The effects of variations in placing diagrams within items of a Japanese language reading test

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine if the manner of presentation affects item difficulty in a Japanese language reading test. Study 1 identified items with low difficulty and discrimination. Junior high school students in South Korea were administered a translated version of the Gunma Prefecture Achievement Test (GPAT), for comparison with the data of 2006 GPAT gathered in Japan. Item difficulty and item discrimination of this test were analyzed, and it was found that such items featuring a diagram composed of two blank spaces presented by two words which were reversed from the original order in the text, and accompanied by a hint alongside these spaces, showed low difficulty and discrimination. The effects of the manner in which blanks and hints were placed were examined, through four distinct versions. Study 2 examined whether this item presentation affects item difficulty and discrimination. Students in Japanese junior high school were assigned to one of test A, test B, test C and test D, varied by how blanks and hints were presented. Item difficulty increased more than approximately 0.3 points, and it was observed that both difficulty and discrimination were high when two blank spaces were placed in order of text. It was concluded that the presentation manner of items affects difficulty and discrimination on testing.