Test Of English As A Foreign Language Scores Research Articles

Language Learning Strategies and English Proficiency in Korean University Students

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between language learning strategies and L2 proficiency. Language learning strategies were measured by the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL, ESL/EFL Student Version), and L2 proficiency was determined by the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) for 332 university students learning English in Korea. The findings of this study are: (1) the relationship between language learning strategies and L2 proficiency was linear; (2) all six categories of language learning strategies as well as total language learning strategies were significantly correlated with the TOEFL scores; and (3) cognitive and social strategies were more predictive of the TOEFL scores than the other four strategy categories, jointly accounting for 13 percent of the total variation in the TOEFL scores. These findings provide evidence that L2 learners need language learning strategies, specifically cognitive and social strategies in the Korean context, to facilitate L2 acquisition and suggest that language learning strategies be taught in classrooms, focusing on effective strategies that may improve the results of strategy training.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language

Investigates a scientific basis for establishing the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) cut‐off scores. Obtains data on 348 foreign students from 50 US universities. Divides students into three categories according to TOEFL score: below 550; 550‐600; and above 600. Measures academic success by first semester or quarter grade point average (GPA) score. Finds a significant difference in GPA score between international graduate students with TOEFL scores above 550 when compared with those with scores below 550. Results support the national trend towards raising foreign graduate student admission minimum TOEFL scores from 500 to 550.

DISTRIBUTIONS OF ACTFL RATINGS BY TOEFL SCORE RANGES

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to align verbal descriptions of test takers' language performance with distributions of the numerical scores they received on the three sections (Listening Comprehension, Structure and Written Expression, and Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary) of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).The study used the American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL) descriptors as anchors for the TOEFL scores. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, from which the descriptors were taken, are widely used.Qualified English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors rated their students' listening, reading, and writing proficiency using the ACTFL descriptors. Very shortly thereafter, the ratees took the TOEFL. Students' ACTFL ratings were quantified and cross‐tabulated with TOEFL section scores.Results were analyzed as follows: First, the need to adjust for rater difficulty was investigated. Second, typical descriptive data were developed. Third, several schemes were used to quantify the verbal descriptors from the ACTFL Guidelines. Fourth, the ratings and test scores were correlated. Fifth, the issue of the differential validity of the measures of speaking, listening, and reading was examined. Sixth, several estimates of the reliability of the ratings were obtained. Finally, the distributions of ratings at levels of the TOEFL section scores were developed. These latter distributions can be helpful in interpreting TOEFL scores in terms of language performance. Although there was no one‐to‐one correspondence between the TOEFL score level and the ACTFL rating level, the correlations between ratings and scores were substantial.

Examination of the relationships among TSE, TWE and TOEFL scores

Several analyses are presented on the relationships among the Test of Spoken English (TSE), the Test of Written English (TWE), and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The multivariate prediction of each of these tests from the scores on the others is very accurate. Factor analysis reveals two prominent factors. One accounts mainly for oral proficiencies measured by the TSE, and the other accounts for the abilities measured by the TOEFL and the TWE. Scores on the TOEFL listening comprehension, TSE Grammar, TSE overall comprehensibility and the TWE share considerable variance with both factors. The factors may be related to different cognitive skills required to answer different types of questions.

The relationship between criterion-based levels of oral proficiency and norm-referenced scores of general proficiency in English as a second language

This paper presents data from a validation study of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). The “distinctness” of OPI ratings from scores generated by Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and one other examination was assessed on the basis of comparisons among 70 sets of scores from students of English as a second language who took all three test. Results of correlational analyses provide evidence that the OPI measures an ability (or collection of abilities) distinct from the skills evaluated by the other testing instruments, and thus are supportive of the “construct validity” of this oral interview (cf. Bachman and Palmer, 1981; Dandonoli and Henning, 1990). Correlations involving the OPI were consistently lower than correlations among subscores from the other tests. Even the correlation between regression-based, “predicted” OPI ratings and actual OPI ratings was not significantly higher than the correlation between actual OPI ratings and the single best predictor among the raw test scores. However, employing one particular “cut-off” procedure rendered OPI ratings completely predictable from TOEFL scores, a finding which underlines the relevance of potential test uses to the validation process.

Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit: Preparing for the TOEFL by Daniel B, Kennedy, Dorry Mann Kenyon, and Steven J. Matthiesen and Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit: Preparing for the Test of Written English by Liz Hamp-Lyons

Issues in Applied Linguistics Vol.1 No. 2 Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit: Preparing for the TOEFL by Daniel B. Kennedy, Dorry Mann Kenyon, and Steven J. Matthiesen. New York: Newbury House, 1989. 262 pp. Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Newbury House, Preparing for the Test of Written English by Liz Hamp-Lyons. New York: Kit: 134 pp. Reviewed by Sara T. Gushing University of California, Los Angeles Recent research on the Educational Testing Service's Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) suggests that, while the TOEFL is a valid test of language proficiency, it tests only a limited range of communication skills and ignores many skills required by students in American university settings (Duran et al., 1985). There is also no clear evidence of any relationship between high TOEFL scores and academic achievement (Graham, 1987). Such findings raise questions about the appropriacy of using TOEFL preparation books in courses for university-bound ESL students, especially given the current orientation in academic-purpose language teaching to promote communicative competence rather than the sort of discrete language knowledge which is tested in many sections of the TOEFL. Indeed, conscientious teachers may wonder whether they are doing their students a disservice by spending class time on exercises specifically designed to raise TOEFL scores, at the expense of activities which promote the general academic skills needed at the university. At the same time, those language testing researchers concerned with the TOEFL's limitations might ask whether TOEFL preparation books do more harm than good since they perpetuate the status quo rather than encourage improvement of the TOEFL along the lines that some experts have suggested (Savignon, 1986; Larsen- Freeman, 1986) so as to increase its ability to measure communicative skills. The Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit is by no means radical in its attitude towards the TOEFL, but it does attempt to provide a partial answer to the first of these dilemmas. While the authors take a pragmatic approach toward the discrete-point sections of the TOEFL, they also emphasize those areas of the TOEFL which

Predicting Success for International Teaching Assistants in a U.S. University

In this analysis of the performance of 233 international graduate assistants during a 2-year period, we attempted, via Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores submitted at the time of application, to predict which of these students would eventually receive positive or negative recommendations to be assigned teaching duties. Students who received negative recommendations were found, on average, to have significantly lower TOEFL and GRE Verbal scores than those who received positive recommendations. The percentage of each recommendation group scoring at or above a series of TOEFL cutoff scores was established and used to calculate the ratio of risk (funding students who will receive a negative recommendation) to reward (funding students who will receive a positive recommendation). The relationship of recommendation type to subsequent grade point average (GPA) showed a significant difference in favor of the positive group during the first year of graduate study, but not thereafter. Implications are explored for decision making and the advising of other academic departments regarding the awarding of teaching assistantships to international students. The increasing number of nonnative-speaking international teaching assistants (ITAs) in U.S. universities has resulted in an unprecedented demand for training/preparation programs from ESL educators. Their advice actively sought by university vicechancellors and deans, their programs mandated by state legislatures, and their opinions reported in the national press (cf. contributions in Bailey, Pialorsi, & Zukowski/Faust, 1984, and Chism, 1987), the ESL professionals involved in such programs have found themselves in a political spotlight unusual for the field. One effect of this attention has been a tendency to talk of solutions

English Proficiency and Academic Performance of International Students

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is the most widely used measure to determine the extent to which international students have developed the English language skills necessary for successful college-level study in the United States and Canada; a number of studies have examined the relationship between TOEFL score and academic success. In the study reported in this article, the records of 376 international graduate students at the State University of New York at Albany were analyzed for relationships among TOEFL score, grade point average, graduate credits earned, and academic major. TOEFL score was not found to be an effective predictor of academic success, as measured by grade point average, for this group of graduate students. However, there was a significant correlation between TOEFL score and graduate credits earned, and there were substantial differences among academic majors in the correlation between TOEFL score and grade point average. Directions for further research are discussed.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCORES ON THE GRADUATE MANAGEMENT ADMISSION TEST AND THE TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

ABSTRACTIn addition to scores on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), which are required of applicants to a substantial number of graduate management schools, foreign candidates may also be required to submit scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) as an Indication of English language proficiency.The present study provides an analysis of the relationships among TOEFL and GMAT total scores and subscores for a large sample of foreign GMAT candidates. The results suggest that the apparent “discrepancies” between TOEFL scores and GMAT verbal scores are, because of differences in score scales, norming populations, intended purposes, and levels of difficulty, to be expected. The relationships (and “discrepancies”) between TOEFL and GMAT scores are relatively similar for candidates from several countries.

ENGLISH PROFICIENCY TESTS AS PREDICTORS OF SUCCESS IN GRADUATE STUDIES IN EDUCATION

One hundred twenty‐three Thai graduate students in Education studying on a one‐year program at The University of Alberta, Canada, completed two administrations of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), after arrival in Canada. TOEFL scores, both total and subtest, together with interview panel ratings obtained in Thailand, were correlated with final grade‐point averages earned in the Alberta program, in an attempt to find the best predictor of academic success. Differing “best” predictors were found in each of the four years of the study. None displayed a high degree of predictive power. The study provided support for the operating of a Summer Language Program for this group of foreign students at a Canadian university. It also supported continued use of objective‐type language tests as a selection device for foreign students, and demonstrated a need for further experimentation with the use of interview panels as a selection procedure.