4th International Conference on Education

September 25-26, 2019

“Innovation in Islamic Education: Challenges and Readiness in Society 5.0”

AN ANALYSIS OF TOEFL SCORE FOR ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

STUDENTS OF STKIP YDB LUBUK ALUNG
Siska Oktawidya Wati 1, M.Ridha2
English Lecturers of STKIP YDB Lubuk Alung
ciezzk_okta@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
The purposes of this research are (1) to know the relationship between the materials tested on TOEFL and
those in syllabi of English department on related skill subject. (2) to show students TOEFL score, the last
semester of English Department Student. The research used descriptive design by quantitative approach. The
sample is 39 students of English department. Data are collected using various techniques (TOEFL test,
documentation for syllabus). From the analysis, it is found that (1) there is a close relationship between the
materials tested on TOEFL and those in English Department syllabi; (2) The student’s TOEFL score was
proven by mean score 394-483, it was classified as moderate category
Keywords: TOEFL, related skill subjects, syllabus

INTRODUCTION
The TOEFL test is an internationally accepted standard of English that measures the
academic English proficiency of a non-native speaker of English. TOEFL test has a very good
reputation in international levels and is recognized by top universities for its quality and 100%
academic accuracy testing techniques. The TOEFL test is required by more than 7,000 colleges,
universities and licensing agencies in 110 countries throughout the world. TOEFL measures the
ability of non-native speakers of English to use and understand English as it is spoken, written and
heard in college and university settings. The purpose of the TOEFL test is to evaluate the English
proficiency of people whose native language is not English. The TOEFL scores are primarily used
as a measure of the ability of international students to use English in an academic environment.
The test consists of three sections: Listening Comprehension which measures ability to understand
English as it is spoken, Structure and Written Expression measures ability to recognize language
that is appropriate for standard written English and Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension
measures ability to understand nontechnical reading matter.
As an English proficiency test with international standards, the TOEFL has a very high level
of difficulty and demands adequate mastery of English and the application of appropriate strategies
in answering questions. In this case, sufficient input is needed to be able to master the skills tested
in the TOEFL. In addition, high mastery of English must be balanced with the application of
appropriate strategies, given the time available to complete the test is very limited. For "Listening
Comprehension", for example, only about 0.7 minutes are available for listening, reading choices,
analyzing answers, as well as choosing answers. While for "Structure & Written Expression" only
0.6 minutes is provided and for "Reading Comprehension" 1 minute per item (Philip, 1996; Sharpe,
1997). In other words, to obtain a high score in TOEFL requires a combination of an adequate level
of mastery of English and the application of an appropriate strategy for analyzing item points. In
full, the new format for the TOEFL test is presented in the following table:
Table 1
Aspects and Total Item in TOEFL section
Section Aspects Total Item/ Time
Listening Comprehension 50 Item/
Part A: Short Conversation 35 minutes
Section I Part B: Extended Conversation
Part C: Mini Talks
Structure & Written Expression 40 Item/ 25 minutes
Section II Part A: Choose the best answer
Part B: Error Identification
Section III Reading Comprehension 50 Item/ 55 minutes
TOTAL 140 item/ 115 minutes

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 4th International Conference on Education
September 25-26, 2019
“Innovation in Islamic Education: Challenges and Readiness in Society 5.0”

Part I, Listening Comprehension, aims to measure the test takers' proficiency in

understanding spoken English discourse whether presented in the form of dialogue (conversation)
or monologue (mini talks). While part II, Structure & Written Expression, aims to measure the
ability of test participants to understand the structure and expression of standard English writing.
Reading Comprehension, part III of the TOEFL test, is designed to measure the ability of test
takers to understand short readings with topics and language styles that will be more or less
encountered in academia.
Jūn (2011) argues that TOEFL-like as an evaluation tool of the English education provided at
the school by analyzing student scores and determining their development of English proficiency.
TOEFL-like as an evaluation tool of the English education provided at the school by analyzing
student scores and determined their development of English proficiency.
According to Mahmud (2014) TOEFL-like is a language testing type to knowing the
students’ English ability. The process to knowing the students’ ability, students have to do the
TOEFL-like test first. The time to do the TOEFL- like test is around two hours. There are four skill
in TOEFL-like test; speaking, writing, reading, and listening. The TOEFL-like test is the most
English measurement test used. It is in line with Lights’ (2012) statement, It is in line with Light
(2012) who stated that the test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
English Department Students of STKIP YDB Lubuk Alung. based on the English
curriculum, it has received adequate English input in solving the problems tested in the TOEFL
test. Courses that directly support the skills tested in the TOEFL test include Intensive Course (12
credits), Listening Comprehension I - IV (8 credits), Structure I - IV and Advanced Grammar (10
credits), Reading Comprehension I - V and Extensive Reading (13 credits), Writing I - IV and
Paper Thesis Writing (10 credits), and Speaking I - IV (8 credits). The courses are also supported
by other English-language courses both for the enrichment of the skills above and as "content"
courses. With the input during the courses above, it can be assumed that the final semester English
students have received sufficient input to answer the TOEFL questions. In other words, with this
input the final semester students will not experience many obstacles in working on TOEFL
questions.
The purposes of this research are (1) to know the relationship between the materials tested on
TOEFL and those in syllabi of English department on related skill subject. (2) to show students
TOEFL score.

RESEARCH METHOD
This research is done qualitative and descriptive. Selvilia (1993:71) argues that the
descriptive research is analyzed the data based on material obtained without adding or reducing the
data and this research tries to describe and analyze the data from the phases of collecting data, the
preparation of data, and analysis. The sample is 39 students of English department. Data are
collected using various techniques (TOEFL test and documentation for syllabus).

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

The researcher assumed that the English department students of STKIP YDB Lubuk Alung
have been programmed course skills, who directly or indirectly support the proficiency of English
tested in the TOEFL test such as Listening, Structure / Grammar, Reading Comprehension,
Writing, Vocabulary, Speaking, and others. There are two things that will be discussed in this
section, namely relationship between the materials tested on TOEFL and those in syllabi of English
department on related skill subject and The students TOEFL score
1. The Materials tested on TOEFL and English syllabus on Related skill Subject.
a. Listening Comprehension and Listening Course
Listening in the TOEFL test consists of 50 multiple choice questions in the allotted time
between 30-35 minutes (some international models such as the TOEFL more than 50 questions).
The test consists of 3 parts: Part A: Dialog brief (30 questions); Part B: contextual dialogue
(dialogue Longer) (2 dialogue to address approximately 8 questions); and Part C: Class and
Monologue (3-4 topics to answer 12 questions). This test format came into force in 1995, which

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 4th International Conference on Education
September 25-26, 2019
“Innovation in Islamic Education: Challenges and Readiness in Society 5.0”

previously consisted of Part A brief statement, part B and Part C short dialogues and long dialogue
/ monologue.
Student learning materials PS English Department of STKIP YDB have been equipped
with adequate ability to understand spoken English discourse. Even from a variety of text
(monologue, dialogue, etc., with a variation of a short length of the text in accordance with the
level of the course) and the variation of the task (true-false, matching, multiple choice, fill out
forms, answering brief, summarizing and retelling used in the lecture Listening) , students have
been getting input Listening upgrades that exceed what is tested in the TOEFL Listening. In
addition, the increase in the ability of Listening students also programmed other subjects that can
support listening skills such as Speaking I - IV (8 credits), Pronunciation Practice (2 credits),
Intensive Course (12 credits),
Briefly than the exposure of interest and material in TOEFL and syllabus Listening to
college can be concluded that there is a very close relationship. In other words, English Students
will not experience significant barriers in solving problems TOEFL Listening Comprehension
provided that the syllabus being implemented properly.
b. Written Expression and Subjects Structure and Grammar
Structure and Written Expression, the second part of the TOEFL test, intended to measure
a person's ability to understand the structure of standard English. This test consists of 40 questions
in 25 minutes and is divided into two sections: Structure (Part A) which participants test choose the
most appropriate option to complete the sentence; and Written Expression (Part B) in which the test
participants should be able to identify the mistakes made in the sentence (error correction) (Philips,
1996). Maanchovies presented in this section include all the formal aspects of the structure and
style of English used in academic writing activities. Actually, to be achieved in the testing aspect of
this grammar is to determine the ability to write the test taker. It is assumed that the test
participants who have good ability in SWE the TOEFL test will give an idea about their proficiency
in writing (writing) because it is the purpose of this measure is to obtain a picture of the test taker
in the field of writing is measured indirectly (indirect testing).
The students also programmed Writing courses I - IV and paper Thesis Writing where they
have the opportunity to apply grammatical aspects of English besides they learn about style, diction
and punctuation, there is interconnectedness, even in the lecture students are often faced with the
analysis of the formal and informal aspects of the English language. Besides, starting from
Structure III above students are introduced to the format of the TOEFL.
c. Reading Comprehension and Reading Comprehension Course
Reading Comprehension in TOEFL aims to measure a person's ability to read and
understand short passages to the topic and level of difficulty roughly the same language with which
they will face in the academic world at universities (Philips, 1996). This test consists of 50 multiple
choice questions that must be resolved within 55 minutes. For accommodation of the development
of the theory of Language Testing, since 1995 is no longer a part of the vocabulary test the ability
of isolated (in a single sentence) but the question is integrated in the reading vocabulary (contextual
vocabulary).
Intensive Reading course is also supported by Reading comprehension that aims to
cultivate reading habits and interests so as to improve the overall mastery of the English language.
Learning activities include reading serious texts such as novels, scientific books to be summarized
and reported verbally and in writing. As well as the linkages between TOEFL Listening test with
subjects Listening and Structure & Written Expression with subjects Structure and Grammar,
abilities tested in the TOEFL Reading Comprehension is included in the course syllabus Reading I-
V so that a student who has programmed and passed the course should not experience significant
barriers in doing about Reading about the TOEFL.
Based on the analysis of TOEFL test and materials related subjects in the English
curriculum obtained a description that what is presented in the TOEFL test is to have international
standards are included in the syllabus related subjects, even the syllabus offers activities which is
more complex than simply choosing the correct answer (objective test), when teaching, learning
and assessment system run in accordance with the syllabus can be assumed that there are no

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September 25-26, 2019
“Innovation in Islamic Education: Challenges and Readiness in Society 5.0”

problems faced by students in completing the English Language TOEFL test. To test this
assumption, the following sessions will discuss the correlation between the results achieved by the
senior students in TOEFL test their learning achievement in related subjects

2. TOEFL score of English Department Students

The following table showed about TOEFL scores. The highest score was The highest score
was 537 and the lowest score was 340, the mean score was 439, (Md) was 433 and (Mo) was 433
and the standard deviation was 44.06. the students results were tabulated in the table 1
Table 1.
The result of TOEFL score
Interval Frequency Percentage
310- 373 4 10.26
377-417 6 15.38
420-453 17 43.59
457-490 9 23.08
493-537 3 7.69
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Based on the table above shows that the group that has the most frequency in the interval
420-453 with the absolute frequency of 17 or 43.59%. The 493-537 intervals were the lowest 7%
After being identified, the averages of the students’ score were interpreted into three categories;
they were low category use, moderate category use, and high category use. In table 2.
Table 2
Category of Students TOEFL score
Interval Category F F%
>483.06 High 3 7.69
394.94 - Moderate 32 82.05
483.06
<394.94 low 4 10.26
Based on the table 2, it is known that students who have Score TOEFL level with high
categories are 3 students (7, 69 %). Students who have Score TOEFL in the moderate category are
32 students (82.05%), and students who have low of Score TOEFL are 4 students (10.26%). Thus,
it can be concluded that the student’s Score TOEFL was moderate category in the intervals of 394-
483.

REFERENCES
OUP ETS, 1992. Test of English as a Foreign Language. New
Gear, & Gear, 1996. Cambridge TOEFL Preparation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jūn, J., (2011). An Examination of Correlations between TOEFL and TOEIC Scores among
Hokusei
Gakuen Students: An Attempt to Find a Score Conversion Formula. Hokusei Gakuen University
Faculty of Letters Hokkaido Theory, 48(2), 35-44.
Mahmud, M. (2014). The EFL students' problems in answering the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL): a study in Indonesian context. Theory and Practice in Language Studies,
4(12), 2581.
Sharpe, Pamela J., 1997. Barron's TOEFL: How to Prepare for the New TOEFL Test. Jakarta:
Binarupa
Sevillia. C. G, dkk. 1993. Pengantar Metode Penelitian. Jakarta; Universias Indonesia Press.S

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