Test Item Format in EFL Tests at Secondary School and University Levels in Saudi Arabia.

Some experts call for investigating examinees’ test-taking strategies, others for students to be trained in how to take tests. However, such propositions are to be preceded by exploration of the types of test item format used by test-makers and on which test-taking investigations and training programmes should be based. Hence, this study investigates the types of test item format used in EFL tests in one of the biggest Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia. 53 tests, supplied by four test making sources, comprised the study sample. The study focused on testing knowledge of EFL vocabulary meaning. A new developed classification scheme was used to categorise the data obtained because the tests could not readily be classified according to the traditional broad-spectrum taxonomy (multiple-choice, true/false short answer questions etc). The new scheme was based on a three-way perspective: (a) the test task itself (definition, gap filling, etc.), (b) the sort of support given for the answer (yes/no, multiple-choice, etc.) and (c) the context in which the target word is presented (isolated, sentence, etc.). The result shows that there were 35 dissimilar types of test formats utilised in testing EFL vocabulary. Markedly the most frequent format was sentenced-based filling-in-the-gap multiple-choice of alternatives offered for one item, which is the same format used for testing lexical knowledge in the Cambridge CPE and Michigan ECPE and ECCE tests. The next type was also a multiple-choice filling-in-the-gap one, but the correct answer for an item was mixed with several other right answers for other items in the same question. Match ‘a’ with ‘b’ ranked the third