Distinguishing between English proficiency and academic literacy in English

Abstract

ABSTRACTAcademic literacy is viewed as a critical factor in the success of students at universities in South Africa. Consequently, academic literacy courses are compulsory for first year students at most of these universities. Prior to the start of these courses, various language tests are used to measure the levels of these students’ academic literacy in English, the medium of instruction at most universities. Academic literacy is viewed as a unique kind of language ability. This raises the question of whether it can be measured by any language test. This article was written in response to this question. Specifically, it investigated the extent to which an English proficiency test used by a South African university for making admission decisions could measure academic literacy. The results revealed that the test was not a measure of academic literacy.