The Impact of IELTS Scores on Performance at University

The Impact of IELTS Scores on Performance at University
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The Impact of IELTS Scores on Performance at University
Introduction
For this particular assignment, I chose the article entitled “The Impact of IELTS Scores on Performance at University,” by Vicki Feast published in 2002 in the International Education Journal. This article is based on a research into whether English language proficiency levels of international students do influence their academic performance at university. The study is particularly based on the international students pursuing university education in Australia. After giving a summary of Feast’s article, I will go on to give an analysis and discussion of the issues and dilemmas arising from the paper.
Significance of the Topic
Feast (2002) begins his paper by pointing it out that due to the growth in the education sector since, the Australian government support to university education has declined on a per capita basis. Full public funding of the Australian education now requires more billions of money per year. This has made the fees paid by university students, especially international students, an important source of university revenue. On top of the funding issue, there is a moral and financial need to ensure that the fees paying international students succeed. To ensure this, the Australian education policy makers have set a standard for international students who want to pursue education in Australian universities. Such students must achieve a minimum of between 6.0 and 7.0 of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score. This is due to the increased body of literature which suggests that there is a correlation between English language proficiency and academic success. Based on such claims, the Australian education policy makers are in fact planning to increase the IELTS score for university students who want to pursue education in Austrian universities. This has raised a need to investigate into whether English language proficiency levels, as measured by IELTS scores, of international students and their academic performance at university, as measured by Grade Point Average (GPA).
Literature Review
Feast (2002) notes that previous researches have produced varied results on the impact of English proficiency tests on academic performance. For instance, studies such as those of Criper and Davies (1988) and Kerstjens and Nery (2000) have shown that there is a weak relationship between IELTS and GPA. However, in the Australian context and specifically in University of Melbourne, Hill and his colleagues (1999) established that there was moderately a strong relationship between IELTS and GPA. Other studies, such as that of Gibson and Rusek (1992) suggest that IELTS are not valid measures for English performance.
Research Questions
What is the relationship between English language proficiency levels (as measured by IELTS scores) of international students and their academic performance at university (as measured by GPA)?
Should the current minimum entrance score of IELTS 6.0 be increased?
Method
Regression analysis method was used in this study. The dependent variable was the performance of the international students at university as measured by their GPA. The main independent variable was English Proficiency as measured by students’ IELTS scores on entry to university. Both multiple regression analysis and multilevel analysis were used in determining the relationship between the two variables. Multilevel analysis was used in investigating the relationship between English language performance scores (IELTS) and GBA at the intra and inter-student levels.
Out of the 964 international onshore students who were admitted to one university based on IELTS score between 200 and 2001, 101 international students from 30 different countries were sampled for the study. The GPA scores for these students ranged between 1.5 and 7.00, with a mean GPA of 4.87. In order to answer the second question, various methods of raising the scores were tested. These included raising the overall score and introducing some minimum requirements for the module scores. Examples here included raising the IELTS overall score to 6.5 for under graduates and 7.0 for postgraduate.
Context and the Study
During the study, IELTS was designed in order to assess the language capability of candidates who want to study or work in countries where English is used as the main language of communication. Currently, an IELTS score of between 6.0 and 7.0 is accepted as the minimum necessary score for entry into any Australia university. The Australian IELTS has two components: Academic (for entry into universities) and General (for social and economic purposes). These two components have four modules: Reading, Writing, listening and speaking.
The multi-level analysis which was used in this particular study was an analysis of the change data at two distinct levels. At the first level, the regression relationship was used to examine how student performance (GPA) changed with time. At the second level, factors that influenced average student performance (GPA) and change in GPA over time were exami...