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Factors Affecting English Test Scores: A Case Study in Taiwan

Received: 28 August 2014     Accepted: 27 November 2014     Published: 6 February 2015
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Abstract

Globalization has been a huge and important impact to almost every industry in all countries. To catch up the trend of globalization, having the most popular language, the English, well trained is particularly important. The study examines factors that affect English test scores for Taiwanese college students using a multivariate regression analysis. The result indicates that gender is an influencing variable with significant impact. Not surprisingly, time spent in outside reading and English study can enhance test scores significantly. Although the test score is less affected by per study hour, it is likely to be much more important than gender. The reason is that influence from gender is fixed since it only affects the scores once, but the effects from study hours can be cumulated. In addition, another factor having considerable impact on test scores is the time spent in soap opera. It is positively related to the test scores but its influence to scores is much smaller. However, the effect can still be large due to its cumulative property. Compared to time spent in moves, time spent in soap opera is more effective than in moves in terms of test scores improvement. The study also implies some potential study strategies that may benefit students either in study efficiency or class and test performance. A typical strategy is efficient allocation of study hours. Time allocation on various subjects is important due to the concern of diminishing return. Therefore, if students can optimize their marginal contribution from study, they may obtain the highest return (scores) from the same input (study hours).

Published in Education Journal (Volume 4, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.edu.20150401.17
Page(s) 33-36
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

English Test, Multivariate Regression Analysis, College Student, Taiwan

References
[1] N. Modiano, “Linguistic imperialism, cultural integrity, and EIL,” ELT Journal, 2001, 55(4), 339-346
[2] T.L. Harris and R. E. Hodges, (Eds.). The literacy dictionary: The vocabulary of reading and writing, 1995, Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
[3] B. Street, Literacy in theory and practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
[4] R. L. Venezky, D.A.Wagner, and B. S. Ciliberti, (Eds.), Toward defining literacy. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 1990.
[5] J. Gee, “Learning language as a matter of learning social languages within discourses”, Paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada, 1999.
[6] N. Fairclough, Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman, 1995.
[7] E. A. Hanushek, "The economics of schooling: production and efficiency in the public schools," Journal of Economic Literature, 1986, XXIV (3): 1141-78.
[8] D. G. Dan and J. B. Dominic, “Evaluating the effect of teacher degree level on educational performance.” Reports-Evaluative/Feasibility (142), 1996.
[9] D. H. Monk and J. King, “Multi-level teacher resource effects on pupil performance in secondary mathematics and science: the role of teacher subject matter preparation.” In R. G. Ehrenberg, ed., Choices and Consequences: Contemporary Policy Issues in Education, 1994, pp. 29–58. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
[10] R. G. Ehrenberg .and D. J. Brewer, “Do school and teacher characteristics matter? Evidence from High School and Beyond”, Economics of Education Review, 1994, 13(1): 1-17.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Shan-Shan Kung. (2015). Factors Affecting English Test Scores: A Case Study in Taiwan. Education Journal, 4(1), 33-36. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150401.17

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    ACS Style

    Shan-Shan Kung. Factors Affecting English Test Scores: A Case Study in Taiwan. Educ. J. 2015, 4(1), 33-36. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20150401.17

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    AMA Style

    Shan-Shan Kung. Factors Affecting English Test Scores: A Case Study in Taiwan. Educ J. 2015;4(1):33-36. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20150401.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.edu.20150401.17,
      author = {Shan-Shan Kung},
      title = {Factors Affecting English Test Scores: A Case Study in Taiwan},
      journal = {Education Journal},
      volume = {4},
      number = {1},
      pages = {33-36},
      doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20150401.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150401.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20150401.17},
      abstract = {Globalization has been a huge and important impact to almost every industry in all countries. To catch up the trend of globalization, having the most popular language, the English, well trained is particularly important. The study examines factors that affect English test scores for Taiwanese college students using a multivariate regression analysis. The result indicates that gender is an influencing variable with significant impact. Not surprisingly, time spent in outside reading and English study can enhance test scores significantly. Although the test score is less affected by per study hour, it is likely to be much more important than gender. The reason is that influence from gender is fixed since it only affects the scores once, but the effects from study hours can be cumulated. In addition, another factor having considerable impact on test scores is the time spent in soap opera. It is positively related to the test scores but its influence to scores is much smaller. However, the effect can still be large due to its cumulative property. Compared to time spent in moves, time spent in soap opera is more effective than in moves in terms of test scores improvement. The study also implies some potential study strategies that may benefit students either in study efficiency or class and test performance. A typical strategy is efficient allocation of study hours. Time allocation on various subjects is important due to the concern of diminishing return. Therefore, if students can optimize their marginal contribution from study, they may obtain the highest return (scores) from the same input (study hours).},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AB  - Globalization has been a huge and important impact to almost every industry in all countries. To catch up the trend of globalization, having the most popular language, the English, well trained is particularly important. The study examines factors that affect English test scores for Taiwanese college students using a multivariate regression analysis. The result indicates that gender is an influencing variable with significant impact. Not surprisingly, time spent in outside reading and English study can enhance test scores significantly. Although the test score is less affected by per study hour, it is likely to be much more important than gender. The reason is that influence from gender is fixed since it only affects the scores once, but the effects from study hours can be cumulated. In addition, another factor having considerable impact on test scores is the time spent in soap opera. It is positively related to the test scores but its influence to scores is much smaller. However, the effect can still be large due to its cumulative property. Compared to time spent in moves, time spent in soap opera is more effective than in moves in terms of test scores improvement. The study also implies some potential study strategies that may benefit students either in study efficiency or class and test performance. A typical strategy is efficient allocation of study hours. Time allocation on various subjects is important due to the concern of diminishing return. Therefore, if students can optimize their marginal contribution from study, they may obtain the highest return (scores) from the same input (study hours).
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Author Information
  • The Department of English Studies, Ming-Dao University, Zhanghua, Taiwan R.O.C.

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