THE DIFFICULTIES IN BORNEO ENGLISH TEST (BET) READING COMPREHENSION FACED BY TEST TAKERS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AT BORNEO TARAKAN UNIVERSITY
ABSTRACT This research aimed to determine the difficulties in reading comprehension skills on the Borneo English Test (BET) faced by test takers of English education department at the Borneo Tarakan University and the factors that caused the difficulties. The subjects of this research were students English Education Department who had taken the BET test. A descriptive qualitative method was employed, utilizing documentation and interviews for data collection. Documentation comprised BET reading scores, while in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with students to gather qualitative insigths. The findings revealed that there were 13 reading skills assessed in the BET, and almost all of these skills posed significant difficulties in reading comprehension for the students. Speacially, five skills were considered the most difficulty by students. namely: Answering Expressed Detail Questions Correctly, Answering Implicit Detail Questions Correctly, Answering Transition Questions Correctly, Determining the Meaning of Word Parts, and Using Context to Determine Meaning of Difficult Words. Futhermore, the reseacher highlighted both internal and external factors contributing to students reading difficulties. Internal factors included a lack of understanding of reading comprehension abilites, insufficient vocabulary, inadequate reading comprehension processes, lack of motivation, and poor preparation. External factors involved poor time management, the small display of paragraph text on a computer screen, lack of focus during tests, and inadequate skimming and scanning skills.