Attitudes about the computer-based test of English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

The principal aim of this study was to assess test takers’ acceptance of the computer-based version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), and the links between this acceptance, general attitudes about admissions tests, other possible determinants, and test performance. A secondary goal was to evaluate differences in the pattern of results for test takers from different countries. A questionnaire concerning attitudes about the test, familiarity with computers, and other relevant variables was administered to TOEFL test takers at large testing centers in Buenos Aires, Cairo, and Frankfurt. Attitudes about the TOEFL were moderately positive and had similar patterns of relationships in the three countries: slight or moderate with test performance, moderate with general attitudes about admissions tests, slight with computer anxiety and test anxiety, and minimal with other variables.