From English proficiency exams to the lecture hall: are international students truly prepared?

Hana Alghamdi
Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:12:21 +0000
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A sign in Thompson Library displaying hello in different languages, which international students commonly speak when English is not their first language. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

When the class discussion begins, Moath Alghamdi braces himself.

A fourth-year in air transportation, Alghamdi balances his focus between his professor and notebook, writing quickly to try and capture every word he hears before the conversation moves on without him.?

A native of Saudi Arabia, Alghamdi speaks Arabic. He took and passed the Test of English as a Foreign Language exam and a Duolingo exam before enrolling at Ohio State, meeting the university’s English-language requirement. Yet as classmates answer questions and engage in classroom discussion, he mentally translates from English to Arabic, trying to keep up.

Though Ohio State requires its international students to demonstrate English proficiency through exams such as the Test of English, the International English Language Testing System and Duolingo, some students say performing well on a standardized test does not always prepare them for the pace of classroom discussion and the challenge of using a second language in an academic setting.?

Caroline Omolesky, assistant director of global engagement at Ohio State’s Office of International Affairs, said even students who pass the English-language proficiency exams still need time to adjust once they arrive at the university and start speaking English at an academic level.

“Functioning in a brand new linguistic environment requires a great deal of mental energy, and keeping up with the pace of classroom discussions may not feel easy at first, but with persistence, it does get easier,” Omolesky said.?

Omolesky said practicing and engaging in the classroom helps improve these skills.

“Confidence doesn’t always keep pace with competence,” Omolesky said. “Many international students have a high degree of proficiency but need time and practice to feel confident with certain skills, such as class participation.”

Alghamdi said he struggled to speak in front of the class and to engage with his peers.?

“It was hard for a group discussion to take the initiative to speak,” Alghamdi said. “Am I a burden to the group?”?

For some students, the transition from the exam to the classroom is less overwhelming, but it can still take time and effort.?

Saoud Nahas, a fourth-year in air transportation and a native of Saudi Arabia, said the Duolingo exam helped him meet the university’s English requirements, but speaking English on a daily basis made a difference in his classroom participation.?

“None of the tests are going to make you speak or practice your English unless you go outside and talk to people,” Nahas said.

Nahas said he took a few English classes growing up and spent two years in Washington, D.C. improving his English communication skills, but the process still took time.?

“The first semester I was very quiet,” Nahas said. “Then after a couple of months, I started to participate even more and more.”

For other students, practice through test preparation is what makes perfection.

Zihan Sun, who goes by Rachel, is a second-year in communication and an international student from China who took the Test of English to be admitted to Ohio State. She said preparing for the exam strengthened her English through the test preparation’s focus on vocabulary, listening and writing skills.

Sun said traveling to New Zealand as an exchange student in eighth grade and attending Yale University for a summer session in 11th grade helped her transition to studying and participating in the classroom in the U.S.?

“I think all of these experiences has enabled me to have a better environment of English speaking, in advance,” Sun said. “It helped me about 60 percent.”

Sun acknowledged that speaking in the classroom felt different from speaking in the exam.

“I was still worried about my accent, my pronunciation and my grammar,” Sun said. “I just don’t want people to feel like I’m silly when I speak English.”

Ziyan Su, another second-year in linguistics and psychology and an international student from China who took the TOEFL exam, said the English proficiency tests help prepare students to a certain point, but conversing with native speakers helped her the most.?

“It’s more on ourselves and practicing things … it can do what it can do,” Su said.

Omolesky said Ohio State offers many programs to help guide international students to improve their confidence in speaking English and make new friends, including the English Conversation Program, Global Engagement Nights held every Tuesday at 6 p.m. and the Language Improvement Track, student-to-student teaching to help develop speaking and listening skills.

For Alghamdi, the first step was passing the exam. Once he got to Ohio State, it was having the confidence to speak in a classroom environment and understanding the English language is still an ongoing challenge.

“I was so scared to talk, I was so scared that people wouldn’t understand what I was trying to say,” Alghamdi said. “Trying to ask questions, trying to talk to the professor, trying to understand my GPA … it went down really bad.”