THE USE OF TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES AND STUDENTS' PERFORMANCES IN ANSWERING TOEIC READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

This article examines the test-taking strategies of high-and low-scoring Chinese-speaking participants when they answer English multiple-choice reading comprehension questions. Thirty-two participants took a TOEIC reading test, provided think-aloud protocols, and joined a post-task interview. The data come primarily from qualitative analysis and were compared with those from quantitative analysis. Strategies of four kinds emerged in the results: word/lexical-based, sentence-based, reading comprehension strategies, and overall technical approaches. The discussion provides insights into the employment of test-taking strategies and the relationship between strategy use and reading performance.