ERIC Number: EJ1054788
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2162-3104
EISSN: N/A
Are International Undergraduates Struggling Academically?
Fass-Holmes, Barry; Vaughn, Allison A.
Journal of International Students, v4 n1 p60-73 2014
Are international undergraduates struggling academically, and are their struggles due to weaknesses in English as a second language? The present study showed that 1) at most 10% of these students in three cohorts (ranging in size from N = 322 to N = 695) at an American west coast public university struggled (quarterly grade point averages below C) in their university classes; 2) up to 63% of them struggled with English (they were required to take a local community college's English Composition and/or English as a Second Language classes, and up to 42% earned course grades of D or F in those classes); and 3) predictors shown to be statistically significant by hierarchical linear modeling each accounted for less than 5% of the total variance ("small" effect sizes). These findings suggest that only a minority of this university's international undergraduates struggle in their university classes even though a majority of them struggle with English.
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Foreign Students, Academic Ability, Grade Point Average, Low Achievement, English (Second Language), English Language Learners, Statistical Significance, Hierarchical Linear Modeling, Minority Group Students, Academic Achievement, Cohort Analysis, Demography, Student Records, Data Analysis, Longitudinal Studies, Correlation, Predictor Variables, Public Colleges, Regression (Statistics)
Journal of International Students. 4005 Spurgeon Drive #6, Monroe, LA 71203. Tel: 318-600-5743; Fax: 318-342-3131; e-mail: jistudents.submission@gmail.com; Web site: http://jistudents.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: SAT (College Admission Test); Test of English as a Foreign Language
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A