College LEP students are generally required to take ESOL courses as a part of their academic program in order to achieve the level of English proficiency necessary to do college work. This level demands knowledge of phonetics, as well as syntactic, semantic, and rhetorical information which does not equate with the remedial study of English by native English speaking students. Rather, it is equivalent to the knowledge of foreign languages and of linguistic analysis, for which native English speaking students receive college credit.
Furthermore, receiving academic credit will increase student motiva tion and performance, and may be necessary for students to be considered full-time matriculants and to pursue their college studies.
A national survey conducted by TESOL, the international organization, indicates that most colleges and universities in the United States do, in fact, grant academic credit for ESOL courses. By granting such credit for ESOL studies, colleges and universities will better serve LEP students and increase the likelihood that they will successfully complete their college education.