Abstract
The Malaysian University English Test (MUET) is a standardised university entrance English language proficiency examination in Malaysia and is seen as one of the most important English language proficiency tests used by Malaysian public universities. Due to more international students (who have taken more internationally recognized English language proficiency tests) coming into Malaysian universities, it is important to assess the accuracy of the MUET as a benchmark to indicate the level of English proficiency of Malaysian students being at par with other international English assessment. In this regard, this study is conducted on a group of second year teacher trainees in the B. Ed Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program at a public university in Malaysia. A Bivariate Correlation Pearson test was conducted for the overall MUET score together with their CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) to identify important predictors of academic achievement. The study found that the overall MUET scores and CGPA has positive correlation, and that MUET can serve as a predictive of academic achievement. Moreover, from the four components of MUET, only ‘Reading’ and ‘Speaking’ components seemed to be the heaviest predictors of students' academic achievement.
Highlights
English language is the second language and is considered as one of the important languages in Malaysia, only to the national Malay language
International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development plural society of Malaysia, it is regarded as a language that is important to be mastered by all Malaysians especially in securing better education, employment, and even social status
The findings reported that overall Malaysian University English Test (MUET) scores and cumulative grade point average (CGPA) has positive correlation, which indicates that the students that scored high in MUET scored high CGPA
Summary
English language is the second language and is considered as one of the important languages in Malaysia, only to the national Malay language. It is said that some Malaysian employers are willing to consider employing candidates with at least average English proficiency as long as they have good communication skills (Ting et al, 2017). In this regard, in the current employment scene in malaysia, Malaysian candidates must have at least average English language proficiency in order to obtain jobs that are according to their expertise. English language competency is crucial in the higher education sector in Malaysia This is because the English language is widely used as a medium of instruction in most universities in Malaysia (Khalil, 2015).
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