Students’ Perception on Using Longman Book in Increasing TOEFL Score

PROPOSAL

Submitted by:

THURSINA

NIM. 160203216

Student of Fakultas Tarbiyah dan Keguruan

Department of English Education

FAKULTAS TARBIYAH DAN KEGURUAN

UNIVERSITAS ISLAM NEGERI AR-RANIRY BANDA ACEH 

2021 M / 1442 H
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of Study

In Indonesia, mastering English has become a requirement for academic and

professional interests. For academic needs, much of the literature is sourced in

English. It requires students to master English to understand the source of

knowledge. Besides, English language proficiency has become one of the

requirements for graduate graduation. However, mastering English language skills

is not easy for second language learners. There are several ways to measure

English language skills, including the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign

Language). TOEFL is a test carried out to measure English among non-native

speakers (Philips, 2001). The results of this test have become a standardization of

the ability of non-native speakers in determining their proficiency level.

TOEFL has three sections in the test; reading, structure and written

expression, and listening. Each section has different test difficulties. First,

listening has 50 questions consisting of three parts; part A, part B, and Part C. Part

A is a short conversation consisting of two speakers. In this section, the listener is

required to understand the meaning of the speaker. Part B is an extended dialogue

that consists of two speakers who carry out an extended dialogue; while in part C,

it calls for long talks. During this session, a speaker will explain a topic, and then

listeners are required to capture the information conveyed by the speaker. Second,

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it is about structure and written expression. In this session, high grammar skills

are needed to answer 40 questions in 25 minutes. The grammar difficulty level is

different. Lastly, reading. There are 50 questions with 50 minutes of processing

time in this session. The amount of text that is owned is 5 to 8 texts. In this skill,

the test taker will understand and capture critical information in the text. Most

universities in Indonesia require students to achieve a TOEFL level score with a

minimum of 450 to 500 as a graduation requirement. Samad (2016) said that

almost all campuses in Indonesia expect students to achieve high TOEFL scores

as a requirement for graduation. The TOEFL score standard aims to prepare

graduate candidates who can compete in a global environment where English is

the priority language used in business affairs. At UIN Ar-raniry Banda Aceh, the

minimum TOEFL score for English Language Education students to graduate is

500. To achieve this score, English department of UIN Ar-raniry provides several

courses to support students’ TOEFL skills.

In the English Language Education course, several courses help students

learn TOEFL, namely, English Academic Purpose (EAP). However, PBI students

have learned many other courses: reading, listening, grammar, speaking, and

writing from basic to advanced. Moreover, due to the maturity of the knowledge

preparation learned, it cannot be denied that there are still many PBI students who

have difficulty passing the minimum TOEFL score. Many students still have to

take the test to get good scores repeatedly. Furthermore, students may face

difficulties answering the TOEFL test, which involves listening, structure, and

written expression skills and reading skills. Halim & Ardiningtyas (2018) agree
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that the problems faced by students in answering TOEFL tests are; fewer basic

skills, less practice, less motivation and students' differences such as age and

social status.

English students should be more concerned about learning English than

non-English students because they must master English as their major. Many PBI

students learn to use a TOEFL guide like Longman to overcome difficulties in

facing the TOEFL test. Longman is a TOEFL guide book that discusses TOEFL

material in detail. This book also provides tips on answering TOEFL questions.

The material taught in this book includes all the skills in the TOEFL. Many

researchers conducted a study about the difficulties faced by the students in the

TOEFL test. Yuliandani, Iksanuddin, and Sumarni (2014) analyzed the difficulties

and the master aspects in the listening comprehension in the TOEFL test. Sung,

Lin, & Hung (2015) analyzed factors affecting item difficulties in the English

Listening Comprehension test.

However, Kostin (2004) made it more specific. He analyzed dialogue

difficulty in the TOEFL test. In the other skill, Samad, Jannah, and Fitriani (2017)

analyzed EFL students’ strategies dealing with common difficulties in the TOEFL

reading comprehension section. Marzuki (2008) analyzed the accounting students'

reading skill and saw the differences before and after giving them 13 skills in

reading comprehension. Chon, Yuah, and Tacksoo (2010) also analyzed the

difficulties in reading multiple-choice, but he analyzed them in the CAST

(College Scholastic Ability Test). In structure and written expression skill Hajri,

Wahyuni, and Jufrizal (2018) analyzed the difficulties in answering structure and
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written expression of the TOEFL test in Padang State University. Sarira (2014)

also analyzed the structure and written expression section in the TOEFL test with

the same university as Hajri, but Munadia (2016) analyzed it in Ar-raniry State

University Darussalam Banda Aceh.

Some differences appeared between the previous study and the research,

such as the sample of the study taken from different places and instruments. Then,

the last difference is in terms of the focus and also the scope of the study. In this

research, the researcher wants to focus on students’ perception of using Longman

books. Based on the explanation, the researcher had in mind to do this study with

the title “Students Perception on Using Longman Books to Increase Their TOEFL

Score”.

B. Research Question

Regarding the background study and previous studies above, the researcher

formulated the statement of the problem, as follows; what is the Students’

Perception on Using Longman Books to Increase their TOEFL score?

C. Objective of the Study

Based on the research problems above, the researcher had to conduct this

research to figure out the Students’ Perception on Using the Longman Book to

Increase their TOEFL score.

D. Significance of the Study

The results of this study are expected to be beneficial for some parties, such

as:
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1. Theoretically, the findings of this research are expected to contribute to

education, especially for adding the knowledge about the use of Longman

books to increase students TOEFL score. Those will help the readers more

understand in applying appropriate strategy in learning TOEFL.

2. Practically, it can also be a reference for further researchers who want to

study a similar topic. In this case, it can also motivate the further

researcher to do the research related to using the TOEFL book guide to

increase their score. It can give more information about education,

especially in teaching.

E. Terminologies

The TOEFL test or Test of English as a Foreign Language is the most

widely respected English Language test in the world, recognized by more than

10,000 colleges, universities and agencies in more than 130 countries. Wherever

you want to study, the TOEFL test can help you get there. TOEFL is designed to

measure the English language proficiency of people whose native language is not

English. TOEFL scores are accepted by more than 7,500 colleges, universities,

and licensing agencies in over 130 countries (ETS, 2009).

 CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Definition of TOEFL

TOEFL is an English proficiency test where this test will assess each

individual's English ability to use and understand English for academic needs.

Non-native students take this test to measure their English language skills used for

their academic needs. According to Pyle (2001), TOEFL is designed to determine

the English ability of non-native students, whether they have good English skills

or not to understand academic activities such as lectures in the United States. For

second language learners, the TOEFL test has become a mandatory administrative

requirement for those who want to continue their study in institutions where

English is the language of instruction in America. This provision was first applied

in 1964 at 57 test centers to 920 test candidates. Currently, the TOEFL is not only

used for administrative needs in America, but several other countries have also

used the test. It is also used by government, scholarship and exchange programs

worldwide. Thus, TOEFL is a test for students who use English as a learning

instruction to achieve their goals.

There are three skills in the TOEFL test, namely, listening, structure, and

reading. Each skill has a different number of questions. First, the listening section

has 50 questions divided into three parts (short dialogues, long conversations, and

talks). The short dialogues consist of 30 questions, long conversation 8 or 9

questions, and talks consist of 11-13 questions. Second, structure sections have 40

questions divided into two parts. This section is divided into the structure and

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writing expression structure consisting of 15 questions and 25 questions. The time

to answer this question is 25 minutes. Finally, reading has 50 questions with five

texts (Phillips, 2011). The score of the TOEFL test consists of the highest 677 to

the lowest is 217.

B. Types of TOEFL

Along with the times, TOEFL has developed into several forms of tests such

as:

1. Computer-Based Test (CBT)

CBT is a test that uses a computer as a medium. This test consists of

four sections: Listening, Structure, Writing and Reading (Sudarmono,

2013). the score of the Computer-Based Test program is limited in the range

of zero to 330 for the highest score. However, this test has many drawbacks,

such as; the participants cannot go back to the previous question, cannot

skip the next question. The process of TOEFL, CBT takes 4 hours.

a. Listening

In the TOEFL CBT test, listening questions are selected

computer-based on the level of the participant's ability. If they answer

the question incorrectly in the first question, then the computer will

automatically select the question with a more accessible level for the

next question. However, if they can answer the first question

correctly, the computer will choose to increase the level of the next

question. In addition, they cannot return to the previous question after

answering (Pyle & Page as cited in zuhrayana, 2018). This section

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will take about 60 minutes with 30-59 questions. The question is

divided into two parts. The first is part A, a short dialogue, and the

second is part B, which is a conversation and discussion.

b. Structure

In this section, the test will last for 15-20 minutes with 25

questions. This section also has two parts: complete sentences with ten

questions and error recognition with 15 questions.

c. Reading comprehension

In this section, participants cannot change their answers and

return to the previous question as well. This section has five sections

to answer, which have 10-12 questions for each section. So, the total

questions are around 44-45 questions. To answer this part, they will be

given 70-90 minutes.

d. Writing

In the writing section, test takers will be given about 30 minutes

to complete this section. There is a topic, and the test taker must write

an essay on that topic. The essay should be around 300 words.

Table. 2.1. CBT Test Format

Section Item Time

Listening 30-50 questions 40-60 minutes

Structure 20-25 questions 15-20 minutes

Reading 44-60 questions 70-90 minutes

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Writing 1 essay question 30 minutes

2. Internet-Based Test (IBT)

The internet-based test is the latest version of the TOEFL test, launched

in 2006 (Sudarmono, 2013). This test is mainly used for study abroad

requirements. The IBT also replaces the CBT and PBT test versions. This

test's primary purpose is to measure participants' ability whether they can

use English appropriately and correctly in an academic setting. Unlike CBT,

IBT has an additional section, namely the speaking section. This section is

used to assess the participants' English-speaking ability. Overall, IBT has

four sections in the test such as; listening, reading, speaking, and writing.

According to Abboud and Hussein (2011), the format of the Internet-Based

test can be explained by the following table;

Table. 2.2. The internet-based test program format.

Section Item Time

Reading 3-5passages, 12-14 questions 60-100 minutes

Listening 4-6 lectures, 6 questions each 60-90 minutes

2-3 conversations, 5 questions each

Speaking 6 tasks: 2 independent and 4 20 minutes

integrated

Writing 1 integrated task 20 minutes

1 independent task 30 minutes

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Thus, the Internet-Based Test (IBT) takes about 4,5 hours with break

time in the middle of the test hours. This TOEFL is organized about 30-40

times a year. The total score of this TOEFL is limited on a scale of (61-120)

(Sudarmono, 2013).

3. Paper-Based Test (PBT)

The paper-based test is a traditional TOEFL test. PBT was the first

TOEFL test in 1964. Most of the test-takers in this type of test want to

continue their studies in a particular country with grade requirements under

the provisions of the intended campus. The value obtained is only valid for

one year. This test lasts for two hours. In contrast to CBT and IBT, the score

obtained on PBT is very different, with a minimum score of 217 and the

highest score of 677 (Phillips, 2001). The paper-based test consists of four

sections: listening comprehension, structure and written expression, reading

comprehension with multiple-choice questions, and Test of Written English

(TWE). The details of each section will be explained below;

a. Listening Comprehension

In this section, the test taker listens to sounds and sounds and tries

to understand the meaning of the recording. The purpose of this test is

to measure the test taker's level of understanding of spoken English,

including accent or pronunciation, the speakers' grammar and

vocabulary, and meaning comprehension. This section has three parts,

and the examinees have to answer 50 questions in 30-40 minutes. In

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part A, it consists of 30 questions. There are several short

conversations between two people and one question after each

conversation. In part B, there are eight more extended questions. The

conversations happened between two people as well, but the

examinees have to focus on several questions after each conversation.

In part C, in addition, there are 12 questions. In this part, we will not

hear a dialogue between two people like the conversations before, but

we will hear short monologues. It has the same questions form as part

b. Structure and Written Expression

This section is used to measure the test taker's ability in structure

and written expression (Phillips, 2001). This section consists of 40

questions divided into parts A (structure) and part B (written

expression). In part A, there are 15 completed sentence questions. It

means that there are missing words in each question, and we have to

choose the possible answer to complete it. The second part is part B.

In part B, there are 25 questions for identifying a grammatical error in

sentences. The questions consist of a sentence with underlined words

or phrases labeled with letter A, B, C, and D. The test-takers have to

identify the errors. To answer all of the questions in this section, they

have 25 minutes.

c. Reading Comprehension

This section is used to evaluate the ability of test-takers in

understanding English passages. In this section, the test-takers have to

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read about 5 or 6 passages and answer the questions referred to the

passages. This section has 50 questions which takes about 30 minutes

to complete. The test-takers have to answer multiple choice questions

concerning the ideas and the meaning of words in the passages

(Phillips, 2001).

d. Test of Written English (TWE)

This test aims to measure the test-takers ability to write correct,

organized and meaningful English essays. The examinees must write a

specific essay on a given topic in only 30 minutes. The format of these

four sections can be clarified in the following table (Gear and Gear,

2002):

Table. 2.3 Paper-Based Test (PBT) Format

Section Item Time

35 minutes
Listening 50 questions

Comprehension

25 minutes
Structure and Written 40 questions

Expression

50 questions 55 minutes
Reading

Comprehension

Test of Written 1 question 30 minutes

4. Institutional Testing Program (ITP)

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ITP is a type of test used to measure the English proficiency of non-

native speakers (ETS, 2016). This test is held by an authorized university or

institution in collaboration with ETS (Educational Testing Service). The

results of this test are used to assess English language skills and be used for

job requirements and scholarships. Unlike the PBT, the results of this test

are valid for two years. This test is different from other TOEFL tests

because it gives qualification to the universities, institutes, and other

agencies who organize the test. ITP is divided into three test sections:

listening, structure and written expression, and reading. It takes 2 hours to

complete this test. The format of the ITP test can be seen in the following

table:

Table. 2.4. Institutional Testing Program (ITP) Format

Section Item Time

Listening; 50 Questions 30 - 40 Minutes

● Part A Questions about

short conversations

● Part B Questions about

longer conversations

● Part C Questions about

lectures or talks

40 Questions 25 Minutes
Structure and Written

Expression:

Completing sentences correctly

Identifying errors

Reading comprehension 50 Questions 55 Minutes

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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Research Design

This research aims to figure out what is students’ perception on using

Longman books to increase their TOEFL score. In conducting this research,

researchers used quantitative methods to collect data. The researcher used a

quantitative method to analyze a descriptive statistic which was the mean score of

the student’s perception based on the questionnaire and the researcher used a

quantitative method to describe the result of this research by using percentage.

The researcher chose a case study because a case study is a research to analyze an

issue or a problem. In this context, the issue or the problem was students’

perception.

B. Instruments

The researcher used the questionnaire to get data about students’ perception

on Using Longman Books to Increase their TOEFL score. The questions consist

of 21 questions to be filled. The questions are divided into three sections. Seven

questions for listening, seven questions also for structure and written expression,

and seven questions for reading. All of the questions represent the theory that the

researcher used. The questionnaires have been tried out before using it as the

subject of this research.

C. Research Respondents and sites

This research was conducted at UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh. According to the

university’s official website, the place is located at JL. Ibnu Sina, No. 2,
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Darussalam, Syiah Kuala, Kopelma Darussalam, Kec. Syiah Kuala, Kota Banda

Aceh. This research was conducted at the Department of English language

Education (PBI) in UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh. PBI has several subjects that are

taught and one of them is English for Academic Purpose I (EAP). The reason to

choose this course is because in the EAP course the students learnt about TOEFL

which required note taking strategy during learning and teaching. The EAP I

course was taken by the students in the 6th semester. The total of students who

have taken this course was 196 and 7 units. Yet in this research, the researcher

only chose 50 participants. The researcher chose these participants because they

were easy to approach during this pandemic disaster. Therefore, the researcher

chose the participants using purposive sampling because the researcher wanted to

focus on the students who have experiences or knowledge of the issues being

addressed in the research.

D. Method of data collection

1. Questionnaire

To answer research questions, the researcher used questionnaires to gain

the data. The questionnaire sheet is provided to respondents to know student’s

perception on using Longman books to increase their TOEFL score. The

questionnaire used a four-point Likert scale format ranging from 4 ‘strongly

agrees’ to 1 ‘strongly disagree’. To avoid the misunderstanding, the

questionnaire was written in Bahasa. Then, participants were asked to check

the statements carefully and read them thoroughly. Because this research was

conducted in the pandemic Covid-19 situation, the questionnaire was spread

using Google form. Then, the researcher shared the link to all of the sixth-
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year WhatsApp groups. Thus, the data transferred into the table and analyzed

it statistically to see the percentage of each question.

E. Method of Data Analysis Data analysis technique for questioner

The data was analyzed by classifying students’ responses toward

every statement of the questionnaire into a table. The researcher

transformed the responses into tables based on the highest to the lowest

responses. The scoring of the data used the following formula.

1 = SD, if the respondents strongly disagree with the statement

2 = D, if the respondents disagree with the statement
3 = A, if the respondents agree with the statement
4 = SA, if the respondents strongly agree with the statement

The data were analyzed by calculating the percentage by using the formula

below:

F
P= X 100 %
N

Note:

P= Percentage of the item

f= collected scores
N=Number of cases
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