The relationships between test performance and students’ perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan’s universities
Abstract Backgound Having been influenced by the trend of internationalization of higher education, most universities in Taiwan have implemented an English benchmark requirement for graduation, which requires students to demonstrate their English ability at a specified Common European Framework of R...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Language Testing in Asia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-017-0041-4 |
| _version_ | 1818019442087428096 |
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| author | Jessica Wu Matt Chia-Lung Lee |
| author_facet | Jessica Wu Matt Chia-Lung Lee |
| author_sort | Jessica Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Backgound Having been influenced by the trend of internationalization of higher education, most universities in Taiwan have implemented an English benchmark requirement for graduation, which requires students to demonstrate their English ability at a specified Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level through taking a standardized English language test (e.g., GEPT, IELTS, TOEFL iBT). This practice has been increasingly criticized for failing to achieve its intended goals of enhancing students’ English language proficiency and increasing students’ career mobility. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore the consequences of using standardized tests in support of the policy. Methods To this end, this study investigated students’ views of the graduation policy in three universities where students are required to take the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) prior to graduation. Structural equation modeling was employed to find the best fitting model that illustrates the complex interrelationships among test performance, students’ perceptions of the requirement, test value, test anxiety, and learning motivation. Results The findings show that university students, regardless of English proficiency, generally hold a positive attitude towards the English graduation benchmark policy. Results further reveal that the Intermediate group shows more positive attitudes towards the graduation requirement than the High-Intermediate group. SEM results show that the attitudes of university students towards the English graduation requirement positively impact their perceived test value and their learning motivation. However, there is no significant relationship between the attitudes towards the policy and test performance. Conclusions The findings contribute to our understanding of university students as the major stakeholders who defined the context of test use. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:52:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f48fb96f11a14c40a2966b76cc739cea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2229-0443 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:52:18Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Language Testing in Asia |
| spelling | doaj.art-f48fb96f11a14c40a2966b76cc739cea2022-12-22T02:05:10ZengSpringerOpenLanguage Testing in Asia2229-04432017-06-017112110.1186/s40468-017-0041-4The relationships between test performance and students’ perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan’s universitiesJessica Wu0Matt Chia-Lung Lee1The Language Training & Testing CenterThe Language Training & Testing CenterAbstract Backgound Having been influenced by the trend of internationalization of higher education, most universities in Taiwan have implemented an English benchmark requirement for graduation, which requires students to demonstrate their English ability at a specified Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level through taking a standardized English language test (e.g., GEPT, IELTS, TOEFL iBT). This practice has been increasingly criticized for failing to achieve its intended goals of enhancing students’ English language proficiency and increasing students’ career mobility. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore the consequences of using standardized tests in support of the policy. Methods To this end, this study investigated students’ views of the graduation policy in three universities where students are required to take the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) prior to graduation. Structural equation modeling was employed to find the best fitting model that illustrates the complex interrelationships among test performance, students’ perceptions of the requirement, test value, test anxiety, and learning motivation. Results The findings show that university students, regardless of English proficiency, generally hold a positive attitude towards the English graduation benchmark policy. Results further reveal that the Intermediate group shows more positive attitudes towards the graduation requirement than the High-Intermediate group. SEM results show that the attitudes of university students towards the English graduation requirement positively impact their perceived test value and their learning motivation. However, there is no significant relationship between the attitudes towards the policy and test performance. Conclusions The findings contribute to our understanding of university students as the major stakeholders who defined the context of test use.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-017-0041-4Learning motivationStructural equating modelingTest consequences |
| spellingShingle | Jessica Wu Matt Chia-Lung Lee The relationships between test performance and students’ perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan’s universities Language Testing in Asia Learning motivation Structural equating modeling Test consequences |
| title | The relationships between test performance and students’ perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan’s universities |
| title_full | The relationships between test performance and students’ perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan’s universities |
| title_fullStr | The relationships between test performance and students’ perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan’s universities |
| title_full_unstemmed | The relationships between test performance and students’ perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan’s universities |
| title_short | The relationships between test performance and students’ perceptions of learning motivation, test value, and test anxiety in the context of the English benchmark requirement for graduation in Taiwan’s universities |
| title_sort | relationships between test performance and students perceptions of learning motivation test value and test anxiety in the context of the english benchmark requirement for graduation in taiwan s universities |
| topic | Learning motivation Structural equating modeling Test consequences |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-017-0041-4 |
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