed, and so a three-credit elective TOEFL prep course was added.

One complaint mentioned in the survey was that students weren’t getting college credit for their ESL courses. Advanced Level Speech has now become a credit-bearing course, and work is underway to extend credit-bearing status to the remaining advanced level courses in grammar, reading, and writing.

Finally, some of the students surveyed recommended having more difficult material from regular college classes in their ALP classes. They also felt that they should be able to take regular college-level classes and ALP classes at the same time. Both of these needs are now being addressed. There are now upper level ESL courses in reading and writing that are specifically linked with regular courses in psychology, sociology, education, and the health professions.

One last note: though the use of SurveyMonkey was extremely useful in getting the data, the telephone and personal interviews were integral in getting to the heart of the matter due to the more detailed responses from the participants. As a result of this project, I’ve come to believe that the ESL faculty (indeed, all faculty in all the departments at the college) would do well to contact former students to get their views on their experiences both in the department specifically and at the college in general. It was gratifying to hear their compliments and an eye-opener to hear their suggestions. It’s a great way to get insights and views from “the other side.”

Harold Kahn has taught ESL for more than 25 years and is currently an associate professor in the American Language Program at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey. He has presented his research on tracking ESL program graduates at a number of TESOL conferences, most recently at the 2016 International TESOL Convention in Baltimore.