Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners in Co-Requisite Courses at Community College

This qualitative study investigated co-requisite courses which pair a developmental course with a college-level course and & x202f;offer insight into how co-requisite instructors adjusted their curriculum and pedagogy for English language learners. Specifically, it examined faculty experiences teaching a co-requisite course combining a critical thinking course and an intensive ESL writing course at a large community college located in an urban center in the Northeast. The study focused on two interrelated research questions: (1) How did co-requisite models for & x202f;English & x202f;language learners shape curricular and pedagogical decisions? and (2) In what ways did & x202f;instructors & x202f;address the reading and writing needs of their students while simultaneously providing course content? Documenting the enactment of & x202f;co-requisite policy, our findings revealed the ways in which these courses may differ for instructors of students still developing English language proficiency. Through in-depth interviews with faculty teaching the course throughout the semester, findings revealed the complexity of this new co-requisite policy on teachers' curricular decisions and pedagogical practices in classes designed for English language learners. Initial & x202f;research has shown that co-requisites have been successful in improving student outcomes; therefore, it is crucial that college administrators, researchers, and policy makers understand how the co-requisite model may differ for English language learners.