ENGLISH PEDAGOGY STUDENTS' MOTIVATIONS TOWARDS THE C1 ADVANCED TEST AS A TOOL TO MEASURE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Abstract

The following study aims to explore and describe the opinions and motivations of senior English pedagogy undergraduate students from a private university in Chile towards the C1 Advanced test, a standardized English language proficiency test by Cambridge. In order to answer the research questions, a study following both a quantitative and qualitative approach with a descriptive design was carried out. This included a questionnaire that was completed by 82 students from four different regions where the English pedagogy program has current students enrolled. The main results show that students nationwide generally agree with the importance of taking international standardized English language proficiency test, although there are some discrepancies among the degree of agreement among students from different regions. Students also indicate high levels of anxiety, stress, and nerves as driving feelings they experience leading up to taking the exam.