Exploring the Relationship between Age of Onset of Learning English and Student Academic Performance: Evidence from Papa New Guinea

This paper is a follow-up on our 2017 study of the effect of Age of Onset of learning English (AO) on the academic performance of University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) students in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS). It investigates the relationship between three factors in the students' Early Language Education {Age of Onset of learning English (AO), Age at Literacy (AGELIT), and Early Learning Language (ELL)} and the students' academic performance, measured by their current Grade Points Average (GPA). A survey of SHSS students registered in the second Semester of the 2018 academic year was conducted using purposive cross-sectional sampling method. A self-designed pretested questionnaire yielded data on the students' language education backgrounds (their AO, AGELIT and ELL). Linear regression and correlation analyses revealed a strong and statistically significant inverse correlation between students' AO/AGELIT and their GPAs. In addition, a strong positive link was observed between ELL English and the students' GPAs. Relatively lower GPAs were associated with ELL Vernacular, and a highly significant decrease in GPAs was observed in the presence of ELL Tok Pisin. These results corroborate the findings of all our earlier studies, which established a highly significant negative correlation between students' AO and their academic performance at UPNG, as well as in all six National High Schools of Papua New Guinea.