Performance in English Skills Courses and Overall Academic Achievement

Abstract

The implementation of ESL courses at universities and colleges has been based on the assumption that a threshold level of English proficiency is necessary for students to succeed at their academic work. The correlation, however, between English language proficiency and academic success has not been clearly established. This paper describes a study undertaken at Brock University which correlates performance of students in ESL courses in spoken and written English with achievement in their other academic courses. The grades received in the ESL courses were correlated with the overall academic average and the major average for the whole group and for each of three degree groups-students completing B.A, RSc., and B.RE. degrees. Analysis of the data revealed a modest positive correlation between performance in written English and the overall and major averages in all groups except the B.RE., in which there was no significant correlation. The grades for the spoken English course failed to correlate significantly with either the overall average or the major average in any of the groups. Pedagogical implications of these surprisingly low correlations are discussed, and suggestions are offered for making skills learned in ESL courses more relevant to the academic needs of students.

English for Academic Purposes Student Reflections: Factors Related to Their Additional Language Socialization at a Canadian University

“…While there have been a number of benefits associated with completing an EAP program as a pathway to postsecondary studies in the Canadian context, questions still remain about the effectiveness of these programs. Early studies identified some relationship between EAP writing performance and later outcomes in arts and science programs; however, grades in EAP speaking courses were not good predictors of later academic outcomes (Black, 1991). Another study showed little relationship between EAP program PAGE SCOTT ROY DOUGLAS, MICHAEL HENRY LANDRY, CHRISTINE DOE, AND LIYING CHENG participation and English language skill improvement (Bayliss & Raymond, 2004).…”

Evaluating locally-developed language testing

“…To adopt terminology used in Lynch's review of rationales driving language program evaluation research (Lynch, 1996), research objectives were construed as both summative and formative -where summative objectives focus on the specification of the relationship between language assessments and subsequent academic performance, and formative objectives concern findings that may be fed back into program improvement. With the exception of studies conducted at Brock University, Ontario (Black, 1991) and the University of Edinburgh (Lynch, 1994(Lynch, , 2000, which similarly concern locallydeveloped language assessments, there are remarkably few precedents in the literature of predictive validity studies that engaged with dual summative / formative research objectives.…”

“…While the specific relevance of the study's findings is to the particular MU context in which the study was conducted, the study has exemplified an approach to language assessment validation that has a more general significance. The study has sought to link formative outcomes to the customary summative outcomes of predictive validation studies of language assessment, and in so doing has further instantiated an approach to predictive validity research (following Black, 1991;Lynch, 1994, 2000 -see 1.3 above) that increases the capacity of predictive validity studies to implement change, if and where found to be necessary, in assessment practices. This potential in predictive validity research for researchdriven program-renewal outcomes seems of immediate relevance in the current Australian context, in which locally-developed, and evidently unvalidated, 'Direct Entry' approaches to language assessment have become widespread.…”

Problems in Developing an Alternative to the TOEFL

“…Unfortunately, predictive validity studies (Hale, Stansfield, & Duran, 1984;Black, 1991) have overall failed to show any clear relationship between language proficiency and academic success. The problems associated with such studies are summarized in Graham (1987) and relate to (a) the criterion for judging academic success, (b) limitations in the measures of English proficiency used, (c) the interpretation of any relationships found, and (d) the large number of uncontrolled variables involved in academic success.…”