Student Absenteeism and English Language Performance: A Study of First Year Architecture Students

Abstract

First year undergraduate students go through a critical stage of their education; a challenging transition which makes them feel more independent and free to decide not to attend classes, although attendance is compulsory. Whether this absenteeism has any impact on their academic accomplishments remains a controversial topic. Furthermore, the current literature about the influence of students’ attendance on English language achievements is limited. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between absenteeism among undergraduate architecture students and their English language performance. The participants in this study were 300 first-year students, 153 female and 147 male students; studying at UBT - Higher Education Institution, in Kosova. The results obtained from this study helped to conclude that there is a statistically significant difference between the English exam grades of absent students and students who attended classes regularly. It was deduced that the students who made (1.8) absences had one exam grade decreased. It was also proven that female students who did not attend classes regularly outperformed male students (who had more than three absences) in their English language exam. It is inferred that results of this study will be a valuable contribution to the insufficient current literature related to the impact of absenteeism on undergraduate students’ English achievements.