Test-taking Strategies of University of Cape Coast Students of French as a Foreign Language: a Case Study

Abstract

Test-taking strategies are tactics, techniques or moves that learners of a language adopt to enable them meet the requirements of test questions. Test-taking strategies are consciously adopted by learners whose success depends on their appropriateness and suitability to a specific task (Nikolov, 2006). Ghanaian students learn French as a foreign language. Thus, they are deprived
of an environment where French is used. Their contact with the language is in the classroom and only during French lessons. Coupled with this disadvantage is the fact that these students are evaluated through test questions in French which equally demand answers in French. Each semester, a number of students score below average in various assessments in French. We can
therefore assume that Ghanaian students of French as a foreign language deploy strategies that are not adequate enough in answering test questions in French. Against this background, this paper seeks to provide a description of test-taking strategies that may inform teaching and learning of French for better output in tests. Using recollective verbalization protocols, the study
examines data gathered right after a French test by level 200 students.