Student Demography and Perception & Attitude towards

English as predictor of Academic Achievement

Student Demography and Perception & Attitude towards

English as predictor of Academic Achievement

By:Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nagarajah Lee

Prof. Dr. Latifah Abdol LatifProf. Ramli Bahroom.

• Proficiency in English is necessary to reap the full benefit of information explosion.

• As a lifelong learning being the pillar, OUM fully recognizes this and as a results made English language as the medium of instruction.

• However, the effectiveness of learning much depends on learners, competence in the language where one of the contributing factor is their attitude towards the use of the language in T&L

OverviewOverview

• Purpose• Research Design, Population & Sample• Instrument• Findings• Conclusion & Recommendation

This paper examines the This paper examines the association between some association between some selected demographic factors, selected demographic factors, attitude and perception towards attitude and perception towards English language use in T&L and English language use in T&L and academic performance among academic performance among students in an Open and Distance students in an Open and Distance Learning institution.Learning institution.

Purpose Purpose

Conceptual FrameworkConceptual Framework

Student Demogrphy

Students’ perception & attitude towards English language

Academic Performance

Research Design, Research Design, Population & SamplePopulation & Sample

• This is a cross sectional survey using self administered questionnaire.

• The population for this study are all undergraduate students enrolled with OUM at the point of data collection.

• The sample consist of 761 students in various degree program at OUM.

INSTRUMENTINSTRUMENT

Student Attitude Towards the use of English in T&L

a) Attitude towards English

b) Instrumental Motivation

c) Intrinsic Motivation

d) Learning Instruction

Student Perception on English Language use:

a) Perceived Ability

b) Perceived Competency

Respondents are required to rate their perceptions on a five point Likert scale

Respondents’ Demography

n %

Gender male 328 43.7

female 422 56.3

Age 20 - 30 283 37.2

31 - 40 256 33.6

41 - 50 141 18.5

Above 50 81 10.6

Race Malay 449 60.9

Chinese 117 15.9

Indian 87 11.8

Other Bumi 73 9.9

Others 11 1.5

Entry Mode Flexi 412 56.2

Normal 321 43.8

Respondent Demography Respondent Demography vs CGPAvs CGPA

Age and Ethnicity are significantly associated with students academic performance

CGPA Category

Less than 3.00

n= 491(65.8%)

3.00 and aboven= 255

(34.2%)

Gender Male 219 (68.4%) 101 (31.6%) = 1.985(p = 0.159)Female 264(63.5%) 152 (36.5%)

Age Category

20 - 35 205 (73.7%) 73 (26.3%)

= 13.945(p = 0.003)

31 - 40 153 (61.0%) 98(39.0%)

41 - 50 90 (64.3%) 50 (35.7%)

Above 50 43 (55.8%) 34 (44.2%)

Race Malay 313 (70.5%) 131 (29.5%)

= 47.272( p = 0.002)

Chinese 47 (41.2%) 67 (58.8%)

Indian 49 (58.3%) 35 ( 41.7%)

Other Bumi 59 (83.1%) 12 (16.9%)

Others 5 (50.0%) 5 (50.0%)

Entry Mode Flexi 274 (68.0%) 129 (32.0%) = 2.403( p = 0.121)Normal 198 (62.5%) 119 (37.5%)

2 2 2 2

• As for the age category, are higher percentages of students from the age groups 31- 40 years, 41-50 years and above 50 years obtained a CGPA of 3.00 and above. Students from the age category 20 – 35 years registered the lower percentage for CGPA 3.00 and above.

• Greater percentage of Chinese students obtained CGPA of 3.00 and above, followed by ‘others’, Indian and Malay. The lowest percentage for CGPA 3.00 and above was recorded for East Malaysian Bumiputra students

Student Perception and Student Perception and attitude towards English attitude towards English vs CGPAvs CGPA

Both the TWO dimensions of students’ perception towards English use in T&L as well as their attitude towards the

language (all four dimensions) are significantly associated with students’ academic achievement. Positive perception

and attitude towards the use of English in T&L leads to better academic achievement

CGPA N Mean Std. Deviation t-value

Perceived Competency Below 3.00 488 3.9349 1.03593-7.369 0.0001

3.00 and above 252 4.5093 .94585

Perceived Ability Below 3.00 487 3.7480 1.03950-8.575 0.0001

3.00 and above 252 4.4135 1.03083

Attitude towards English Below 3.00 490 3.8433 .67236-8.926 0.0001

3.00 and above 254 4.3172 .71387

Instrumental Motivation Below 3.00 490 4.4869 1.12731-6.584 0.0001

3.00 and above 254 5.0301 .93967

Intrinsic Motivation Below 3.00 489 4.6564 1.06743-4.896 0.0001

3.00 and above 254 5.0246 .91897

Learning Instruction Below 3.00 480 3.6760 1.18678-8.960 0.001

3.00 and above 252 4.4702 1.11391

The Logistic Regression The Logistic Regression ModelModel

Variables in the Equation

Reference group  B S.E. Wald df Sig.

exp B

 

Perceived Competency 0.612 0.182 11.307 1 0.001 1.844

Perceived Ability 0.594 0.194 9.375 1 0.002 1.811

Attitude 0.469 0.143 10.757 1 0.001 1.598

Instrumental Motivation 0.512 0.171 8.965 1 0.003 1.669

Intrinsic Motivation 0.666 0.192 12.032 1 0.000 1.946

Learning Instruction 0.495 0.193 6.578 1 0.039 1.640

Male Female 0.319 0.189 2.838 1 0.092 1.375

Malay

Race     0 4 0 1

A4(1) 0.741 0.268 7.612 1 0.006 2.097

A4(2) 0.577 0.318 3.283 1 0.079 1.562

A4(3) -1.08 0.392 7.606 1 0.006 0.34

A4(4) 0.007 0.76 0 1 0.993 1.007

Flexi Entry Mode of Entry 0.29 0.189 2.346 1 0.126 1.337

  Age 0.03 0.011 7.014 1 0.008 1.03

  Constant -5.392 0.782 47.562 1 0 0.005a. Variable(s) entered on step 1: Perceived Competency, Perceived Ability, Attitude, Instrumental Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation, Learning_ Instruction, Gender, Race, Mode of Entry, Age.

Model FitModel Fit

Hosmer and Lemeshow Test

Step Chi-square df Sig.1

17.432 9 .127

Model Summary

Step -2 Log likelihoodCox & Snell R

SquareNagelkerke R

Square1 370.255a .191 .254

a. Estimation terminated at iteration number 5 because parameter estimates changed by less than .001.

The Logistic Regression is a valid model to predict the relationship

between the predictor and outcome variables

Model Sensitivity & Model Sensitivity & SpecificitySpecificity

Sensitivity [ability to predict event correctly] = 83%

Specificity [ability to predict non event correctly] = 87.7%

Area Under the Curve

Test Result Variable(s):Predicted probability

Area Std. Errora Asymptotic Sig.b

Asymptotic 95% Confidence Interval

Lower Bound Upper Bound

.740 .021 .000 .698 .781

The test result variable(s): Predicted probability has at least one tie between the positive actual state group and the negative actual state group. Statistics may be biased.

a. Under the nonparametric assumption

b. Null hypothesis: true area = 0.5

Logistic Model Explaining the relationshipsLogistic Model Explaining the relationships

CGPA 3.00 and above = -5.39 + 0.495 (Learning Instruction) + 0.666 (Int. Mot. ) + 0.512( Instr. Mot.) + 0.512 (Attitude) + 0.594 (Perceived Ability) +

0.612 (Perceived competency )+ 0.03 (Age)

+ 0.741 (Chinese) – 1.08 (Other Bumi)Int. Mot = Intrinsic MotivationInstr. Mot = Instrumental Motivation

ConclusionConclusion

The findings of this study suggested that students’ perception and attitude towards

the use of English in Teaching and Learning together with the selected demographic

factors can be used as a good predictor of students’ academic performance.

These variables can be used to identify ‘at risk’ students and the institution can

formula interventions to reduce attrition rate.

Thank YouThank You

Questions and comments are welcome