In China, with the rapid urbanization and large amount of labor force migrating from rural-to-urban areas, an enormous number of children living in rural China are in the absence of parental care. The objective of the study was to investigate the academic performance of left-behind children under various statuses of parental absence. We investigated 3,076 children (1,761 non-left-behind and 1,315 left-behind) regarding their academic achievement in different subjects. We found that children with different status of parental absence would perform differently on Chinese, mathematics, and English learning. In addition, left-behind children would be significantly more likely to get low scores in academic examinations as compared with non-left-behind children. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate an English Proficiency (EP) programme and its efficacy with respect to students' academic performance in a university within a multi-lingual context, as the programme had been in effect for some years.Design/methodology/approachA quasi-experimental approach was used to study the efficacy of an EP programme in a university within a multilingual context. Data across two academic years were used, along with regression discontinuity design.FindingsResults suggest that the EP programme had a significant and positive intervention effect on students' initial semester grade point average. The programme effect size was found to be medium to large.Research limitations/implicationsIt might be useful to extend the study for one more year for more concrete conclusions. As the study was anchored upon the structure of the 2016 EP programme, any major curricular/structural change to the programme warrants another study.Practical implicationsThis study demonstrated that the implementation of EP programmes in higher education institutions is essential not only for international students who are foreign language speakers of English but also for domestic students in English-speaking countries, especially for bi/multilingual speakers.Originality/valuePrevious studies related to the efficacy of EP within higher education have focused on international students who speak English as an additional/foreign language. Further, most studies have focussed on students' self-reported experiences and have yielded disparate findings. This study contributes to scholarship as it addresses the under-researched area related to domestic students who speak English as the first language in a bi/multi-lingual context.
The role of international students’ English language proficiency has been extensively researched to understand its impact on academic achievement in English-medium universities, mainly because of students’ non-English-speaking backgrounds. However, the relationship between language proficiency and academic achievement among English-speaking-background students remains under-researched, especially in multilingual societies, such as Singapore. The present study explored the relationship among university students’ previous academic experience, English language proficiency, and their current academic performance within a sample of 514 Singaporean students (252 females and 262 males). Findings showed that students’ proficiency scores significantly predicted their current grade point average (GPA) with their prior academic performance being controlled. Moreover, proficiency scores significantly strengthened the association between students’ prior academic performance and their current GPA. Finally, academic discipline showed a marginally significant moderating effect in the relationship between proficiency scores and current GPA. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.
It is well-established that English for academic purposes (EAP) programmes are critical for academic success in English-medium universities. Nonetheless, there is significantly less research on how EAP programmes impact multilingual domestic university students, compared to that of international students who speak English as a foreign language. While an earlier study on a university in Singapore found that an EAP programme had a statistically significant and positive intervention effect on students’ grade point average of the first semester upon matriculation, this study sought to investigate the perceptions of students from the same university, as this would contribute to how EAP programmes could be refined to better support learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 students invited based on a maximum variation strategy. Based on the thematic analyses undertaken, four themes (i.e., programme delivery, linguistic improvement, learning transfer and change in self-efficacy) were identified and discussed. These themes contributed to the formulation of SILVER, an innovative framework of components for consideration in EAP course design and delivery within higher education.
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