Document Type
Article
Source of Publication
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature
Publication Date
1-1-2016
Abstract
© 2016, Australian International Academic Centre PTY LTD. All rights reserved. This study compares the relationship between International English Language Testing System (IELTS) entrance scores and academic success as defined by general education program GPA for students at a federal university in the United Arab Emirates in order to reflect upon regional English language proficiency entrance requirements. It focuses on one group of students, direct entry students who have bypassed the English language foundation program with an overall IELTS 6.0 or greater and were admitted straight into the baccalaureate program. Students were grouped according to their IELTS proficiency levels: 6.0, 6.5 or ≥7.0. Measures of central tendency for overall GPA and academic-streamspecific GPA, along with the overall IELTS and the corresponding sub-scores were calculated. To test the statistical significance of any mean score GPA differences that existed between the 3 IELTS groups, a One-Way ANOVA was calculated. Based on the statistical analyses, the IELTS ≥7.0 group appears to have achieved a meaningful threshold for academic success in that they have consistently outperformed the other direct entry students. This finding corresponds to international entrance-requirement standards for non-native speakers of English.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
Australian International Academic Centre PTY LTD
Volume
5
Issue
3
First Page
145
Last Page
151
Disciplines
Education
Keywords
Academic success, English proficiency, Higher education, IELTS, United Arab Emirates
Scopus ID
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Schoepp, Kevin and Garinger, Dawn, "IELTS and academic success in higher education: A UAE perspective" (2016). All Works. 1930.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/1930
Indexed in Scopus
yes
Open Access
yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series