EFL College Students’ Perceptions of Classroom English Tests

Abstract

Students’ perceptions of their classroom English tests play a crucial role in affecting their performance. Hence, the present study is interested in soliciting college students’ perceptions of their classroom English tests to find out the reasons behind test difficulties. Participants were 585 female college students chosen randomly from all grade levels enrolled in a four years pre-service teacher education program at the CBE in Kuwait. The study employed a descriptive survey research design using Likert’s five-point scale distributed into three categories: Linguistic reasons, psychological reasons and other reasons. Independent variables measured were age, grade level, nationality and GPA. Results revealed students’ perceptions were at a medium level. Significant differences were found for nationality and GPA. Implications for ways of conducting classroom English tests as well as recommendations for future research were discussed.