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Home language and self-reported language difficulties as predictors of academic achievement in higher education

Dries Berings, & Maarten Hulselmans

Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUBrussel)Centre for Corporate Sustainability (CEDON)Centre Internationalisation and Projects (CIP)

ATEE Conference – 25 August 2008

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Rationale

• Increasing diversity in student population in Flanders and worldwide

• Language diversity• Language and ethno-cultural diversity: challenges

and opportunities for staff and students in higher education

• Studies reveal lower study results in students with home language different from academic language

• Lecturers in Flanders report increasing language difficulties in students whose home language is Dutch or another language

• Question: is effect of home language on academic achievement = language weakness?

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Language difficulties

• Expected language difficulties with students whose home language is not Dutch:– Pace of speaking of lecturers and fellow students– Not tempted to ask for help– Communication problems in teamwork– Tendency to translate to home language– Parents cannot help with homework– Difficulties with academic Dutch– Prejudices of lecturers towards students on the

basis of perceived language weaknesses

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Research objectives

• Investigation of the predictive value of home language and self-reported language difficulties with respect to academic achievement in higher education

• Comparison of the effect of language-related factors on academic achievement with the effect of other factors often reported as relevant predictors of academic achievement

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Broader research context

Academic achievement

Satisfaction with study

Satisfaction with life

Social-economic

Ethno-cultural

Psycho-social identity

Educational background

Study & learning strategy

Educational context

Life values

Ideology & religion

Openness

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Sample (N=1123)

• Freshmen of 13 bachelor programmes in economy, health, education and social work

• Respons rate:– Administrative database (100%)– Survey 1 (74%)– Survey 2 (65%)

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Variables

• CRITERION VARIABLE: proportion of credits obtained in January 2008 exam period

• CORE PREDICTOR VARIABLES:– Home language (Home language Dutch? Yes/No)– Self-reported language difficulties (Which of the

following factors influence your study in a negative way? Language weaknesses (Yes/No))

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Self-reported constraints

1,4

2,8

4,9

7,6

8,4

10,2

10,7

12,0

24,3

24,8

0,0 5,0 10,0 15,0 20,0 25,0 30,0

Social isolation

Motor

Auditory

Visual

Medical

Psychological

Family

Language difficulties

Secondary education

Learning difficulties

% (functional) constraints

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Control variables

• Personal characteristics: sex, age, life satisfaction• Educational background: educational level and

study delay in secondary education • Family background: educational level of parents,

work situation of parents, financial situation of parents, support from parents

• Study-related situational factor: support from lecturers and fellow students

• Study-related personal characteristics: study motivation, fear of failure, dealing with the subject matter

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Standardized inventories

• Learning and study Strategies Inventory (LASSI; Lacante et al., 2001; Weinstein et al., 1987)– Motivation– Anxiety– Information processing

• Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Arrindell et al., 1999; Diener, 1985)

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HYPOTHESES

• H1: The home language of students has an impact on their academic achievement, even after controlling for two socio-economic parameters, educational level and financial situation of the parents.

• H2: Self-reported language difficulties and home language are factors which both have unique predictive value with respect to academic achievement, even after controlling for their effects reciprocally.

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RESULTS (H1)

Dependent Variable: study results

Source Type I I I Sum of Squares

df Mean Square

F p

Main effects

Home language (HL) 19562,80 1 19562,80 13,12 0,000 **

Financial situation (FS) 2966,68 1 2966,68 1,99 0,159

Educational level of parents (EL) 2155,02 2 1077,51 0,72 0,486

Interaction effects

HL * FS 31,14 1 31,14 0,02 0,885

HL * EL 1300,00 2 650,00 0,44 0,647

FS * EL 4290,19 2 2145,10 1,44 0,238

Total 5848331,81 986

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Exploration (H1): comparison academic achievement 4 linguistic/ethno-cultural groups

Mean N Std.

Deviation

Dutch 68,6 868 38,0 Francophone 55,9 128 40,4 Turkish-Maghreb 49,7 23 42,8 Other 47,9 28 43,8 Total 66,1 1.047 39,0

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RESULTS (H2)

Dependent Variable: study results

Source Type I I I Sum of Squares

df Mean Square F p

Main effects

Home language (HL) 5623,29 1 5623,29 4,02 0,045 *

Language difficulties (LD) 6463,90 1 6463,90 4,62 0,032 *

Interaction effect

HL*LD 151,87 1 151,87 0,11 0,742

Total 5053392,96 816

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RESULTS (Multiple Regression Analysis)

B Beta t p

(Constant) 1,744

Study motivation 12,994 0,192 4,683 0,000 **

General Secondary Education 10,967 0,139 3,354 0,001 **

Female 10,490 0,133 3,225 0,001 **

Study delay prior to higher education entry -8,507 -0,101 -2,403 0,017 *

Home language only Dutch 9,873 0,097 2,476 0,014 *

Self-reported language difficulties -10,906 -0,091 -2,355 0,019 *

Reported support from lecturers 6,884 0,085

2,217 0,027 *

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Perspectives for further research

• Larger samples to explore differential effects between linguistic/ethno-cultural groups of students

• Evaluation of quasi-experimental research on the effect of remedial language programmes on academic achievement

• Exploration of the interaction between home language and academic language

• A more systematic and differentiated way of diagnosing language difficulties

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Perspectives for language policy

• Input research findings and feedback students and lecturers to select, develop and evaluate student- and staff-related language support initiatives including

• Language assessment• Generic and faculty-specific language remedial

programmes• Workshops for lecturers and student

counselors