Fractionating English language proficiency: policy and practice in Australian higher education

Policy-makers and practitioners in Australian higher education increasingly view English language proficiency (ELP) as a tripartite construct consisting of English proficiency for academic study, interpersonal communication, and more recently, the workplace. This paper examines this assumption and identifies the significant implications it has for the increasingly urgent issue of ELP support in Australian universities. The main focus for this support is international students who do not use English as their first language, but it is also increasingly relevant to domestic students. While the focus is Australian, the issues raised are highly germane to English-medium higher education internationally. After providing an overview of developments in policy and practice over the past decade, we review the limited linguistic and acquisition evidence for positing the three types, much of which is based on contrasting cognitive and social perspectives on learning. The paucity of research raises construct and content validity issues which are then discussed, and key areas for future research identified. These include research investigating the construct and content validity of different tripartite models, and consolidation of the empirical basis for the implementation and evaluation of strategies for ELP support, including that which is embedded or separate from curricula, or generic or specific to disciplines.