Conventional wisdom in our field holds that NNS students have difficulty passing
writing proficiency exams. The initial failure rate of 5 1% supports this perception.
However, in looking at the whole picture of NNS students and university-mandated
writing proficiency exams at both GSU and the University of
Florida (Thompson, 1990), we do not see evidence that these systems are having
a seriously negative impact on the academic careers of most NNS students.
Most NNS students at these two institutions passed the writing exam after one
or two attempts, often after completing a test preparation course. This is good
news for the departments offering these preparation courses and for those of us
concerned with the academic success of NNS students. The data from these universities
also indicate that researchers must look beyond the initial failure of
students on such examinations to the length of time that it takes most students
to pass. One caveat, however, needs to be mentioned. Because testing conditions
(e.g., prompts, allotted time, rater issues) and purposes vary from institution
to institution, it is important not to generalize these findings to institutions
or testing programs that diverge from the one described in this study.
The focus of this study has been on the small group of students who cannot
pass the writing exam after years of attempts. A few of these students are similar
to the student described by Johns (1991); they have outstanding records in
their academic programs but are unable to graduate due to their failure on the