Washback Effect of Higher Education Institution Exam--Foreign Language Test on University Candidates' Attitudes

Higher Education Institution--Foreign Language Test is one of the most important examination in Turkey, taken by the high school students yearly that are seeking admission into bachelor of foreign language programs in universities. Students are awarded ELT, ELL or Interpreting and Translation degrees after graduating from these departments. Thus, this study aims to reveal the attitudes of university candidates' towards Foreign Language test. Forty-two (42) participants volunteered for this study and the required data were gathered by means of open ended questionnaires and analyzed using content analysis technique. During the research, the first questionnaire was designed to have knowledge about the participants' general ideas about Foreign Language Test, while the second questionnaire was conducted to reveal the factors affecting the participants' attitudes towards Foreign Language Test. The results shed light on the fact that participants have negative attitudes towards Foreign Language Test. Besides, the findings revealed that there is need for improvements with respect to content, style and reliability, and validity of the examination for it to be more positive and practical for the candidates.