Daguo LI
Daguo LI is Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of NUIST Reading Academy, University of Reading, UK. He is also Programme Director of International Professional Development at Primary and Secondary Levels and Programme Co-Director of the University of Reading’s MA in English Language Education based at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. His areas of research interest include second language learning, professional development for second language teachers, international education/transnational education, and intercultural communication. He has published research articles in these areas in international journals in recent years, including System, Language Teaching Research, and Journal of Research in International Education. He has also co-authored a chapter on professional development of Chinese teachers of English in Encyclopedia of Education: Second and Foreign Language Education, published by Springer. He is also manuscript reviewer for international journals such as System, TESOL Quarterly, Language and Education, Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education. He supervises Masters, PhD and EdD students at the University of Reading.
This presentation reports on a comparative study of TEEP (Test of English for Educational Purposes) developed by the Assessment Unit at the University of Reading (UK) and IELTS in a transnational education (TNE) context. All Foundation Year (FY) students across six undergraduate programmes in a joint education institute (JEI) in China were required by the JEI to take both TEEP and IELTS in its transition to EAP. Our study adopted a longitudinal mixed-methods design and data were collected in two phases. In Phase 1, students’ TEEP and IELTS results were collected towards the end of their FY, and six focus groups were conducted on the students’ test-taking (both TEEP and IELTS) and academic experiences to shed light on their test performances. In Phase 2, six focus groups with the same participants were conducted to provide further insights into their experiences of subject study (Part 1 in the UK system), focusing on their reflections of TEEP and IELTS in relation to their subject study. Quantitative data were subject to statistical analysis and qualitative data to thematic analysis. Quantitative results showed that the students performed significantly better on Speaking and Writing in TEEP while they performed significantly better overall and on Listening and Reading in IELTS. Factor Analysis suggested both TEEP and IELTS tapped into one single underlying construct which we termed English language proficiency. Qualitative results from the focus groups illuminated the quantitative findings and provided insights into the predictive validity of the tests for their subject study in Part 1.