ABSTRACT
Changes to government policy in New Zealand in the late 1980s led to a rapidly increasing number of international students wishing to enroll in New Zealand polytechnics and universities. As a large proportion of these students did not have an English-speaking background, New Zealand tertiary institutions needed to ascertain that the applicants were proficient enough in English to undertake tertiary-level studies successfully. Most commonly, this involved setting a minimum score on a proficiency test like the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). There has been a resulting growth in English language teaching programs in the adult/tertiary sector as prospective nonnative English-speaking students seek to meet the English language requirement in preparation for entry into tertiary study.
