Recognition of a problem/solution text structure by low and high proficiency ESL community college students

This study investigated the use of a high level reading strategy, recognition of the logical structure of a text, by English as a second language (ESL) students. The objective was to answer the following question: What are the relationships between community college ESL students\u27 ability to recognize the elements of a problem/solution text structure and their language proficiency, the difficulty of the text, and their model of reading. The students in six intermediate and advanced ESL reading classes at an urban community college were used as subjects. Based on the results of a 20 item questionnaire with a Likert scale, the students were divided into four subgroups: low proficiency code-based, low proficiency meaning-based, high proficiency code-based, and high proficiency meaning-based. Each sub-group of students read two texts, one easy and one difficult. Both texts contained a problem/solution text structure. With the text present, the students were asked to identify the elements of a problem/solution text structure. Eighteen of the students were interviewed by the researcher. At least one complete text structure was recognized by 45% of all the students. There was no clear pattern between low and high language proficiency and the recognition of a problem/solution text structure, although the high proficiency students demonstrated a greater tendency to format their responses to indicate a list structure and to add an extratextual evaluation. The most important variable was the level of difficulty of the text; the students were more successful with an easy text than a difficult text. The students with a meaning-based model of reading also tended to be more successful, although a code-based model did not preclude recognition of the text structure. It was concluded that the use of a high level reading strategy by community college ESL students was not dependent on their level of language proficiency and that the difficulty of the text and the model of reading may be of equal or greater importance