A Comparison of the Level of Anxiety and the Degree of Acculturation among Immigrant ESOL and Mainstreamed-ESOL Students in a Public, Rural High School in South Florida

Author

Herminio Flores-Mulero, Lynn University

Date of Award

7-2003

Document Type

Dissertation

Granting Institution

Lynn University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PHD)

Degree Program

Global Leadership - with a specialization in Educational Leadership

Department

College of Education

First Advisor

Cheryl Serrano

Second Advisor

William Leary

Third Advisor

Cindy Skaruppa

Abstract

The level of anxiety and the degree of acculturation of a group of immigrant Haitian and Hispanic students who are enrolled in an ESOL program in a public, rural high school in South Florida were researched. The level of anxiety and the degree of acculturation of a group of immigrant Haitian and Hispanic students exited from the ESOL program and enrolled in English language mainstream classes were also researched. The purpose of this empirical study was to determine if there is a relationship between anxiety and acculturation among immigrant secondary students by investigating the level of anxiety and the degree of acculturation between current ESOL students and former ESOL students enrolled in mainstream classrooms. The relationships between gender, ethnicity, grade level, and length of time of English language studied and the level of anxiety and the degree of acculturation of the students were examined.

The English Language Anxiety Scale (ELAS) and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) were used as tools to collect quantitative data. The SPSS software was used to analyze quantitatively the ELAS and the MIEM data using correlations and two-tailed t-tests.

The findings reveal that Hispanic students in the ESOL group have the higher level of anxiety. Furthermore, it is the male Hispanic students who are most anxious. In addition, the male Haitian students in the ESOL group displayed a higher level of acculturation than their female counterparts. Hispanic students display a higher degree of acculturation than Haitian students. The study also revealed that a large percentage of the Hispanic students are migrant students.

Recommended Citation

Flores-Mulero, H. (2003). A Comparison of the Level of Anxiety and the Degree of Acculturation among Immigrant ESOL and Mainstreamed-ESOL Students in a Public, Rural High School in South Florida [Doctoral dissertation, Lynn University]. SPIRAL. https://spiral.lynn.edu/etds/253