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They simply read the topics and developed the topics with their own words. These methods were not really effective and helpful to improve their language
competence.
I heard that it was difficult . Many friends tried several times,
but failed . framebuilding.P1.r2.p161
That‟s it miss, they
friends learned by only memorizing the vocabulary, the test questions, and the answer. learningmethod.P1.r3.p161
Furthermore, memorizing the vocabularies and answers often led to
failure. A students shared how their friends failed on the test many times because they did not learn properly. These students mostly failed to understand unfamiliar
questions from the examiners, hence they could not give their best answers. In addition, by memorizing the questions and answer, the students were not prepared
to answer unfamiliar questions because they had limited vocabularies to do so. This condition also obstructed their fluency because they often paused their
speech to figure out how to express their ideas effortlessly.
4. Students’ Goals in Learning English
Although the previous findings indicated negative behaviors, the results of the fourth questionnaire section show that students also had positive attitudes
towards the test in terms of the learning motives . Students‟ attitudes towards the
test were also reflected in their learning goal. The score of 3.0 indicates that almost all of the students had clear purpose to learn English. They mentioned that
they were enthusiastic to learn English because it was necessary for their academic life and future career. For their immediate learning goal itself, the
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students gave their best effort to learn English because they wanted to pass TKBI test. However, most students did not consider TKBI test as the main motive to
learn English. It can be seen from the low score of 2.3 in the corresponding item on the motive to pass TKBI test. The score of 3.4 on the long-term goal shows
that the students were aware about the goal of learning that made it beneficial for their future. Although exam culture itself was unavoidable, it did not dominate the
learning process. These students understood that they learned the language because they needed it. Therefore, they still had the intrinsic motivation, not only
the extrinsic one.
“I must be able to pass, because I am in my 9
th
semester, and should have un
dergraduate thesis defense.” learninggoal.P1.r4. p161
“Yes, I must be able to pass, I am in the last semester, I must graduate very soon…”learninggoal.P3.r7.p164 “…because it is
graduation requirement and important
. ” perception.P3.r8.
p.165 “…But I plan to take the test again in semester 7.”
learninggoal.P5.r1.p158
“I just want to test myself again. Am I
still capable to speak in English? I want to improve my score
.” learninggoal.P5.r2.p167
“…It is very important for graduation…” perception.P2.r2. p162
“…The result is important for working demand.” perception. P7.r6.p172
The results of the questionnaire show that most students learned English to improve their English proficiency which was important for their academic life
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and future career. However, it could not be denied that as high-stake test, taking TKBI was necessary for their academic purpose because they needed the TKBI
score as one of the requirements for thesis defense, and so it became their immediate learning goal. The score of 3.1 on the item about learning target
indicates that almost all of the students wanted to pass TKBI test with maximum score. The minimum score to pass the test itself varies, depending on the
department. The condition shows that the students did not only aim to pass the test, but they also aimed to pass the test with maximum score. When they did not get
the maximum score they aimed to achieve, they would retake the test due to the feeling of dissatisfaction. The sign of urgency to pass TKBI test is also supported
by the interview results. In addition to academic purpose, as the long-term goal, the students learned English for their future career. Most students mentioned that
they would use English for working in the future. The two different conditions mentioned above suggest different thing
from the previous studies. Although the students learned English because they wanted to pass the test, they also learned it because they thought that English
competence was necessary for their lives. Therefore, they did not consider passing TKBI test as their main motive to learn English. Exam-oriented culture did not
dominate learning because of students ‟ awareness of the importance of English
competence for getting well-paying jobs in global competition that they would face in the future. They believed it would give more opportunities to gain any
positions they wished. Although they felt that they were forced to have good English competence to pass the test and earn their degree, they were sure it would
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give them more benefits in the future. This can be the advantage of conducting end-program test Despagne, 2010.
Baker mentions that students‟ attitudes towards language and language learning can be identified from their reason to learn a language, use of language,
and engagement in the process of learning the language 1992, p. 23. The data also confirm tha
t students‟ learning motive could determine their attitudes towards language test, and the attitudes on test were reflected in the form of goal setting.
The students could have different learning goals during the learning process. Some students thought that they needed to learn the target language because they
would use the language for communication. Whereas, several students mentioned that learning the language was necessary to pass the language test and earn the
degree.
5. Students’ Perceptions towards TKBI Test
