Copyright © 2012 Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING., GRE, POWERPREP, TOEFL, TOEFL Ibt and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). BETTER BY DESIGN, SCOREITNOW!, SCORESELECT and TOEFL Junior are trademarks of ETS. All other trademarks are property of their perspective owners English Language Proficiency and Academic Performance

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS.  What did the 2013 Symposium 5 Years On – English Language Competence of International Students tell us that is useful for ACPET members?  What are we learning from current ETS TOEFL research on English language channels and student performance in VET and Higher Education ?

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo and TOEFL are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Five years on – English language competence of international students

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. English Language Symposium 2013  Symposium sought to critically examine the efficacy of Australian policy and practice in English language issues for VET and higher education and suggest improvement in the light of emerging requirements and recent research  Engaged many stakeholders – students, institutions, employers, professional bodies, pathway providers, English test companies, English language experts  Event funded by AEI and sponsors (4 English language test companies, ACPET, English Australia, Navitas), conducted by IEAA

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo and TOEFL are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Employers and language proficiency

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Transition to employment  Employer expectations- communication skills and English proficiency in “employability skills” - social, cultural, professional, discipline specific, colloquial language  Visa requirements - minimum standards as cut- off scores for various visa classes sometimes drive professional and employer requirements  Drivers for students - Post study work experience, internships, work integrated learning, full time graduate employment 6

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Some potential solutions  Help employers articulate requirements for their workplaces/professional including work-specific communication skills  Build expectations of English language proficiency into assessment criteria with progressive standards across the life of a qualification  Assess graduating language skills within the discipline perhaps as part of a capstone unit to provide evidence of technical disciplinary skills and more general employability skills  Measure proficiency through an exit test and/or a combination of other approaches

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo and TOEFL are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Language development during programs

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Student Progress Rates: Time Series

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Progress rates – all universities

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Some myths about language improvement  International students will improve their measured English proficiency by osmosis during their course  Improving language is a marginal teaching and learning issue within a discipline/technical area – best left to a “support” or “study skills” staff

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Some possible solutions  Assess all students soon after arrival to identify needs  Provide discipline based staff with evidence that embedding language development in content improving learning outcomes. Improve PD in teaching the communication skills for that career/discipline  Offer online resources and peer to peer programs to support discipline based language development  Encourage proactive response in students to take responsibility for working on their language development both inside and outside the classroom  Provide opportunities for students practice their language skills – especially productive skills of speaking and writing in context

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo and TOEFL are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. English requirements at admission

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Improving Preparation and Selection of students  There is a lack of understanding of the variety and complexity of channels for demonstrating English language competence  Many students enter without undertaking a standardised English proficiency test  Standarised English proficiency tests measure readiness to engage in study but do not guarantee study outcomes. Also there are many factors that affect student performance  Research on equivalences between standardised tests is challenging  Receiving institutions frequently use pathway programs and other channels to suit a variety of institutional needs but may not study outcomes of this practice 14

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. DIAC English requirements for student visas Test IELTS TOEFL iBT PTE Academic CAE Cambridge OET Pass

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Some possible solutions  Accept only official test scores from standardised tests and ensure they are validated by the test company ( Validation is compulsory for SVP institutions) Use individual skills scores as well as total scores depending on the kinds and levels of proficiency required in different subjects and levels of study  Where possible, use more than one piece of evidence of a student’s English proficiency  If using pathway scores, scrutinize the outcomes to ensure they meet your requirements  Evaluate the validity of your admissions criteria by performing regular reviews and adjusting requirements 16

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo and TOEFL are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Current ETS TOEFL research project: Alan Olsen

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. English Language Channels Research question How do students perform academically compared with how they met the institutions’ English language entry requirements? Research data (to date)  6761 commencing 2012 international students from VET and higher education sector How did students perform during 2012?  Students passed 86% of units that they attempted.  3171 females passed 89.9% and 3590 males passed 82.6% 18

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Performance by discipline 4905 degree students passed 86.8% and 1856 diploma students passed 83.9%  Education: 146 passed 96.8%  Health: 336 passed 93.2%  Business: 3465 passed 86.5%  Engineering: 786 passed 81.5%  IT:570 passed 80.7% So commencing international students in Education and Health perform most successfully than students in Engineering and IT. 19

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. Country of origin Students from the top five countries made up 53% of the research population;  2,044 from China passed 85.1%  461 from Vietnam passed 82.2%  423 from South Korea passed 90.3%  392 from India passed 81.1%  287 from Malaysia passed 87.7%  73 students from The Philippines passed 95.6%

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo, TOEFL and TOEFL Journey are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. English language channel 6570 Students passed 86% attempted  1880 (29%) standardised tests IELTS or TOEFL – 87.9%  1780 Australian pathways program %  1380 English as first language or language of instruction – 86%  730 Institution’s EAP with direct entry 85.3%  380 studied in English in home education system – 89.8%  153 High School English – 71.3%

Copyright © 2012 by Educational Testing Service. ETS, the ETS logo and TOEFL are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S. and other countries. TOEFL Junior is a registered trademark of ETS. For further Information or to participate in the English channel research Helen Cook Associate Director Client Relations ETS TOEFL