Test-taking Strategies of L2 Adolescent Learners: Three Multiple-choice Items and L2 Proficiency

Abstract

The demand for test-taking has become an inevitable element of Korean secondaryEFL learners’ academic lives in which learners strive to excel in the high-stakes examorientedmilieu. However, current knowledge of practitioners, such as those of teachersand administrators, may be insufficient for ascertaining if the learners actually undergothe test-taking process they anticipate and assess what they aim to test. In contrast tothe product-oriented view where the primary interest is on the outcome (i.e., scores orstanine levels), the purpose of the present study was to explore 165 Korean high schoollearners’ test-taking process via questionnaires with proficiency and item type as thegrouping variables. There was avid use of conventional reading strategies among thehigh proficiency learners and test management strategies among the lower proficiencylearners. Results present implications for teaching learners not only to become testwise,but also to work consistently towards building reading skills and adopt long-termlearning strategies.