Predicting The Academic Success of The Deaf and Hard of Hearing University Students: A Multilevel Analysis

Abstract

Second Language (L2) learners and Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Deaf/HH) students share some commonalities. Both groups are required to obtain a minimum score on Language Proficiency Tests (LPT) to gain acceptance into university level institutions. However, even with accommodations, language proficiency testing becomes more complicated for Deaf/HH students because LPTs were created for hearing people and there is no specific test for Deaf/HH individuals. In Arabic countries, the only LPT for Deaf/HH students is at King Saud University (KSU). This dissertation used multilevel logistic modeling to 1) investigate whether the LPT uniquely predicted academic success for Deaf/HH students at KSU after controlling for individual characteristics, and 2) to Evaluate certain the student characteristics that moderate the relationship between the LPT and passing the Qualifying Year Program (QYP). A total of 619 Deaf/HH students participated in the study across 12 regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results indicated that, within region, the LPT scores significantly predicted the likelihood of passing the QYP. However, LPT was not significantly predictive of the likelihood of passing the QYP in the aggregate, region level. The results also showed that students who were female, HH, and had higher high school GPAs were more likely to pass the QYP. The current context for Deaf/HH students in Arabic universities, including assessment protocols and test shortcomings along with the results of the analysis, are discussed.