Academic English Proficiency Research Articles

An Artificial Intelligence-Powered Program for Fostering STEM College Students' Cognitive Academic English Language Proficiency (CALP)

An Artificial Intelligence-Powered Program for Fostering STEM College Students' Cognitive Academic English Language Proficiency (CALP)

The application of production-oriented approach research teaching method in medical academic English course.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of the production-oriented approach research (POA-R) teaching approach on academic English courses. The six-week study involved thirty-nine postgraduate students from Guilin Medical University studying medical technology. These students were randomly divided into POA-R (19 participants) and non-POA-R (20 participants) groups. The process of study in the POA-R group was divided into three stages, motivating, enabling, and assisting. The instructor gave the class a task at the motivational stage that involved taking the academic IELTS exam, writing a review article and giving an oral presentation about their research topic. At this stage, students are challenged to find relevant information searching PubMed and other literature databases. The teacher served as a facilitator of learning and would not offer information related to the tasks. During the enabling phase, students were encouraged to ask their supervisor for help and guidance. Students ask questions in class, and the instructor discusses the questions with the students and guides them to solve the questions independently. During the assessment stage, students take the academic IELTS exam, finish the review article, given an oral presentation related their research project, and complete an instructional questionnaire. The non-POA-R group was instructed by the teacher lecture method, comprising six lectures and an oral presentation in addition to the completion of a review article. The final grades of course include a review article, an oral presentation, and an academic IELTS test. The results revealed that the students in the POA-R group outperformed the non-POA-R group in terms of mean scores on the IELTS exam, oral presentation, and review article. To further support and demonstrate the advantages of the POA-R teaching approach, an instructional questionnaire using Likert scales and the attitudes of their supervisors was employed. In conclusion, the POA-R teaching approach is a highly successful strategy for enhancing postgraduate students' academic English proficiency. It greatly enhanced the participants' academic knowledge, learning interest, and active learning.

Teaching Academic English with the Production-Oriented Approach: A Case Study

This paper aims to explore how to apply POA to EAP teaching in China and test its effectiveness through a case study. Three key issues are discussed: the design of the course structure of EAP under the guidance of POA, the implementation of POA in teaching academic English and the effectiveness of POA in increasing of students’ academic English proficiency. It is found that the ideal framework of Academic English consisted of integrated modules, instead of a linear arrangement of the units. Three key factors in the POA teaching process include: motivating tasks in an academic setting with both communicative and linguistic challenges, enabling tasks with corresponding scaffolding and evaluating strategies, and a combination of teacher’s evaluation and peer review with co-produced rubrics for assessment. The results of the study demonstrate the efficacy of the production-oriented approach in enhancing students’ academic English proficiency, specifically in the areas of speaking and writing.

The Role of Self-Monitoring Strategies in Developing Students’ Speaking Performances via Google Workspace

Objectives: Self-monitoring strategies are considered educational tools that help students measure their educational levels themselves. The present study aimed at revealing the role of self-monitoring strategies in developing students’ speaking performance.
 Methods: The research adopted a case-study design (with a limited number of participants). The participants were six first-year students of the Department of Business Management at the College of Management and Economics, University of Anbar, who study the English language as an ESP subject. Inside the classroom, the experiment was applied by using self-monitoring strategies in developing students' speaking performance via Google Workspace (via distance learning). Data was collected using open-ended questions.
 Results: The study results revealed that self-monitoring strategies have a positive and significant role in improving and developing students’ speaking performance. The participants were satisfied with the speaking levels that they had reached after 40 days of implementing the experience. Students' self-awareness, as well as their linguistic self-confidence, have increased.
 Conclusion: The outcomes of the study highlights the significant role of using self-monitoring feedback in developing speaking skills. The results are promising indicators for the effectiveness and safety of using self-monitoring strategies. It is recommended that students in the Department of English use self-monitoring strategies to gradually develop their language skills. Instructors can also use self-monitoring strategies to enhance their students' academic English proficiency.

Examining Fijian first-year university students’ English proficiency on CEFR levels

English is the main lingua franca among the various ethnolinguistic groups in Fiji. This results in a sociocultural problem when students enter universities from different high school backgrounds. To this end, this study analysed the level of difference in writing abilities at the beginning of the first year of study and at the end of the first-year program of undergraduate students. The goal was to generate new insights that could inform ongoing efforts towards ameliorating academic English language proficiency in Fiji. The study took place at a university in Fiji where 120 students were sampled at the beginning of the first year and at the end of their first year of university program. This study used the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) to evaluate student writing skills and for the development of curricula to meet students’ needs. The study employed quantitative research design to a longitudinal language testing research context. The CEFR was successful in gauging the student’s preparedness for university study and work life. Out of the 120 students, it was observed that from the 62 students who were at the A1 level at the end beginning of the year progressed to levels B1 and B2. Out of 62, 21 moved to B1 where 41 moved to B2. Further, 49 students from A2 level also progressed as 44 of these students had B2 and another 5 made substantial improvement by moving up to C1 level. The findings of this study can be used in improving support systems to enhance the smooth transition of multilingual students from high school through university and into the workforce. The analyses have the potential to provide insights into how Fijian undergraduate students are performing compared to students in other countries and how the EFL curriculum might be adapted to students’ needs.

Language Proficiency and the Relation to Word–Problem Performance in Emergent Bilingual Students with Mathematics Difficulties

As students enter the upper elementary grades, word problems become a main component of mathematics instruction, increasing in complexity as students advance through the curriculum. For students identified as emergent bilinguals with mathematics difficulty (MD), the linguistic complexity inherent in word problems may serve as a barrier to word–problem proficiency. The current study investigated the potential relation between academic English proficiency and word–problem outcomes for emergent bilinguals with MD. After analyzing data from 241 third–grade students, results indicated students who participated in an evidence–based word–problem intervention outperformed students who did not receive the intervention. Moreover, students’ academic English–language proficiency scores in the domains of reading and writing positively correlated with higher scores on a measure of word–problem solving.

Examining Feelings of Anxiety Experienced by Secondary Students in L2 Evaluative Situations

The main purpose of this study is to examine the potential impact of self-reported test anxiety on L2 academic achievement. The study sample consisted of eighty-five students from ten different state secondary schools in. Majorca. Data were collected using the Spanish version of the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS). The results show that participants suffer from moderate to high test self-reported anxiety levels, regardless of actual academic English proficiency. The findings reveal a significant effect of participants’ self-reported English proficiency on both general test anxiety, and test anxiety directly related to a high-stakes English test (the Spanish University Entrance Examination, SUEE), suggesting that self-perception of proficiency is a stronger predictor of test anxiety than actual academic grades. Additionally, a significant relationship between gender and self-reported test anxiety on the high-stakes English test was found, which indicates that female students tend to perceive certain exam situations as more personally threatening than males. In contrast, school setting (urban versus suburban) was not directly related to test anxiety.

The Efficacy of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for Low-Proficiency International Students in Online Teaching and Learning

International students with low academic English proficiency face challenges with reading their course materials and writing assignments. Their challenges are exacerbated during remote learning, as they remain in their home countries, immersed in their home languages, which may be quite distant from academic English. To investigate the effects of culturally responsive pedagogy for international students online, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a learner-driven, instructor-facilitated (LeD-InF) support program at a large university in southern Ontario. This fully online delivery of the Reading and Writing Excellence (RWE) program was re-envisioned from a long-running co-curricular program that addressed students’ academic English reading, writing, and critical thinking needs. Among eight groups (with the total enrolment of 154) in the Fall 2020 academic term cycle and nine groups (with the total enrolment of 226) in the Winter 2021 academic term cycle of the online RWE program, the intervention groups that were additionally supported with culturally responsive pedagogy had the highest volume of writing output and engagement metrics among all groups. The text data (of student voices and experiences) also reinforces the efficacy of culturally responsive pedagogy in facilitating student experience, constructing identities, promoting learner agency, increasing satisfaction, improving students’ perceptions of learning, and realizing transformative inclusivity.

The politics and praxis of academic English: Toward antiracist language pedagogy

Academic English has drawn criticism for its hegemonic status, and its dominance and legitimization as an “appropriate” language variety within academic and mainstream discourse communities have been problematized for stigmatizing home languages and dialects of multilingual and multidialectal students. However, students' proficiency in academic language is cited as one of the critical factors affecting their academic success (Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006); therefore, instructional support for multilingual and multidialectal students' academic language development has been crucial to the educational agenda. The debate surrounding the politics of academic English and of the instructional practices geared toward developing multilingual and multidialectal students' academic English proficiency has important pedagogical implications. Seeing value in the propositions on both sides of the debate, the authors of this article reflect on the implications of these propositions in classroom practice and seek ways to support multilingual students in their effort to develop their academic English proficiency without stigmatizing and suppressing their home language and dialect. The authors propose an integrated framework for antiracist language pedagogy that builds on critical inquiry, inclusive teaching, and a multiliteracies approach to academic language and literacy development.

Success factors for English as a second language university students’ attainment in academic English language proficiency: exploring the roles of secondary school medium-of-instruction, motivation and language learning strategies

Abstract Displaying a strong competence in English as a second language (L2) is a major advantage for university graduates in personal development and career advancement. There are limited studies that have explored how the implementation of English-Medium-Instruction (EMI) in non-Anglophone universities can affect students’ academic English proficiency. This mixed-method study explores how both the learners’ variables (motivation and L2 learning strategies) and the medium-of-instruction policy implemented at secondary and university settings can contribute to students’ success in academic English learning at a bilingual university in Hong Kong. The findings of a large-scale questionnaire reveal that the effect of medium-of-instruction in students’ secondary school education is not a significant predictor of students’ academic English language proficiency at university. The findings suggest that university students who previously attended secondary schools which adopt medium-of-instruction other than English tend not to be disadvantaged in improving their academic English proficiency. Institutional factor (i.e. provision of EMI lectures at university) and learners’ variables, including students’ L2 strategy use and motivation, are statistically significant predictors of the student’s English language proficiency. The implications for higher education policy in Hong Kong and worldwide will be discussed.

Challenging Neo-Colonialism in Language Testing: The Development and Impact of Indonesia's Test of Academic English Proficiency (TAEP)

Background: 
 In today's globalized world, neo-colonialism exerts significant influence, particularly in political and economic spheres. This influence extends to English Language Teaching (ELT) in Indonesia, where the hegemony of a specific language test system has resulted in its overuse for multiple purposes.
 Methodology: 
 This research employs a quantitative approach to design the Test of Academic English Proficiency (TAEP) for Indonesian non-native speakers, focusing on academic, business, and general settings. The four-step process includes participant selection, data collection, expert judgment, and test try-outs.
 Findings: 
 The study results indicate that TAEP items are acceptable, with a high validity of .98 and reliability of .93. Four poor items require revision, while others effectively distinguish between good and poor test-takers. TAEP's content is balanced and relevant for assessing proficiency in academic, business, and general English.
 Conclusion: 
 TAEP, meeting language test criteria and legally certified, has been utilized nationally and internationally, including by Bank of Indonesia, the Financial Service Authority of Indonesia (OJK), and Erasmus Mundus. This contributes to Indonesia's pursuit of independence from modern colonization.
 Originality: 
 This study innovatively explores the underexamined relationship between neo-colonialism and language testing, addressing issues such as overdependence on specific tests, national spending burdens, and neglect of local linguistic and cultural contexts.

Exploring General Versus Academic English Proficiency as Predictors of Adolescent EFL Essay Writing

Language learning is context-dependent and requires learners to employ different sets of language skills to fulfill various tasks. Yet standardized English as a foreign language assessments tend to conceptualize English proficiency as a unidimensional construct. In order to distinguish English proficiency as separate context-driven constructs, I adopted a register-based approach to investigate academic English proficiency (i.e., specific set of language skills that support academic literacy) and general English proficiency (i.e., wide range of language skills undifferentiated by context that are measured by traditional assessments) as separate predictors of overall essay quality. In the study, students completed a general English proficiency assessment and an academic language proficiency assessment, and essays were coded for academic writing features at the lexical, syntactic, and discourse levels. Beyond the contribution of academic writing features and general English proficiency, academic English proficiency emerged as a significant contributor to essay quality. Findings suggest that academic English proficiency scores more precisely identified a subset of academic language skills that is relevant to essay writing. The article concludes by discussing implications for strategic writing instruction that articulates the key expectations of academic writing used in and beyond school contexts.

ESTABLISHING PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR ACADEMIC ENGLISH PROFICIENCY: A CASE FOR EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

In Thailand, the B1 level of the CEFR was specified as the goal of English proficiency for high school or vocational certificate graduates. Therefore, for university levels, students’ English ability equal to the B1 level or above is expected. English proficiency tests are needed to fulfill this assessment purpose. Moreover, one of the considering points is that the test results are generally reported quantitatively without meaningful interpretations. This study attempts to investigate the Target Language Use (TLU) domain of academic English proficiency for EFL university students so that performance indicators can be established. The quality of this developed test was evaluated and the concurrent validity was examined to demonstrate how well the developed test correlated with a well-established test. The sample of the study included 39 informants that provided information about the TLU domain and 30 test takers for the main study. The instruments consisted of a questionnaire asking about the TLU domain and the developed academic English proficiency test. The arithmetic mean and Standard Deviation (S.D.) were employed for the analysis of the TLU domain. Construct validity, reliability, and item analysis were analyzed for test quality. Finally, Pearson’s product-moment was implemented in order to examine concurrent validity. Besides, regression analysis was used to demonstrate if the obtained scores could predict the scores from the standardized test. The findings are significant in several ways. First, these findings are able to provide a clearer concept of the performance indicators of academic English proficiency. The developed test can be a useful instrument for several purposes, for example for placement or achievement. Finally, the assessment of concurrent validity can be useful in terms of test score interpretations.

Enabling students’ knowledge building in English classrooms in China: The role of teacher monologue

AbstractTeacher monologue has received scant attention in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms which emphasise the teacher-and-student exchange. This study assumes that a key index of interaction would be the construction of knowledge, in which teacher monologue has a due role to play. The research is set in the context of EFL teaching at the tertiary level in China and examines teacher monologue with reference to the concept of making semantic waves in Legitimation Code Theory, which has been proved to be an important means of cumulative knowledge building in classroom practice. Systemic Functional Linguistics is used to analyse how semantic waves are generated on the ideational base of context dependency, i.e. the extent to which the reality construed in teacher monologue is dependent on its context. The transdisciplinary perspective attempts to provide one possible way to model linguistic choices in making semantic waves in EFL classrooms. The findings are the primary and secondary categories of semantic patterns representing a scale of context dependency. Semantic waves trace recurrent movements between relatively decontextualised and context-dependent meanings in the progression of semantic patterns. The shifts might scaffold students in the construction of knowledge essential for developing academic English proficiency.

(In)visibilization of English learners in Minnesota’s state-approved alternative programs

ABSTRACT Speakers of languages other than English are positioned as problems within education systems and ‘low’ academic English proficiency is viewed as something to be fixed. Alternative education programs are typically viewed as punitive, substandard, exclusionary academic settings. Therefore, speakers of languages other than English (ELs) enrolled in alternative education programs face what we refer to as hybrid imagery challenges. This paper examines enrollment of ELs in Minnesota’s State Approved Alternative Programs (SAAPs), highlighting the hybrid imagery challenges in language policy and planning (LPP). We juxtapose principal (building administrator) beliefs about low EL enrollment with state-level enrollment reports, to reveal the impacts of unplanned language planning at the state-level and theorize how various actors enact agency in ways that (in)visibilize ELs enrolled in Minnesota’s SAAPs. We identify the monoglossic language ideological stance that pervades a state committed to improving the educational conditions for ELs. We call for immediate action in three areas: (1) research that examines why ELs are disproportionately enrolled in alternative education programs; (2) education policies that assume a heteroglossic stance, viewing language development as lifelong; and (3) approaches that disrupt linguistically inequitable school practices every day, especially those that one has contributed to themselves.

The provision of student support on English Medium Instruction programmes in Japan and China

In non-Anglophone contexts, the internationalisation of higher education is increasingly becoming synonymous with the transition towards English Medium Instruction (EMI). Recent years have witnessed exponential growth in contexts such as East Asia, where EMI provision is increasingly being used to determine funding, university rankings and also fast becoming an important factor in faculty recruitment decisions. There are many perceived benefits of EMI, particularly content knowledge and improved academic English proficiency. However, curriculum innovation is a complex process and without research into the implementation of EMI in different contexts, it is difficult to assess, much less guarantee, whether the goals can be met. Using questionnaire, interview and focus group data from a larger study in Japan and China (Galloway, Kruikow & Numajiri, 2017), this study explored language and academic skills support provision, and attitudes towards it, in depth. The study was also supplemented with data from international students and provides insights into how students are supported in different EMI programmes, as well as staff and students’ perceptions on the role of such support. This includes whether it should be the responsibility of content instructors or language specialists, and the extent to which content staff should be responsible for helping students with academic English.

Enska sem kennslumál við Háskóla Íslands og kennsla í akademískri ensku

At the same time as English as a medium of instruction (EMI) programs proliferate at Nordic universities, studies are beginning to appear that call attention to the challenges faced by teachers and students who teach and learn in their second language in such programs. A recent survey by the British Council found that this is a world-wide trend. Studies in Iceland show that more and more courses are taught in English and the number of final thesis and dissertations written in English at the University of Iceland have increased. This article describes the response by the Department of English to the changing linguistic environment of the University where over 90% of textbooks are written in English, posing challenges to Icelandic students at their national university. Many students from other departments were signing up for courses in English literature and linguistics hoping to improve their general academic English proficiency. This led to over enrollment in courses and difficulty in meeting diverse student groups’ needs. Instructor turnover was frequent and a general dissatisfaction among students and instructors. In an effort to meet students’ needs better, a new program in academic English was established and the writing program for BA students was reformed with a writing-to-read approach that targets students in EMI programs specifically. The new approach is presented in the textbook The Art and Architecture of Academic Writing. This article describes the new approach and ongoing research to evaluate whether, and if so, how, the new approach enhances students’ writing skills. In previous studies students reported that their writing had improved and that they understood the structure of thesis-driven academic texts as a result of the book and course. Finally, a new study is presented that measured improvements in students’ writing samples before and after. The new study demonstrates that not only has the course led to students’ perceptions of improvement, but that their perceptions are supported by actual improvements in students’ writing. Keywords: English as a medium of instruction in higher education, academic writing instruction, genre-based writing instruction

Spanish-speaking English learners' English language and literacy skills: The predictive role of conceptually-scored vocabulary.

Vocabulary represents a key barrier to language and literacy development for many English learners. This study examined the relationship between Spanish-speaking English learners' conceptually-scored Spanish-English vocabulary, academic English proficiency, and English reading comprehension. Second- and fourth-grade English learners (N = 62) completed standardized conceptually-scored vocabulary measures in the fall and state-administered standardized measures of academic English proficiency and English reading comprehension in the spring. Conceptually-scored vocabulary measures are designed to tap knowledge of the number of known concepts, regardless of the specific language (Spanish or English) used to label the concept. Regression analyses revealed that academic English proficiency and English reading comprehension were not predicted by the conceptually-scored measure of receptive vocabulary. However, both academic English proficiency and English reading comprehension were predicted by the conceptually-scored measure of expressive vocabulary. Importantly, the relationship between conceptually-scored expressive vocabulary and English reading comprehension remained after controlling for academic English proficiency. Results underscore the utility of measures that incorporate English learners' first and second language skills in understanding the vocabulary knowledge English learners bring to English language and literacy learning tasks.

Academic English Proficiency Assessment Using a Computerized Adaptive Test

This paper describes the steps to convert a paper-and-pencil English proficiency test for academic purposes, consisting of multiple choice items administered following the Admissible Probability Measurement Procedure [24], adopted by the graduate program at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences at the University of São Paulo (ICMC-USP), Brazil, to a computerized adaptive test (CAT) based on an Item Response Theory Model (IRT). Despite the fact that the program accepts various internationally recognized tests that attest non-native speakers English proficiency, such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE), for instance, its requirement is incoherent in public universities in Brazil due to the cost, which ranges from US$ 200.00 to US$ 300.00 per exam. The TAI-PI software (Computerized Adaptive Test for English Proficiency), which was developed in Java language and SQLite, started to be used to assess the English pro?ciency of students on the program from October, 2013. The statistical methodology used was defined considering the history and aims of the test and adopted Samejima's Graded Response Model [21], the Kullback-Leibler information criterion for item selection, the a posteriori estimation method for latent trait [2] and the Shadow Test approach [29] to impose restrictions (content and test length) on the test composition of each individual. A description of the test design, the statistical methods used, and the results of a real application of TAI-PI for graduate students are presented in this paper, as well as the validation studies of the new methodology for pass or fail classification, showing the good quality of the new evaluation system and examination of improvement using the IRT and CAT methods.

Affordances of TOEFL writing tasks beyond university admissions

Abstract This review describes in brief the writing sub-sections of the internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and discusses its use in university admissions decisions and potential use as a tool for course placement. The primary purpose of the TOEFL is to measure the academic English proficiency of non-native English speakers seeking admission to English- medium universities. The writing portion of the TOEFL consists of an independent writing task and a second writing task that requires test-takers to integrate reading, listening, and writing skills to compose a written text. Currently there is only is limited evidence supporting the use of TOEFL scores for placement (either in ESL programs or in university composition courses), but the review offers guidelines for further investigation into the TOEFL’s potential as an assessment tool for placement.