When professor Allison Gorga checked her course roster at the beginning of the Fall 2 term last semester, she noticed something highly unusual: Her Introduction to Sociology class – one she has taught for about a decade and usually never fills up – was at full capacity.
Gorga estimates newly arrived international students made up 75% of the class. She realized teaching a course about the intricacies of a society in which the majority of students did not grow up, in a language that is not their first, was a challenge she had to face head on.
“I immediately knew I had to change the way I teach in a variety of ways,” Gorga said.
Professors and students alike across Webster’s home campus are working through the demands of an increasingly multilingual classroom.
Webster’s international students can choose from a variety of English proficiency testing systems, including Duolingo, and must meet required scores upon admission. The score requirements for Duolingo were lowered by Webster for the 2023-2024 school year, allowing for more students to be admitted.
Students also can enroll in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program. In theory, this would mean uniform English usage in the classroom. But in practice, language proficiency is a spectrum.
Carolyn Trachtova, director of the ESL program at Webster, currently works with 21 students and is the program’s only full-time staff/instructor.
“I am sorry to see some of the negativity surrounding discussions about working with the students. I know professors really want them to succeed. So many professors have reached out to me and really want to help,” Trachtova said.
Trachtova explains there are a variety of factors that may contribute to international students’ decision whether to enroll in the ESL program.
“Often students don’t want to be seen as ESL students because they feel it implies deficiency rather than proficiency,” Trachtova explained. “Students want to be seen as university students.”
On top of the persisting stigma surrounding ESL, being a student of the program also comes with other implications.
“It’s financially a bigger impact. It lengthens the amount of time you are in the U.S. paying for university,” Trachtova said.
In some cultures, asking for help is viewed as a sign of weakness. Cultural differences like these can sometimes hold students back from seeking assistance.
In an effort to counteract these disincentives, the university started offering “Language Enhancement” courses for international students last fall. These courses are not coded as ESL, giving students the opportunity to access the same resources without facing the potential risk of stereotyping, among other concerns.
The resources available for professors and faculty navigating English proficiency concerns are limited, and their questions may not always have answers.
Grading, for example, is one of the most significant gray areas. Currently, there is no concrete set of criteria, leaving professors to their own discretion.
Laylo Khosimova, an international student from Uzbekistan, spent two years preparing for and successfully completing the IELTS (International English Language Testing System).
“Most professors feel this, they try to take this into account. I feel that they will not judge us as they would a native speaker, so they are kind of biased in that situation,” Khosimova said. “I feel they cannot talk openly about this sometimes. They give a score that might be one point higher because they know we are trying to learn.”
For Gorga, she puts less weight on grammar and syntax, and more importance on areas like evidence and sources for written assignments.
“I take the rubric and then I fudge the numbers,” Gorga explained. “You gotta put words on the page, summarize this reading, connect it to other course material and tell me what you think about it.”
Khosimova feels much more comfortable giving an oral presentation as opposed to turning in a written assignment. She has worked with her professors to come up with alternative ways of completing assignments that better suit her level of proficiency.
Khosimova also finds tools like Google and the artificial intelligence text chatbot, ChatGPT, helpful for information-gathering and translations.
Professors have the ability to raise an “English Proficiency Concern” (EPC) flag in Starfish, which is fielded through the ESL program. Trachtova only receives a handful of referrals each semester, but this may be due to the lack of awareness about the tools available.
Trachtova is working on a more comprehensive workshop to help faculty and staff during this transitional period, equipping them with the tools they need to help every student in their classroom succeed.
“There’s no easy fix. It’s not a quick fix. It’s gonna take people coming together and working together to best help the students,” Trachtova said.
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