The English Language Institute is an integral part of the Department of Second Language Studies, a global leader in scholarship on second language studies . Research is one of the core missions of the ELI, and in-house research contributes to our program’s testing procedures, curriculum, instruction and other professional practices.
This page contains a sample of recent and classic research conducted in the ELI. You can view a full list of research articles on ScholarSpace, UH Manoa’s digital academic repository.
On average, there are approximately 10-12 research projects conducted in the ELI per academic year, as well as teacher observation and solicitation of students for research projects. Illustrative research projects successfully carried out in the ELI are listed in the following pages, and more can be found on the ScholarSpace website.
Recent research in the ELI
The following research articles showcase recent research performed in the ELI
- Norris, John. (2019). Experimental investigations into how English language learners respond to different technology-mediated language assessment tasks.
- Smith, George. (2019). Individual differences in the academic listening ability of international students.
- Le, Hoa. (2018). Understanding interactions in small group discussions in an ESL hybrid reading class.
- Matsutani, Yuka. (2018). Developing task-based and genre-based syllabus and teaching materials for teaching academic writing to international students.
- Mendoza, Anna and Phung, Huy. (2018). ELIPT (English Language Institute Placement Test) corpus research.
- Jung, Hye Young. (2017). Ethnography in ELI listening and speaking classroom: Multimodal Conversational Analysis Approach.
- Jung, Hye Young, Smith, George, and Zenker, Fred. (2017). From Task to Classroom: A Comprehensive task-based needs Analysis for the ELI listening and speaking curriculum area.
- Mendoza, Anna. (2017). How international graduate students understand academic writing as a social practice involving language, discourse, and identity.
- Suvorov, Russ. (2017). Exploring language learners’ test-taking strategies.
- Zhou, Lin. (2017). Mobile game quests in the hybrid ELI 83 course.
Classic research in the ELI
These research projects conducted in the ELI over the years have been pivotal in creating what the Institute has become today. For access to these projects, please contact Jason Victor, Educational Specialist at jaya42@hawaii.edu.
- Ono, Leslie. (2003). A Needs Analysis of the English Language Institute Reading Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Department of Second Language Studies.
- Kim, Youngyou, Kong, Dong-Kwan, Lee, Younggeun, Silva, Anthony, and Urano, Ken. (2001). A Task-Based Needs Analysis for the English Language Institute at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Department of Second Language Studies.
- Alexandrou, Robyn and Revard, Donna M. (1990). A Task-Based Needs Analysis for ELI Listening Courses, Department of Second Language Studies.
- Brown, James D. (1987). Foreign Teaching Assistant Pilot Project. Department of English as a Second Language.
- Kimzin, Gail, and Proctor, Susan. (1986). An ELI Academic Listening Comprehension Needs Assessment: Establishing Goals, Objectives, and Microskills. Department of English as a Second Language.
More information
If you’re interested in conducting research in the ELI, please review our research procedures.
For research topics that would be of immediate assistance to the ELI or directly inform the policy and practice of ELI staff, visit the ELI Research Agenda page.