The present study provides an overview of the impact of standardized EFL tests on EFL education in Korea. To achieve this goal, the paper (1) presents the status quo of EFL testing in the Korean context, (2) explores the nature of the EFL tests prevalent in the EFL testing market, and (3) investigates the overwhelming washback effects of EFL tests…

This study investigated the validity of having English-as-a-Second-Language test-takers select from a checklist the strategies they believe they use when answering multiple choice reading comprehension questions. Results suggest that the self-report checklist discussed above exercised to an unknown extent an instrument effect on the readers who…

Some educational contexts almost mandate the application of multiple-choice (MC) testing techniques, even if they are deplored by many practitioners in the field. In such contexts especially, research into how well these types of item perform and how their performance may be characterised is both appropriate and desirable. The focus of this paper…

This study describes the reading and test-taking strategies that test takers used on the "Reading" section of the "LanguEdge Courseware" (2002) materials developed to familiarize prospective respondents with the new TOEFL. The investigation focused on strategies used to respond to more traditional "single selection"…

A study investigated whether examinees taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) attended to the text passages in the "minitalks" when answering the multiple-choice items (n=337) testing listening comprehension. Results support the construct validity of the minitalks, and also allow comparison between reading and listening…

Discusses methods for obtaining verbal report data on second language test-taking strategies. Reports on the findings obtained from unpublished studies dealing with how language learners take reading tests. Concludes that there should be a closer fit between how test constructors intend their tests to be taken and how respondents actually take…

The design of a valid and reliable test of test-wiseness is reported: a 33-item multiple-choice instrument with 4 subscales trialed with several groups of English-as-a-Second-Language students. Findings indicate differential skills in test-taking; some learner scores are influenced by skills that are not the focus of the test. (13 references)…

Pragmatic proficiency has been incorporated in the EFL teaching and testing syllabi in China, but the corresponding tests still focus on linguistic competence. The gap between the teaching and testing is mainly due to the lack of generally accepted measures of communicative abilities such as pragmatic competence. This study developed a…

Explored the relative impact of the test-developer on the performance of test takers using multiple-choice reading comprehension tests that had no specifications. Six passages each with three different sets of multiple-choice items constructed by three groups of individuals were trialled on 335 Iranian English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners.…

Describes a study of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, each presented in the native language and in the second language, on the same second language text. Different methods resulted in different scores. Some methods were found to be more difficult than others and to have a greater effect on students of low-level proficiency. (SED)

This study examined the multiple true-false (MTF) test format in second language testing by comparing multiple-choice (MCQ) and multiple true-false (MTF) test formats in two language areas of general English: vocabulary and reading. Two counter-balanced experimental designs--one for each language area--were examined in terms of the number of MCQ…

Investigated the test-taking processes of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) testees taking a multiple choice listening-comprehension test, evaluating the effectiveness of immediate retrospection for accessing such processes. Linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge was activated in a parallel manner for all subjects with input of various…

This study investigates whether the practice of answer changing on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) is beneficial to Gulf Arab students' overall test performance. The proficiency exam used in this study is the Michigan English Language Institute College English Test - Grammar, Cloze, Vocabulary, Reading (MELICET-GCVR), which was developed using…

Compares the empirical performance of C-tests with other representatives of the family of reduced redundancy tests--classical cloze, cloze-elide, multiple-choice cloze--using the Duisburg English Language Test for Advanced Students as the criterion for empirical validity. Findings reveal that the C-Test emerges as the most economical and reliable…

Investigates the relationship between field independence and language measures. Results indicate varying relationships of field independence with cloze, dictation, and multiple-choice language tests. These relationships also differ for native speakers in regular or remedial English classes, and for nonnative speakers. 53 references cited. Cloze…