English language proficiency and academic achievement in Tanzanian secondary schools
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Date
2011
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Sokoine University Of Agriculture
Abstract
English, the L01. has fallen victim of blame of some scholars as the cause of poor
performance in secondary schools. The study aimed at investigating whether there is a
relationship between English Language Proficiency (ELP) and academic achievement in
Tanzanian secondary schools. The study further sought to examine the extent of the
relationship and the influence of ELP on students’ academic achievement in English and
in other school subjects. The data used were obtained by administering an ELPT test and
review of students’ reports, and were quantitatively analysed with the help of SPSS.
The study revealed that there is a significant weak positive relationship between ELP
and students’ academic achievement. It was realised to be significant in English and
insignificant in other subjects. Hence, the study contributes to the field of language
testing and the results inform test developers and educators that no single variable can
predict performance; therefore, ELP can be used in combination with other factors.
The study concludes that academic performance is an interplay of several variables and
that ELP plays a role in performance but not the major role. The study recommends the
government and the public to look beyond language skills when making judgment
pertaining to academic students’ success. Also, emphasizes on the improvement of ELP
since it is positively connected with academic success. Furthermore, the study
recommends future research to explore on non-ELP factors on how they affect
performance, as it was observed that it is these factors which affect performance greatly.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
English language, Academic achievement, Secondary schools