Why TOEFL scores should be lowered across university?
The aim of this research paper is to advocate for the lowering of TOEFL/IELTS and any other standardized English proficiency test scores in university. In doing so, the author will argue on behalf of the interests of the international student to determine whether or not he/she has the appropriate academic and language credentials for gaining admission to a regular or modified program of study (Educational Testing Service, p. 9).
Currently, international students who seek admission in this institute for any course, have to undergo the procedure of demonstrating their language competence before they’re even considered eligible for further studies. In the author’s view, this is a highly discriminatory practice because it penalizes students who did do not speak English as their first language, and are being obligated to do so by the current admission system which is biased towards fluent English speakers. Not only it robs many bright internatonal students the golden chance to study in an American university, it likewise denies US universities access to brilliant researchers and technical experts who could prove to be a tremendous asset to our learning environment, if such an unnecessary language barrier did not exist.
Moreover, any efforts to create a homogenous study environment in which all international students are assumed to be equally competent in English, is contradictory to the principles of diversity in the campus, and in the opinion of the author, is nothing but “language chauvinism” on the part of the university admissions committee. For true diversity, you would want the student and faculty bodies to embrace the idea of allowing students who speak another language, to participate in the admissions process on an equal measure, as native English speakers
Furthermore, getting a high score on standardized tests like TOEFL has never been a guarantee of international students becoming readily familiar with American accents as soon as they arrive on campus. While it is true that they have an edge over other students who couldn’t perform as well on these tests, they are still perceived as perpetual “second language speakers” because of their different accents, vocabulary usage and non-familiarity with words and expressions used in a typical American context; slangs, colloquialisms and such.
The author is of the opinion, that the expression “second language speaker” is a highly derogatory label on campus, and is a constant reminder to the international student, that no matter how well he tried to perform on standardized test scores such as TOEFL, he would forever be perceived as an incorrect speaker of English. This is certainly a very intolerant approach because outside of the United States, most countries are bi-lingual or even tri-lingual. For example, in Latin America where Spanish and Portuguese languages dominate, communicating your ideas in another language such as English or French is celebrated as a huge achievement, apart from the speaker being lauded for his/her efforts in learning the local language, rather than criticized over minor grammatical and structural errors.
It’s only here in the United States that a PhD scholar of a reputed institute from a non-English speaking country, is subjected to the humiliation of being considered inferior in knowledge or ability, because of his/her lack of comfort in English. It’s for this reason alone many foreign language speakers feel discriminated against when it comes to submitting dissertations, research proposals and other study-related documents. The current academic climate in American institutes which projects non-English speakers in a negative light is contradictory to the greater ideals of education which aim at tolerance, global understanding and creating an enlightened mindset. This is certainly not the scenario for other respectable educational institues in the developed world including France, Germany, Sweden and Japan.
Considering the premise of above arguments, the author would like to appeal for a lenient approach in the admission criteria of international students. Ideally, it is important that at some point of time, TOEFL/IELTS score values are altogether abolished as an admission criteria for international students, especially those who have a high scholastic aptitude. However, in the light of current academic climate and considering the fact that there will be vehement opposition to such a demand from many, the author would seek to simply lower the score range for the current criteria of admission at his university.
Accordingly, the minimum mandated TOEFL score should reduced from 527 to 500 for the paper-based test and from 71 to 61 for the computer-adaptive Internet-based test (iBT). Also, the minimum acceptance scores for IELTS should be dropped from 6.0 at present, to 5.0. The author also would like to advocate a case-by-case analysis of a student’s statement of purpose which means details such as work experience, grades/marks received and other related concepts should be given higher weightage in deciding the admissions criteria of a student.
Why use TOEFL/IELTS as a benchmark?
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is a standardized test in English language which measures the aptitude of international students in a number of key areas of comprehension including reading, listening, writing and speaking abilities (Educational Testing Service, p. 11).
The whole premise is based on the flawed assumption that if the student succeeded in getting a high score through several hours of methodical preparation, and after shelling out thousands of dollars in getting preparatory material, he would at one point of time, become fluent in English, and will be very comfortable in an American classroom setting which seemingly, has zero tolerance for non-English speakers. Apart from the author’s downright objection to imposing English upon international students, there are several points of disagreement about the validity and reliability of a test-taking tool like TOEFL to determine the ability of an international student to study in the USA. Some of the points of disagreement are mentioned below:
The TOEFL is administered by a private company called Educational Testing Services (ETS) which has the sole aim of making profits. Not only are the test fees, which stand at more than $140 per test session, prohibitively expensive for an international student especially one who is coming from a modest background in a poor country, it makes no allowance on the student’s financial status which is often a favorable point of consideration when an admission committee decides on whether or not to extend financial support to an international student.
While, most American universities of repute have generous provisions on cutting tuition fees along with awarding grants, Teaching Assistantships (TA’s) and more to meritorious international students based on their privileged academic background, standardized tests like TOEFL make no such allowance to the academic background of an otherwise intelligent student appearing for the test. So, a bright PhD scholar who would stand a chance to qualify for an institute like Yale or Harvard based on his/her knowledge and experience, is automatically denied to do so because of a lowered TOEFL score. This is solely based on the fact that he/she comes from a country where English language is not used or understood that well. Moreover, the author finds it highly objectionable that a private testing body like ETS gets to decide on the academic chances of a student when its sole intention is to make a profit.
The stakes get much worse with IELTS, which is currently administered by the British Council of the United Kingdom using the same, or similar testing criteria as TOEFL (Clapham, 12). Like TOEFL, this examination is also very discriminatory against non-English speakers. A bigger objection is raised on the fact that students who give IELTS and TOEFL are often encouraged by test-taking companies to repeat the exam each time they get a lower score (Clapham, 23; Educational Testing Service; 45).
Since, so much money has to be spent on each testing session, it’s certainly not a cheap option for international students. Consequently, the author is of the firm opinion that standardized test scores such as TOEFL/IELTS should not be held as a major criteria in determining the admission ability of an international student. At best, the minimum entrance scores should be reduced; that too, after making severe allowances for the student’s academic background, work experience and other sound credentials.
It remains to be seen that whether TOEFL, a highly rigorous academic test, which is often a major determiner of an international student’s ability to perform satisfactorily in a US university, is equally applicable to American students. At present, no US-born student or someone coming from a major English-speaking country such as the UK or Australia, has to appear for this examination. The author believes it’s an act of discrimination even when making allowance for the fact that a native English-speaker is bound to be better at English, and would actually get much higher results on standardized test scores.
The latter still remains to be proven as studies have shown that many American teen-agers actually suffer from an inability to express themselves well in English, especially written English, even though they are native speakers of this language (Dillon).
So, it is possible to argue, that on one hand, US universities are giving a carte blanche to our own teenagers who are severely handicapped in their ability to write English well, and couldn’t be bothered to write one page apart from a statement of purpose which is quite often written by their friends and peers, on the other hand, meritorious students of international background are being subjected to the rigors of a standardized test, supposedly to prove they can be equally comptetent in a US classroom environment. This is nothing but, a “tyranny of the majority” and should have no place in an institute of higher learning.
There should either be a singular criteria of admission of all students, whether Americans or foreigners, or none at all.
The technicalities of TOEFL and other standardized tests are a major point of contention. Test companies like ETS argue that their testing procedure is quite fair and evenly-balanced, and does not discriminate against students in any way (Educational Testing Service, 39). However, the author is deeply unsatisfied with this explanation.
For instance, in their standardized guidelines for cracking English comprehension tests, international students are being encouraged to “emulate” American accents and spend time listening to Hollywood, MTV and other mass media originating from the USA (Educational Testing Service. 111). The author believes this is also a very discriminatory recommendation.
What this really means is whenever an international student expresses a desire to study in an American institute, he/she should start “assimilating” into American culture even when in their home countries. By mentioning an automatic preference for emulation of standard American accents, and ascribing these preferences to an international student body, we are seriously condoning a highly discriminatory approach towards not only foreign speakers of English, but also those who have a different accent than what you hear in academia and US mass media. The author believes if foreigners are to be encouraged to “appreciate” American culture, which many actually do, and learn about our great nation and its values, the job actually lies with the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, an official agency of the US department of Travel which promotes tourism in the United States among foreigners. It’s quite ridiculous when the same has to be promoted by a private tutorial institute like ETS.
Considering the seriously bad reputation of Americans abroad, thanks to unpopular foreign policies of an erstwhile George W. Bush regime, the last thing we need is alienating ourselves from international students, who are the ambassadors of goodwill from their respective countries. Recent news events have shown that there has actually been a sudden drop in the arrival of international students across US institutes of higher learning. Some ascribe it to the recession in the past year, and the emergence of other education hotspots such as Australia, Canada and Germany which have liberalized their admission criteria in recent years to include more diverse students.
The author believes another factor could be unbridled arrogance from American university admission committees who are little in touch with the actual background of international students. The rigid approach of granting admission to them based on their English language skills alone, does not endear them very much to our systems and processes. If the admission committee believes that such a rigid stance is justified because that’s the way it has always been, the author seeks to disagree with this majority viewpoint because he does not seek to live in an isolated island, with an infrequent contact of outside world.
In Conclusion
Having argued extensively on the position of why standardized tests such as TOEFL/IELTS are not fair determiners of admission criteria for international students, the author seeks to put to rest some final concerns which may arise on this subject.
First, it may well be argued that from a practical point of view, TOEFL/IELTS scores are necessary because the international student, when on American soil, has no other choice but to speak in English because that’s the whole environment he’s going to be surrounded with. It is for this reason alone that the author advocates a base acceptance score which is significantly lower than the current admission scores. Hence, the mandated TOEFL score may be reduced from current value of 527 to 500 for the paper-based test, and from 71 to 61 for the computer-adaptive Internet-based test (iBT). Also, the minimum acceptance scores for IELTS could be dropped from 6.0 at present, to 5.0.
Secondly, it may be argued that other countries which have some other language apart from English as their main medium of instruction, also mandate learning that language for admissions.
The author believes that this is for the most part, untrue. After having checked the education portals of France, Germany, Sweden and Japan, the author has arrived at the conclusion that none of these countries mandate the knowledge of French, German, Swedish or Japanese as a major criteria in the admissions process. Moreover, for any international student who seeks to study in institutes in above countries, the university often arranges free language courses to enable the student to come to a level where communication in that language becomes easy.
In that case, the author finally argues that it would be a far better approach if American universities also start conducting free English language lessons for all arriving foreign students who face difficulty in grasping the language, instead of continuing with the present discriminatory system where standardized test scores are a must.
Works Cited
Clapham, Caroline. The Development of IELTS: A Study of the Effect of Background
Knowledge on Reading Comprehension. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Dillon, Sam. US Students Achieve Mixed Results on Writing Test, 2008. Web.
Educational Testing Service. The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test. New York: McGraw Hill Professional, 2009.