Bridging the Gap for English Language Testing Study in Fiji: Proposing an Evaluation of the Writing Proficiency Level of Pre-first Year and Post-first Year Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Language testing is a complex field of study as there are various factors that need to be taken into account when preparing and assessing the students’ language proficiency. However, it plays a pivotal role in society. With the results of language tests used for immigration purposes, university entrance qualifications as well as employment opportunities. Scholars attest that it is obligatory for language teachers to constantly ‘assess their students’ oral and written performances’, and the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) offers a variety of oral and writing scales which provide the ‘opportunity for a common standard’. This paper argues the significant gaps that are yet to be address in a language testing research and highlights why a study needs to be conducted in Fiji with the university students. The article discusses applying a quantitative methodology thus, a longitudinal research design to conduct a language testing study on writing proficiency levels of undergraduate students; compare the writing proficiency levels of pre-first year and post-first year university students by using academic essay tests of the same cohort; and finally determine undergraduate students’ progress (or lack of) in written English over the course of their program.