Problems of High-Stakes Testing System- Students' Attitudes toward the English Section of the Korean University Aptitude Examination

Achieving high scores on the English section of the Korean UniversityAptitude Examination (KUAE) is very important for Korean high school studentsbecause the scores can determine admission to Korean universities andstudents' future social political and financial success in the society. Toachieve desired English scores the students spend tremendous time andenergy studying the language. However this test preparation does not seemto improve their English proficiency. Why do not students develop theirEnglish proficiency effectively with hard-working test preparation? To answerthis question this book analyzes the high-stakes testing system Englisheducation test and examinees' attitudes toward the test. The analysisfocuses students' opinions about the relationship between the KUAE Englishtest preparation and their English proficiency development. This book alsoincludes the procedure of how to design survey items and analyze them byusing an Item Response Theory model. This study suggests some possiblesolutions for the Korean English education system. This book is addressed toprofessionals in ESL educators researchers and policy makers in Korea. It isalso directed toward scholars in Korean studies.