Longitudinal Trends in Academic Success: The Impact of IELTS and EAP Program Outcomes on International Student Performance

Increased international student mobility has resulted in unprecedented numbers of English as additional language speakers applying to English medium of instruction universities. Consequently, it has never been more crucial to understand the relationship of language test scores, English for academic purpose (EAP) program outcomes, and academic achievement in order to make fair admission decisions for students. The current study takes a longitudinal approach to examine this relationship. Previous studies have typically taken a cross-sectional approach, focussing on the first one or two years of study. There is a dearth of research on the longitudinal relationship of language test scores, EAP program outcomes, and academic performance, and the present study examined this relationship over the course of a 4-year undergraduate degree. The study used multilevel modelling to examine the relationship of student academic performance data as measured by annual grade point average (GPA) and language test scores and EAP program outcomes. The study also used regression analysis to examine the relationship of language test scores, EAP program performance, and graduation rates. Findings highlight the importance reading subtest scores play in explaining the variance in first-year GPA and in GPA over time. Results suggest that high reading and writing scores are associated with higher GPA in Year 1. For students with lower reading scores and lower EAP program performance, their GPA improves over time suggesting that these students catch up. These results indicate different academic trajectories for students depending on their reading score and EAP program outcome and have implications for cut score decisions. Additionally, EAP program outcomes explain a larger amount of variance in Year 1 GPA than language test scores, which suggests EAP programs have significant impact on student academic performance. Finally, results also suggest that higher EAP program outcomes are significantly associated with a higher probability of graduating as well as graduating in a shorter amount of time, while test scores do not share this relationship. These results seem to indicate that EAP program outcomes may measure different constructs than language test scores and that more research is needed to understand the constructs that EAP program outcomes are measuring.

Department dc:contributor.department

Applied Psychology and Human Development

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Russell, Donald Bruce

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jang, Eunice E

• English as an additional language
• English for academic purposes
• growth curve model
• language test
• longitudinal
• multilevel modeling

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1807/150718

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/150718