Test-Taking Strategies and Reading Comprehension: A Correlational Investigation

Abstract

There is an increasing interest of studies investigating the correlation between Test-Taking Strategies (TTSs) and reading comprehension achievement among EFL learners. The relationship between the aforementioned variables is still unclear and more studies are needed on this area. The major concern of this study is to examine the correlational relationship between the use of test-taking strategies and reading comprehension. The sample of this study included 64 undergraduate students majoring in English language in King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. The present research employed three instruments for data collection process; English Language Placement Test was used to distribute students according to their proficiency level, two reading passages taken from TOEFL reading comprehension tests, and a questionnaire adapted from Cohen and Upton (2007) asking about TTSs. The results of the present study illustrated that Saudi EFL students used test-taking strategies at a moderate level. There was no statistically significant correlation between test-taking strategies use and students’ achievement in reading comprehension test. There was also no significant differences between test-taking strategies and students; achievement in reading comprehension attributed to language proficiency level. Some pedagogical implications for EFL teachers were presented and discussed.