The use of test taking strategies for the new toeic test format by efl learners at the mcb english center

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - NGUYEN NGOC TAI THE USE OF TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW TOEIC TEST FORMAT BY EFL LEARNERS AT THE MCB ENGLISH CENTER Major: English Language Course code: 80220201 HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER/2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - THE USE OF TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW TOEIC TEST FORMAT BY EFL LEARNERS AT THE MCB ENGLISH CENTER Submitted to the Faculty of English Language in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in the English Language 23379 words Course code: 80220201 By NGUYEN NGOC TAI Supervised by TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, December/2022 The thesis entitled THE USE OF TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW TOEIC TEST FORMAT BY EFL LEARNERS AT THE MCB ENGLISH CENTER was successfully defended and approved on…… at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) Academic supervisor: Examination Committee Chair Reader Reader Member Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE -Ho Chi Minh City, October 2022 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: NGUYEN NGOC TAI Sex: Male Date of birth: 13th October 1989 Place of birth: Dong Nai Major: English Language Student code: 2041900021 I- Thesis title: THE USE OF TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW TOEIC TEST FORMAT BY EFL LEARNERS AT THE MCB ENGLISH CENTER II- Objectives and contents: The objectives of this study are to find out the use of test-taking strategies for the new TOEIC test format utilized by EFL learners in the context of MCB English Center as well as to examine the significant differences in using the types of testtaking strategies for the new TOEIC test format in terms of EFL learners’ language proficiency at MCB English center III- Starting date: 1st June 2022 IV- Completing date: 26th December 2022 V- Academic supervisor: TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph.D ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR FACULTY DEAN (Full name, signature) (full name, signature) CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: THE USE OF TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW TOEIC TEST FORMAT BY EFL LEARNERS AT THE MCB ENGLISH CENTER In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City The University of Technology Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022 NGUYEN NGOC TAI i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, NGUYEN NGOC TAI, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (English Language), accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022 Signature …………………………… NGUYEN NGOC TAI ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis represents the culmination of a significant effort, and I am indebted to numerous individuals whose contributions were essential to its completion I deeply thank my advisor, Dr Tran Quoc Thao, for his unwavering patience, careful guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement throughout my research Without his invaluable support, this thesis would not have been possible Secondly, I'd like to thank the school board staff, specifically the principal and vice principals at MCB English Center, for their support, encouragement, and generosity in allowing me to carry out this thesis at their institution Ms Nguyen Thi Ngoc Han and Ms Nguyen Thi Như Y have been especially supportive of my research process All of students who participated in the research are greatly appreciated Thirdly, I wish to express my appreciation to Dr Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Dean of the English Language Faculty at the University of Technology in Ho Chi Minh City, and to other members of the staff at the university's postgraduate institute, all of whom have been invaluable in my pursuit of this Master of Arts degree Finally, I express my heartfelt thanks to my classmates and coworkers for their unwavering support, patience, and encouragement iii ABSTRACT This study investigated the extent of EFL learners' use of test-taking strategies for the new TOEIC test format at the MCB English Center in Go Vap District Two hundred twenty-one students participated in the study, utilizing questionnaires and semistructured interviews to gather quantitative and qualitative data Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used for data analysis The results showed that participants frequently used memory, cognitive, and compensation strategies for TOEIC listening tests, with metacognitive and affective strategies used less frequently For TOEIC reading tests, memory and compensation strategies were used more frequently than cognitive, metacognitive, and affective strategies No significant differences in testtaking strategies were found based on learners' language proficiency The study contributes to a better understanding of test-taking strategies and provides practical implications for enhancing the quality of the teaching in the MCB English center in Go Vap district in specific and in Vietnam in general Finally, several practical implications and fundamental suggestions were made for how the test-taking strategies were used, which could be enriched for both educators and students (173 words) Key words: Test-taking strategies, Reading strategies, Listening strategies, TOEIC iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv List of figures ix List of tables ix List of Abbreviations and Symbols xi CHAPTER 12 INTRODUCTION 12 1.1 Background to the study 12 1.2 Statement of the problem 14 1.4 Research questions 15 1.5 Scope of the study 16 1.6 Significance of the study 17 1.7 Definitions of key terms 18 1.8 Organization of the thesis 19 CHAPTER 20 LITERATURE REVIEW 20 2.1 Introduction 20 2.2 Test-taking strategy 20 2.2.1 Test-taking strategy 20 2.2.2 Types of test-taking strategy 20 2.2.3 The relationships between learning strategies and test-taking strategies 22 2.2.4 Test-taking strategy use and language proficiency 25 2.4 Test-taking strategies for TOEIC Listening comprehension 26 2.4.1 Memory Listening Strategies 27 2.4.2 Cognitive Listening Strategies 28 2.4.3 Compensation Listening Strategies 29 2.4.4 Metacognitive Listening Strategies 29 2.4.5 Affective Listening Strategies 30 v 2.5 Test-taking strategy for TOEIC Reading Comprehension 30 2.5.1 Memory Reading Strategies 30 2.5.2 Cognitive Reading Strategies 31 2.5.3 Compensation Reading Strategies 32 2.5.4 Metacognitive Reading Strategies 33 2.5.5 Affective Reading Strategies 34 2.6 Previous studies 35 2.6.1 Previous studies in the international context 35 2.6.2 Previous studies in the Vietnamese context 37 2.7 The Conceptual Framework of the study 41 2.8 Chapter summary 42 CHAPTER 43 METHODOLOGY 43 3.1 Introduction 43 3.2 Research design 43 3.5 Sample and sampling procedures 46 3.6 Research Instruments 48 3.6.1 Questionnaire 48 3.5.2 Semi-structured interview 50 3.6 Data collection procedures 51 3.7 Data analysis procedures 52 3.7.1 Data from questionnaires 52 3.7.2 Data from interviews 53 3.8 Reliability and Validity 54 3.9 Ethical issues 56 3.10 Summary 56 CHAPTER 57 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 57 4.1 Introduction 57 4.2 Results 57 4.2.1 EFL learners’ use of listening test-taking strategies 57 4.2.1.1 Memory listening strategies 58 vi 137 138 139 APPENDIX G: New TOEIC Test Format Table 2.1 Construction of every section under the updated properties and the preupdated properties of the TOEIC test following ETS (2019a) Section: Part Listening: Part Photographs Listening: Part Question-Response Listening: Part Short Conversations Listening: Part Short Talks Reading: Part Incomplete Sentences Reading: Part Text Completion Reading: Part Reading Comprehension Reading: Part 7A Single Passages Reading: Part 7B Multiple Passages 140 TOEIC New format (updated) 25 39 30 30 16 54 29 25 TOEIC Old format (pre-updated) 10 30 30 30 40 12 48 28 20 APPENDIX H: Plagiarism Report 141