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1. The Components of S tudents’ Attitudes towards TKBI Test
This section describes the result of the questionnaire, including the descriptive statistic calculation and inferential statistic calculation. A descriptive
analysis was made to describe the components of students attitudes, including the cognitive, affective, and behavioral attitudes
as well as students‟ learning goals and perceptions on the test during the test preparation when attitudes are
commonly studied and observable. The first questionnaire section describes the students‟ cognitive attitudes including their self-efficacy and their learning
interest. The second questionnaire section describes students‟ affective attitudes towards
the test. This includes students‟ anxiety, relax, success expectancy, and motivation. The third questionnaire section gathers information about student
s‟ behavioral attitudes. The items show students‟ actions towards the test preparation.
The fourth section of the questionnaire gives information about students‟ goal
setting or learning goal. The last questionnaire section describes students‟
perceptions towards TKBI test itself, whether they thought that the test was easy, meaningful, motivating, and clear in terms of the goal.
No Components
Statements Score
Meaning
1 Cognitive
I believe that my English competence is enough to join
TKBI test. 2.6
Fair
2 I can communicate in English
fluently. 2.1
Negative 3
I can pronounce English words correctly.
2.4 Negative
4 I have enough vocabulary to
understand questions. 2.4
Negative
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No Components
Statements Score
Meaning
5 Cognitive
I have enough vocabulary to answer
questions, give
information, and state opinions. 2.4
Negative
6 I can use English sentence
structure. 2.4
Negative 7
I can use English tenses in the utterances.
2.3 Negative
8 I like speaking in English.
2.6 Fair
9 The number of English course
credits in the department is enough
for TKBI
test preparation.
2.4 Negative
10 Affective I can control my anxiety during
test. 2.7
Fair 11
I give my best competence during English test.
3.0 Positive
12 I believe I can answer all
questions well. 2.7
Fair 13
I have prepared myself for TKBI test for more than 3 months.
2.6 Fair
14 I am highly motivated to take
TKBI test. 2.6
Fair 15
In speaking test, I feel like having a conversation with a
friend. 2.4
Negative
16 I am not worried about TKBI
test. 2.4
Negative 17
Although I have to take TKBI test, I feel relax.
2.8 Positive
18 With my language competence, I
am sure I can pass TKBI test. 2.9
Positive 19 Behavior
I give my best effort to practice speaking English.
3.1 Positive
20 I allocate more time to practice
speaking English with friends or lecturers.
2.6 Fair
21 I allocate more time to practice
speaking English individually and independently.
2.7 Fair
22 I join English clubcommunity
to practice speaking English. 2.2
Negative 23
I join English course to prepare for TKBI test.
2.4 Negative
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No Components
Statements Score
Meaning
24 Behavior I manage my time to learn
English during my study in the university.
2.6 Fair
25 I try many learning methods to
prepare for TKBI test. 2.6
Fair 26
TKBI affects my method in learning English in the campus
or individually. 2.7
Fair
27 Goal setting I have clear goal to learn
English. 3.0
Positive 28
I learn English happily and enthusiastically.
3.0 Positive
29 I learn English to improve my
English competence. 3.2
Positive 30
My main goal to learn English intensively is for TKBI test.
2.3 Negative
31 My target is to pass TKBI test
and get high score. 3.1
Positive 32
English is important for my academic purpose.
3.4 Positive
33 I will use English in my future
career. 3.0
Positive 34 Perception
I know the purpose of TKBI test. 3.0
Positive 35
TKBI test motivates me to learn English.
3.0 Positive
36 In my opinion, TKBI test is
difficult but I believe I can answer the questions well.
2.7 Fair
37 TKBI test helps me to improve
my English proficiency. 2.7
Fair 38
TKBI test makes me believe that my English competence is good.
3.0 Positive
39 TKBI test makes me more
confident to speak in English. 2.8
Positive 40
Preparing TKBI test makes me more able to communicate in
English. 2.7
Fair
Table 4.1 The Likert Scale Analysis of Attitudes towards Test
The data from questionnaire helps the researcher to describe students‟ attitudes during the test preparation. The items on the cognitive attitudes of the
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students show how the students perceived their knowledge on grammatical structures and tenses, their ability to pronounce English words, their vocabulary
range to understand and answer the questions, and their ability to speak effortlessly. Those elements are considered as the significant factors that build
students‟self-efficacy during the test preparation and test taking. Based on the score criteria Sudijono, 2009, p. 175 the responses on the first questionnaire
item shows that the students had negative cognitive attitudes because almost half of the students were not really confident about their language competence and
their ability to pass the test Table 4.1. They believed that their English competence was not enough to join the test and pass the test. Although many
students gave negative responses, half of the students still showed positive cognitive attitudes that they had good confidence to succeed. This condition
shows that the level of confidence was fair, not very low, but not high enough. Students‟ negative cognitive attitudes could be identified in the
questionnaire section on cognitive attitudes Table 4.1 which shows score 2.1 to 2.4 from 4.0 maximum score. Therefore, when the students were asked to respond
to some questionnaire items about their language competence, almost all students gave negative evaluation on their knowledge and ability. More than half of the
respondents mentioned that they still found few pauses, pronunciation errors, and grammar mistakes during speaking Appendix 2. They also needed to enrich their
vocabulary to help them answer questions. The negative evaluations on competence made the students have fair confidence level, because they could not
be self-assured about passing such important test.
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The questionnaire also gives information about the contribution of the department in preparing the students for TKBI test. The students could share
whether the English course credits in the department were enough to help them during the test preparation. In this questionnaire item, most students mentioned
that the contact hours were still limited so they did not have enough speaking practice Table 4.1. Since self-efficacy is related to learning interest, the
questionnaire item also gathered information a bout students‟ learning interest
during test preparation. The result shows that the students had fair interest to improve their communicative competence. More than half of the students
mentioned that they did not like learning English. This number of students was considerably high when compared to those who had high learning interest. The
condition reflects that many students did not enjoy learning English. The result of Likert scale analysis on the second questionnaire section
shows that most students had fair affective attitudes towards the test. In some points, the students show positive attitudes, while the rest of the items are quite
negative. Related to motivation, half of the respondents were relax and motivated enough to prepare themselves for the test and to take the test Appendix 2.
However, the intrinsic motivation was not that high because quite many students, almost half of the respondents gave negative response on the motivation level.
The students also mentioned that they could not really control their anxiety. Related to the affective attitudes, the questionnaire item also deals with
their success expectancy to show if the students are sure that they can pass the test or not. The questionnaire result shows that most students had high success
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expectancy although they were not really sure about their ability to answer the questions Table 4.1. An interesting result was found where more than half of the
respondents mentioned that they felt nervous during speaking test Appendix 2. Although the test was designed as interactive conversation, the students could not
feel as relax as having conversation with friends. This negative affective attitude was shown by score 2.4.
An analysis on the third section of the questionnaire was made to find informa
tion about students‟ behavioral attitudes. The analysis result tells about the students‟ learning effort and learning strategies to prepare for TKBI test. Hence,
the researcher can identify what kind of learning approach is used by the students to improve their spoken English competence. Generally, the analysis result of
these items show that TKBI test affe cted students‟ learning methods. Most
students mentioned that TKBI test affected their learning process inside and outside the classroom. The students believed that they made their best effort to
improve their competence and prepare themselves for the test. They also allocated more time to practice their skills. They practiced speaking in English with their
lecturers or friends. They also practiced speaking independently. Only few students joined English club or English course to practice speaking in English.
Overall, the results show that the students had fair behavioral attitudes because few negative attitudes were still found Table 4.1. The questionnaire results show
that among all of the respondents, many students still gave less effort to study. Around 15 of the respondents mentioned that they did not give sufficient effort
to improve their competence.
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Being considerably important, the students should have clear learning goal. The fourth section of the questionnaire gives information about students‟
learning goals or learning motives. In addition, the students‟ types of learning motivation can be identified through their answers. The result of Likert scale
analysis shows that the students had clear and positive learning goals. Almost all of the students had clear motives to learn Table 4.1. The students mentioned that
passing TKBI test was not their main motive to learn English, so most of them gave negative responses on this statement. Related to the learning goal, most
students agreed that English was important for their academic life and future career. Hence, the students still had enough intrinsic motivation to learn English.
The last part of the questionnaire section is aimed to gather information about students‟perceptions towards the TKBI test itself. The students can share
their opinions about the implementation of TKBI test as one of the requirements for thesis defense. The results of the questionnaire help the researcher to identify
if the students think that the test is feasible, meaningful, and purposeful. Overall, the analysis results of the questionnaire show that the students considered TKBI
test as a meaningful test for their lives. Almost all of the students mentioned that it motivated them to learn English and improved their confidence to speak in
English. However, many students thought that the test was not really feasible because they considered it difficult, so they were not really sure if they could
answer the questions well Table 4.1. More than half of the students mentioned that the test was beneficial to improve their quality. However, they still found that
their communicative competence did not improve significantly.
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The questionnaire results were also analyzed using inferential statistics. The
Spearman‟s rho analysis was made to measure the correlation between the components of attitudes, including the cognitive attitudes, affective attitudes,
behavioral attitudes, and learning goals. Hence, the researcher can infer the relation between one component of attitudes and another component of attitudes
as a way to ensure the trustworthiness of the data and the instruments. The statistics also allowed prediction about the attitudes of the entire population.
Correlations
cognitive Affective
Spearmans rho cognitive
Correlation Coefficient 1.000
.177 Sig. 2-tailed
. .044
N 130
130 affective
Correlation Coefficient .177
1.000 Sig. 2-tailed
.044 .
N 130
130 . Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level 2-tailed.
The statistical analysis using Spearman ‟s rho shows that some
components of attitudes were correlated. There was a correlation between cognitive attitudes and affective attitudes. The statistical result of 0.04 shows that
students‟ judgement about their language competence was correlated with students‟ anxiety. Based on the result Spearman‟s rho analysis, students who had
high level of confidence were less anxious during test preparation and test taking processes. They were not worried about their performance on the test. On the
contrary, those who were not confident felt more anxious that they would possibly fail on the test.
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Correlations
Cognitive Motivation
Spearmans rho cognitive
Correlation Coefficient 1.000
.186 Sig. 2-tailed
. .034
N 130
130 motivation
Correlation Coefficient .186
1.000 Sig. 2-tailed
.034 .
N 130
130 . Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level 2-tailed.
The inferential statistics on cognitive and motivation helps to identify if there is a relation between students‟ cognitive attitudes and their motivation. The
result of the statistical analysis shows that students‟ perceptions on their language
competence were related to their motivation to learn and prepare for the test. In the questionnaire, students who had high confidence or self-efficacy about their
language competence also had high motivation to learn.
Correlations
Efficacy success
expectancy Spearmans rho
Efficacy Correlation Coefficient
1.000 .428
Sig. 2-tailed .
.000 N
130 130
success expectancy Correlation Coefficient
.428 1.000
Sig. 2-tailed .000
. N
130 130
. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level 2-tailed.
The result of inferential statistic below 0.05 shows that there was a significant correlation between cognitive attitude and success expectancy. When
the students showed high confidence about their language competence, they also showed high confidence that they could pass the test. A different condition
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happened when the students had low confidence. The result of the statistical analysis confirmed that students who had low self-efficacy had low success
expectancy.
Correlations
Efficacy practice effort
Spearmans rho efficacy
Correlation Coefficient 1.000
.038 Sig. 2-tailed
. .668
N 130
130 practice effort
Correlation Coefficient .038
1.000 Sig. 2-tailed
.668 .
N 130
130
The inferential statistic analysis presented above shows that self-efficacy was not correlated with learning strategies. The result of the analysis suggests that
students‟ learning method during the test preparation was not related to the way they perceive their current English competence. The value from the statistical
analysis helps to identify tha t students‟ perceptions or judgements about their
language proficiency did not significantly contribute to shape their learning behaviors. The coefficient of 0.668 accepts the hypothesis that there was no
correlation between cognitive attitudes and behavioral attitudes.
Correlations
test anxiety
practice effort Spearmans rho
controlled anxiety Correlation Coefficient
1.000 -.124
Sig. 2-tailed .
.161 N
130 130
practice effort Correlation Coefficient
-.124 1.000
Sig. 2-tailed .161
. N
130 130
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The inferential statistics presented above rejects the correlation between emotions and learning strategies or learning approach. The phi coefficient of
0.161 accepts the null hypothesis that there was no correlation between affective and behavioral attitudes. The result shows that what the students felt towards the
speaking test and their readiness for the test were not significantly linked to their actions to prepare themselves for the test. Therefore, when the students showed
positive feelings, such as relax and enthusiasm or negative feelings of anxiety or worry, they could perform either positive or negative behaviors towards the
learning process. In both conditions, the students could actively participate in every learning activity and have great desire to accomplish every learning task.
Correlations
feeling motivated practice effort Spearmans rho
feeling motivated Correlation Coefficient
1.000 .254
Sig. 2-tailed .
.004 N
130 130
practice effort Correlation Coefficient
.254 1.000
Sig. 2-tailed .004
. N
130 130
. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level 2-tailed.
The result of Spe arman‟s rho infers the the relation between motivation
and behavior. The value of 0.004 shows that students‟ motivation in preparing and
taking the test was linked to their learning strategies. It was reported that students who had high motivation level would participate in every learning activity to
improve their communicative competence. They managed their time to practice speaking in English outside the classroom with their friends or individually. The
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researcher could identify the kinds of learning strategy taken by students with high and low motivation level.
Correlations
controlled anxiety
enthusiasm Spearmans rho
controlled anxiety Correlation Coefficient
1.000 .201
Sig. 2-tailed .
.022 N
130 130
enthusiasm Correlation Coefficient
.201 1.000
Sig. 2-tailed .022
. N
130 130
. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level 2-tailed.
The phi coefficient of 0.02 rejects the null hypothesis that emotions are not correlated with motivation. The result infers the correlation between affective
attitudes and motivation. Although feelings were not related to learning effort, but when the students had positive feelings, they would have high intrinsic motivation
to learn.
Correlations
feeling motivated
success expectancy
Spearmans rho feeling motivated
Correlation Coefficient 1.000
.316 Sig. 2-tailed
. .000
N 130
130 success expectancy
Correlation Coefficient .316
1.000 Sig. 2-tailed
.000 .
N 130
130 . Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level 2-tailed.
The coefficient 0.05 indicates that emotions or affective factors are correlated with success expectancy. The con
dition suggests that students‟ feelings,
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such as motivation or enthusiasm and anxiety bind correlation with expected success. When the students were more enthusiastic and less anxious, they would
ensure themselves to succeed on the test. On the contrary, those who were less motivated and more anxious thought that they would fail.
2. The S tudents’ Experiences during Test Preparation and Test Taking