Modeling the relationships between EFL learners' construct-relevant and -irrelevant strategies in listening test performance.

Abstract

The strategic processes that contribute to construct-relevant variations in test results (such as metacognitive and cognitive strategies) and construct-irrelevant variances (such as test-wiseness strategies) have been identified in both practice and theories in Language Testing (LT). Few studies, however, have attempted to incorporate construct-relevant and -irrelevant strategic processes into a more comprehensive conceptual model. This study probed into the complicated relationships between construct-relevant strategies (i.e., metacognitive and cognitive strategies), construct-irrelevant strategies (i.e., test-wiseness strategies), and IELTS (International English Language Testing System) listening performance from a micro perspective. A total of 473 Chinese EFL undergraduates from various majors were recruited to take an IELTS listening test and complete the metacognitive and cognitive strategy questionnaire for English listening (MCSQEL) and test-wiseness strategy questionnaire for English listening (TWSQEL). This study identified three metacognitive strategies (planning, monitoring and evaluating) and four cognitive strategies (memory, inferencing and elaboration, retrieval and comprehending) as construct-relevant processes. In contrast, test-wiseness strategies, as a unitary factor, encompassed three dimensions (deductive reasoning, test format and cue-using). The micro-level analyses show that (1) planning strategies directly regulated memory, comprehending and test-wiseness strategies, and monitoring strategies had an executive function over retrieval strategies, whereas evaluating strategies did not directly regulate any types of strategies; (2) only comprehending strategies had a direct impact on listening performance, and the other three cognitive strategies (memory, inferencing and elaboration and retrieval strategies) assisted test-takers' listening performance via comprehending strategies; (3) all metacognitive strategies were not found to directly influence the listening score; (4) test-wiseness strategies had a negative but insignificant effect on the listening test performance. The findings corroborate that the IELTS listening test has high cognitive validity. The study also provides further evidence suggesting that L2 instruction programs should place less emphasis on teaching test-wiseness strategies and more on construct-relevant strategic processes and language knowledge.