Student Demography and Perception & Attitude towards English as predictor of Academic Achievement By: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nagarajah Lee Prof. Dr. Latifah Abdol Latif Prof. 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

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

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

Students’ perception & attitude towards English language Conceptual Framework Student Demogrphy Academic Performance Students’ perception & attitude towards English language

Research Design, Population & 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.

INSTRUMENT Student Attitude Towards the use of English in T&L Attitude towards English Instrumental Motivation Intrinsic Motivation Learning Instruction Student Perception on English Language use: Perceived Ability Perceived Competency Respondents are required to rate their perceptions on a five point Likert scale

Respondents’ Demography % 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 vs CGPA CGPA Category Less than 3.00 n= 491(65.8%) 3.00 and above n= 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%) Entry Mode Flexi 274 (68.0%) 129 (32.0%) = 2.403 ( p = 0.121) Normal 198 (62.5%) 119 (37.5%) Age and Ethnicity are significantly associated with students academic performance

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 attitude towards English vs CGPA 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 487 3.7480 1.03950 -8.575 4.4135 1.03083 Attitude towards English 490 3.8433 .67236 -8.926 254 4.3172 .71387 Instrumental Motivation 4.4869 1.12731 -6.584 5.0301 .93967 Intrinsic Motivation 489 4.6564 1.06743 -4.896 5.0246 .91897 Learning Instruction 480 3.6760 1.18678 -8.960 0.001 4.4702 1.11391 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

The Logistic Regression Model 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 0.002 1.811 Attitude 0.469 0.143 10.757 1.598 Instrumental Motivation 0.512 0.171 8.965 0.003 1.669 Intrinsic Motivation 0.666 0.192 12.032 0.000 1.946 Learning Instruction 0.495 0.193 6.578 0.039 1.640 Male Female 0.319 0.189 2.838 0.092 1.375 Malay Race 4 A4(1) 0.741 0.268 7.612 0.006 2.097 A4(2) 0.577 0.318 3.283 0.079 1.562 A4(3) -1.08 0.392 7.606 0.34 A4(4) 0.007 0.76 0.993 1.007 Flexi Entry Mode of Entry 0.29 2.346 0.126 1.337 Age 0.03 0.011 7.014 0.008 1.03 Constant -5.392 0.782 47.562 0.005 a. Variable(s) entered on step 1: Perceived Competency, Perceived Ability, Attitude, Instrumental Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation, Learning_ Instruction, Gender, Race, Mode of Entry, Age.

Hosmer and Lemeshow Test Model Fit Hosmer and Lemeshow Test Step Chi-square df Sig. 1 17.432 9 .127 Model Summary Step -2 Log likelihood Cox & Snell R Square Nagelkerke R Square 1 370.255a .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 & Specificity 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 Sensitivity [ability to predict event correctly] = 83% Specificity [ability to predict non event correctly] = 87.7%

Logistic 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 Motivation Instr. Mot = Instrumental Motivation

Conclusion 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.

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