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

• 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
• ISSN: 1799-2591; 2053-0692
• DOI: 10.4304/tpls.4.12.2581-2587

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