A Comparative Assessment: Iranian EFL learner's preference for computer-based or paper-based tests?

Computer technology has influenced the realm of language teaching and testing so drastically that no language teaching program could be imagined nowadays without the use of digitized software and multimedia. This study aims at investigating Iranian EFL learner's performance on paper-based test compared with their performance on computer-based test while considering their attitudes towards the computer and learning language through computer. The sample selected for this study consisted of 205 Iranian male and female EFL learners. They were randomly selected from some language institutes and colleges and their ages range from 17 to 27 years. To materialize the objectives of the study, the researchers used three research instruments: a test in two versions, a questionnaire and an interview. The Objective Placement Test (one computer-based and the other paper-based) including, listening, reading and language use was given to participants in two separate administrations. The format of the computer-based version of the test was designed by the researchers so that it could be the same as that of the paper-based version and could have the same level of practicality. The questionnaire was based on Min (1998), designed to measure the participant's attitudes towards the computer in general and computer-based language learning in particular. To confirm the questionnaire data, an interview was also randomly conducted with 20 learners. It was found that Iranian EFL learners are mostly exposed to paper-based tests. The findings revealed that although learners showed positive attitude towards computer-based tests and digitized language learning, they performed better on the paper-based test than on the computer-based test.