STUDENTS' PROBLEMS AND STRATEGIES IN COMPREHENDING LISTENING SECTION IN ENGLISH PROFICIENCY TEST

English Proficiency Test (EPT) is a test to measure someone’s English competence. At one of a private university in Yogyakarta, EPT score is one of several requirements to graduate. This study aimed to find out about the problems that lead to the learners’ difficulties in comprehending the EPT in listening section, and the strategies to overcome the problems. This study used qualitative research method and the design was descriptive qualitative to explore information from the participants’ regarding with the problem and strategies that they used to overcome the problem in the listening section of EPT. Interviews were conducted to collect the data from six selected ELED students. The result showed that there were seven problems. They were the quality of the recorded materials in EPT, cultural differences, speakers’ accent, unfamiliar vocabulary, length and speed of the listening, environment conditions, and lack of concentration. Meanwhile, the strategies revealed by the participants were related to cognitive, metacognitive and socio affective strategy. The cognitive strategies covered connecting words, predicting the question, predicting the meaning, relating the answer to the exact statements on the audio, and memorizing. The findings related to metacognitive strategies were listening while choosing the answers, staying focused, and choosing the different written sounds in the options. The socio affective strategy included telling the supervisor.