The Correlation Between students' scores in TOEFL and GPA - Institutional Repository of UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh

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THESIS

SUBMITTED BY:

Annisa Amanda Putri

Students of Department of English Language Eduationn

Reg No : 231324404

THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER

TRAINING

AR-RANIRY STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

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Alhamdulillahirabbil’alamin, all praises are due to Allah swt, the most merciful and the almightiest, who has blessed and given the chance to me, health, unlimited love, unlimited gift and stength.

I would express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Safrul Muluk, S.Ag., MA my first advisor, and Dr. Jarjani Usman, S.Ag.,S.S.,M.Sc., MS my second advisor, for their patience, valuable guidance, encouragement, and time through out the process of accomplishing my study in regard to my endeavor to make this final project as comprehensive as possible.

My special honor goes to all my lecturers in English Department of Tarbiyah Faculty UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh for the precious lessons and assistance during my study. I also express my deepest love to my parents, Zulkifli Yusuf and Kemalasari, thank you for support, love and pray. May God bless them and return their kindness.

Moreover, my deepest gratitude is dedicated to all of my friends in English

Department ’13, especially for Hilyatun Nafis, and all who are in my heart thanks for motivation, and encouragement to support this study, you will always be the best for me. I am Twicethankful for all the supports everyone gave me.

Nothing is perfect in this world, and this final project is no exception. I hope the result of this final project of my study will be useful for anyone who needs it.

Banda Aceh, Desember 2017

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SURAT PERNYATAAN ...ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... iv

LIST OF APPENDICES ... vi

LIST OF TABLES ... vii

List of figures ... viii

ABSTRACT ... ix

CHAPTER I ... 1

INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Background of study ... 1

B. Research Question: ... 4

C. Purpose of the study ... 5

D. Significance of the study ... 5

E. The organization of the Thesis ... 6

CHAPTER II ... 7

LITERATURE REVIEW ... 7

A. The nature of TOEFL and GPA ... 7

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METHODOLOGY ... 18

A. Research Design ... 18

B. Research strategy and sample selection ... 20

C. The respondents... 21

CHAPTER IV... 26

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 26

A. The findings ... 26

1. The test results ... 26

2. The interview results ... 31

a. Students’ interview analysis ... 31

b. Lecturer’s interview analysis ... 41

B. Discussion ... 43

CHAPTER V ... 46

CONCLUSION & SUGGESTION ... 46

A. Conclusions ... 46

B. Suggestions ... 47

C. Reflection ... 48

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 49

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Table 2 The correlation between TOEFL and 7th semester GPA ... 28

Table 3 The correlation between TOEFL and 8th semester GPA ... 29

Table 4 Comprehension courses that help to answer the TOEFL reading section ... 32

Table 5 Table about reading Comprehension courses help to answer TOEFL reading section ... 32

Table 6 Table about Listening Comprehension courses help to answer TOEFL listening section ... 33

Table 7 Table about Grammar courses help to answer TOEFL structure section ... 34

Table 8 Table about students' preparedness for the TOEFL test ... 34

Table 9 Table about Group A perception about college subjects can’t cover in TOEFL test ... 35

Table 10 Table about Group B perception about college subjects can’t cover in TOEFL test ... 36

Table 11Table about Group C perception about college subjects can’t cover in TOEFL test ... 36

Table 12 Table about Group A's perception on the reason behind their TOEFL and GPA scores ... 37

Table 13 Table about Group B's perception on the reason behind their TOEFL and GPA scores ... 38

Table 14 Table about Group C's perception on the reason behind their TOEFL and GPA scores ... 39

Table 15 Table about Group A's perception on factors influence their TOEFL score and GPA ... 39

Table 16 Table about Group B's perception on factors influence their TOEFL score and GPA .. 40

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Reg. No : 231324404

Faculty/Major : Faculty of Education and Teacher Training/ Department

of English Education

Title : The correlation between students’ TOEFL score and GPA

Advisor I : Dr. Safrul Muluk, S.Ag.,MA., M.Ed.

Advisor II : Dr. Jarjani Usman, S.Ag, S.S, M.Sc, MS

Keywords : Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL), Grade

Point Accumulation (GPA), correlation.

This research was carried out to find out the correlation between English Department

students’ TOEFL score and their Grade Point Average (GPA). This study used mixed approach in order to align with the data collected based on the research questions. 100 students of English department of UIN Ar-Raniry from cohort 2013 took part in this research. Of them, 9 were selected for interviews based on their scores in both TOEFL and GPA, as also recommended by their lecturers. The students were grouped into three categories: groups A, B, and C. Group A are those with both high TOEFL and GPA scores; Group B with both low TOEFL and GPA scores, and Group C with low TOEFL and high GPA scores. The results show that English Department students’ TOEFL score has a significant positive correlation with their CGPA, 7th semester GPA, and 8th semester GPA, as indicated in the correlation coefficient value is 1. According to Coolidge (2012), a strong positive correlation happened when the correlation coefficient value is close to +1 or greater than 0.50. This research also found that the factors that influence the English

Department students’ TOEFL score and their GPA based on the students’ perception were

divided into internal factors and external factors. External factors are university facilities,

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1 A. Background of study

Students at English Language Department of UIN Ar-Raniry are not only required to

undertake courses (e.g., Grammar, speaking, listening, and writing) but also TOEFL test in

order to complete their study. However, it has been unknown whether the students who

attend in courses gain higher TOEFL scores. This study methods intends to find out the

correlation between English department’s students and their GPA, both can be influential

for one another. It is common to find that students’ success or failure is assessed based on

their Grade Point Average (GPA). GPA is regarded to represent their knowledge, skills and

competencies in the discipline they are learning. One of the most important aspects of

university is grades. It is also decided to be valued in the university. The teacher gave the

grades because the students have mastered, relate and understood the lessons. Basically, the

professor is the one who decided about the grades. It is also the prove of knowledge the

students have gained in the study (Thompson, 2015).

Differently than a very short of teenage phase, grades continuing for a long time and

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success. It is use to measure the academic success of a person by several institutions

(Sneichder & hutt, 2013).

A careful investigation that differs in several countries about the purpose of GPA has

shown that GPA has many useful traits such as; as a standardized requirement for students’

scholarship, the requirements for students to graduate, the minimum criteria for TAFE

(technical and further education) students who want to continue to the higher level of

education programs, the criteria of joining research programs, the requirements to continue

undergraduate and graduate programs. In conclusion, GPA in many countries is defined as

the main factor of students’ success and performance internationally (Nodoushan, 2009).

National Education Association (NEA) (2016) also stated that GPA and non-cognitive

ability are the most correct predictors of students’ achievement. While Cabrera and Burkam

(2005) stated that GPA is still the most important determinant of the possibility of students’

graduation, beside other college matters.

University students’ success can also be assessed by their TOEFL scores. A high

TOEFL score is very important for succeeding in university or any educational institution

(Al-Rawashdesh, 2009). TOEFL score was made for non-native English speaker to

measure their language ability. More than 130 countries and 9000 institutions including

government and scholarship programs approved TOEFL scores (Educational Testing

Service [ETS], 2015). Guang et al (2014) found that the English proficiency can be

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exact sign of well-prepared students to connect with people and engaged with academic

matters is TOEFL scores. The students readiness in learning indicate the students’ future

success (ETS, 2017).

Therefore, this study is about the correlation between students’ TOEFL scores and

GPA, the researcher used TOEFL PBT as one of the variables. The TOEFL PBT test is

made to measure students’ English proficiency in terms of sounds, structures, and

vocabulary. The structure and content resulted by the grammatical theory of the language

(Abunawas, 2014).

Additionally, several researchers have tried to discover the correlation between

students’ TOEFL scores and GPA. Some of the researcher found a positive correlation

between students’ TOEFL scores and GPA (Wait, 2009;Sahragad, 2011), while some

others found no or very little relationship between students’ TOEFL scores and GPA

(Arcuino, 2013; Lan & Phu, 2013). These different results happened because of different

elements of each research.

Arcuino’s study (2013) is an example of the no relationship between students’ TOEFL

scores and GPA. The researcher chose TOEFL to predict international master students’

future GPA in the abroad university.

On the other hand, Sahragard’s study (2011) is an example of the positive relationship

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English department in Iran to see whether their GPA correlates with their Language

proficiency as measured by TOEFL scores.

The gap between these two representative studies is the context of these studies. One

study used TOEFL scores to predict GPA, while another study analyzed the relationship

between TOEFL score and GPA.

Even though many studies have been carried out on the correlation between students’

TOEFL scores and GPA, none has documented the correlation of PBI students’ GPA and

their TOEFL scores. To fill in the gap, this study about The Correlation between Students’

TOEFL Scores and GPA constructed in consideration. Therefore, this research focuses on

English department students’ current GPA as the measurement of their academic success.

Also, the TOEFL scores is uses to assess their English proficiency. The researcher of this

study wants to find out how English students’ GPA inversely or directly proportional to

their TOEFL score.

B. Research Question:

To address the abovementioned problem, this study proposed the following

questions:

1. Is there any significant relationship between students’ GPA and TOEFL scores of

the English department’s students?

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C. Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is primarily to find out the relationship between English

students’ GPA and their TOEFL scores. This study made not to predict an academic

success but to see the English students’ language proficiency with the relation of their

academic achievement as measured by GPA. In consideration of English department

students’ experience in English is a lot due to their major. Also, this study wants to find out

the factors that influence students’ success in both GPA and TOEFL scores. It can be seen

if there are students scored high in both TOEFL scores and GPA. It can be useful for the

reader and future studies to examine and improve TOEFL skills.

D. Significance of the study

This study is beneficial for further studies in the future and as the source to improve

English departments. The findings of this study hopefully can make the readers realize the

importance of both English proficiency and academic success in English department. Also,

this study hopefully will help the readers to learn something to be succeeding in both

TOEFL and GPA, because in this fast-growing era of globalization TOEFL and GPA are

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E. The organization of the Thesis

In this research there are many aspects that are analyzed. Firstly, the correlation

between students’ GPA and TOEFL scores, how the GPA predicted the students’ TOEFL

scores and its impact on students’ success. The second is the factor that makes some

students success in both GPA and TOEFL, to find out what obstacles and tricks they have

been through to be success in both elements. The last is the lecturers’ opinion toward this

correlation and their perspective about students with both successful GPA and TOEFL

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CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews literature pertaining to the study about correlation between

students’ TOEFL scores and GPA. Therefore, Section A will explain about TOEFL and

GPA in detail explanation. While, section B will explain factors that affect students’

academic performance.

A. The nature of TOEFL and GPA

1. TOEFL

TOEFL is created by National council on the test of English as a foreign

language at 1962 (ETS, 2015). Therefore, ETS (educational testing service) built and

manage the TOEFL test. It was made to measure non-native speaker ability in English. It

was usually required by college or university abroad (ETS, 2009). This kind of test is

commonly used by united states for school admissions and professional used (Hudson &

evehigby, 2014). The TOEFL itself tests the test takers proficiency in understanding the

academic English surroundings (Pierce et al., 2015).

1.1 The TOEFL test types

Since 1962 until now, TOEFL has changed its type of test to a better way to

measure non-native English speaker proficiency. There are three kinds of TOEFL test ;

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 PBT (paper based test)

Paper based test is a TOEFL test that the problems or queries are penned, printed, or

drawn, and the answers are penned too. There are two objectives of TOEFL PBT test. First,

for students’ placement and evaluating students’ progress. Another objective is as another

option when CBT cannot be held in the area. The TOEFL PBT has three sections namely

Listening Comprehension, structure and written expression, and reading. The score ranges

from 310 to 677 ( Sharpe, 1999).

 CBT (computer based test)

Computer based test TOEFL is TOEFL test that has the same content as TOEFL PBT.

However, it is different in the method of answering the questions (Pyle, 2001). The TOEFL

CBT test used computer as the tool of the test. It has four sections ; listening, structure,

reading, and writing. This TOEFL CBT is a flexible test, which means that the test

questions will not be the same between the participant who registered in the same day

(Sharpe, 1999).

 iBT (internet based test)

Internet based test is a TOEFL test that highlights the four skills in English and helps

test takers by providing the academic English circumstance questions, which is important

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reading, speaking, and writing). The TOEFL iBT combined the test sections with more than

one skill, resulting in a more academic English circumstance (ETS, 2009).

2. GPA

The GPA (grade point average) is an overall students’ academic achievement

that are expressed in numbers (Adelaide, 2017). There are two kinds of GPA ; TGPA and

CGPA. TGPA is term grade point average. This is a kind of GPA that shows students GPA

on certain semester, trimester, or quarter in the educational program. Another one is CGPA.

CGPA is cumulative grade point average. This is a kind of GPA that shows students GPA

on overall courses students have taken (Nanyang Technological University, 2012). In UIN

Ar-Raniry, the academic status and the university credits of university students were set

based on the TGPA or CGPA the students have achieved (IAIN Ar-Raniry, 2013).

Several studies have used GPA as the indicator of the students’ success (Ching,

1967; Sharon, 1971; Rosberg, 1983; Yan, 1995; Addow, 2013; Ting & Chen, 2009; Maleki

& Zangani, 2007; Abunawas, 2014) that later on will be explained in this literature review.

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B. Previous studies of the correlation between students’ TOEFL score and their GPA

The relationship between students’ TOEFL scores and their achievement during

their study at university is important to understand. This is because of many universities

require students’ proficiency to have good TOEFL scores to get admissions. Many studies

have been carried out about the correlation of TOEFL scores and students’ achievement as

indicated on their GPA.

2.1 Early studies of the correlation between students’ TOEFL score and their GPA.

Early studies (Ching, 1967; Sharon, 1971) found no relationship between

students’ TOEFL scores and GPA. Ching (1967) used 126 first year international graduate

students in Oklahoma state university. Ching grouped the participants based on their

country origin (india and china) and based on their gender (male and female), but still

found no correlation between TOEFL scores and GPA of the participants.

Correspondently, Sharon (1971) used an analysis data from 24 schools with 978

foreign students’ data of GPA, TOEFL scores, and GRE, only found that TOEFL can help

the GRE test in validity of predicting GPA. However, GRE cannot predict the TOEFL

scores of the students. Therefore, the researcher concluded that low English proficiency

students can survive in the American universities.

On the other hand, (Rosberg, 1983; Yan, 1995) found that there is a relationship

between students’ TOEFL scores and GPA. Rosberg (1983) used 263 foreign students who

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enrollment, major, GPA, proficiency scores, and ESL classes). Therefore, the researcher

found that there is a linear relationship between TOEFL and GPA of the students, which

means that the higher the TOEFL scores or Michigan scores of the students, the higher the

GPA obtained by students.

Similarly, Yan (1995) used 97 international exchange students and used their

first term GPA as the indicator of their academic success. Therefore, the result of this study

mainly point out that the total TOEFL scores are the best predictor of first term GPA of the

exchange students.

2.2 Recent studies of students’ TOEFL score and their GPA.

Several studies (Addow, 2013; Ting & Chen, 2009) found no relationship

between students’ TOEFL scores and their GPA. Addow (2013) used 100 final year of

business and accountancy students of SMAD in Somalia and found a weak positive

relationship. However, the researcher concluded that this weak positive relationship cannot

be put into account as the academic primary of success indicator of the students. because,

there are other factors that beneficial than English language proficiency as measured by

TOEFL.

Similarly, Ting and Chen (2009) used 712 international students GPA who

admitted via ESL class or TOEFL scores. It resulted that their performance are the same

regardless their admission criteria, which can be concluded that the high ESL class scores

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On the other hand, several studies (Maleki & Zangani, 2007; Abunawas, 2014)

found that there is a relationship between students’ TOEFL scores and their GPA. Maleki

And Zangani (2007) used 100 students of English translation at the Islamic azad university

and found that there is a positive relationship between students’ TOEFL scores and their

GPA. Moreover, the study resulted the higher correlation coefficient in writing than

speaking.

Similarly, Abunawas (2014) found a positive relationship through the 41 studies

analysis. However, the researcher stated that the positive correlation coefficient cannot be

used as the exact point of students’ success. It is only beneficial to predict students’ future

success.

C. Conclusion and Implication

From the discussion of both early studies and recent studies it can be concluded

that there are several studies stated that there is no relationship between students’ TOEFL

scores and GPA (Ching, 1967; Yan, 1995; Addow, 2013; Ting & Chen, 2009). Also, there

are some studies (Sharon, 1971; Rosberg, 1983; Maleki & Zangani, 2007; Abunawas,

2014) stated that there is a positive relationship between students’ TOEFL scores and GPA.

The difference of the study’s results depends on the participants, and the focus

of those studies. Some researchers used international students in predicting students’

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researchers used English as foreign language students in predicting students’ success in the

learner’s universities via TOEFL test and their GPA. The results may vary among the

studies because of these two factors. However, based on the Wait and Gressel (2009) study,

the relationship between students TOEFL scores and GPA more essential for arts and

science major students. Similarly, if we took a look at Sahragard et al (2011) study, the

positive relationship between TOEFL scores and GPA happened because the participants

are the English language and literature students. the same as the Maleki and Zangani (2007)

study which took participants from English translation at the Islamic Azad University and

resulted a positive relationship between TOEFL scores and GPA.

It can be concluded that the positive correlation that occurred between students’

TOEFL scores and GPA is primarily beneficial for English major students. Therefore, in

this study the researcher used English department of teaching program’s students as the

subject of the study.

D.Factors that affect students’ academic success

1. English proficiency and English department students.

English is the center of English department as the language that all the English

department’s students acknowledge and learn. The English proficiency of the students often

measured by TOEFL and IELTS. TOEFL scores was made for non-native English speaker

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government and scholarship programs approved TOEFL scores (Educational Testing

Service [ETS], 2015).

The same as TOEFL, IELTS (International English Language Testing) is made to

assessed students English proficiency, and it has been used by 10.000 organization in the

world (British council, 2016).

Ghenghesh (2015) used IELTS to investigate the relationship between English

proficiency and academic performance of university students and found that students’

academic success increased as the English language proficiency increased too.

Thus, English proficiency of English department’s students has become the

researcher concern. Antoni (2014) analyzed 6th semester students’ TOEFL experience at

English department of teacher training and educational faculty of Pasir Pengaraian

University and found that the students completed their TOEFL test without any preparation

in English strategies and abilities. It also stated that the students faced several problems in

TOEFL listening, structure, and writing test, such as; hard to understand the spoken

language and the passage, and hard to determine the structural element in writing because

of lack preparation and vocabularies.

This became an irony because the English departments’ students is majoring in

English major where the English must be the essential language for the English

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itself stated that its missions are to teach the students to be an innovative, professional, and

qualified English teachers in the future. The English department of teaching program in

UIN Ar-Raniry also taught the students to develop their English skill within the faculty

(IAIN Ar-Raniry, 2013). Altmisdort (2016) summarized and analyzed language teacher

education program in 5 countries in Europe with document-analysis approach. The

researcher found that one of important part of the English students teacher program success

is the high-level use of English in the classroom, which indicated their competency and

proficiency in English department at language teacher education program.

To reach the missions of English department of teaching program in UIN

Ar-Raniry, the faculty provided several subjects from four basics English skills to teaching

strategies in English for English department’s students.

Also, several general studies were included in the curriculum which some of them

are religious subjects because UIN Ar-Raniry is the religious university. Komba & Wilson

(2012) investigated the relationship between English language proficiency and academic

achievement in Tanzania secondary school with the objective is english language

proficiency predict the academic achievement of the students. The participants are 89

students from advanced level (A-level). A-level students are those students who will be

university students soon. the researcher grouped the academic achievement into two

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The result shown that there is a weak positive relationship between students’

English language proficiency and academic achievement in English subjects. The

combination of the two grouped in relationship with TOEFL iBT still resulted a weak

positive relationship between English language proficiency and academic achievement of

the students. Then, the researcher analyzed the two variables with scatter plot which

resulted the relationship is significant between English language proficiency and academic

achievement but insignificant with academic achievement in general studies. Therefore, the

researcher concluded that English language proficiency of the students did affected the

academic achievement of the students but only in English subjects academic achievement.

From the Komba & Wilson study, we can concluded that although GPA is the

variable of the studies, but the need to differentiate between English subject GPA and

general studies is important to find a better result about English language proficiency of the

students.

The English department of teaching program in UIN Ar-Raniry also ordered the

students to take TOEFL test as the requirements of students graduation. TOEFL PBT was

tested by LDC (Language Development Center). It is an obligation of every student in

English department of teaching program in UIN Ar-Raniry to pass the minimum TOEFL

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E.Factors that affect students performance

Mushtaq and Khan (2012) found that communication has impact on affecting students

performance for 20 %. While, learning facilities (16%), proper guidance (17 %), and

Family stress (13 %). This is indicated that the more fluent the students in the academic

communication, the higher their performance in the classroom.

On the other hand, Akessa and Phufern (2015) found that one of the factors that

influence students academic performance is the teachers who are highly motivated in

contributing for a better performance of the students. It is defined that teachers’ role in

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the procedures for conducting the mix-method are presented, including : A.

Research design, B. Research strategy and sample selection, and C. The respondents.

A. Research Design

This study was conducted in order to find out the correlation between English

department students’ TOEFL scores and their GPA. In order to gather the necessary data,

the research used both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

It is because of the research questions of the study. The first research question can

be solved by quantitative approach, because it involved GPA and TOEFL scores of the

participants. While, the second research questions can be solved by qualitative approach,

because it involved interview of lecturers and students.

This study used qualitative and quantitative approach because of the two research

questions of the study. Certainly, using both qualitative and quantitative approach in

educational research is not easy and has a lot of risks. The barrier to mixed-method such as;

the questions words do not define the scale of the study and not related to research design

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“mixing” are important for the researcher to take as considerations (The Research Council

of Norway, 2012).

However, involving both qualitative and quantitative approach in this study can

lead to triangulation. Triangulation is involving more than one method to obtain the data

which result a better results in the research process (Mackey & Grass, 2005).

Furthermore, this research used qualitative and quantitative approaches in the

process, which completely different from one to another. The quantitative research is

emphasizing on the methods to the findings by descriptive and explanation of the methods

orderly. While, the qualitative research emphasizing on the opinion of the participants

about the study (Hancock et al., 2007).

The current study is a qualitative and quantitative approach in which the researcher

examined the relationship between TOEFL scores and academic success as measured by

GPA for English department’s students.

This study is limited only to English department students who has taken TOEFL

PBT from LDC (language development center) in UIN Ar-Raniry, as a requirement for

their graduation. Their GPA is put into consideration and the participants was chosen with

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B. Research strategy and sample selection

In this study, the TOEFL scores were gathered from Language Development Center

(LDC) . Also, this study examined the TOEFL scores of 100 participants data as well as

their CGPA, and their 7th_{and 8}th_{semester GPA. CGPA}as the indicator of students’ success

is gathered from the English department to avoid false data from the participants, as well as

their 7th and 8th semester GPA that was gathered from ICT UIN Ar-Raniry. This is related

with Herman (2009) study about estimated GPA versus the actual GPA. Herman (2009)

suggested that obtaining the GPA data from the institution much better than from the

participants. It is happened because the participants in both gender reports might be false

and risk the result of the researcher studies. Their 7th and 8th semester GPA is chosen

because usually, students took the TOEFL test in those two final semester and in those

semester we can see the differences between GPA from general studies and English studies.

It is decided to not take the all semester GPA of the participants and divided it, because to

gained such data is hard. Also, the participants might not take the TOEFL test on their early

semester. Also, the TOEFL scores were gained from LDC website, with the newest 100

participants TOEFL scores in the same cohort from English department.

To analyze the correlation between TOEFL score and GPA of students involved

in this study, SPSS (statistical product and service solution) was utilized. Therefore, for the

second research questions used interview for 9 participants and 1 lecturers. The participants

was chosen based on their TOEFL and GPA score. It is divided into three groups; Group A

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GPA respondents, and Group C is high TOEFL scores and low GPA respondents. This is

happened because the researcher of the study wanted to find out the reasons of that 9

participants gained different score in both GPA and TOEFL scores.

Also, the lecturer opinion about the correlation between English department

students GPA and TOEFL scores is important to take as a consideration. Therefore,

interview was chosen as the method of qualitative approach because of its advantage. The

advantage of interview is its flexibility that makes the researcher at ease, in order to capture

the observable data or the participants self-report (Mackey & Grass, 2005). During the

interview process, the researcher priorities are the respondents need and preparedness. It is

because of the researcher purpose is to make the interview session went smoothly, in order

to get accurate information. The discussion involve the overall perceptions of the

respondent toward the factors that influence both their GPA and TOEFL score. The

interview was analyzed by Miles & Huberman technique. According to Miles et al (2014),

the interview through recording or field notes need to be evaluated by transcribing it before

continuing to the further analysis with techniques.

C. The respondents

The Respondents are divided into three categories (a,b, and c) based on their score in both TOEFL and GPA. “a” group are those respondents who have both high TOEFL and GPA score.

“b” group are those respondents who have both low TOEFL and GPA score. “c” group are those

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1. Respondent 1a

Name z, he is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent was

chosen because he has both high TOEFL score and CGPA. The respondent was interviewed

on 22 november 2017, at 10.30 am. Before the interview session began, the respondent was

given an explanation about the topic of discussion by the researcher. The interview session

with respondent 1a persisted for 6 minutes and 57 seconds.

2. Respondent 2a

Name P, she is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent

was chosen because she has both high TOEFL score and CGPA. The respondent was

interviewed on 24 november 2017, at 18.43 pm. Before the interview session began, the

respondent was given an explanation about the topic of discussion by the researcher. The

interview session with respondent 2a persisted for 6 minutes and 34 seconds.

3. Respondent 3a

Name S, she is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent

was chosen because she has both high TOEFL score and CGPA. The respondent was

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4. Respondent 1b

Name H, she is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent

was chosen because she has both low TOEFL score and CGPA. The respondent was

interview session with respondent 1b persisted for 6 minutes and 20 seconds.

5. Respondent 2b

Name R, she is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent

interview session with respondent 2b persisted for 12 minutes and 53 seconds.

6. Respondent 3b

Name M, she is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent

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7. Respondent 1c

Name A , she is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent

was chosen because she has low TOEFL score but high CGPA. The respondent was

interview session with respondent 1c persisted for 7 minutes and 29 seconds.

8. Respondent 2c

Name I , she is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent

interview session with respondent 2c persisted for 9 minutes and 15 seconds

9. Respondent 3c

Name N , she is a student from cohort 2013 of English department major. The respondent

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10.Lecturer

The lecturer is Mr.H. He is the chief of Language development center (LDC). His

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CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents research findings and discussion. It is intended to address the

problem resolved in the part of research questions of the study. Therefore, it is necessary to

process the data as in section A, and discuss them as in section B.

A. The findings

1. The test results

As has been mentioned in Chapter III, this research used qualitative and quantitative

approach. In order to collect data, data qualification intended to answer the first question

with quantitative data.

1. The first research question “Is there any significant relationship between students’ GPA and TOEFL scores of the English Department students?” was answered by

the quantitative approach through SPSS. The researcher used Pearson correlation to find the

relationship between two variables; TOEFL and GPA of the English department’s students.

Pearson correlation is used in measuring continuous variables, and the 2-tailed significance

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1.1 The relationship between CGPA and TOEFL score of the English department

students resulted a data below:

Table 1 The correlation between TOEFL and CGPA

Correlations

score CGPA

Score Pearson

Correlation

1 ,499**

Sig. (2-tailed) ,000

N 100 100

CGPA Pearson

Correlation

,499** ₁

N 100 100

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level

(2-tailed).

From the output above, we can acknowledge that between TOEFL and CGPA

significant values are 0.000 < 0.05 which means that there is a significant correlation. Also,

the pearson correlation values between two variables have star sign; double star sign, it

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coefficient r=1, it shows that there is a positive relationship between TOEFL and CGPA.

According to Coolidge (2012), a strong positive correlation happened when the correlation

coefficient value is close to +1 or greater than 0.50.

1.2 The relationship between 7th semester GPA and TOEFL score of the English

department students resulted a data below:

Table 2 the correlation between TOEFL and 7th semester GPA

Correlations

score GPA7

Score Pearson

Correlation

1 ,495**

N 100 100

GPA7 Pearson

Correlation

,495** 1

N 100 100

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From the output above, we can acknowledge that between TOEFL and 7th semester

GPA significant values are 0.000 < 0.05 which means that there is a significant correlation.

Also, the pearson correlation values between two variables have star sign; double star sign,

it means that there is a significant correlation between the two variables with correlation

coefficient r=1, it shows that there is a positive relationship between TOEFL and 7th

semester GPA .

1.3 The relationship between 8th_{semester GPA and TOEFL score of the English}

department students resulted a data below:

Table 3 the correlation between TOEFL and 8th semester GPA

Correlations

score GPA8

score Pearson

Correlation

1 ,502**

N 100 100

GPA8 Pearson

Correlation

,502** 1

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Correlations

score GPA8

score Pearson

Correlation

1 ,502**

N 100 100

GPA8 Pearson

Correlation

,502** 1

N 100 100

(2-tailed).

From the output above, we can acknowledge that between TOEFL and 8th semester

GPA significant values are 0.000 < 0.05 which means that there is a significant correlation.

Also, the pearson correlation values between two variables have star sign; double star sign,

it means that there is a significant correlation between the two variables with correlation

coefficient r=1, it shows that there is a positive relationship between TOEFL and 8th

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2. To answer the second research question “What are the factors that influence both

students’ GPA and TOEFL scores?” the researcher used qualitative approach through

interview. The researcher interviewed 9 participants and 1 respondent from lecturer. The 9

participants were chosen based on the criteria below:

a. Three participants that have both the highest GPA and TOEFL scores among 100

participants in the data researcher have gained.

b. Three participants that have the highest GPA and low TOEFL scores among 100

c. Three participants that have both the lowest GPA and TOEFL scores among 100

While, 1 respondent from the lecturer is chosen based on his capability as the chief of

LDC. Which in the researcher concern, the respondent acknowledge the topic very well,

because of his experience as the chief of LDC.

2. The interview results

a. Students’ interview analysis

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Table 4 Comprehension courses that help to answer the TOEFL reading section

Question 1: Is Reading Comprehension courses helpful to answer the TOEFL reading section?

Table 5 table about reading Comprehension courses help to answer TOEFL reading section

1 = Strongly Agree

2 = Agree

3 = Neutral

4 = Disagree

5 = Strongly Disagree

The respondents divided into three groups; High TOEFL and GPA scores (1a, 2a, and

3a), Low TOEFL and GPA scores (1b, 2b, and 3b), and High GPA and Low TOEFL scores

(1c, 2c, and 3c). Mostly, the respondents agree that Reading Comprehension subject they

have learned affected them in answering TOEFL reading section. Only, 1 student from Low

TOEFL score and GPA said that it does not help her in answering the reading section in

TOEFL. It is also said that the respondents acknowledge the benefit of Reading

Comprehension strategies in helping them answering the reading section in TOEFL test.

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Question 2: Is Listening Comprehension courses helpful to answer TOEFL listening section?

Table 6 table about Listening Comprehension courses help to answer TOEFL listening section

1 = Strongly Agree

TOEFL. Respondents from High TOEFL and GPA, completely agree that listening subjects

affect them in answering TOEFL. Because, they said that from Listening Comprehension

their lecturer taught them with TOEFL material, and also they exercised their listening skill

via entertainment contents. They also said that listening is about habit, which means that

this skill can be developed by habitually listening to the foreigner itself via entertainment

contents.

However, one of the respondent from High GPA and Low TOEFL score said that it

does not really help her in answering the TOEFL listening section because she thinks that

TOEFL listening section has difficult accent and not easy to understand.

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Question 3: Is Grammar courses helpful to answer TOEFL structure section?

Table 7 Table about Grammar courses help to answer TOEFL structure section

1 = Strongly Agree

Most of the respondents from all group agreed that Grammar subjects affect them in

answering TOEFL structure section. However, only 1 person disagree about this, because

she stated that Grammar in TOEFL structure section is beyond the Grammar subjects she

had learned in university. She thought that Grammar in TOEFL structure section are more

complicated and rarely used unlike the Grammar subjects she had learned in university.

It is concluded from the three questions that most of the students agreed that

comprehension courses help them to answer the TOEFL test.

Question 4: Did you learn before the TOEFL test specially?

Table 8 Table about students' preparedness for the TOEFL test

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1 = Always

2 = Very Often

3 = Sometimes

4 = Rarely

5 = Never

All the respondents said that they did not learn specially for the TOEFL test. Some of

them said that they just learned some sections like listening or Grammar to help them

answering TOEFL test. It is concluded that they only learned part that considered to be a

difficult part for them in answering TOEFL test.

Question 5: Is there some things that college subjects can’t cover that affect you in answering TOEFL test?

Table 9 Table about Group A perception on some things that college subjects can’t cover that affect them in answering TOEFL test

Respondent Students’ Response drawbacks

1a

so far as I could recall, there’s nothing that can’t cover that me

in aa in helping me answering the TOEFL test Nothing

2a

yes, there is. I think there’s only few subjects that can cover

someone’s achievement in certain TOEFL test score. not practical

3a

Actually, if we only learn from university it is not really helping us fully.

Not helping fully, study

hard

The table above is the interview analysis of High TOEFL and GPA scores students

(group a). Two respondents in High TOEFL score and GPA group said that it still lacking

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in helping them because TOEFL is Practical and studying the subjects in university is not

enough. Only one of them said that there is nothing that University’s subjects cannot cover

in helping students’ in TOEFL test.

Table 10 Table about Group B perception on some things that college subjects can’t cover that affect them in answering TOEFL test

1b

I think if it said lacking no it’s not really lacking. If it said enough,

it’s not. It’s just standard. Balance

2b

This is personal. Honestly, it is still not perfect, because during this 4-year I’ve spent in this English major, there are some lecturers that were not precisely in teaching the students right?

Not perfect,

lecturer’s

style

3b

I don’t think so, because different teacher has different techniques in teaching learning process.

Not really helping,

lecturer’s

style

The table above is the interview analysis of Low TOEFL and GPA scores students

(group b). In this group, two students responded that lecturer’s style in teaching learning

process is different in every class which in return make them felt that University’s subjects

still cannot cover in helping them to achieve certain TOEFL scores. Only one of them said

that it standard, not really lacking or enough in helping her in answering TOEFL test.

Table 11Table about Group C perception on some things that college subjects can’t cover that affect them in answering TOEFL test

1c I think not pretty much, …So, not much affect me, I think.

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2c

I think everything it is complete …The problem is not in the actual theory, it is in the accent, it is hard because I rarely hear native

The table above is the interview analysis of Low TOEFL and High GPA scores

students (group c). Two of the respondents in this group said that it still not perfect. One of

them said it is because of the lecturer’s style in teaching learning process, while the other

said that she needs to recall all the subjects first on her own, before took the TOEFL test, so

it is not really helping. On the other hand, one of them said that it is already complete but

she got a problem in understanding the accent rather than the theory itself.

Question 6: How do the students achieve their TOEFL and GPA scores?

Table 12 table about Group A's perception on the reason behind their TOEFL and GPA scores

Respondent Students’ Response Reason

1a uhm I am not sure how to answer this question is because mostly study

Study, good student

2a

… Aa we choose not necessarily just have to study on one subject and I think like that, so you know it’s kinda get use to the language. I guess.

Get use to the language

3a

with obeying everything that lecturer asked. Did the assignments, took the quizzes, followed the midterm test, final exam, and learned all of it outside the class.

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(group a). This group is more confident in answering the question. Two of them said that

the reason behind their high TOEFL and GPA scores is being a good student, like obeying

and paying attention to the lecturer and study hard. While, one of them said that get use to

the language can help her in answering the TOEFL test.

Table 13 table about Group B's perception on the reason behind their TOEFL and GPA scores

1b

*the researcher choose not to ask this question to respondent 1b, because the researcher consider respondent 1b’s feeling or

psychological situation* -

2b

Maybe, that’s my performance.. one of it was time. honestly, one of obstacles in answering TOEFL is time.

Time management

3b

because, I think I low in listening session and sometimes I also low in reading section. Because the reading too long story so sometimes I lazy to read it all.

Not study hard

The table above is the interview analysis of Low TOEFL and GPA scores students

(group b). This group is more anxious in answering the question. The researcher choose not

to ask the question to one of them, because actually this question is a follow up question

after a question about their GPA and TOEFL score. this respondent seems nervous and

avoided the question, that is why the researcher does not want to force this question to this

respondent. While, the other two respondents answered this question with time

management and not study hard as the reason of their low TOEFL and GPA scores. One of

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her time management is not good in answering TOEFL test. While, the other said that it is

because of she was not study hard.

Table 14 table about Group C's perception on the reason behind their TOEFL and GPA scores

1c

I achieve that score based on my study before. I studied before I

entered the TOEFL test. And I achieve the GPA by studying too. Study

2c

because of the course I have taken, for example Reading

Comprehension. Yes we learn about this theories, and it helps. Study

3c by learning of course. Study

The table above is the interview analysis of Low TOEFL and High GPA scores

students (group c). Most of the respondents in this group are agreed that the reason behind

their scores are depended on their will in study.

Question 7: In your opinion, what are the factors that influence your TOEFL score and GPA?

Table 15 Table about Group A's perception on the factors that influence their TOEFL score and GPA

Respondent Students’ Response Factors

1a

uhmm… what factors? Uhmm like I said like you know. maybe most like focus on what you’re doing to absorb as many as you can do while

aaa sitting in the class cause you paid for it … Focus

2a

the factors that influence me to like you said have high score for both GPA and TOEFL, I think for that first thing that you have to do is you

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3a

if I can summarized it, first, practice, second study when teaching students, and third, gain some knowledge in university class. because in the class, the lecturer only taught the outlines. We must search for the details by our own self.

Study, practice

(group a).

The respondents from both high TOEFL and GPA scores group’s opinion about this

topic are focus, study, interest, and practice. It is concluded that from this group most of the

respondents has the same point in their speech, namely study.

Table 16 Table about Group B's perception on the factors that influence their TOEFL score and GPA

1b exercising myself to answer TOEFL test, but I keep trying to be better in answering the TOEFL test.

Not study,

lecturer’s style

3b

maybe, one of the factor is lazy to finish the TOEFL test

section. Lazy

The table above is the interview analysis of Low TOEFL and GPA scores students (group b).

The respondents from both low TOEFL and GPA scores group’s opinion about this

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motivation. it is concluded from the respondents that most of them have the same point,

namely motivation in study.

Table 17 Table about Group C's perception on the factors that influence their TOEFL score and GPA

1c

…what affect me uhm because we have to study

before it. Study

2c …So we have our own effort to study… Study, interest

3c

if according to what I remember that influence

my GPA is spirit in learning. Motivation, lecturer’s style,

The table above is the interview analysis of Low TOEFL and High GPA scores students (group c).

The respondents from high TOEFL and low GPA scores group’s opinion about this topic

are study, motivation and lecturer’s style.

b. Lecturer’s interview analysis

1. Lecturer’s Perception about the influence of English students’ GPA toward

their TOEFL score.

Mr.H said that English students’ GPA must influence their TOEFL scores, because

they are from English department students. However, there should be a further analysis

about their Grammar, listening, and reading achievement because what TOEFL test usually

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2. Lecturer’s Perception about factors that influence students to have high

TOEFL score.

Mr.H said that the factors are none other than learning and practice. Because

TOEFL is also about strategy, there is a lot of non-english students passed TOEFL test

because they were hard working and exercised a lot.

3. Lecturer’s Perception about the factors that influence students to have high

GPA score.

Mr.H said that it is all about learning, being diligent, and aware to the situation.

GPA is not everything but people with high GPA is undeniably smart, because they study

hard, diligent, and have good strategies in achieveing such high GPA.

4. Perception about the factors that influence students to have both high score.

Mr.H said it is about the effort; study hard and practice are what makes those people get

both high scores in GPA and TOEFL. Everyone can have both high score if they willing to

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B. Discussion

After having analyzed the data, it is important to discuss them in order to answer the

research questions stated in Chapter One and relate the findings to previous research

findings. Two research questions were previously proposed as in the following:

1. Is there any correlation between English department students’ TOEFL score and

their GPA?

As we can see in the result there are a significant positive correlation between English

department students’ TOEFL score and their CGPA in 0.499. This result concluded that the

English department students’ TOEFL scores are directly propotional to their CGPA score.

In this study the TOEFL score does not predict GPA of the students, just like Addow’s

(2013) or Ting and Chen’s (2009) research findings. This study showed that English

department students’ TOEFL scores are directly propotional to their CGPA score.

Also, in order to make a clearer analysis between the correlation of the two variables,

the researcher used participants 7th semester and 8th semester GPA. This is based on an

argument that English department students usually took TOEFL test from LDC during their

7th_{semester and 8}th_semester.

Also, in 7th_{semester, the curriculum of cohort 2013 focused on English subjects such}

as; Academic Writing, English for academic purpose-II, English language research-II, cross cultural understanding, and communication management. While, in 8th_{semester the}

curriculum of cohort 2013 focused on non-English subjects such as; KPM and Skripsi, or

even PPL which some students who took these subjects sometimes got high GPA, because

of their practical work outside the class. Therefore, the researcher found out that there is a

significant positive correlation between English department students’ TOEFL score and

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It means that English department students’ TOEFL scores are directly propotional to

their GPA score, whether it is in 7th semester (full of English subjects) or 8th semester (full

of non English subjects).

2. What are the factors that influence students’ TOEFL score and their GPA?

From the interview analysis, it was found that most of the students agreed that

comprehension courses helped them in answering the TOEFL test. Most of the respondents

admitted that their preparation in TOEFL test were not adequate, since their answers on the

interview, were mostly ‘Sometimes’.

Also, most of the respondents thought that the university’s subjects are still not

helping them in answering the TOEFL test perfectly. One of the causes that highlighted by Facilities and lecturer’s

style

Study, Practice, strategy, and motivation External Factors Internal Factors

Study hard, and Practice.

Students Lecturer

Factors that affect students’ TOEFL and GPA scores

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respondents is lecturer’s style. The respondents said that different lecturers have different

style in teaching comprehension courses. Some of the lecturers added TOEFL materials in

teaching comprehension courses, while some were not. The respondents also stated that

study, being a good student and time management are the main reasons of their TOEFL and

GPA scores.

For the factors that influence the respondents in achieving their TOEFL and GPA

scores, the respondents stated different factors. However, it is divided into two factors;

outside and inside factors. Outside factors are facilities and lecturer’s style, while inside

factors are study, practice, strategy, and motivation.

In the lecturer’s interview, the lecturer said that the English students’ GPA must

influence their TOEFL scores, Even though a further analysis on the comprehension

courses is needed. Also, the lecturer said that factors that influence students’ high TOEFL scores are study and practice. While, factors that influence students’ high GPA scores are

study, diligent, and their awareness to the situation. Furthermore, the lecturer stated that the

factors that influence both high TOEFL and GPA scores on the students are study, practice,

and effort. In conclusion, the lecturer agreed that study hard, and practices are the most

important factors that influence students’ TOEFL and GPA scores. It is concluded from the interview results with 1 lecturer and 9 students that most of them agreed that study hard and

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION & SUGGESTION

Chapter IV has analyzed the data and discussed them to answer the research

questions. Some conclusions based on the discussions and several suggestions are made. In

this chapter, come up several conclusions and suggestions. In the last part, reflection about

the obstacles of this study is also made.

A. Conclusions

After having analyzed the data and discussed them, several conclusions can be drawn

as in the following:

1. There is a positive significant relationship between English students’ TOEFL score

and their GPA, whether it is their CGPA or their 7th_{and 8}th_{semester GPA. This is}

indicated in the correlation coefficient is r=1. According to Coolidge (2012), a strong

positive correlation happened when the correlation coefficient value is close to +1 or

greater than 0.50.

2. There are two main factors that influence English students’ TOEFL score and GPA

based on the students’ perception: external and internal factors. External factors are:

University’s facilities. Internal factors are: study, practice, strategy and motivation.

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concluded that the respondents agreed that study hard and practice are the major factors

that influence English students’ TOEFL and GPA scores.

3. There was no respondents with high TOEFL score with low GPA, but there are

students with high GPA with low TOEFL scores.

B. Suggestions

For the better understanding of this research, it is highly suggested that:

1. English department’s curriculum must put a TOEFL subjects to make the students

understand and can approach the required scores for graduation.

2. All of the lecturers in English department’s must encourage their students to learn

TOEFL more and put TOEFL materials in their comprehension courses.

3. Analyze the deeper analysis on the correlation between TOEFL and GPA of

English department’s students in both general studies and English studies. It is

because of this study is only focused on students’ GPA in 7th_{semester as the}

representative of English studies and their 8th_{semester GPA as the representative of}

general studies. Thus, the future researcher is suggested to be focused on the overall

semester GPA of the students and divided the general studies and English studies

thoroughly for the better understanding.

4. Also, increase the respondents of the interview and adding questionnaire in the

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C. Reflection

Several reflections has made in the process to make this thesis:

1. After I have conducted the research and reported in this theis, I reflect that it is not

easy to do so. However, I got empirical experiences in doing research, doing

review, analyzing data and reflecting in this thesis. I went from uncertainty to

certainty. Nevertheless, though I have analyzed the data and come up with

conclusions, I still have to learn more to overcome my imperfection.

2. To do the research, I have faced some obstacles to gather the data, such as: waiting

for a long time for the data and trying to match my schedules with my participants.

In gathering the data, I should go to the ICT (information, communication and

technology) center with efforts to gather the data for my thesis.

3. I have 10 participants and it was not easy to interview them with their different

personalities. Also, some of the participants talked in English, but some of them

were not. It makes me difficult to translate their speech one by one.

4. At first, the researcher wanted to divide the GPA into English studies and

non-english studies. However, from the situation that the researcher faced, it is hard to

analyze it. Therefore, researcher suggested the future research to analyze it. Also,

analyzing the interview results is hard. The writer used miles and huberman model

with the combination of coding analysis and likert-scale model analysis in the