A Comparative Study of Measures of Vocabulary Knowledge and IELTS Proficiency Scores as Potential Predictors of Academic Performance (original) (raw)
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The Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) is widely used in preparing non-native speakers for academic courses, and it is thought that these words are essential for the understanding of English academic texts (Cobb & Horst, 2004). It is also thought the AWL is an infrequent and specialised list inaccessible from general language. These preconceptions are challenged in this study which demonstrates with reference to BNC/COCA word lists that the majority of the AWL fall within the most frequent 3,000 words in English, a grouping which Schmitt and Schmitt (2014) describe as highly frequent. Using a specially created test of the AWL and the XK-Lex test of overall vocabulary size (Authors, 2012), the study demonstrates that the learning of the AWL appears strongly influenced by the frequency of these words in general corpora and that the AWL test resembles very strongly a test of overall vocabulary size. When scores from these tests are related to a Grade Point Average (GPA) measure, it appears that knowledge of the AWL adds only marginally to the explanatory power of overall vocabulary size in explaining variance in GPA scores. This conclusion matches that of Townsend et al. (2012) although the tests in this study appear to have a greater explanatory power.
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The Journal of the Foundation Year Network, 2019
This research investigates the relationship between IELTS scores and vocabulary size, using Nation and Belgar’s (2007) Vocabulary Size Test (VST). Correlations are stated between IELTS scores and mean estimated vocabulary size for a sample of 205 international foundation students; data which may be useful for streaming within such programmes. Mean and standard deviation vocabulary size scores are given for IELTS bands: there is a wide spread of scores within each 0.5 IELTS band, highlighting the weakness of an IELTS score as a predictor of this specific area of linguistic knowledge. A model is given for ‘mean’ students at each 0.5 band of IELTS, which estimates the number of unknown words s/he may encounter in a text written for educated native speakers, given the mean vocabulary size for that band. The pedagogical implications of these results are assessed.
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This paper presents findings of a study of recognition vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of written Academic English Proficiency (AEP) and overall Academic Achievement in an English medium higher education program in an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context. Vocabulary knowledge was measured using a Timed YES/NO (TYN) test. AEP was assessed using an academic writing test based on IELTS. Performance on these measures was correlated with Grade Point Average (GPA) as a measure of academic achievement for Arabic L1 users (N=70) at an English-medium College of Applied Sciences in the Sultanate of Oman. Vocabulary size and speed correlated with both academic writing and GPA measures. The combined vocabulary and writing measures were also examined as predictors of academic achievement. The TYN test is discussed as reliable, cost and time effective general measure of AEP and for showing if students have the necessary vocabulary knowledge to undertake study in a tertiary level English medium program. Keywords: Placement test, Language proficiency, Academic achievement, Recognition vocabulary, English medium education
Language Testing in Asia, 2013
This paper presents findings of a study of recognition vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of written Academic English Proficiency (AEP) and overall Academic Achievement in an English medium higher education program in an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context. Vocabulary knowledge was measured using a Timed YES/NO (TYN) test. AEP was assessed using an academic writing test based on IELTS. Performance on these measures was correlated with Grade Point Average (GPA) as a measure of academic achievement for Arabic L1 users (N=70) at an English-medium College of Applied Sciences in the Sultanate of Oman. Vocabulary size and speed correlated with both academic writing and GPA measures. The combined vocabulary and writing measures were also examined as predictors of academic achievement. The TYN test is discussed as reliable, cost and time effective general measure of AEP and for showing if students have the necessary vocabulary knowledge to undertake study in a tertiary level English medium program.
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This research investigates whether there is any significant difference between the predictive power of vocabulary breadth and the reading subtests of IELTS and TOEFL. Iranian EFL participants (223) answered Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), sample IELTS and TOEFL reading subtests. Linear regression analysis results show that VLT provides a significant amount of prediction on IELTS and TOEFL reading subtest, R 2 = 0.274, 0.298, respectively. The results for the participants with different levels of vocabulary knowledge, based on VLT percentile scores, show that, for low group, VLT provides 0.123% prediction for IELTS reading subtest and nothing for TOEFL reading subtest. For middle group, VLT provides no prediction on IELTS and TOEFL reading subtest. For high group, the amount of prediction provided on IELTS reading subtest is 0.130 and that on TOEFL is 0.209. Also, analysis was conducted to determine the most related variable to VLT. The results show that TOEFL reading subtest is more associated with vocabulary breadth than IELTS. The study discusses a few implications.
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In this paper, we present preliminary results of a study in which we examined the relative contribution of English learners' vocabulary to predicting their reading and grammar knowledge, by employing two different formats of vocabulary tests that require active and passive recognition, respectively. We administered a series of English tests to over 820 university students, including TOEFL ITP, a reading test, a grammar test, and a vocabulary test with 80 items of two different formats. The target 80 vocabulary items were selected from Level 2 to Level 6 of JACET 8000. We analyzed the test data using statistical techniques in order to observe the relationships between the vocabulary levels and the language skills, and between the test format, the vocabulary level, and the language skills. We also examined the relative contribution of the vocabulary estimated in different item formats to predicting students' performance on other skills tests. The findings suggest that there was a very strong trait effect, dominating both methods when they are presented together with the vocabulary trait on the common factor structure. Also, the contributions of each method to predicting skills' performance were not consistent across the traits of grammar and reading.
Higher Education Quarterly
There is an established, if weak, inverse relationship between levels of English language proficiency and academic performance in higher education. In response, higher education institutions (HEI) insist upon minimum entry requirements in terms of language for international applicants. Many HEI now also offer pre-sessional English courses to bring applicants up to the designated language requirement. Our paper revisits the research into language proficiency and academic performance using data on all full-time students (17,925) attending a major UK HEI in the academic year 2011/12, 4,342 of whom were non-native English speakers. Our findings confirm that while higher International English Language Testing System (IELTS) marks at entry translate into higher grade point averages (GPA), students who undertake pre-sessional courses do notably worse in GPA terms than students who arrive with acceptable (for the course) IELTS scores. These findings suggest HEI (and, by extension, international students) could benefit from a review regarding the appropriateness of current pre-sessional English Language proficiency programmes.