Relationships among the test of English as a foreign language, the English language placement test, and the academic performance of undergraduate non-native English speaking students at Texas A & M University

Abstract

The problem was to investigate relationships between the proficiency tests administered to beginning international students, and GPA to find which, if any, were useful in determining readiness for academic study. This study concerned 166 first time enrolled, international students admitted to full-time academic studies at Texas A&M University (TAMU). The English proficiency tests which international students must take prior to entering TAMU, including the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the English Language Placement (ELP) examination, were examined in order to determine if a relationship existed between the two tests, or between any/or all of the parts of the two examinations and GPA. It is believed that the more knowledge available as to what these tests actually assess, and how they can be interpreted, the better able educators and administrators will be to correctly assign these students to academic classes and design a program which will best fit their needs. It was found that of the sub-tests (ten) administered to incoming non-native English speaking students, the ELP Listening Comprehension and ELP Grammar were significantly correlated with the GPA. However there was not a significant correlation between the TOEFL Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension and the ELP Reading Comprehension. Therefore, it was concluded that the two reading tests did not assess the same skills involved in reading comprehension. In addition, there was no statistically significant correlation between TOEFL and GPA. Further, the ELP Reading Comprehension and ELP Oral Interview were found to be significantly correlated with GPA. In a stepwise regression analysis, ELP Reading Comprehension and ELP Oral Interview were also found to be significant in a prediction model of GPA. It was concluded that the ELP examination better assesses the skills required for academic achievement than does the TOEFL, particularly the ELP Oral Interview and ELP Reading Comprehension sub-tests.