The Effect of University Students’ Motivation and Attitude on Test Performance: Construction and Validation of an Instrument on English Proficiency Test

Abstract

This study aimed at constructing and validating an instrument by which the impact of test-takers’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and attitude towards English Proficiency Test (EPT) would be discovered on test performance. To this end, a mixed methods research design was developed. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews and in the quantitative part, a questionnaire was constructed and its reliability and validity were confirmed along with structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrated a positive relationship between motivation and EPT test performance, but attitude played a more significant role in test performance among the variables of the study.

Keywords

motivation attitude test performance English proficiency test structural equation modeling

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alaga

(2016). Motivation and attitude of students towards learning English language, [Report No. 6]. In International conference on research in social sciences, humanities and education. Cebu (Philippines). https://doi.org/10.17758/URUAE.UH0516002

Alamer

Alrabai

(2022). The causal relationship between learner motivation and language achievement: New dynamic perspective. Applied Linguistics, 10(8), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amac035

Ali

M. M.

Hamid

M. O.

Hardy

(2020). Ritualization of testing: Problematizing high-stakes English-language testing in Bangladesh, compare. A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 50(4), 533–553. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2018.1535890

Ashraf

Khosravani

(2021). On the effect of perceived test impact on test anxiety and attainment of Ph.D. candidates: Studying English proficiency test in Islamic Azad University. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 4(1), 34–47. https://doi.org/10.32996/ijllt.2021.4.1.2

Bachman

L. F.

(1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford University Press.

Bachman

L. F.

(2004). Statistical analyses for language assessment. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667350

Bachman

L. F.

Palmer

A. S.

(2010). Language assessment in practice: developing language assessments and justifying their use in the real world. Oxford University Press.

Barry

C. L.

Finney

S. J.

(2015). Modeling change in effort across a low-stakes testing session: A latent growth curve modeling approach. Applied Measurement in Education, 29(1), 46–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/08957347.2015.1102914

Barry

C. L.

Horst

S. J.

Finney

S. J.

Brown

A. R.

Kopp

(2010). Do examinees have similar test-taking effort? A high-stakes question for low-stakes testing. International Journal of Testing, 10(4), 342–363. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2010.508569

10.

Bentler

P. M.

(2006). EQS 6, structural equations program manual. Multivariate Software Inc. http://www.econ.upf.edu/∼satorra/CourseSEMVienna2010/EQSManual.pdf

11.

Brown

A. R.

Finney

S. J.

(2011). Low-stake testing and psychological reactance: Using psychological reactance scale to better understand compliant and non-compliant examinees. International Journal of Testing, 11(3), 248–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2011.570884

12.

Brown

(2000). Principles of language learning and teaching. Prentice Hall.

13.

Cheng

Klinger

Fox

Doe

Jin

(2014). Motivation and test anxiety in test performance across three testing contexts: The CALE, CET, and GEPT. TESOL Quarterly, 48(2), 300–330. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.105

14.

Chiligaryan

Gorbatenko

(2015). Students’ professional contests as a tool for motivation outside the classroom. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 14(4), 559–564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.760

15.

Cole

J. S.

Bergin

D. A.

Whittaker

T. A.

(2008). Predicting student achievement for low- stakes tests with effort and task value. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(4), 609–624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.10.002

16.

Cole

J. S.

Osterlind

S. J.

(2008). Investigating differences between low-and high-stakes test performance on a general education exam. Journal of General Education, 33(4), 609–624. https://doi.org/10.1353/jge.0.0018

17.

De Bot

Lowie

Verspoor

(2005). Second language acquisition: An advanced resource book. Routledge Publication.

18.

Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Of behavior human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychology Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01

19.

Dörnyei

(2001). New themes and approaches in second language motivation research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21(3), 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034

20.

Eklöf

(2007). Test-taking motivation and mathematics performance in TIMSS 2003. International Journal of Testing, 7(3), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305050701438074

21.

Fakeye

(2010). Students’ personal variables as correlates of academic achievement in English as a second language in Nigeria. Journal of Social Sciences, 22(3), 205–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718923.2010.11892803

22.

Fan

(2013). Test candidates’ attitudes and their test performance: The case of the Fudan English Test. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 9(3), 1–35.

23.

Fornell

Larcker

(1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 24(4), 337–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104

24.

Gardner

R. C.

(1985). Social psychological and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. Edward Arnold.

25.

Gardner

R. C.

MacIntyre

P. D.

(1993). On the measurement of affective variables in second language learning. A Journal of Research in Language Studies, 43(2), 157–194. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1992.tb00714.x

26.

Gardner

R. C.

Masgoret

A.M.

Tennant

Mihic

(2004). Integrative motivation: Changes during a year-long intermediate-level course. Language Learning, 54(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2004.00247.x

27.

Hawkey

(2006). Impact theory and practice: Studies of the IELTS test and Progetto Lingue 2000. Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/tz/cambridgeenglish/teacher-development/impact-theory-and-practice/impact-theory-and-practice-paperback

28.

Jamalifar

Salehi

Tabatabaei

Jafarigohar

(2021). Washback effect of EPT on Iranian Ph.D. candidates’ attitudes toward learning materials. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 9(39), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.52547/JFL.9.39.11

29.

Kara

(2009). The effect of a ‘learning theories’ unit on students’ attitudes towards learning. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 34(3), 100–113. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2009v34n3.5

30.

Karahan

(2007). Language attitudes of Turkish students towards the English language and its use in Turkish context. Journal of Arts and Sciences, 18(7), 73–87.

31.

Kopp

J. P.

Finney

S. J.

(2013). Linking academic entitlement and student incivility using latent means. Journal Modeling of Experimental Education, 81(3), 322–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2012.727887

32.

Kopp

J. P.

Zinn

T. E.

Finney

S. J.

Jurich

D. P.

(2011). The development and evaluation of the academic entitlement questionnaire. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 44(2), 105–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/0748175611400292

33.

Kunnan

A. J.

(1995). Test taker characteristics and test performance: A structural modeling approach. Cambridge University Press.

34.

Lai

E. R.

(2011). Motivation: A literature review. Pearson Research Report. https://images.pearsonassessments.com/images/tmrs/Motivation_Review_final.pdf

35.

McKenzie

R. M.

(2008). Social factors and non-native attitudes towards varieties of spoken English: A Japanese case study. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18(1), 63–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2008.00179.x

36.

Montano

D. E.

Kasprzyk

(2008). Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior, and the integrated behavioral model. In Glanz

Rimer

Viswanath

(Eds.), Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (5th ed., pp. 67–96). Jossey-Bass.

37.

Moss

P. A.

(2016). Shifting the focus of validity for test use. Assessment in Education Principles, Policy and Practice, 23(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2015.1072085

38.

Oller

(2008). Language testing research, 1979–1980. Cambridge University Press.

39.

Pallant

(2013). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS (4th Ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003117452

40.

Phelps

R. P.

(2012). The effect of testing on student achievement, 1910–2010. International Journal of Testing, 12(1), 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2011.602920

41.

Rasti

(2009). Iranian Candidates’ attitudes towards IELTS. Asian EFL Journal, 11(3), 110–155.

42.

Reid

(2003). Getting started in pedagogical research in the physical sciences. University of Hull. http://hlst.ltsn.ac.uk/assets/ps/documents/practice_guides/ps0076_getting_%20sarted_in_pedagogic_research_in_the_physical_sciences_aug_2004.pdf

43.

Rezaeian

Seyyedrezaei

Barani

Seyyedrezaei

(2020b). Construction and validation of educational, social and psychological consequences questionnaires of EPT as a high-stakes test. International Journal of Language Testing, 10(2), 33–70.

44.

Rezaeian

Seyyedrezaei

Barani

Seyyedrezaei

(2020a). An investigation into Iranian non-English Ph.D. students’ perceptions regarding learning as an educational consequence of EPT. Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory, 3(10), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.22034/IEPA.2020.235057.1176

45.

Saville

(2012). Applying a model for investigating the impact of language assessment within educational contexts: The Cambridge ESOL approach. Research Notes, 50(3), 4–8. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614513827-008

46.

Shohamy

(2001). Democratic assessment as an alternative. Language Testing, 18(4), 373–391. https://doi.org/10.1191/026553201682430094

47.

Stipek

Feiler

Daniels

Milburn

(1995). Effects of different instructional approaches on young children’ achievement and motivation. Child Development, 66(1), 209–223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00866.x

48.

Stricker

L. J.

Wilder

G. Z.

Bridgeman

(2006). Test takers’ attitudes and beliefs about the Graduate Management Admission Test. International Journal of Testing, 6(3), 255–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327574ijt0603_3

49.

Sundre

D. L.

Kitsantas

(2004). An exploration of the psychology of the examinee: Can examinee self-regulation and test-taking motivation predict consequential and non-consequential test performance? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 29(1), 6–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-476X(02)00063-2

50.

Swerdzewski

P. J.

Harmes

J. C.

Finney

S. J.

(2011). Two approaches for identifying low-motivated students in a low-stakes assessment context. Applied Measurement in Education, 24(2), 162–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/08957347.2011.555217

51.

Visser

(2008). Learning under conditions of hierarchy and discipline: The case of the German Army, 1939-1940. Learning Inquiry, 2(2), 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11519-008-0031-7

52.

Wise

S. L.

DeMars

C. E.

(2005). Low examinee effort in low-stakes assessment: Problems and potential solutions. Educational Assessment, 10(1), 1–17. http://10.1207/s15326977ea1001_1

53.

Wolf

L. F.

Smith

J. K.

Birnbaum

M. E.

(1995). Consequence of performance, test motivation, and mentally taxing items. Applied Measurement in Education, 8(4), 341–351. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324818ame0804_4

54.

Lee

M. C.

(2017). 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, 7(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-017-0041-4

55.

Ying

(2020). The relationship of test takers’ learning motivation, attitudes towards the actual test use and test performance of the college English test in China. Language Testing in Asia, 10(1), 234–252. https://10.1186/s40468-020-00108-z

56.

Zhao

Cheng

(2010). Exploring the relationship between Chinese university students’ attitudes towards the College English Test and their test performance. In Cheng

Curtis

(Eds.), English Language assessment and the Chinese learner (1st ed., pp. 190–201). Routledge.