The relationship between test takers' performance on the TEM4 and their knowledge of the released test specifications

Zhang, Xiaowan

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90807 Copy

Description

Title

The relationship between test takers' performance on the TEM4 and their knowledge of the released test specifications

Author(s)

Zhang, Xiaowan

Issue Date

2016-04-22

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Walters, Francis Scott

Committee Member(s)

Davidson, Fred

Department of Study

Linguistics

Discipline

Teaching of English Sec Lang

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• released test specifications
• releasability issue
• Test for English Majors-Band 4 (TEM4)
• test preparation

Abstract

The role that released test specifications can play during test preparation is often neglected by test takers, and even researchers. Focusing on the Test for English Majors-Band 4 (TEM4) in a Chinese EFL setting, this paper investigates the preparation effects associated with the use of TEM4 Syllabus, or its released specifications. Data collection involved 48 test takers of the TEM4 recruited from a large university in central China, where the experimental group was given a tutorial session on the TEM4 Syllabus as the treatment. Specifically, the study measured the effects associated with the TEM4 Syllabus by using a quantitative metric of score improvement and a qualitative metric informed by a framework adapted from the work of Messick (1982) and Xie (2013). Along with its exploration of possible preparation effects, this paper also discusses the ethicality of different test preparation methods and touches on the issue of specification releasability (Davidson, 2012).

Graduation Semester

2016-05

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90807

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2016, Xiaowan Zhang

Owning Collections