Is "Repetition" Essential for Listening Comprehension Tests?

抄録

This article reports an exploratory study conducted for suggesting the optimal number of listening opportunities in a listening comprehension test for a public senior high school entrance examination in Japan. The study analyzes the results of three different forms of English listening comprehension test: Form I -a version with no repetition (test-takers can listen to the dialogues + item stems (questions) and a monologue once only), Form II -a version with one repetition (test-takers can listen to the dialogues + item stems and a monologue twice), and Form III -a version with two repetitions (test-takers can listen to the dialogues + item stems and a monologue three times). The original form was adopted from a certain prefectural senior high school entrance examination and specially modified for the exploratory versions. The main finding was that repetitions of texts and item-stems in a listening comprehension test did not positively affect means, the standard error of measurement, and the item discrimination power index. Furthermore, it was found that test difficulties of each version were almost identical. These results suggest that repetition is not an essential and proper way of discriminating test-takers' listening comprehension ability.