When signals are lost in aggregation: a comparison of language marks and competencies of first-year university students
Journal Article
2015
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South African Journal of Higher Education
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South African Journal of Higher Education
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
Although English Home Language (HL) and English First Additional Language
(FAL) marks from the National Senior Certificate (NSC) are used for university
admission in South Africa, no studies have explored their predictive value. This article sheds light on English language marks and English language competence
through a comparative analysis of NSC marks and National Benchmark Test
(NBT) Academic Literacy (AL) test results for a cohort of first-year education
students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, South
Africa. To provide in-depth insight, the analysis includes fine-grained analysis
of specific academic language competencies. The results of the analysis of this
study showed that the same mark in English HL and FAL does not necessarily
reflect the same level of English language academic competence as measured
by the NBT AL test. On average, students who wrote the FAL papers scored
between .5 and .9 of a standard deviation below students who wrote the HL
papers.
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Reference:
Fleisch, B., Cliff, A., Schoer, V. 2015. When signals are lost in aggregation: a comparison of language marks and competencies of first-year university students. South African Journal of Higher Education.