Testing as a Way to Monitor English as a Foreign Language Learning

This study was conducted at a large technical university in Russia, which offers English language courses to students majoring in nine different degree programs. Each degree program develops and delivers its own English language curriculum. While all degree programs followed the same curriculum development model to design language courses, each program incorporated a unique set of objectives pertaining to the subject matter of its discipline. The purpose of this study was to determine if progress tests could be a useful assessment tool to monitor the effectiveness of foreign language study throughout a University English Language Program (UELP). Data from 600 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students was analyzed using a repeated-measures ANOVA. The findings revealed that significant improvements in students’ scores were gained throughout the first phase of the UELP, which occurred over a two-year period. For the first time, the test data was used as a policy tool to introduce meaningful curricular adjustments, including revamping the instructional practices and methods of delivery to target a range of students’ proficiency levels and establish the cut scores for a minimal level of language ability for Bachelor’s degree students.