Post-admission standalone undergraduate credit-bearing ESL courses: What difference do they make?

English-speaking universities often provide post-admission support to international students who speak English as an additional language (EAL) through standalone English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. These courses aim to improve EAL students' language proficiency and academic performance. Given the time and financial investment involved, evaluating these courses' effectiveness is essential. This longitudinal study examined the impact of standalone credit-bearing ESL courses on international EAL students’ academic achievement over ten semesters at a large Canadian university. It compared the academic performance of 1824 EAL students who took ESL courses with 1617 peers who did not, as well as 1430 domestic students. Results indicated that ESL courses were associated with higher academic performance among EAL students, achieving results comparable to domestic peers. Additionally, performance in ESL courses was positively associated with overall academic achievement. These findings highlight the importance of ESL courses in supporting EAL students and offer implications for admission policy and ESL support at university.