Motivated by cognitive theories of graph comprehension, this study systematically manipulated characteristics of a line graph description task in a speaking test in ways to mitigate the influence of graph familiarity, a potential source of construct-irrelevant variance. It extends Xi (2005), which found that the differences in holistic scores on…

This article reports on a large-scale study that aims to validate the theory of strategic competence proposed by Bachman and Palmer (1996) through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM). The present study examines the relationship of test-takers' long-term strategic knowledge (i.e., trait strategies) and actual strategy use (i.e., state…