Test preparation has garnered considerable attention in second language (L2) education due to the significant implications that successful performance on a language test may have for academic advancement, future career opportunities, and immigration prospects. Meanwhile, an overemphasis on test preparation has been criticized for encouraging the…

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"…

Results from the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) indicate that English as a Second Language (ESL) and English Literacy Development (ELD) students have comparatively low success and high deferral rates. This study examined the 2002 and 2003 OSSLT test performances of ESL/ELD and non-ESL/ELD students in order to identify and…

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 Reports on the findings obtained from unpublished studies dealing with how language learners take reading tests.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)…

Several analyses are presented on the relationships among the Test of Spoken English, Test of Written English, and Test of English as a Foreign Language. The multivariate prediction of each test from the scores on the others is very accurate; variances with two prominent factors may relate to specific cognitive test-taking skills. (eight…

As part of a larger project, we studied how a foreign language test got discursively constructed in the talk of upper-secondary-school leavers. A group of students were asked to keep an oral diary to record their ideas, feelings and experiences of preparing for and taking the test over the last spring term of school, as part of a high-stakes…

The present study focuses on the task characteristics of reading passages and key sentences in a test of second language reading. Using a new methodological approach to describe variation in test task characteristics and explore how differences in these characteristics might relate to examinee performance, it posed the two following research…

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…