Abstract
There is an increasing interest of studies investigating the correlation between Test-Taking Strategies (TTSs) and reading comprehension achievement among EFL learners. The relationship between the aforementioned variables is still unclear and more studies are needed on this area. The major concern of this study is to examine the correlational relationship between the use of test-taking strategies and reading comprehension. The sample of this study included 64 undergraduate students majoring in English language in King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. The present research employed three instruments for data collection process; English Language Placement Test was used to distribute students according to their proficiency level, two reading passages taken from TOEFL reading comprehension tests, and a questionnaire adapted from Cohen and Upton (2007) asking about TTSs. The results of the present study illustrated that Saudi EFL students used test-taking strategies at a moderate level. There was no statistically significant correlation between test-taking strategies use and students’ achievement in reading comprehension test. There was also no significant differences between test-taking strategies and students; achievement in reading comprehension attributed to language proficiency level. Some pedagogical implications for EFL teachers were presented and discussed.
References
Allan, A., & MacLennan, C. (1997). Validating a test of test-taking strategies for use in Hong Kong secondary schools. Perspectives, 9, 1-5.
Bruch, M. A. (1981). Relationship of test-taking strategies to test anxiety and performance: Toward a task analysis of examination behavior. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 5(1), 41-56.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01172325
Chastain, K. (1988). Developing second language skills: Theory and practice (3rd ed.) Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.
Cohen, A. D. (1998). Strategies and processes in test taking and SLA. Interfaces between second language acquisition and language testing research, 90-111.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524711.006
Cohen, A. (2006). The coming of age of research on test-taking strategies. Language Assessment Quarterly, 3(4), 307-331.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15434300701333129
Cohen, A. D., & Upton, T. A. (2007). I want to go back to the text': Response strategies on the reading subtest of the new TOEFL®. Language Testing, 24(2), 209-250.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532207076364
Creswell, J. W. (2014). A concise introduction to mixed methods research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publication.
Cubuku, F. (2010). How to enhance reading comprehension through metacognitive strategies. Retrieved from http://www.sosyalarastirmalar.com/cilt1/sayi2 /sayi2pdf/cubukcu_feryal.pdf
Grabe, W. (1991). Current developments in second language reading research. TESOL Quarterly, 25(3), 375-406.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3586977
Hambleton, R. K., Swaminathan, H., & Rogers, H. J. (1991). Fundamentals of item response theory. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publication.
Hirano, K. (2009). Research on test-taking strategies in L2 reading. Retrieved from http://www.lib.juen.ac.jp/db/14_hira.pdf
Hsueh-Chao, M. H., & Nation, P. (2000). Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 13(1), 403-430.
Jiménez, R. T., García, G. E., & Pearson, P. D. (1996). The reading strategies of bilingual Latina/o students who are successful English readers: Opportunities and obstacles. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(1), 90-112.
https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.31.1.5
Kim, J. Y., & Anderson, T. (2011). Reading across the curriculum: A framework for improving the reading abilities and habits of college students. Journal of College Literacy & Learning, 37, 29-40.
Laufer, B. (1997). The lexical plight in second language reading: Words you don't know, words you think you know, and words you can't guess. In J. Coady, & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy (pp. 20-34). Cambrigde, UK: Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524643.004
Nourdad, A., & Ajideh, P. (2019). On the relationship between test-taking strategies and EFL reading performance. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 11(23), 189-219.
Nuttall, C. (1996). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language. London, UK: MacMillan Heinemann.
Oakhill, J., & Garnham, A. (1988). Becoming a skilled reader. New York, NY: Basil Blackwell.
Pittelman, S., & Heimlich, J. (1991). Teaching vocabulary: Effective strategies for teaching reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Pourdana, N., Bornaki, F., Moayedi Fard, Z., & Sarkhosh, S. Z. (2012). Test-taking strategies and performance on reading comprehension tests by Iranian EFL learners. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 1(2), 138-153.
https://doi.org/10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.2p.138
Pourmohammadi, M. (2015). Test-taking Strategies and Reading Comprehension Test Performance: The Case of High and Low Proficiency Iranian EFL Undergraduates. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(3), 1-11.
Radojevic, N. (2009). Exploring the use of effective learning strategies to increase students' reading comprehension and test taking skills. (Unpublished Master Thesis). Brock University.
Rahmani, M., & Sadeghi, K. (2011). Effects of note-taking training on reading comprehension and recall. Reading, 11(2), 116-128.
Rezaei, A. A. (2006). University students" test-taking strategies and their language proficiency. Teaching English Language and Literature Society of Iran (TELLSI), 1(1), 151-182.
Saraswati, D. (2017). The relationship between reading strategy use and EFL test performance. Journal of NELTA, 22(1-2), 38-52.
https://doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v22i1-2.20040
Tunaz, M., & Tüm, G. (2019). Test-taking strategies and students' achievement in EFL reading tests. Dil ve Dilbilimi Çalışmaları Dergisi, 15(1), 140-150.
https://doi.org/10.17263/jlls.547674
Wu, Y. C. (2006). Second language reading comprehension and patterns. (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). University of the Incarnate Word University.
Zainol Abidin, M. J., & Mohammadi, J. Z. (2000). Test-taking strategies, schema theory and reading comprehension test performance. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(18), 237-243.
Zhang, L. J., & Wu, A. (2009). Chinese senior high school EFL students' metacognitive awareness and reading-strategy use. Reading in a Foreign Language, 21(1), 37-59.
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) For subscription articles, the author(s) agree that UNIMAS Publisher holds copyright, or an exclusive license to publish. Readers or users may view, download, print, and copy the content, for academic purposes, subject to the following conditions of use: (a) any reuse of materials is subject to permission from UNIMAS Publisher; (b) archived materials may only be used for academic research; (c) archived materials may not be used for commercial purposes, which include but not limited to monetary compensation by means of sale, resale, license, transfer of copyright, loan, etc.; and (d) archived materials may not be re-published in any part, either in print or online.
4) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
5) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
6) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.