The interplay between academic language proficiency, remedial programs and academic achievement in higher education

The paper investigates the interplay between academic language proficiency, remedial programs and academic achievement in higher education among international students and home students. Following Biber (2006), Snow & Uccelli (2009), academic language proficiency is defined in terms of knowledge and deployment of specific language patterns occurring across a range of spoken and written registers and disciplines. Compared to oral academic discourse, academic writing (and to a minor degree reading) is often a major problem for students. International students, as has been observed in many studies (Iannelli & Huang, 2014) do not enjoy the same level of academic success as home students and are at a greater risk of failure (Paton, 2007). Similar issues have been reported for home students from less traditional backgrounds (so-called ‘first generation students’), as large differences in language and literacy ability have been found also among L1 students (Hulstijn, 2015). The two groups of students thus appear to have many problems in common, as academic language is a special register that has to be learned by everyone (Biber, Gray & Poonpon, 2011). In our presentation, on the basis of a study conducted within the Dutch context, we will discuss: (i) the definition of academic language proficiency as a construct; (ii) global and specific measures for assessing academic language proficiency; (iii) the influence of individual learner variables on academic language proficiency; (iv) the relationship between academic language proficiency and academic achievement; (v) the effect of a remedial language program. Addressing these issues is crucial not just for identifying students at risk and providing practical remediation, but also for a full understanding of language learning development at advanced levels.