1.
Literature Reference
Admission to university entrance - readiness to join programs where English is used as the
mean for instruction
The IELTS scores are required to get the admission into many universities around the world and many
immigration destinations require the learners to take the IETLS in order to qualify the English requirements
(Dooey & Oliver, 2002; Huong, 2000; Rethinasamy, 2006).
Dooey, P., & Oliver, T. R. (2002). An investigation into the predictive validity of the IELTS as
an indicator of future academic success. Prospect, 17(1), 36–54
Contradictory Views on predictor value of IELTS/ English proficiency test for students’
success
1. In relation to the IELTS test a number of predictive validity studies have been carried
out which conclude that language proficiency is a critical factor in academic success
and the IELTS is a useful predictor of a student’s ability to cope with academic
English (Ciccarelli, 2001, p.3).
2. At the University of Hong Kong, Ho and Spinks (1985, p.249) found that “English
language skills had the most predictive value [compared to various factors such as
intelligence and personality variables],accounting for about 10 per cent of the
variance of performance measures.
3. Graham (1987: 515) argues that “English proficiency is only one among many factors
that affect academic success”.
4. Some studies found no statistically significant relationship between IELTS and
academic performance (Traynor, 1985; Fiocco, 1987; Graham, 1987; Light, Xu, &
Mossop, 1987; Gibson and Rusek, 1992; Rusek, 1992).
5. Gibson and Rusek (1992, p.17) suggested that the contradictory results of various
studies did not indicate that the tests were not valid measures of English proficiency
but that“language skill is only one of the variables which predicts academic success,
albeit an important one”. They recommended that each institution should carry out
its own research into acceptable English language levels based upon past student
achievements.
Graham, J. G. (1987). English language proficiency and the prediction of academic success.
TESOL Quarterly. Vol 21(3), 505-521
Ciccarelli, A. 2001. IELTS issues for UniSA. Unpublished paper for Senior Management Group,
University ofSouth Australia, Adelaide.
Ho, D.Y.F. and Spinks, J.A. 1985. Multivariate Prediction of Academic Performance by Hong
Kong University Students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 10, 249-259.
Traynor, R. 1985. The TOEFL: An appraisal. ELT Journal, 39, 43-47.
Rusek, W. 1992. IELTS: Does It Predict Success At University? Proceedings of the 5th Annual
Education
Fiocco, M. 1987. English Proficiency Levels of Students From a Non English Speaking
Background: A Study of IELTS as an Indicator of Tertiary Success. Research Report, Centre for
International English, Curtin University of Technology.Conference, Adelaide, 1-3rd October.
Graham, J.G. 1987. English Language Proficiency and the Prediction of Academic Success.
TESOL Quarterly, 21 (3), 505-521.
Light, R.L., Xu, M. and Mossop, J. 1987. English proficiency and academic performance of
international students. TESOL Quarterly, 21 (2), 251-261.
Gibson, C. and Rusek, W. 1992. The validity of an overall band score of 6.0 on the IELTS test
as a predictor of adequate English language level appropriate for successful academic study.
Unpublished Masters of Arts (Applied Linguistics) thesis, Macquarie University, New South
Wales.

2.
IELTS score requirements to university programs
1. In relation to the second research question, a minimum English language proficiency
scoreof 6.0 IELTS has been established at a number of Australian universities. This
level was informed by research and levels set by competing tertiary institutions.
(Feast, 2002, p 73)
2. Dooey (1999, p.117) found that there was no evidence to suggest that students who
did not meet the entry criteria (IELTS 6.0) were destined to fail but conversely most
of the failures were students who entered Curtin University with high IELTS scores.
3. Astudy by Bellingham (1993, p.229) conducted in New Zealand revealed a moderate
association partly because of its unique nature in that it included students with a
wide range of IELTS scores including some below 5.0.
Most other studies were unable to include students with IELTS scores below 6.0 as
this was the minimum entry standard required for university admission. The
Bellingham study (1993, p.231) found that “If these results were generalisable to the
wider population, this would mean that with scores below 6.0 in IELTS, students
have a 20 per cent chance of passing; whereas at 6.0 or more the chance is 50 per
cent”.
Bellingham went on say that this finding was consistent with IELTS guidelines that at
6.5 “language proficiency is less likely to be a significant factor in influencing
academic success”. However further discussion in the Bellingham paper confirmed
that factors other than language are also “integral to academic success”.
4. Ferguson et al from Edinburgh University have stated (1993, p.34) “Band 6 seems to
represent some sort of cross-over line”.
5. Criper and Davies (1988, p.79) were also reported in Ferguson et al (1993,
p.35) to have stated that Band 6 is “some kind of changeover score”. Ferguson et al (1993,
p.36) concluded “there is a level of proficiency below which failure increases sharply, and
that language assumes a more important role in academic performance when proficiency is
low.”
Feast, V. (2002). The impact of IELTS scores on performance at university. International
Education Journal, 3(4), 70-85.
Dooey, P.1999. An investigation into the predictive validity of the IELTS Test as an indicator
of future academic success. In Martin, Stanley and Davison (eds) Teaching in the
Disciplines/Learning in Context, 114-118, Proceedings of the 8th Annual Teaching Learning
Forum, University of Western Australia, February 1999.
Bellingham, L. 1993. The relationship of Language Proficiency to Academic Success for
International Students. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 30 (2), 229-232.
Ferguson, G. and White, E. 1993. A small-scale study of predictive validity. Melbourne Papers
in Language Testing, University of Edinburgh, 15-63.
Criper, C. and Davies, A.1988. IELTS Validation Project Report, The British Council, University
of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, London.
Ferguson, G. and White, E. 1993. A small-scale study of predictive validity. Melbourne Papers
in Language Testing, University of Edinburgh, 15-63.
Elder, C. 1993. Language proficiency as a predictor of performance in teacher education.
Melbourne Papers in Language Testing, 2 (1), 68-87.

3.
6. The study by Elder (1993, p.87) contradicted these findings to some extent as it
indicated that “the strongest level of agreement between test predictions and academic
outcomes occurred at Band 4.5 [which] casts some doubt on the recommendation that a
Band score of 6.5 [should] be a minimum requirement”.
Assumption: high IELTS score - predictive indicators for high GPA with different subjects/
students in 3 different context: English major students at a local university; students in an
international context; local students joining international programs
Review on studies about this topic on those who are English major - Yes, positive correlation
because IELTS test measure English competency, high score - strong competency - similar
purpose with English major degree - predictive
1. In addition, the results of a correlational study conducted by Sahragard & Baharloo
(2009) on Iranian university students majoring in English Language and Literature
found that students who are more competent in English language are more
successful in their classes.
2. Other studies from Iran have reported similar findings. For example, Maleki and
Zangani (2007) found a significant connection between proficiency and grade point
averages of academic achievement of EFL students majoring in English translation
Review on studies about this topic on International students - Yes, positive correlation
because English is the integreted part of learning, media of instruction and communication
among classmates and peer - strong competency help students to mingle with the
environment
1. Studies from Australia have also reported similar findings. For example, a study
conducted on the impact of IELTS Scores on Performance at an Australian university
has reported a significant and positive relationship between language proficiency of
international university students and their overall academic performance as measured
by their GPA (Feast, 2002).
Sahragard, R., Baharloo, A., & Soozandehfar, S. M. A. (2011). A closer look at the relationship
between academic achievement and language proficiency among Iranian EFL students.
Theory and Practice in Language Studies 1(12), 1740-1748.
Maleki, A., & Zangani, E. (2007). A survey on the relationship between English language
proficiency and the academic achievement of Iranian EFL students. Asian EFL Journal, 9(1),
86-96.
Feast, V. (2002). The impact of JELTS scores on performance at university. International
Education Journal 3(4), 70- 85.
Hill, K., Storch, N., & Lynch, B. 1999. A Comparison of IELTS and TOEFL as predictors of
academic success. English Language Testing System Research Reports 2, 52-63.
The Predictive Validity of The IELTS Test at Thai Nguyen University - Vietnam
Hoang Huong Ly, Ph.D, Thai Nguyen University of Technology, DOI:
10.29322/IJSRP.10.06.2020.p10292, http://dx.doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.10.06.2020.p10292
Davies, A. (1990). Principles of Language Testing. Oxford: Blackwell.
Elder, C. (1993). Language proficiency as a predictor of performance in teacher education.
Melbourne Papers in Langauge Testing, 2(1), 68-89.
Cope, N. (2011). Evaluating locally-developed language testing. Australian Review of Applied
Linguistics, 34(1), 40-58.
Lynch, T. (2000). An evaluation of the revised test of English at matriculation at the
University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh Working Papers in Applied Linguistics, 10, 61-71.
Dooey, P.1999. An investigation into the predictive validity of the IELTS Test as an indicator
of future academic success. In Martin, Stanley and Davison (eds) Teaching in the
Disciplines/Learning in Context, 114-118, Proceedings of the 8th Annual Teaching Learning
Forum, University of Western Australia, February 1999.

4.
2. These results appear to be consistent with a study conducted by researchers at the
University of Melbourne in which they found a moderately strong correlation
between the students GPA and IELTS scores (Hill et al., 1999).
Review on studies about this topic on Local students - programs instructed in English: Yes,
but not as significant/ other factors in the local environment that influence success?
1. This finding suggests that the IELTS, on the whole, does not predict the students
‘academic achievement in a public university in Vietnam.
2. This is in line with the conclusions drawn from similar previous studies conducted on
the predictive validity of various local English language tests (Davies, 1990; Elder,
1993; Cope, 2011; Lynch, 2000).
3. Dooey (1999) it has been difficul to find strong predictive relationship between
IELTS and students’ academic achievement.
-> Proposed research question?
o Predictive values of IELTS on different students types (3) at Hanoi University? -> lead to decision for acceleration program for enrolled students
with high IELTS scores?
o Success determenants to University students?
o Students’ belief on values of IELTS test
o Teachers’ assumption on values of IELTS test
Further review (may consider to include in the writing)
Positive impacts
1) Other research findings at two tertiary education institutions in Oman also show a strong, positive relationship between English language performance and GPA (Roche, & Harrington,
2013).
Roche, T., & Harrington, M. (2013). Recognition vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of academic performance in an English as a foreign language setting. Language Testing in Asia
3(12). http://dx.doi:10.1186/2229-0443-3-12.

5.
2) Furthermore, in an attempt to determine whether there was a significant relationship between Iranian EFL college students’ language proficiency and their academic achievement, the
results of a study conducted by Sahragard et al. (2011) demonstrated that the students who scored higher on the language proficiency test had better GPA scores.
Sahragard, R., & Baharloo, A. (2009). Fear of success, imposter phenomenon, academic achievement, and language proficiency among some Iranian EFL learners: a correlational study.
Iranian EFL Journal Quarterly 3(1), 6-35.
3) while Sadeghi et al. (2013) found that proficiency in English could significantly influence academic achievement of medical students.
Sadeghi, B., Kashanian, N. M., Maleki, A., & Haghdoost, A. (2013). English language proficiency as a predictor of academic achievement among medical students in Iran. Theory and
Practice in Language Studies 3(12), 2315-2321.
4) In other studies from higher education institutions in Nigeria, India, USA and Malaysia, researchers found that English language proficiency and academic performance are directly related
(Aina et al., 2013; Kumar, 2014; Xu, 1991; AlHaddad et al., 2004).
Aina, J. K., Ogundele, A. G., & Olanipekun, S. S. (2013). Students’ proficiency in English language relationship with academic performance in science and technical education. American
Journal of Educational Research, 1(9), 355-358.
5) Along similar lines, students’ achievement in school also depends upon their level of proficiency in the language of instruction (Wilkinson & Silliman, 2008). Research findings from
school contexts have been reported. For instance, the results of a study conducted by Wilson and Komba (2012) at a secondary school in Tanzania illustrated that the more proficient
students are in English the better they are in academic subjects.
Wilson, J., & Komba, S. C. (2012). The Link between English language proficiency and academic performance: A pedagogical perspective in Tanzanian secondary schools. World Journal
of English Language 2(4). http://dx.doi:10.5430/wjel.v2n4p1.
6) This finding is in agreement with studies conducted on EFL Nigerian students which revealed that there is a significant correlation between English language proficiency and academic
achievements of the subjects studied (Fakeye, 2014; Jekayinfa, 1991).
Fakeye, D. (2014). English language proficiency as a predictor of academic achievement among EFL students in Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice 5(9), 38-41.