English language and literacy development of home and international students at a UK university

Language and literacy skills are vitally important for academic success. In international contexts, an understanding of how these skills differ between the student populations is needed to put appropriate policies and support in place. Three groups of first year undergraduate students at a UK university were recruited—English native speakers (ENS, N=59), first language (L1) speakers of one of the European languages (N=60), and L1 Chinese speakers (N=58). Their language and literacy skills (knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension, writing, and phonological skills) were compared at the start of Year one, while controlling for general cognitive abilities. One-way ANOVAs revealed significant group differences on all linguistic measures. Planned contrasts confirmed a large gap between the ENS and English foreign language (EFL) students, but also that this difference was primarily driven by Chinese students. Students with European L1s not only demonstrated stronger English skills than Chinese students, but also performed indistinguishably from British students on several tasks. The same task battery was administered again after one year. T-tests and mixed-design ANOVAs were performed on participants tested at both time points. This sample included 48 ENS, 50 EFL with European L1s, and 47 EFL with Chinese L1s. The findings confirmed large and significant differences between the EFL with Chinese L1s and the ENS. The group of Chinese L1 students did not close the initial gap with the other EFL group as well. The group of EFL with European L1s, on the other hand, improved to a greater extent, and managed to close the gap with the ENS in almost all remaining measures over the span of one year.
These results show that the large differences in language and literacy skills observed previously are not inevitable. They also challenge the received view according to which EFL students’ language develops rapidly and effortlessly.