Keeping Up with the English Proficiency Test: the Vioce of Adult Women Test Takers

Abstract

A lot of studies reported that female learners' capabilityin mastering second language is better than that in male learners (Lasekan, 2018), and female students tend to be more successful than male students (Hamsinah, 2017). Adult female test-takers experience bigger challenges in dealing with EPT since they are usually multi-roles women i.e. working women, students, wives, and even mothers with babies. The objectives of the study were to analyze the voices of adult women test-takers on the challenges in dealing with English proficiency test related to the most difficult skill that they have to take and how they cope their problems. The study applied mixed method study with descriptive quantitative and phenomenology approach. The data were taken through questionaire and structured interview for 77 respondents of the study. Based on the result of the data analysis on 77 respondents, the questionaire data show that the most difficult part of EPT was listening (58.4%). The respondents provided many strategies for raising their EPT scores. The most popular method of learning EPT was autonomous learning (50.6%), which was followed by taking a course, studying with friends, and not trying to improve EPT at all. These methods received 35.1%, 7.8%, and 6.5 of the total votes, respectively.