English Proficiency Required for Puerto Rican Students to Succeed in University Studies

Ninety percent of Puerto Rican public school students who graduate from high school lack the basic English skills needed to succeed in university studies. This lack may be the result of Spanish being used as the major language of instruction at all levels in the public school system; when students graduate, they are limited English proficient (LEP). In Bruner's process of education theory, the learner needs to actively manipulate the information in order to comprehend the material. Following the second language acquisition theories of Krahsen, Vygotsky, Brown, Chomsky, and others, this ethnographic project study used qualitative questionnaires and audio-recorded interviews to gain the perspectives of English teachers as to why LEP students are not graduating from high school with English proficiency and what could be done to raise English proficiency levels. Interviews and questionnaires were coded and analyzed for commonality of themes. The results of the study demonstrated that the Puerto Rican English teachers were not complying with the mandated 2007 Puerto Rico Department of Education Standards and Expectations. Based on these findings, this project will serve as a model for training English as Second Language teachers to guide mainstream teachers on how to help students achieve English proficiency. Positive social change will be seen through the adoption of English in all core classes, permitting students to understand and manipulate language information actively in various classes and allowing them to adopt the English language more easily.