English language skills assessment in higher education. A preliminary analysis.

Abstract

The English language is a requirement of 100% of higher education institutions in Ecuador, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Universities include the approval of the language as a requirement to obtain the respective academic degree through their language centers in which languages other than English are also offered. The main objective of this research was to identify the level of English of first-level university students who belong to the Pedagogy of National and Foreign Languages program at the Technical University of Ambato. A population of 34 students under a qualitative approach with a descriptive scope was needed, it was known that after applying the assessment instruments to evaluate the speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills, the highest score was 9.6 out of 10. On the other hand, the lowest score was 1.8; this showed the knowledge dichotomy of the language under study. The results when evaluating the different components of English show the weaknesses in knowledge with which students arrive at the university from the secondary level for various reasons and depending on the type of institution from which they come - private or public- and the main aspects that can be improved in the different skills of the English language.