Tag: Spiros Papageorgiou

The link between language proficiency requirements and diversity

“Lower score requirements may be acceptable if sufficient English language support is offered”

Diversity is a core value of higher education institutions, and consequently an important consideration for admissions decisions colleges and universities make every year.

While international applicants can help achieve diversity goals, institutions need to decide whether such applicants can cope with the language demands of instruction delivered in English.

This decision is not straightforward because, although English-language proficiency is a key element for academic success, other factors including subject-related knowledge and non-cognitive attributes play a role in future academic performance.

Because of the complex nature of academic language proficiency, requirements for English-language proficiency test scores are essential to the admission process for international students.

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Why should an English-language proficiency test be backed by research?

“Test providers should carefully research the types of tasks students need to perform and replicate such tasks as accurately as possible.”

English-language classrooms around the world all look and function differently, writes Spiros Papageorgiou of ETS. But one common thread among them is that teachers of English consistently look for reliable information from language tests to assess whether their students have achieved specific learning goals.

Students who wish to pursue a degree in an English-speaking country are typically asked to submit scores from a language test to demonstrate that they can cope with the language demands their university classes require.

As such, developers of these language tests should be establishing a rigorous program of research in order to support the intended uses of these tests, and further be able to provide evidence that substantiates claims about what test takers know or can do based on their scores.

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