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ERIC Number: EJ1436317
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1543-4303
EISSN: EISSN-1543-4311
The Academic Achievement of Undergraduate Students with Different English Language Proficiency Profiles
Khaled Barkaoui
Language Assessment Quarterly, v21 n3 p224-244 2024
Many English-medium universities employ a compensatory model to establish cutscores on English language proficiency tests for student admissions. In this model, students can have different scores on different sections of the test provided their overall score meets the admission cutscore. This practice raises questions regarding potential variation in academic achievement among students with diverse score profiles. To address these questions, this study compared the demographic characteristics and academic achievement of 3,694 undergraduate students who met the required cutscore on the IELTS-Academic for admission to a Canadian English-medium university but have different scores on different sections of the test. The findings indicated that, generally, students with medium reading scores combined with low or medium writing scores exhibited lower academic achievement compared to those with high scores on all the IELTS sections or high reading scores combined with medium or high writing scores. The profile groups demonstrated significant differences in certain demographic characteristics, potentially explaining why they have different proficiency levels in different language skills. The implications of the findings are discussed, including whether to maintain the compensatory model or switch to a mixed one, and the implications for providing English language support to students with diverse proficiency profiles.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: International English Language Testing System
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A