English Requirement for College Graduation ：A Minimal Exit Level Competency ？

Takao Hosoki

Abstract
Students should be required to meet minimum competencies before
they graduate from college． The impetus for this recommendation comesfrom business people and educators who are concerned that too manycollege students are graduating without adequate competency in the basic
English skills of reading， writing， and speaking． Making the decision torequire minimums is a good beginning． However， what thecompetency

minimumshould be， how to develop and implement exit levelcompetencies （ELC）， and how to measure them are major problems．

This paper addresses the above concerns and introduces ten basic

guidelines which should be adhered to in the development andimplementation of the ELC． The article concludes with issues thatshould be resolved and gives new directions to explore．

lntroduction
In recent years two trends have been'widely recognized in society．

First， the business world has been dramatically internationalized， whichmakes it almost imperative for business people to know English as thelanguage of world business． Second， communicative approaches havebecome the predominant trend in the field of EFL， and oral proficiency
and communication are the principal desired outcomes of today's English
lnstruction．
These trends merit attention as we look to the development of large

numbers of competent learners and the improvement of English teaching．
Despite some struggling to improve the performance of average students
in basic‑skill courses and to develop more effective English teaching， the一131一No． 43， 1995

Tokuyama Univ． Ronso

academic study of English admittedly does not lead most students toproficiency in reading， writing， and speaking English．
Looking at some of the current realities of the English teaching scenein our university， such as the number of students who complete a junior or

higher academic year English course， and the average level of competenceattained in speaking， writing， or even reading， these are hardly the prideof the university． The level of competence is far inferior to that ofaverage high school graduates．
The students must take English for four semesters in order to fill agraduation requirement， ordinarily by simply accumulating a certain
number of passing credits in English， not by demonstrating proficiency inusing English． Few academic English programs require their students todemonstrate proficiency in reading， writing， speaking， and understanding
English at a useful level even after 2 and 3 years of study． The average

student is still unable to understand and speak spontaneously and fluently

beyond the trivial exchanges between a teacher and the students． lngeneral， the proficiency of the average student in the junior and senioryear is far more limited． Given the time and cost for all the students， theresults are notoriously low in their achieving English skills at a competentlevel． This is a disgrace for the university in providing the means tolearn English in the conventional college setting．
Too often the public， business people， and even educators have long

believed that English courses would lead to the ability to read， write，

speak， and understand English， and that this outcome was achieved bymost students． Some claim， however， that in fact our English courses
seem to have consistently failed to produce the desired outcome for moststudents， and that there would probably be a decline in college English
education． Some may feel that this view is excessively pessimistic．
The author believes that the average student in an English course iscapable of learning in a more effective way than has been normallyassumed in the conventional classroom courses， provided a student ismotivated to learn and are guided by correct principles and standards．
Significant acceleration of English learning for the average student can bedone through development and implementation of some form of ELC
which is now generally absent in the academic learning environment．

凄一132一Takao Hosoki ： English Requirement for College Graduation ： A Minimal
Exit Level Competency ？

It is considered particularly important to develop ELC for graduation

which enable students to attain more academic basic skills in order topursue further study． To reach this goal is the subject of this article．

What is Minimal Exit Level Competency ？

Basically， ELC is defined as a list of skills that students should

master by the time they leave school． Mastery of these skills is aprerequisite for graduation in the academic situation． The idea toward
requiring skill mastery for graduation is a change from the past whencompletion of a certain number of courses has been the simple requirementin the conventional college education． Essentially， now the college mustbe held responsible not only for what is taught but also for what islearned． This will encourage the public， as well as educators， to believethat college English courses can lead to the ability to speak， read， write，and understand English． Among educators who advocate developing ELC
for graduation， there is a growing awareness in the English teachingprofession that change is inevitable for the more innovative， effective
practices of English teaching and learning than the current ones．
In the United States there is considerable variation in the forms that

ELC take． According to a survey developed by Educational Testing
Service， over half the states have required or have been in the process ofdeveloping some form of ELC． For instance， ELC is defined simply as alist of functional basic literacy skills． They are also defined in the termsof a grade level designation． Students who have achieved certain gradelevel competencies on standardized tests， have thus achieved competence．
Teachers have mandates to the effect， therefore， that every student will bereading， writing， and speaking at the level equal to his／her grade bygraduation．
Very few schools at present have the materials to evaluate thesefunctional competencies， although a number of instruments are available

to'measure ELC． A comprehensive description and an evaluation ofmany of these are developed and published by reading associations，
educational laboratories， and university research institutes．

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Why the Emphasis on Exit Level Competency ？
Many trends and events seem to have contributed to the emphasis onELC． There has long been a great deal of publicity generated about thesupposed deficiencies on English education of the student population．
In an analysis of the results of the entrance examination made by theauthor， it was found that approximately 279060 of the 601 freshmen
currently enrolled in his university could be labeled functionally deficient

in reading， writing， and understanding English． lt was ascertained that

more than 33％ sophomores of this year were supposed to be labeledunderachievers'． They cannot cope with the demands of the course since

they felt forced into choosing an English course． They do not see therelevance of English to their everyday lives in a current society． Theyshow a lack of interest in whichever course they are placed into． English

is no longer'a priority． Although the validity of these is notsatisfactory， they have nevertheless received a great deal of publicity inthe public as well as educational communities．
Negative publicity about universities and learning， however， is not

the only cause of the demand for ELC． Recent rapid change in Japanesesociety has served to emphasize the overwhelming need for an adequatelevel of English education in order for people to function effectively．

Increases in global exchanges of economy， technology， and culture havedemanded that workers at their jobs possess skills in reading， writing，speaking， and understanding English． The general expectation is thatstudents should graduate with the English competency necessary for adultsuccess in an international society．

Success' should mean more thansurvival'． lt should not mean so minimal a degree of competence that a
student's need for college education could be questioned．

On the educational scene， emphasis on career education has recently
served to point out that universities are responsible not only for providing

the prerequisite for further education but also for providing somestudents with a marketable career．
The author concludes here that a practical and realistic criterion

would be requiring graduating students' to have English comprehension

一134一Takao Hosoki ： English Requirement for College Graduation ： A Minimal
Exit Level Competeney ？

adequate for successful employment at the entry level of certain jobs． lt

should also allow for future success for some personal purpose where acertain amount of English comprehension is required．

How the Test is Developed

The way in which ELC is implemented and mandated varies fromschool to school． ln any case， most universities are vitally concerned．

Doubt over the validity and reliability of the tests can lead to theteaching of the tests， a lack of concern for individual's differences， anoveremphasis on those students who have trouble attaining a minimal
Ievel of competence， statistical results to be analyzed to determine thepassing' score a student had to learn to show he／she had met the criterion

for graduation． Although the value of ELC is questioned， it is clear thatit represents an educational phenomenon that can not be ignored． lt must

be a reality， and universities and educators must concentrate theirenergies on developing and carrying ELC out in the best possib1e manner．
As Morrow （1979） stresses， the use of the language to read， write，

speak or listen in ways and contexts should correspond to real life． A
language test should aim to measure what student・s can actually do witha language rather than what they know about the language． Therefore，
the language test should be criterion‑referenced against actual language

performance．
Criterion‑referenced tests of competency‑based instruction which
compare student's performance to a standard of performance， rather than

to the performance of other students， requires students to demonstrate
mastery of certain knowledge， skills， and abilities deemed important totheir educational experience． lt emphasizes student's individual masteryof each competency in terms of specifically stated criteria． Thus
criterion‑based tests indicate whether students meet the competencies ata uniform level． The author believes that criterion‑based testing iseffective and essential to assessment of ELC for graduation．

Specific evaluation criteria will vary with the English program andsetting． The following list of statements suggests factors that should beconsidered in achieving ELC．

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L Students should be guided to a concept of English as being alive，interesting， and functional．
2．

The importance of oral skills development should be recognized3．

A continuum of learning should be provided so that students canas the basis for human relationship．

progress at their own rates．
4．

Opportunities for developing competency in both receptive andexpressive skills should be provided．

5．

Students' strengths and weaknesses should be continuallyevaluated．

6．

There should be many opportunities to practice use of English inpractical situations．

7．

Students' thinking should be stimulated and creative uses of●80σ

English should be fostered．

Enjoyment and appreciation of English should be fostered．
The needs of student at various levels of development should beadequate to meet．

Evaluation of the English program is essential for effective teachingand learning． Such assessment depends on clearly identified criteria．

Aspects of the program that ought to be considered include theachievement of major goals and objectives ； teaching effectiveness ； andthe adequacy and use of resources， both material and human．

Basic Guidelines in Developing and lmplementing Exit Level Competency

The following guidelines do provide some basic standards in thedevelopment and implementation of ELC．
1． Adoption of Multilevel Competencies． Competencies should be

developed at more than just minimum competencies． Some form ofcompetency should be developed at the primary and intermediate， orjunior， sophomore and senior year levels． The author considers it unfair

for students to complete most of their schooling and then be judged
incomplete．
2． Consideration of Retention Process． lf students fail to achieve

competency， they should be given further instruction for promotion．

一136一Takao Hosoki ： English Requirement‑for College Graduation'： A Minimal
Exit Level Competency ？

3． Adequate Remediation． Any student should not fail in any

attempt to make the educational system・accountable． Benjamin Bloom（1976） acknowledges that in order for mastery to take place， some formof extra‑class instruction is usually needed for further success．

4． Flexibility of Time． Students should be given further
opportunities even though they do not achieve competence on the firsttrial． Time， instruction， and reinforcement are all variable which
influence mastery．
5． Focus on Basic Level Skills． Competencies should be focused on
basic level skills necessary for every student to achieve．

6． Certificates of Competence． Students should receive a certifi‑

cate of competence delineating the specific skills they have mastered．
Students who have mastered all the ．specific skills should be awarded ageneral certificate of competence．

7． Adequate Assessment lnstruments． Attempts should be madeto develop and utilize valid and reliable assessment instruments．

8． Uniformity of Standards． Competencies should have somedegree of uniformity from course to course， department to department，or college to college．

9． Dissemination of Standards． Competencies and means to teachthese competencies should be disseminated to all teachers． Students
should be aware of exactly what the basic competencies are．

10． Relevance and Validity． Competencies that are developed should
be relevant to functioning under the conditions of our current society．

Understanding and communicating in English are more relevant thanknowing the grammar rules．

Conclusion
A well‑developed ELC gives direction to teaching and learning． Sucha statement suggests the need for long‑range planning to identify goals
that students should be expected to achieve． lt involves identifying thebasic component skills， abilities， and attitudes that make achievement of

the goals possible． Once ELC has been established， English educators
have a clear view of what students need to do to learn and can set about

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planning developmental learning activities． How well students learn isgoverned by natural principles・ of learning． Among these are： （1）students learn in different ways and at different rates； （2） learning isdevelopmental ； （3） learning is more efficient when it is meaningful ； （4）motivation affects how well students learn； and （5） to be retained，

learning must be reinforced． ELC which is purposeful and challenging

can be an effective practice for implementing these principles andmaximizing language development of our students． The author believes

that emphasis on ELC development is essential to any reformed
curriculum of our upiversity English program．

References
Bloom， B． （1976）． Human Characteristics and School Learning． New
York． N． Y． McGraw Hill．

Morrow， K． （1979）． Communicative Language Testing： Revolution orEvolution？ ln C． J． Brumfit＆K． Johnson （Eds．） The CommunicativeApproach to Language Testing （pp． 153‑157）． Oxford，，England：
Oxford University Press．

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