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Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.

Michael Daller, David Phelan

Bloomsbury Applied Linguistics Review, Volume: 4, Issue: 1

Swansea University Author: Michael Daller

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Abstract

More and more students study outside their own countries and by 2020 a rise to 7 million international students is predicted world-wide. The present study investigates the level of language proficiency that is necessary for international students to study successfully at universities in English-spea...

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Published in: Bloomsbury Applied Linguistics Review
ISSN: 1868-6311
Published: Berlin Mouton De Gruyter 2013
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa13615
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first_indexed 2013-07-23T12:10:35Z
last_indexed 2018-02-09T04:44:26Z
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fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2015-06-27T15:40:37.5248897</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>13615</id><entry>2012-12-11</entry><title>Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>804fdb0f09c45a660a1ac27cc762d8fe</sid><firstname>Michael</firstname><surname>Daller</surname><name>Michael Daller</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2012-12-11</date><deptcode>APLI</deptcode><abstract>More and more students study outside their own countries and by 2020 a rise to 7 million international students is predicted world-wide. The present study investigates the level of language proficiency that is necessary for international students to study successfully at universities in English-speaking countries and how this proficiency can be measured. Standardized tests such as the International English Language Test System (IELTS) or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are carefully developed and constantly scrutinized by the research community, and they provide a valid cut-off point for entry to university, but they do not seem to be good predictors of study success on their own. This is mainly due to the fact that most students who enter universities with these tests have similar scores which leave researchers with a truncated sample where correlations between these test scores and study success, e.g. marks obtained after one year, are necessarily low. The present study investigates alternative measures of language proficiency that can predict the study success of international students. In a longitudinal study with 74 international students a battery of language tests was used at the beginning of the academic year to predict the average marks that the students obtained at the end of the academic year. Several multiple regressions show that between 33% and 96% of the marks can be predicted with tests based mainly on vocabulary knowledge. The findings of the present study have implications for decisions on admission criteria and for language support provision in addition to subject specific learning. There may be many factors other than language proficiency that influence study success of international students such as cultural factors, motivation and familiarity with the subject area. However, our findings indicate that language proficiency and especially vocabulary knowledge is the key factor that explains in some cases almost entirely the final marks that the students achieve.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Bloomsbury Applied Linguistics Review</journal><volume>4</volume><journalNumber>1</journalNumber><publisher>Mouton De Gruyter</publisher><placeOfPublication>Berlin</placeOfPublication><issnPrint>1868-6311</issnPrint><issnElectronic/><keywords>English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Language testing, TOEFL, IELTS, international students, study success</keywords><publishedDay>1</publishedDay><publishedMonth>6</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2013</publishedYear><publishedDate>2013-06-01</publishedDate><doi/><url>http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/alr</url><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Applied Linguistics</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>APLI</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm/><lastEdited>2015-06-27T15:40:37.5248897</lastEdited><Created>2012-12-11T11:09:12.3434671</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Michael</firstname><surname>Daller</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>David</firstname><surname>Phelan</surname><order>2</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2015-06-27T15:40:37.5248897 v2 13615 2012-12-11 Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities. 804fdb0f09c45a660a1ac27cc762d8fe Michael Daller Michael Daller true false 2012-12-11 APLI More and more students study outside their own countries and by 2020 a rise to 7 million international students is predicted world-wide. The present study investigates the level of language proficiency that is necessary for international students to study successfully at universities in English-speaking countries and how this proficiency can be measured. Standardized tests such as the International English Language Test System (IELTS) or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are carefully developed and constantly scrutinized by the research community, and they provide a valid cut-off point for entry to university, but they do not seem to be good predictors of study success on their own. This is mainly due to the fact that most students who enter universities with these tests have similar scores which leave researchers with a truncated sample where correlations between these test scores and study success, e.g. marks obtained after one year, are necessarily low. The present study investigates alternative measures of language proficiency that can predict the study success of international students. In a longitudinal study with 74 international students a battery of language tests was used at the beginning of the academic year to predict the average marks that the students obtained at the end of the academic year. Several multiple regressions show that between 33% and 96% of the marks can be predicted with tests based mainly on vocabulary knowledge. The findings of the present study have implications for decisions on admission criteria and for language support provision in addition to subject specific learning. There may be many factors other than language proficiency that influence study success of international students such as cultural factors, motivation and familiarity with the subject area. However, our findings indicate that language proficiency and especially vocabulary knowledge is the key factor that explains in some cases almost entirely the final marks that the students achieve. Journal Article Bloomsbury Applied Linguistics Review 4 1 Mouton De Gruyter Berlin 1868-6311 English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Language testing, TOEFL, IELTS, international students, study success 1 6 2013 2013-06-01 http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/alr COLLEGE NANME Applied Linguistics COLLEGE CODE APLI Swansea University 2015-06-27T15:40:37.5248897 2012-12-11T11:09:12.3434671 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics Michael Daller 1 David Phelan 2
title Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.
spellingShingle Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.
Michael Daller
title_short Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.
title_full Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.
title_fullStr Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.
title_full_unstemmed Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.
title_sort Predicting study success of international students at English-speaking universities.
author_id_str_mv 804fdb0f09c45a660a1ac27cc762d8fe
author_id_fullname_str_mv 804fdb0f09c45a660a1ac27cc762d8fe_***_Michael Daller
author Michael Daller
author2 Michael Daller
David Phelan
format Journal article
container_title Bloomsbury Applied Linguistics Review
container_volume 4
container_issue 1
publishDate 2013
institution Swansea University
issn 1868-6311
publisher Mouton De Gruyter
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics
url http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/alr
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description More and more students study outside their own countries and by 2020 a rise to 7 million international students is predicted world-wide. The present study investigates the level of language proficiency that is necessary for international students to study successfully at universities in English-speaking countries and how this proficiency can be measured. Standardized tests such as the International English Language Test System (IELTS) or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are carefully developed and constantly scrutinized by the research community, and they provide a valid cut-off point for entry to university, but they do not seem to be good predictors of study success on their own. This is mainly due to the fact that most students who enter universities with these tests have similar scores which leave researchers with a truncated sample where correlations between these test scores and study success, e.g. marks obtained after one year, are necessarily low. The present study investigates alternative measures of language proficiency that can predict the study success of international students. In a longitudinal study with 74 international students a battery of language tests was used at the beginning of the academic year to predict the average marks that the students obtained at the end of the academic year. Several multiple regressions show that between 33% and 96% of the marks can be predicted with tests based mainly on vocabulary knowledge. The findings of the present study have implications for decisions on admission criteria and for language support provision in addition to subject specific learning. There may be many factors other than language proficiency that influence study success of international students such as cultural factors, motivation and familiarity with the subject area. However, our findings indicate that language proficiency and especially vocabulary knowledge is the key factor that explains in some cases almost entirely the final marks that the students achieve.
published_date 2013-06-01T03:15:34Z
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score 11.036706

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