Probing EFL Students’ Language Skill Development in Tertiary Classrooms

Research in second or foreign language learning indicates that for adult learners, the improvement of one language skill facilitates the development of other skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations among Chinese EFL students’ reading, writing, and listening development by examining their test scores on the College English Test Band 4. The findings showed that the resultant correlation coefficients between reading and writing and between reading and listening were low and not statistically significant. However, there was a significant relationship between listening and writing. It was suggested that factors such as the homogeneous sample selected, students’ motivation, and teaching methodology might affect the outcome of the research. The perceived implications of the research point to the importance of drawing close attention to teachers’ efforts in cultivating and developing students’ language skills evenly in the EFL context of China.