Readiness towards Using Computer-Based Language Test (CBLT) among Malaysian Tertiary ESL Learners

Abstract

The vast majority of ‘Gen Z’ are in the positive light about the future of technology in education. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a shift in teaching, learning and assessing methods. To keep abreast with current technology, computer-based language test (CBLT) was used as one of the methods to assess students’ language proficiency during the shift. For this study, the CBLT was adopted and conducted among students who were taking an English proficiency course in a public university mainly located in Selangor, Malaysia. They were required to sit for the test as part of the course fulfilment. Thus, the purpose of the study is to investigate whether there are significant differences in the CBLT 1, CBLT 2 and CBLT 3 scores among Business Management (BM), Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), and Science and Technology (ST) students, who were from different branches around Malaysia. The study employed a quantitative research design in which a total of 16079 students’ scores from three (3) different tests were recorded and analysed. The results of this analysis will provide insights on the conclusion that students from different programmes were able to adapt to the use of the CBLT in assessing their listening skills.