English Language Proficiency and Academic Performance of Undergraduate International Students

Abstract

The study on English proficiency and academic performance of graduate international students at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNYA) reported in Richard Light, Ming Xu, and Jonathan Mossop's recent article in the TESOL Quarterly (Vol. 21, No. 2, June 1987) is very interesting in its comprehensiveness and the nature of its findings. Readers may be interested in comparing a similar study that we recently undertook with undergraduates. This more limited study yielded results remarkably similar to those of Light, Xu, and Mossop; however, our interpretation of the data was different because of the lower language proficiency of the undergraduate students. Our examination of the relationship between language proficiency and academic success of undergraduate international students was part of a self-study, following TESOL guidelines, of the nonintensive, developmental ESL courses and international student services at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB). We were interested in the consistency of the relationship between the minimum TOEFL score of 500, required for undergraduate admission, and academic success, as measured by grade point average (GPA). Unlike the SUNYA study, which included only first-semester graduate students, our study included all international students (N = 196) enrolled as undergraduates at UWGB during the spring 1986 semester. Transcripts and records in the office of International Student Services provided TOEFL scores and GPAs, as well as information on course load, number of credits earned, nationality, and academic major. In addition, we conducted case studies of ESL students at the lower end of the language proficiency range and in their first semester of undergraduate study. The mean TOEFL score for undergraduates admitted to UWGB was 537 (SD = 51), which was much higher than the mean score of the TOEFL reference group (M = 506, SD = 66) for students applying for admission to undergraduate school (Educational Testing Service, 1985). A similar difference in mean TOEFL scores was found between graduate students at SUNYA and applicants for