Investigating the Effects of Test-Wiseness Strategies on L2 learners' Reading Test Performance

Abstract

It is inevitable that second language (L2) learners often resort to test-wiseness (TW) strategies in reading tests to obtain higher scores. Previous research has reported mixed findings on whether TW strategies enhance L2 reading performance, but such strategies are often treated as a single, undifferentiated category. The aim of this study was to categorize TW strategies into distinct types and investigate their effects on L2 reading performance. Participants were 531 Taiwanese university students who completed a Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) reading test and a TW strategy questionnaire to self-evaluate strategy use frequency. In the questionnaire, we divided TW strategies into four categories: time-using, error avoidance, deductive reasoning, and cue-using strategies. We then used Item Factor Analysis and structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between different types of TW strategies and students' TOEIC reading scores. Results showed that error avoidance strategies were the only type with a positive effect on reading performance. While deductive reasoning strategies could provide shortcuts to potentially determine the correct answer, our results indicated that over-reliance on such strategies may negatively impact performance. The implications for L2 teaching and future research are also discussed.