The impact of TOEFL scores on placement and performance of international students in the initial graduate accounting class

Abstract

This paper examines, in a US context, the relationship between performance in the initial required graduate financial accounting class and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores for a sample of international MBA students. Other variables that have been shown in the past to be associated with superior performance in that class for other samples are also considered for this international sample. These relationships have not been analysed by any previous studies. The results show that TOEFL scores are not associated with superior performance in graduate accounting for the international students. The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) score is the factor most associated with superior performance in graduate-level accounting for international students. This result is consistent with the result reported in Krausz et al. (Advances in Accounting Education, 3(3), 169–177, 2000) for a sample of domestic US students.

Keywords:

• Graduate accounting
• international students
• TOEFL

Notes

1. Eleven schools in the sample school's geographic market were contacted by telephone to ascertain the percentage of international graduate students currently enrolled in the MBA programme.

2. Interested parties should contact the second author to discuss data availability.

3. A total of 75 international students were enrolled in the initial graduate financial accounting course between the Spring of 2000 and Fall of 2001 and were selected as the sample. Of these students 21 either came from English-speaking countries or were able to demonstrate English proficiency through other means and were not required to take the TOEFL. These students were dropped from the sample, to create a working sample of 54 students.

4. All students in the class were asked to submit resumés to the instructor so that the international students were not aware that they were the subject of a study.

5. Strickler (2002) tested the construct validity of the computer-based TOEFL, and found that it was consistent with that for the paper-and-pencil test.