Testing Grammar in an EFL Context

Abstract

The testing of grammar has an important role in learning and teaching second and/or foreign language(s). This study aimed to investigate grammar testing in an EFL context, putting the emphasis on teachers’ and students’ perceptions of test specifications (specs). The study used different methodologies whose specific aim was to provide empirical evidence on how ‘fair’ a grammar test can be shaped at universities and how test designers work to write a well-constructed and balanced test. In this study, data were collected from the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences of Tunis, Tunisia (FHSST), University of Humanities at Tunis. It included 20 EFL teachers, 104 students, and 100 grammar test scores. The framework of this study followed a triangulation of quantitative as well as qualitative data collection methods. Concerning the quantitative method, a students’ questionnaire was conducted. For collecting data qualitatively, a set of interviews were performed with English university teachers to seek variables in their perceptions of the grammar test specs. Added to that, grammar tests and test scores were investigated. Results from the quantitative analyses indicated that there were similarities and differences in terms of conceptions among first year students of English. The statistical findings from the ANOVA test proved that there was mostly agreement between EFL teachers in the main principles of creating a grammar test.