Universities often run intensive English “bridging” programs for international students who are academically ready, but still building English proficiency. In this project, we tracked **405 students** across a **28-week** English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program and asked a simple question: *Do the reading gains students make before they start university actually matter later on?* Using a **Random Forests** approach plus regression modeling, we found that **growth in silent reading fluency** (words per minute) was a standout predictor of later undergraduate **GPA**. Roughly, a **1 SD boost in reading-rate growth (~26 WPM)** predicted about a **0.21 increase in GPA**. This project was published in [Reading and Writing](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11145-024-10514-x).
Do English learners become faster readers during a university bridging program—and does *extra* reading outside of class matter? We followed **142** Mandarin/Cantonese-speaking students across an **8-month** program using week-by-week reading logs. Students got steadily faster over **26 weeks** of instruction, and crucially, **those who read more pages in English made bigger gains in reading speed**. The published article can be found in [Frontiers in Education: Educational Psychology](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1286132/full).
Do students with lower incoming reading scores *catch up* during an English-for-Academic-Purposes (EAP) bridging program—or does the gap stay the same? We tracked **405** Chinese-speaking students across a **28-week** program using **eye-tracking during passage reading** plus comprehension questions. Using incoming **IELTS Reading** scores as a baseline, we found clear overall improvement in reading efficiency and comprehension—but the growth trajectories were **parallel across ability levels**, meaning the gap neither widened nor closed (a **stable change** pattern). This project was published in [Bilingualism: Language & Cognition](https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728922000542)