English language proficiency and academic achievement in Tanzania secondary schools.

English, the LOI has fallen victim of blame of some scholars as the cause of poor performance in secondary schools. The study aimed at investigating whether there is a relationship between English Language Proficiency (ELP) and academic achievement in Tanzanian secondary schools. The study further sought to examine the extent of the relationship and the influence of ELP on students' academic achievement in English and in other school subjects. The data used were obtained by administering an ELPT test and review of students' reports, and were quantitatively analysed with the help of SPSS. The study revealed that there is a significant weak positive relationship between ELP and students' academic achievement. It was realised to be significant in English and insignificant in other subjects. Hence, the study contributes to the field of language testing and the results inform test developers and educators that no single variable can predict performance; therefore, ELP can be used in combination with other factors. The study concludes that academic performance is an interplay of several variables and that ELP plays a role in performance but not the major role. The study recommends the government and the public to look beyond language skills when making judgment pertaining to academic students' success. Also, emphasizes on the improvement of ELP since it is positively connected with academic success. Furthermore, the study recommends future research to explore on non-ELP factors on how, they affect performance as it was observed that it is these factors which affect performance greatly.