Test-Taking Strategies for a High-Stakes Writing Test: An Exploratory Study of 12 Chinese EFL Learners

Autor/inn/en	Xu, Yun; Wu, Zunmin
Titel	Test-Taking Strategies for a High-Stakes Writing Test: An Exploratory Study of 12 Chinese EFL Learners
Quelle	In: Assessing Writing, 17 (2012) 3, S.174-190 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1075-2935
DOI	10.1016/j.asw.2012.03.001
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; High School Students; Secondary School Teachers; Test Wiseness; Creative Thinking; Language Teachers; English (Second Language); Urban Schools; Suburban Schools; Test Coaching; Second Language Instruction; Language Tests; High Stakes Tests; Second Language Learning; Pictorial Stimuli; Writing Evaluation; Testing Problems; Qualitative Research; Interviews; Protocol Analysis; Writing Tests; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Kreatives Denken; Language teacher; Sprachunterricht; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Suburban area; Outskirts; Suburb; Vorort; Vorstadt; Testverfahren; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Language test; Sprachtest; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fantasieanregung; Qualitative Forschung; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Writing test; Schreibtest
Abstract	This paper reports on a qualitative research study into the test-taking strategies employed in completing two picture prompt writing tasks--Situational Writing and Interpretational Writing in the Beijing Matriculation English Test. Think-aloud and retrospective interview protocols were collected from twelve Chinese students representing two key and two ordinary senior high schools in both urban and suburban areas of Beijing. The researcher also conducted in-depth interviews with the students' English teachers to explore issues raised by their students. The research findings suggest that driven by the high stakes involved in the test, students have developed a full set of test-taking strategies through coaching and exhibited skillful manipulation of these strategies. Moreover, with its original intention badly distorted, Interpretational Writing has become a "risky" task. Students are unwilling to freely express their own ideas. Instead they try to guess test developers' intent. Therefore, Interpretational Writing might fail to achieve one of its goals: measuring creative thinking. The researcher also points out that more efforts should go into identifying the sources of certain test-taking strategies and clearing any possible misunderstandings between test developers and teachers. (Contains 7 tables and 2 figures.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10