IELTS and Academic Success in Higher Education: A UAE Perspective

Kevin Schoepp, Dawn Garinger

Abstract


This study compares the relationship between International English Language Testing System (IELTS) entrance scores and academic success as defined by general education program GPA for students at a federal university in the United Arab Emirates in order to reflect upon regional English language proficiency entrance requirements. It focuses on one group of students, direct entry students who have bypassed the English language foundation program with an overall IELTS 6.0 or greater and were admitted straight into the baccalaureate program. Students were grouped according to their IELTS proficiency levels: 6.0, 6.5 or ≥7.0. Measures of central tendency for overall GPA and academic-stream-specific GPA, along with the overall IELTS and the corresponding sub-scores were calculated. To test the statistical significance of any mean score GPA differences that existed between the 3 IELTS groups, a One-Way ANOVA was calculated. Based on the statistical analyses, the IELTS ≥7.0 group appears to have achieved a meaningful threshold for academic success in that they have consistently outperformed the other direct entry students. This finding corresponds to international entrance-requirement standards for non-native speakers of English.

 


Keywords


IELTS, Academic success, Higher Education, United Arab Emirates, English proficiency

Full Text:

PDF

References


Al Malki, M. (2014). Testing the predictive validity of the IELTS test on Omani English candidates’ professional competencies. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 3(5), 167-172. Retrieved from http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJALEL/article/view/1140/1206

Arrigoni, E., & Clark, V. (2015). Investigating the appropriateness of IELTS cut-off scores for admissions and placement decisions at an English-medium university in Egypt, IELTS Research Reports Online Series, 29. Retrieved from https://bandscore.ielts.org/pdf/Arrigoni%20%20Clark%20FINAL.pdf

Breeze, R. and Miller, P. (2008). Predictive validity of the IELTS listening test as an indicator of student coping ability in Spain. IELTS Research Reports. Retrieved from https://www.ielts.org/pdf/vol12_report5.pdf

Cotton, F., & Conrow, F. (1998). An investigation of the predictive validity of IELTS amongst a group of international students studying at the University of Tasmania. IELTS Research Reports. Retrieved from http://www.ielts.org/pdf/Vol7_Report4.pdf

Daher, S. (2014). The predictive validity of IELTS amongst a group of MA Syrian students. Tishreen University Journal for Research and Scientific Studies- Arts and Humanities Series, 36(1), 405-418.‎ Retrieved from http://95.159.58.55/index.php/humlitr/article/view/687

Dooey, P. (1999, February). An investigation into the predictive validity of the IELTS Test as an indicator of future academic success. In K. Martin, N. Stanley & N. Davison (Eds.), Teaching in the disciplines/ learning in context, (pp.114–118). Proceedings of the 8th Annual Teaching Learning Forum. The University of Western Australia. Retrieved from http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf1999/dooey.html

Dooey, P., & Oliver, R. (2002). An investigation into the predictive validity of the IELTS Test. Prospect, 17(1), 36–54.

Elder, C. (1993). Language proficiency as a predictor of performance in teacher education. Melbourne Papers in Language Testing, 2, 68-85.

Feast, V. (2002). The impact of IELTS scores on performance at university. International Education Journal, 3, 70-85. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile /Vicki_Feast/publication/228424721_The_impact_of_IELTS_scores_on_performance_at_university/links/0a85e533cbb3eec8a7000000.pdf

Field, A. P. (2013). Discovering statistics using SPSS: And sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. London: Sage.

Garinger, D. & Schoepp, K. (2013). IELTS and academic achievement: A UAE case study. TESOL Arabia Perspectives, 21(3), 7-13.

Humphreys, P., Haugh, M. B., Fenton-Smith, B., Lobo, A. I., Michael, R., & Walkinshaw, I. S. (2012). Tracking international students’ English proficiency over the first semester of undergraduate study, IELTS Research Reports. Retrieved from http://www.ielts.org/pdf/RR_Online1_May2013_Humphreys.pdf

Huong, T. T. (2001). The predictive validity of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Post Script, 2(1), 66- 96.

International English Language Testing System. (2015). Guide for educational institutions, governments, professional bodies and commercial organisations. Retrieved from http://www.ielts.org/PDF/Guide_Edu-%20Inst_Gov_2013.pdf

Kerstjens, K., & Nery, C. (2000). Predictive validity in the IELTS test. In R. Tulloh (Ed.), IELTS Research Reports, 3 (pp.85-108). Canberra: IELTS Australia. Retrieved from https://www.ielts.org/pdf/Vol3Report4.pdf

Maleki, A., & Zangani, E. (2007). A survey on the relationship between English language proficiency and the academic achievement of Iranian EFL Students. Asian EFL Journal, 9(1), 86-96. Retrieved from http://asian-efl-journal.com/March_2007_EBook.pdf#page=86

Oliver, R., Vanderford, S., & Grote, E. (2012). Evidence of English language proficiency and academic achievement of non-English speaking background students. Higher Educational Research and Development, 31(4), 541-555. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2011.653958

Paul, A. (2006). IELTS as a predictor of academic language performance, part 2. IELTS Research Reports. Retrieved from http://www.ielts.org/pdf/Vol7_Report4.pdf

Rogier, D. (2012). The effects of English-medium instruction on language proficiency of students enrolled in higher education in the UAE. (Doctoral dissertation). University of Exeter, Exeter.

Swan, M. (November 10, 2015). Leap in number of UAE pupils entering university without foundation year. The National. Retrieved from http://www.thenational.ae/uae/leap-in-number-of-uae-pupils-entering-university-without-foundation-year

Wilson, J., & Komba, S.C. (2012). The link between English language proficiency and academic performance: A pedagogical perspective in Tanzanian secondary schools. World Journal of English Language, 2(4), 1-10. Retrieved from http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/wjel/article/download/1763/1099

Woodrow, L. (2006). Academic success of international postgraduate Education students and the role of English Proficiency. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 1, 51-70. Retrieved from http://faculty.edfac.usyd.edu.au/projects/usp_in_tesol/pdf/volume01/article03.pdf

Yen, D., & Kuzma, J. (2009). Higher IELTS score, higher academic performance? The validity of IELTS in predicting the academic performance of Chinese students. Worcester Journal of Learning and Teaching, 3, 1-7. Retrieved from http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/811/1/YenKuzmaIELTScores.pdf

Yixin, W., & Daller, M. (2014). Predicting Chinese Students’ academic achievement in the UK. In J. Angouri, T. Harrision, S. Schnurr, & S. Wharton, S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 47th Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, Learning, Working and Communicating in a Global Context (pp. 217-227). Coventry, England. Retrieved from http://www.baal.org.uk/proceedings_2014.pdf#page=225

Zayed University. (2015). Academic Bridge Program: Mission. Retrieved from http://www.zu.ac.ae/main/en/colleges/colleges/__academic_bridge_program/about_us/mission.aspx




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.3p.145

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2012-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD. 

International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature

To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the journal emails into your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.