The EFL Students’ Problems in Answering the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): A Study in Indonesian Context

The focus of this paper is to explore the students' problems in answering the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). TOEFL is a type of language testing to reveal the students' English proficiency. This is a descriptive study based on in-depth semi-structured interview and classroo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theory and practice in language studies 2014-12, Vol.4 (12), p.2581
Main Author: Mahmud, Murni
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement tests
Adult Basic Education
Adult Students
Classroom observation
College students
Education
Educational tests and measurements
English as a second language
English as a second language instruction
English as a second language tests
English language
English proficiency
Examinations
Individual differences
Indonesian language
Language Proficiency
Language skills
Language Tests
Learning Processes
Linguistic research
Motivation
Reading comprehension
Reading Tests
Schools
Second Languages
Social classes
Students
Studies
Study and teaching
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Testing
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Summary:The focus of this paper is to explore the students' problems in answering the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). TOEFL is a type of language testing to reveal the students' English proficiency. This is a descriptive study based on in-depth semi-structured interview and classroom observation. The subject of this research was the students of Graduate Program at one state university in Makassar, Indonesia. This study took three classes as sample, namely one from English education department, one from Social Science, and one from Natural Science. To gain data, the three classes were observed and twelve (12) representatives of the three classes were interviewed. Findings showed that the main problems of the students in answering the TOEFL test were due to several conflicting reasons, such as fewer basic skills, less practice, less motivation, and students' individual differences such as age and social status. Index Terms--TOEFL, TOEFL preparation course, language testing, language teaching, and English proficiency
ISSN:1799-2591
2053-0692
DOI:10.4304/tpls.4.12.2581-2587