Although most international students arrive with required language qualifications, many struggle with the linguistic demands of their programmes. This study explored whether the test-preparation industry undermines the qualifications with which students arrive. English proficiency of 153 Chinese student in the UK was tested on the Duolingo English…

English language programmes provide established pathways for international students seeking university admission in countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom. In order to refer international applicants to appropriate levels and durations of English language support prior to matriculation into their main course of study, pathway providers…

This article reports on a study of foreign students' success in higher education in Norway and focuses specifically on the relation between academic success and students' proficiency level of Norwegian as measured by a CEFR-based university entrance test. This study is distinguished from prior studies because it sets out to investigate not only…

This study examines the predictive validity of the TOEFL iBT with respect to academic achievement as measured by the first-year grade point average (GPA) of Chinese students at Purdue University, a large, public, Research I institution in Indiana, USA. Correlations between GPA, TOEFL iBT total and subsection scores were examined on 1990 mainland…

Data from 787 international undergraduate students at an urban university in the United States were used to demonstrate the importance of separating a sample into meaningful subgroups in order to demonstrate the ability of an English language assessment to predict the first-year grade point average (GPA). For example, when all students were pooled…

The study reported here investigates the predictive validity of language assessments by "Direct Entry" programs at an Australian University--programs developed on site for Non English Speaking Background international students, principally to provide (i) pre-entry academic and language preparation and (ii) language assessment for…

This dissertation follows an oral language assessment tool from initial design and implementation to validity analysis. The specialized variables of this study are the population: international teaching assistants and the purpose: spoken assessment as a hiring prerequisite. However, the process can easily be applied to other populations and…

This study examined the use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) scored elicited oral response (EOR) tests to assess the speaking ability of English language learners. It also examined the relationship between ASR-scored EOR and other language proficiency measures and the ability of the ASR to rate speakers without bias to gender or native…

This study investigated whether the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R) norms, established with American children, are applicable to a Canadian population. Based on an early childhood model which incorporates ecological validity as well as predictive validity, the DIAL-R assesses three areas: motor, concepts…

In this study, the author examined the validity of the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) for non-U.S. students (N = 75) through a predictive validation procedure in which applicants were given the predictor test but the test results were not used to admit students. The author's business school admitted students to three overseas MBA…

Eighteen studies on the validity of tests of English as a foreign language (EFL) for college admission and placement decisions are briefly summarized. No studies were found on the extent to which these tests reflect language skills, curriculum (content validity), or theory or behavior (construct validity). Instead, all of these studies…

This study was designed to explore the effect of selected test and background variables on the pooled within-school relationship between Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores and first year grade average (FYA), and to assess the potential role of selected Test of English as a Foreign Language-related variables as supplemental predictors…