The TOEFL Achievement of KU Students

Abstract

     This research emphasizes the whole picture of the TOEFL achievements of selected Kasetsart University students, in three consecutive steps--before being given TOEFL instruction and techniques to do the test, in the middle of the semester, and at the end of the course--all of which are presented in the form of TOEFL scores converted from their raw scores. To look for the students' English language problems after having taken a one-semester course, the researcher has analyzed their achievement of each item contained in the final examination and presented her analysis in the form of correct answers and percentage. Any item on which the students? achievement as a whole was lower than 50% was considered to be a problem. It was discovered that the mean (x̄) of the 31 students' achievement of the final examination was 482, the highest score was 590, and the lowest one was 400. The most serious problems the students had were with the listening section, followed by structure and reading in that order. One very important fact about learning a foreign language is that it takes time, study, and practice. It is therefore suggested that the test-taker arrange a regular program of language study to best improve his general ability to understand and use the English language. As such, he will achieve higher and more desired TOEFL scores.