NURUL ZUHAILA BT KHALID (P64199) A Study on Students’ Test taking Strategies in an Open- Ended Test between Ethnic Groups NURUL ZUHAILA BT KHALID (P64199)

Background of Study Test is one of the indicators and tools Test taking strategies in an open-ended questions- try to comprehend the text Language tests play a powerful role in many people’s life (McNamara, 2000) In test taking strategies, the different ethnic groups depends on the students themselves.

Statement of Problem According to Cohen and Upton (2006) strategies employed depend on the individual itself. A good strategy uses minimizes failure and enables students to take advantage of learning opportunities. (Feryal, 2007) Each student has different learning styles. Previous study- done in low and high students’ proficiency level but not in different ethnic groups.

This study focuses on the strategies used in different ethnic groups in secondary school level. The previous study done in test taking strategies on low and high proficiency among female students only.

Purpose of Statement The purpose of this study is to investigate: test taking strategies in an open ended question in different ethnic groups. how the similarities and differences give effect to their academic performance.

Research Questions 1. What are the students’ test taking strategies used by different ethnic groups in an open ended reading comprehension test? 2. How the similarities and differences give effects to their academic performance?

Significance of the Study Test taking strategies in different ethnic groups still new and not many research done in this area Teachers are more concern about their teaching skills and method use in class future study- interested in this topic and ethnic groups study(role of ethnicity in students' test taking strategies )

Literature Reviews Cohen and Upton (2006) strategies employed depend on the individual students’ cognitive flexibility, language knowledge and cognitive style when attempting a question. Reading strategies in test taking, divide them into cognitive, meta cognitive and support strategies. (Sheorey & Mokhtari, 2001)

Tsagari (1994) open ended questions required students to produce their own answers and use their productive skills. Open ended questions promote the use of more understanding related strategies (Abanomey, 2002) Roger & Harley (1999) test taking strategies students use characteristic and test’ format.

Cohen verbal framework (1991) Three Major Types Self-report (verbalize, learners provide descriptions) Self- observation (the inspection of specific) Self- revelation (think aloud)

Methodology Qualitative Study. Selection of samples 5-6 participants for each ethnic group (purposive sampling) Intermediate level of students (Form 4 students from SMK Cedung Jaya , Maran, Pahang) An open ended test The open ended test will be used and adopted from their textbook according to their syllabus.

Instrument Retrospective think-aloud protocol Verbal Report Protocol (self-report) Eg: learners- descriptions of what they do about their test taking strategies (Cohen, 2006) - An interview will be conducted by one to one.(audio taped)

Data Collection Procedures Retrospective think-aloud protocol Structured Interview Analysis of interview transcript

Data Analysis Cohen verbal framework (1991) Three Major Types Self-report Self- observation Self- revelation All interviews will be recorded and transcript  Playback session

Pilot Study Used to test the instruments & procedures Participants are chosen from the same school but different ethnic groups. The procedures: think – aloud and follow up by structured interview 20 minutes to complete the text 10 minutes for think- aloud & 10 minutes for the interview.

References Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. 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. Abanomey, Abdulaziz. (2002). The effects of texts’ authenticity on reading comprehension test-taking strategies used by adult Saudi learners of English as a foreign language. Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Arizona State University, Arizona Feryal Cubukcu. (2007). An investigation of reading strategies employed by trainee teachers. GEMA Online™ Journal of Language Studies, 7 (2), 95-110. Tsagari, C. (1994). Method effect on testing reading comprehension: How far can we go? Unpublished M.A. thesis. University of Lancaster, U.K.