Abstract
An American degree is highly respected and sought from most places around the globe. Historically, the USA has recognized that international students bring diversity, new understandings, and, for public universities, increased tuition revenue. For the most part, the USA has greeted qualified international students with open arms and a hearty welcome. But for many hopeful internationals, the biggest barrier to a US education is English language competency. For good and obvious reasons, US universities have strict standards for the minimum score on the TOEFL or IELTS tests. For those students who cannot score high enough to be accepted at American universities, an option is to first attend an Intensive English Program at an American community college with the goal of rapidly increasing English language skills and subsequently scoring high enough on the TOEFL or IELTS to proceed with the dream of an American postsecondary education. This chapter explores the dreams, goals, experiences, and aftermath of international students who have enrolled in community college Intensive English Programs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adult Education Act, Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments, Pub. L. 89–750, 80 Stat. 1191–1222. (1966). Retrieved from http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/89/hr13161
American Association of Community Colleges. (2015). Community college finder. Retrieved from http://www.aacc.nche.edu/pages/ccfinder.aspx
Andrade, M. S. (2006). International students in English-speaking universities: Adjustment factors. Journal of Research in International Education, 5(2), 131–154.
Bilingual Education Institute. (2015). No-profit/government- English. Retrieved May 2, 2015 from http://www.bei.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=99&Itemid=228
Carlson, R. A. (1970). Americanization as an early twentieth-century adult education movement. History of Education Quarterly, 10(4), 440–464.
Chow, P. (2011). What international students think about U.S. higher education? International Higher Education, 65, 10–12. Retrieved June 5, 2015 from https://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ihe/article/view/8568/7701.
DeAngelis, C. (2013). Intensive English USA 2013. New York: Institute of International Education.
ESLC. (2015). English Skills Learning Center. Retrieved from http://www.eslcenter.org/
ESLIM. (2015). English as a second language and immigrant ministries. Retrieved from http://www.eslim.org/.
Green River College. (2014). International programs. Retrieved May 6, 2015 from https://www.greenriver.edu/international/programs/intensive_english.shtm
Hanover Research. (2010, November). Best practices in international student recruitment and retention in Anglophone countries. Retrieved April 3, 2015 from http://www.hanoverresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Best-Practices-in-International-Student-Recruitment-and-Retention-in-Anglophone-Countries-Membership.pdf
Huntington, S. (2004). One nation, out of many. American Enterprise-Washington, 15(6), 20–25.
Ignash, J. M. (1994). The scope and status of English as a second language in U.S. community colleges. Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
Institute of International Education. (2014). Intensive English programs: Leading places of origin, open doors data. Retrieved June 7, 2015 from http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/Intensive-English-Programs/Leading-Places-of-Origin/2012-13
Krug, M. (1976). The melting of the ethnics: Education of the immigrants, 1880–1914. Bloomington: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
Kuo, E. (1999). English as a second language in the community college curriculum. In G. Schuyler (Ed.), Trends in community college curriculum: New directions for community colleges. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Levin, J., López-Damián, A., Martin, M., & Hoggatt, M. (2017). The U.S. community college after globalization. In T. L. Tran & K. Dempsey (Eds.), Internationalization in vocational education and training: Transnational perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer.
Oklahoma City Community College. (2015). Students for whom English is a second language. Retrieved June 10, 2015 from http://www.occc.edu/admissions/second.html.
Sherry, M., Thomas, P., & Chui, W. H. (2010). International students: A vulnerable student population. Higher Education, 60(1), 33–46.
Stevens, G. (2013). Age and second language acquisition among immigrants. In E. L. Grigorenko (Ed.), U.S. immigration and education: Cultural and policy issues across the lifespan (pp. 235–248). New York: Springer.
Striplin, J. C. (2000). A review of community college curriculum trends. ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges.
The American Journal of International Law. (1907). The American journal of international law 1(1), 31–47. Retrieved June 9, 2015 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2212339
The Henry Ford. (2015). Benson Ford research center. Retrieved July 1, 2015 from https://www.thehenryford.org/research/englishSchool.aspx
Tucker, J. T. (2006). The ESL logjam: Waiting time for adult ESL classes and the impact on English learners. Los Angeles: NALEO Educational Fund.
U.S. Census Bureau (2011). Language use in the United States 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2015 from http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2013/acs/acs-22.html
Witherell, S., & Clayton, E. (2014). Open Doors 2014: International students in the United States and study abroad by American students are at all-time high. Institute of International Education. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-Releases/2014/2014-11-17-Open-Doors-Data
Yeh, C. J., & Inose, M. (2003). International students’ reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 16(1), 15–28.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hagedorn, L.S., Li, R. (2017). English Instruction at Community Colleges: The Language Bridge to the USA. In: Tran, L., Dempsey, K. (eds) Internationalization in Vocational Education and Training. Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47859-3_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47859-3_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47857-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47859-3
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)