The English proficiency exam in EFL context: A validation study

The aim of the English Proficiency Exam at Çağ University is to assess whether the students have the ability and skills to follow the education program and academic studies in the undergraduate program. The purpose of this study was to investigate and study the validity and the reliability of the English Proficiency Exam conducted at Çağ University Preparatory School. To this end, the Model for language ability by Bachman (1990) was utilized. 133 students? proficiency exam results in the 2011-2012 academic year were taken as samples in the study. The data were gathered through the exam results of the students who had taken the exam English Proficiency Exam in the related term. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and content analysis. Cronbach?s Alpha co efficiency was calculated to investigate the reliability of the exam and descriptive statistics were calculated for each components of the English Proficiency Exam. Results of the study indicated that the English Proficiency Exam partially served for its purpose. The findings revealed that some improvements in the content, materials and assessment dimensions of the program were required to make the Exam more valid and reliable.