UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES IN TAKING TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (TOEFL) IN YOGYAKARTA

Most universities in Indonesia require TOEFL for graduation requirements with certain TOEFL scores according to their study program policies. TOEFL is a graduation requirement at private universities in Yogyakarta. After making observations, the researcher received information that many students could not register for graduation because of difficulties in achieving TOEFL scores are determined by their study program. Therefore the researcher chose to examine the difficulties faced and the strategies used by students at a private university in Yogyakarta to achieve the required TOEFL PBT score for graduation. In this study, the researcher used a qualitative data approach, then collected data through interviews by asking several questions. After the researcher collected data using interviews, the researcher analyzed the data using transcribing, member-checking, and coding. Based on the findings in this study, students' difficulties in achieving TOEFL scores for graduation were caused by internal difficulties, then the researcher found strategies used by students to overcome these difficulties by understanding grammar by using grammar practice books, practicing by doing TOEFL books, listen to english songs, and being prepared. So, the results of this study indicate that students at private universities in Yogyakarta have difficulty in achieving TOEFL scores for graduation due to internal problems, and there are four strategies used by students to achieve TOEFL scores.