English Language Proficiency;

Abstract

Introduction: Each year, more than 30,000 students sit in the Government sponsored Entrance Test conducted by University ofHealth Sciences, Lahore for admission in Public and Private Medical & Dental Institutes of Punjab, Pakistan. Objective: In this study, we haveembarked to seek the relationship of the performance of students in the English component of the test and their sciences components scoresand how this English-Science relationship varies amongst the developed and underdeveloped districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Period: Threeyears from 2008 to 2010. Methodology: The sciences components scores of the candidates in MCAT, their scores in English portion in the testand their demographic variables were entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) v.16. Parametric tests were applied.Results: Nearly 14% of the question paper tests proficiency of the candidates in the English Grammar. The students from thesocioeconomically challenged districts scored less marks in English component as well as in the sciences component of Entrance Test whencompared with the scores of the students of more developed districts (p<0.05). The difference in the mean marks of English and Sciencescomponents of the test when adjusted for weightage was higher in the socioeconomically developed districts (p<0.05). A steady improvementfrom 2008 to 2010 in the scores obtained by candidates in English component of the Entrance Test was observed (p<0.05). Conclusions: Foradmission in Medical and Dental Colleges in Punjab, candidates scoring more than 60% marks in their Higher Secondary School CertificateBoard Examination, have to sit in a uniform Entrance Test in which from the year 2008-2009, candidates from socioeconomically low districtshave performed poorly in both English component and sciences components of test in comparison to the candidates from more developeddistricts. The comparatively lower score is more significant in sciences components of test. The lower scores of the less developed districts,candidates can not therefore be attributed to their low proficiency in the English language but rather to a lower general educational performance.