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more insecure with their language competence. They will feel that their language competence is not sufficient to maintain effective, meaningful, and acceptable
communication. Communication breakdown often becomes a challenge in turn-taking
process of communication. Khamkien mentions that misunderstanding and mispronunciation can hinder effective communication 2010. Beginner students
are worried if they fail to understand what they are saying and ask questions that cannot be understood by the listeners. As a consequence, they lower their self-
esteem because they feel to be judged to have failed Lyons, 2015. Another challenge faced by teachers and students is the presence of exam culture learning
when the students study merely to pass the test. Both teachers and students should move from exam culture into learning culture. In learning culture, the students
learn to develop their proficiency, so they learn because of their needs and interests Lyons, 2015.
B. REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES
Studies of washback focus on the things happen in the classroom because of the test but not the otherwise Fulcher Davidson, 2007, p. 221.
Most studies aim to identify the effects of the test on the students, the teachers, the learning materials, and learning activities in the classroom. The test can bring
negative and positive effects. This study aims to see the washback effects of TKBI test on the students attitudes to maximize students‟ performance on the test. In
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order to do so, this study refers to several related studies on washback and attitudes.
Research by Li, Zhong, and Suen 2012 suggests that the implementation of English test as graduation requirement affects students
‟ attitudes. The policy of assessing students
‟ language competence using CET has influential impact on what students learn and learning motivation. As high stake
test, CET motivates the students to put more learning effort to improve their language competence and pass the test. Hence, the students tend to study for the
test and focus on how to pass the test. Considering the meaningful impact of the test on their lives, they will give their best effort to earn their degree. The result
shows that the learning effort is not natural. In Pakistan, the English proficiency level of the outgoing graduates is
relatively low Alam as cited in Sarwar et al, 2014. Most of the graduates do not perform sufficient language proficiency. In teacher education program, the
students do not achieve sufficient English proficiency level required for perspective teachers and tend to make insignificant progress in their speaking
skills Sarwar et al, 2014. Lack of training, insufficient language assessment and university curriculum are considered to be the main factors causing this problem.
The research suggests the universities to strengthen the implementation of oral English assessment as both entry and graduation requirements. Therefore, the
universities can monitor their students ‟ progress and significantly improve their
speaking skills.
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Research by Abidin shows that students may have negative attitudes towards a test 2011. In his research, the students showed some negative attitudes
during test preparation and test-taking including low self confidence, anxiety, and shyness. Yashima conducted similar research on attitudes, but he focused on
attitudes and communication 2002. The research studied the relation between the feelings of anxiety and motivation and communication performance. The
result shows that affective attitudes contributed to shape students‟ willingness to communicate in the classroom. In t
he learning process, students‟ affective attitudes relate with language proficiency. Students who have high level of
anxiety will be shy and reluctant to communicate. As a result, their communication anxiety can lower their communicative proficiency.
Previous research by Hashwani examined the effects of affective attitudes towards language learning, language test, and goal setting 2010. In the
research, most students had positive feelings on the language test, while others felt uneasy, anxious or worried about their performance. These negative attitudes are
considered to either facilitate or harm their language performances. Feeling anxious about failing on the test, the students became motivated to learn because
they wanted to improve their competence. On the other hand, anxiety could lower students motivation to learn because they gave up and felt reluctant to study. The
same condition was also applicable in getting low score. Bad score on the test could increase or reduce students‟ learning participation in the classroom as well.
The same result was also identified in the previous research by Kikuchi and Sakai. Research by Kikuchi and Sakai shows the relation between test scores and
52 learning motivation that shape students‟ performance 2009. Bad test scores
could demotivate students to learn because they thought that they did not have the ability to pass the test and they did not try to improve their competence. This is
the trend of test and motivation. Shohamy as cited in Shohamy, 2007, p. 523 conducted research on
washback effect of language test related to students‟ behavioral attitudes. The
result shows that the language test affected students‟ learning behaviors in many different ways. As washback effect, the test determined students‟ learning
strategies to study for the test. In order to perform better in the test, the students employed many learning strategies such as participating in a discussion,
practicing English outside school, or reading books. The result of the research also shows that the te
st scores have influential roles in students‟ lives because the scores can discriminate students based on their proficiency. The test can
discriminate winners and losers, successes and failures, self-rejections and self- acceptances.
Considering the relation between tests and attitudes, it is very necessary to find out the students‟ attitudes on the test to find out the effectiveness on the
test Hackathorn et al, 2012. The result of the research shows that it is important to identify students‟ exam confidence, feelings of preparedness, and the
helpfulness of the test preparation because those elements can build students‟ self- efficacy. In the research, self-efficacious students had high level of confidence
that they could pass the test because they believed that they were well-prepared. The research also illustrates the relationship between test preparation and students‟
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confidence level in taking the test. Students who were well-prepared and active in every learning activity had higher confidence level that they would succeed.
Research by Lyons 2007, p. 493 shows that exam-culture learning would make learning process merely focus on the test contents and skills to pass
the test. The result of the research illustrates the effect of test on curriculum. As measurement of success, test is used as the standard of learning success, and in
order to achieve that standard, learning activities and learning materials will be designed with the purpose of building students‟ necessary knowledge and
important skills to have those qualities. Therefore, the learning process is highly focused on the standard and the students become score oriented. The research
result also indicates that the relation between test and learning is incommensurable and unavoidable.
Through his research, Sham tries to suggest that the the teacher should enhance the students‟ motivation and self-confidence to improve their
performance on the test 2010. Teachers need to build students‟ learning and
personal interests to value their efforts to learn the language. The motivation should be natural, that the students learn because they need it, not because they
must learn it. One of the ways is by gathering information about students‟
attitudes towards learning and the test. By doing so, teachers will be able to conduct learning process that facilitate the students to develop the learning
qualities. The teachers will also be able to anticipate some problems related to students‟ motivation and self-confidence that can hinder the process of achieving
the learning goals.
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C. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
