ENGLISH IN INDONESIAN ISLAMIC HIGHER EDUCATION: Examining The Relationship between Performance in The Yes/No Test and Reading Skills

Sahiruddin Sahiruddin (the State Islamic University (UIN) of Maulana Malik Ibrahim - Malang)

JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Vol 2, No 2 (2008)

This study examines the relationship between performance in the Yes/No test of English recognition vocabulary and reading skills in Indonesian Islamic learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Participants in the study were 83 Indonesian undergraduate students, comprising an Advanced group (n=41) and Intermediate group (n=42) of EFL learners enrolled in the English department at the State Islamic University (UIN) of Malang, Indonesia. All participants completed both tests. The results reveal that the hits accuracy performance between the Advanced EFL group and the Intermediate EFL group was statistically significant, indicating that Yes/No test performance, in context of hits accuracy, did discriminate between levels of English proficiency. However, the differences disappeared with corrected scores since both groups indicated a high false alarm rate. In addition, this study also reveals that there was no evidence of a relationship between Yes/No performance and reading scores. Several pedagogical implications for EFL language teachers are discussed.