English Language Proficiency and Academic Performance

1. English Language Proficiency and Academic Performance

2. What did the 2013 Symposium 5 Years On – English Language Competence of International Students tell us that is useful for ACPET members? • What are we learning from current ETS TOEFL research on English language channels and student performance in VET and Higher Education?

3. Five years on – English language competence of international students

4. English Language Symposium 2013 • Symposium sought to critically examine the efficacy of Australianpolicy and practice in English language issues for VET and highereducation and suggestimprovement in the light of emerging requirements and recent research • Engaged many stakeholders – students, institutions, employers, professional bodies, pathway providers, English test companies, English language experts • Event funded by AEI and sponsors (4 English language test companies, ACPET, English Australia, Navitas), conducted by IEAA

5. Employers and language proficiency

6. Transition to employment • Employerexpectations-communication skills and English proficiency in “employability skills” - social, cultural, professional, discipline specific, colloquial language • Visa requirements - minimum standards as cut- off scores for various visa classes sometimes drive professional and employer requirements • Drivers for students - Post study work experience, internships, work integrated learning, full time graduate employment

7. Some potential solutions • Help employers articulaterequirements for their workplaces/professional including work-specific communication skills • Buildexpectations of English language proficiency into assessment criteria with progressive standards across the life of a qualification • Assess graduatinglanguageskills within the discipline perhaps as part of a capstoneunit to provide evidence of technical disciplinary skills and more general employability skills • Measureproficiency through an exit test and/or a combination of other approaches

8. Language development during programs

9. Student Progress Rates: Time Series

10. Progress rates – all universities

11. Some myths about language improvement • International students will improvetheirmeasuredEnglishproficiency by osmosis during their course • Improving language is a marginal teaching and learning issue within a discipline/technical area – best left to a “support” or “study skills” staff

12. Some possible solutions • Assess all students soon after arrival to identify needs • Provide discipline based staff with evidence that embeddinglanguagedevelopment in content improving learning outcomes. Improve PD in teaching the communicationskills for that career/discipline • Offer onlineresources and peertopeer programs to support discipline based language development • Encourage proactiveresponse in students to take responsibility for working on their language development both inside and outside the classroom • Provideopportunities for students practice their language skills – especially productive skills of speaking and writing in context

13. English requirements at admission

14. Improving Preparation and Selection of students • There is a lack of understanding of the variety and complexity of channels for demonstrating English language competence • Many students enter without undertaking a standardised English proficiency test • StandarisedEnglishproficiencytests measure readiness to engage in study but do not guarantee study outcomes. Also there are many factors that affect student performance • Research on equivalences between standardised tests is challenging • Receiving institutions frequently use pathway programs and other channels to suit a variety of institutionalneedsbut may not study outcomes of this practice

15. DIAC English requirements for student visas

16. Some possible solutions • Accept only officialtestscores from standardisedtests and ensure they are validated by the test company ( Validation is compulsory for SVP institutions) Use individualskillsscores as well as total scores depending on the kinds and levels of proficiency required in different subjects and levels of study • Where possible, use morethanonepieceofevidence of a student’s English proficiency • If using pathway scores, scrutinize the outcomes to ensure they meet your requirements • Evaluate the validity of your admissions criteria by performing regularreviews and adjustingrequirements

17. Current ETS TOEFL research project:Alan Olsen

18. English Language Channels Research question How do students performacademically compared with how they met the institutions’ Englishlanguageentry requirements? Research data (to date) • 6761 commencing 2012 international students from VET and highereducation sector How did students perform during 2012? • Students passed 86% of units that they attempted. • 3171females passed 89.9% and 3590males passed 82.6%

19. Performance by discipline 4905 degree students passed 86.8% and 1856 diploma students passed 83.9% • Education: 146 passed 96.8% • Health: 336 passed 93.2% • Business: 3465 passed 86.5% • Engineering: 786 passed 81.5% • IT: 570 passed 80.7% So commencing international students in Education and Health perform most successfully than students in Engineering and IT.

20. Country of origin • Students from the topfivecountries made up 53% of the research population; • 2,044 from China passed 85.1% • 461 from Vietnam passed 82.2% • 423 from SouthKorea passed 90.3% • 392 from India passed 81.1% • 287 from Malaysia passed 87.7% • 73 students from The Philippines passed 95.6%

21. English language channel • 6570 Students passed 86% attempted • 1880 (29%) standardised tests IELTS or TOEFL – 87.9% • 1780 Australian pathways program - 84.2% • 1380 English as first language or language of instruction – 86% • 730 Institution’s EAP with direct entry 85.3% • 380 studied in English in home education system – 89.8% • 153 High School English – 71.3%

22. For further Information or to participate in the English channel research • Helen Cook • Associate Director Client Relations • ETS TOEFL • hcook@etsglobal.org