Technology University Students’ Attitudes towards the English Graduation Benchmark (EGB): A Comparison between English-major and non-English Major Students

The English Graduation Benchmark (EGB) is a common criterion adopted by many universities in Taiwan, including both comprehensive and technology universities to monitor their graduates’ English ability. However, this common criterion has caused some debates in recent years about its appropriateness...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 12; no. 6; p. 2461
Main Authors Lai, Hsuan-Yau (Tony), Tu, Jih-Fu
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 20.03.2020
Subjects
Achievement tests
Attitudes
Benchmarks
Careers
College students
Colleges & universities
Criteria
Education
Educational technology
English language
Foreign language learning
Professional development
Quantitative analysis
Standardized tests
Student attitudes
Students
Technology
Tutoring
University graduates
University students
China
Taiwan
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Summary:The English Graduation Benchmark (EGB) is a common criterion adopted by many universities in Taiwan, including both comprehensive and technology universities to monitor their graduates’ English ability. However, this common criterion has caused some debates in recent years about its appropriateness and fairness to students from less advantageous backgrounds. Some universities have decided to stop this policy in practice. This study aims to investigate technology university students’ perspectives and attitudes towards the EGB, as well as to compare and contrast the opinions of students from English and non-English departments. A quantitative method was adopted for this study. The questionnaire included: (1) Participants’ background information, (2) their experience of taking the proficiency tests, and (3) their thoughts on the EGB policy. In total, 360 students participated in this study. The results showed that most technology university students agreed with the establishment of the EGB. Students from English and non-English departments had positive attitudes because the benchmark motivated them to learn English in some way. Last but not least, technology university students considered the EGB to be useful for their future career development. This paper considers the possible implications of these findings for universities and the government, and suggests how they might re-conceptualize their policies to make them more sustainable.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su12062461