THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND TERTIARY LEVEL ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ ACHIEVEMENT

The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between student engagement and achievement. The study sample was composed of 296 at Ufuk University in Ankara, Turkey. The participants were enrolled in the intensive English language program of the foreign language Preparatory School of the institution. Data collection was carried out with the Mazer’s (2012) Student Engagement Scale, which was adapted to Turkish by Uğur and Akın (2015). Students’ English achievement was measured by their mid-term exam results. Statistical analysis revealed participants to be more engaged in silent in class behaviors followed by out of class behaviors, thinking about course content, and out-of-class behaviors. Moreover, it was found that participants had low engagement levels in oral in class behaviors. All types of engagement had a positive correlation with mid-term exam scores. Among all types of engagement behaviors, oral in class behaviors was the only predictor of students’ exam scores. Keywords: student engagement, achievement, foreign language learnin