Innovation in Language Learning

Testing grammar represents an integral component of an overall assessment of language ability. A ‎literature review of the relationships among test/task performance, task/item format, and strategy ‎use on grammar tests revealed a few research gaps. Such gaps relate to the extent to which task ‎formats like multiple choice (MC), verb conjugation (VC), and error correction (EC) and discrete ‎item types within them differ in terms of measuring grammatical ability, drawing on strategy use, and ‎eliciting answer explanation. Consequently, the current study aimed to address this multifaceted ‎query using data collected based on post-secondary EFL learners’ taking of a grammar test with ‎the task formats mentioned above. Using both quantitative and qualitative analyses, the researcher found ‎that each of VC and EC measured grammatical ability differently from MC, more test-‎management and less test-wiseness manifested across the tasks from MC to EC, answer ‎explanation decreased as task difficulty increased across the ‎tasks from MC to EC. It was also ‎found that the use of distinct item formats had no substantial effects on task performance; instead, it ‎prompted versatile strategy use and demanded content elements with varied levels of ‎complexity. As a major implication, testing grammar adequately requires the use of tasks and ‎items in various formats.‎

Keywords: grammar, language tests, test format, test-taking strategies, test performance;