Test-Taking Strategies in L2 Assessment

Abstract

This research explored the test-taking strategies associated with the Test of English for International Communication Speaking Test (TOEIC-S) and their relationship with test performance. Capitalizing on two sets of TOEIC-S and a custom-made strategy inventory, the researcher collected data from a total of 215 Taiwanese English learners consisting of 84 males and 131 females with an average age of 20.1 years (SD = 2.6). Quantitative data analysis gave rise to three major findings. First, TOEIC-S test-taking strategy use constituted a multi-faceted construct that involved multiple types of strategic behaviors. Second, these strategic behaviors matched those allowing test-takers to communicate both in real life and in the workplace. Third, communication strategy use and cognitive strategy use both contributed significantly to TOEIC-S performance.

Keywords

test-taking strategies Test of English for International Communication Speaking Test second/foreign language assessment

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

AERA APA NCME (1999) Standards for educational and psychological testing, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Anderson

J. C.

Gerbing

D. W.

(1988) Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin 103(3): 411–423.

Arnold

Brown

H. D.

(1999) A map of the terrain. In: Arnold

(ed.) Affect in language learning, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–24.

Bachman

L. F.

(1990) Fundamental considerations in language testing, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Bachman

Palmer

A. S.

(2010) Language assessment in practice, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Barkaoui

Brooks

Swain

Lapkin

(2013) Test-takers’ strategic behaviors in independent and integrated speaking tasks. Applied Linguistics 34(3): 304–324.

Bialystok

(1990) Communication strategies, Oxford, England: Blackwell.

Blunch

N. J.

(2008) Introduction to structural equation modeling using SPSS and AMOS, London, England: Sage Publications, Ltd.

Byrne

B. M.

(1994) Structural equation modeling with EQS and EQS/Windows, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

10.

Canale

Swain

(1980) Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1(1): 1–47.

11.

Chapelle

C. A.

(1999) Validity in language assessment. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 19: 254–272.

12.

Cicchetti

D. V.

(1994) Guidelines, criteria, and rules of thumb for evaluating normed and standardized assessment instruments in psychology. Psychological Assessment 6: 284–290.

13.

Cohen

A. D.

(2006) The coming of age of research on test-taking strategies. Language Assessment Quarterly 3(4): 307–331.

14.

Cohen

A. D.

(2011) Strategies in learning and using a second language, Harlow, England: Longman Applied Linguistics/Pearson Education.

15.

Cohen

A. D.

(2012a) Test-taking strategies. In: Coombe

Davidson

O’Sullivan

Stoynoff

(eds) The Cambridge guide to assessment, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 96–104.

16.

Cohen

A. D.

(2012b) Test taker strategies and task design. In: Fulcher

Davidson

(eds) The Routledge handbook of language testing in a nutshell, Abingdon, England: Routledge, pp. 262–277.

17.

Cohen

A. D.

(2014) Using test-wiseness strategy research in task development. In: Kunnan

A. J.

(ed.) The companion to language assessment Vol. 2, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons, pp. 893–905.

18.

Cohen

A. D.

Upton

T. A.

(2007) ‘I want to go back to the test’: Response strategies on the reading subtest of the new TOEFL. Language Testing 24(2): 209–250.

19.

Crosling

Ward

(2002) Oral communication: The workplace needs and uses of business graduate employees. English for Specific, Purposes 21: 41–57.

20.

Dörnyei

(1995) On the teachability of communication strategies. TESOL Quarterly 29: 55–85.

21.

Dörnyei

(2003) Questionnaires in second language research, New Jersey, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

22.

Dörnyei

Scott

M. L.

(1997) Communication strategies in a second language: Definitions and taxonomies. Language Learning 47(1): 173–210.

23.

Douglas

(1997) Testing speaking ability in academic contexts: Theoretical considerations (TOEFL Monograph No. 8), Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

24.

ETS (2009) TOEIC speaking and writing examinee handbook, Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

25.

Everson

Hines

(2010) How ETS score the TOEIC speaking and writing test responses (Compendium Study No. TC-10-08), Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

26.

Field, J. (2009). The cognitive validity of the lecture listening section of the IELTS listening paper. IELTS Research Reports 9. Cambridge, England: ESOL.

27.

Field

(2011) Cognitive validity. In: Taylor

(ed.) Examining speaking, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 65–111.

28.

Fulcher

(2003) Testing second language speaking, Harlow, England: Pearson Professional Education.

29.

Hair

J. F.

Anderson

R. E.

Tatham

R. L.

Black

W. C.

(1995) Multivariate data analysis with readings, New Jersey, NJ: Prentice Hall.

30.

Hatcher

(1996) Using SAS® PROC CALIS for path analysis: An introduction. Structural Equation Modeling 3(2): 176–192.

31.

Hernández

T. A.

(2010) Promoting speaking proficiency through motivation and interaction: The study abroad and classroom learning contexts. Foreign Language Annals 43(4): 650–670.

32.

L. T.

Bentler

P. M.

(1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling 6(1): 1–55.

33.

Huang, L. (2013). Cognitive processes involved in performing the IELTS speaking test: Respondents’ strategic behaviours in simulated testing and non-testing contexts. IELTS Research Reports Series, No.1. IDP and IELTS Australia.

34.

Huang

H.-T.

Hung

S.-T.

(2013) Comparing the effects of test anxiety on independent and integrated speaking test performance. TESOL Quarterly 47(2): 244–269.

35.

Hurd

(2008) Affect and strategy use in independent language learning. In: Hurd

Lewis

(eds) Language learning strategies in independent settings, Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters, pp. 218–236.

36.

Jackson

(2014) Business graduate performance in oral communication skills and strategies for improvement. The International Journal of Management Education 12: 22–34.

37.

Jackson

Chapman

(2012) Non-technical competencies in undergraduate business degree programs: Australian and UK perspectives. Studies in Higher Education 37(5): 541–567.

38.

Keith

T. Z.

(2006) Multiple regression and beyond, Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

39.

Kline

R. B.

(2005) Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, 2nd ed. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

40.

Kunnan

A. J.

(1998) Validation in language assessment, New Jersey, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

41.

LeDoux

J. E.

(1996) The emotional brain, New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

42.

Liao

C.-W.

Y.-X.

(2010) Alternate forms test-retest reliability and test score changes for the TOEIC speaking and Writing tests (TOEIC Compendium Research Study No. TC-10-10), Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

43.

Liao

L.-W.

Wei

Y.-H.

(2010) Statistical analyses for the TOEIC speaking and writing pilot study (TOEIC Compendium Research Study No. TC-10-09), Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

44.

Macaro

(2006) Strategies for language learning and for language use: Revising the theoretical framework. The Modern Language Journal 90(3): 320–337.

45.

Maes

J. D.

Weldy

T. G.

Iceogle

M. L.

(1997) A managerial perspective: Oral communication competency is most important for business students in the workplace. Journal of Business Communication 34: 67–80.

46.

Messick

(1989) Validity. In: Linn

R. L.

(ed.) Educational Measurement, 3rd ed. New York, NY: American Council on Education and Macmillan, pp. 13–103.

47.

Messick

(1995) Validation of inferences from persons’ responses and performances as scientific inquiry into score meaning. American Psychologist 50(9): 741–749.

48.

Nakatani

(2006) Developing an oral communication strategy inventory. Modern Language Journal 90: 151–168.

49.

Nikolov

(2006) Test-taking strategies of 12- and 13-year-old Hungarian learners of EFL: Why whales have migraines. Language Learning 56(1): 1–51.

50.

O’Malley

M. J.

Chamot

A. U.

(1990) Learning strategies in second language acquisition, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

51.

O’Sullivan

Weir

(2011) Test development and validation. In: O’Sullivan

(ed.) Language testing: Theories and practices, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 13–32.

52.

Oxford

R. L.

(1990) Language learning strategies, New York, NY: Newbury House.

53.

Phakiti

(2003) A closer look at the relationship of cognitive and metacognitive strategy use to EFL reading achievement test performance. Language Testing 20(1): 26–56.

54.

Plonsky

(2012) The effectiveness of second language strategy instruction: A meta-analysis. Language Learning 61(4): 993–1038.

55.

Poulisse

(1990) The use of compensatory strategies by Dutch learners of English, Dordrecht, Holland: Foris.

56.

Powers

D. E.

(2013) Assessing English-language proficiency in all four language domains: Is it really necessary?In: Powers

D. E.

(ed.) The research foundation for the TOEIC tests: A compendium of studies: Volume II, Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, pp. 1.1–1.7.

57.

Powers, D. E., Kim, H. -J., Yu, F., Weng, V. Z., & VanWinkle, W. (2010). The TOEIC speaking and writing tests: Relations to test-taker perceptions of proficiency in English (TOEIC Compendium Research Study No. TC-10-11). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

58.

Purpura

J. E.

(1997) An analysis of the relationships between test-takers’ cognitive and metacognitive strategy use and second language test performance. Language Learning 47(2): 289–325.

59.

Purpura

J. E.

(1998) Investigating the effects of strategy use and second language test performance with high- and low-ability test-takers: A structural equation modeling approach. Language Testing 15(3): 333–379.

60.

Rummel

R. J.

(1970) Applied factor analysis, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

61.

Song

(2005) Language learner strategy use and English proficiency on the Michigan English language assessment battery. In: Johnson

J. S.

(ed.) Spaan fellow working papers in second or foreign language assessment Vol. 3, Ann Arbor: English Language Institute, University of Michigan, pp. 1–26.

62.

Suhr, D. (2003). Reliability, exploratory & confirmatory factor analysis for the scale of athletic priorities. In Proceedings of the 28th Annual Meeting of SAS Users Group International (pp. 1–7). Cary, NC: SAS Institute, Inc.

63.

Swain, M., Huang, L. -S., Barkaoui, K., Brooks, L., & Lapkin, S. (2009). The speaking section of the TOEFL iBT (SSTiBT): Test-takers’ reported strategic behaviors (TOEFL iBT Research Report No. iBT-10). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

64.

Tabachnick

B. G.

Fidell

L. S.

(2007) Using multivariate statistics, Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

65.

Tarone

(1977) Conscious communication strategies in interlanguage: A progress report. In: Brown

H. D.

Yorio

C. A.

Crymes

R. C.

(eds) On TESOL ‘77, Washington, DC: TESOL, pp. 194–203.

66.

Wenden

Rubin

(1987) Learner strategies in language learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall International.

67.

Yang

H. -C.

Plakans

(2012) Second language writers’ strategy use and performance on an integrated reading-listening-writing task. TESOL Quarterly 46(1): 80–103.

68.

Yoshida-Morise

(1998) The use of communication strategies in LPIs. In: Young

(eds) Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins, pp. 205–238.

69.

Young

J. W.

Ockey

G. J.

(2013) Guidelines for best test development practices to ensure validity and fairness for international English language proficiency assessments, Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

70.

Yoshizawa, K. (2002). Relationships among strategy use, foreign language aptitude, and second language proficiency: A structural equation modeling approach (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University.