Converging Development of English as Foreign Language Listening and Reading Comprehension Skills in German Upper Secondary Schools

Christian Spoden,Jens Fleischer,Michael Leucht

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01116

Abstract

Receptive skills in English as a second language are important for students on the verge of entering higher education as this student group (aged 17–19) is expected to apply English regularly in their later life. Previous research in this age group in Germany already implied an increasing overlap between both skills in this age group, although robustness of this effect across student groups with different learning experiences was not tested. We used language assessment data collected from upper secondary schools (i.e., from 17 to 19-year-old students) in Germany to compare correlations at the beginning and the end of upper secondary education in groups of students from (1) language-related versus non-language-related study profiles and (2) from students with frequent versus less frequent self-reported English-language out-of-school learning activities. In all of these groups, correlations were increasing, indicating converging skills in upper secondary education. The results are discussed in terms of implications for current theories of language research.

Highlights

In a globalized world, there are few doubts about the importance of English-language skills for students who accomplish upper secondary and possibly higher education
Gains were stronger for listening comprehension compared to reading comprehension, in language-related study profiles compared to non-language related study profiles and with students with higher levels of self-reported out-of-school learning experiences compared to students with lower levels
Lower correlations of the Plausible values (PVs) were again found at T1 with 0.55 compared to T2 with 0.74, giving evidence that listening and reading comprehension skills converge in upper secondary education in Germany in all studied groups

Summary

Introduction

There are few doubts about the importance of English-language skills for students who accomplish upper secondary and possibly higher education. English-language skills are crucial in higher education as a large amount of documented research is only available in English. There is an increasing number of degree programs, lectures, and training courses held in English outside of English-speaking countries. English conversational skills are important for students who enter a profession directly after upper secondary school, as jobs addressing the more highly trained most often require advanced to excellent (business) skills in English as lingua franca and common corporate language for internal communication (e.g., Nickerson, 2005; Swift and Wallace, 2011). Age groups on the verge of entering higher education have still been widely overlooked in language assessment research.

Methods

Results

Conclusion