Bayview Beach Resort, Batu Ferringhi Beach, Penang, Malaysia

27-30 September 1999

Problems in Assessing Proficiency in English among Foreign Postgraduate Students

Ms Sarjit Kaur

School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

The content of a proficiency test is based on a specification of what candidates have to be able to do in the language in order to be considered proficient (Hughes, 1989; Brown, 1996). This paper aims to describe and report the proficiency assessment for foreign postgraduate students registered with the Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS), USM. Since 1991, the number of foreign postgraduate students have been on the rise and currently there are about 272 students in the 1999/2000 academic session. Most of these students are from countries such as the Middle East, Africa and Indonesia. The Centre for Languages, USM has had the task of assessing the English language proficiency of these foreign postgraduate students. However, there has been growing dissatisfaction with the tests used. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and structured interviews. The different perspectives of the students, staff and administrators will be discussed and some suggest!ions in overcoming the problems will be put forward.

Biodata

Ms Sarjit Kaur graduated from the Science University of Penang (USM) in 1985 with a B.A. Ed (Hons) and has taught English in secondary schools in Malaysia and Brisbane, Australia. She has a M.Ed (TESOL) from the University of South Australia. She joined USM in 1995 and has been lecturing at the School of Humanities courses such as Testing and Evaluation, Receptive Skills, Speech Writing & Public Speaking and English for Specific Purposes.