Investigating the Relationship between the Initial English Reading Skills of Newly Enrolled Engineering Undergraduates and their Academic Success - A Case Study

With an ever-growing influence of the English language in the realm of higher education of non-English-spcaking countries, various questions have been raised regarding the relationship between students' proficiency in the language and their academic performance. The present study was conducted at Shamoon College of Engineering with the aim of shedding further light on the relationship and investigating whether an initial level of English language proficiency of newly enrolled students, specifically their reading comprehension skills, prior to embarking upon academic courses is influential on the students' academic achievements. The collected data encompassed 1973 students who started their studies in the academic years 2015-2016 at the college. Drawing on the results obtained, there is a significant relationship between the students' academic performance, as well as their commutative GPA, and their beginning level of English proficiency throughout the first academic year. The paper concludes that students' English proficiency level, mainly reading comprehension skills on entry to the college, plays a significant role in their subsequent academic performance.