抄録
Vocabulary tests are widely used at high schools in Japan. This study aims to clarify how differences in test format affect Japanese high-school students’ vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) and depth of vocabulary knowledge. Sixty-nine high school students participated and were divided into two Groups: Group A, which took a test requiring them to guess a word in a sentence, and Group B, which took a test requiring them to translate Japanese into English. The results show Group A changed their VLS, revealing that test format affected VLS. The effects included increased use of seemingly effective VLS and decreased use of others. Group B, which mainly employed the repetition and concentration strategy, scored higher on the immediate retention than Group A, which mainly used the use of context strategy. The repetition and concentration strategy seemed effective for the participants’ vocabulary acquisition, whereas Group A struggled with maintaining the use of context strategy due to its costs. Thus, it can be concluded that vocabulary test format affects VLS use, and the difficulty of the format and learners’ proficiency will affect how much they learn. Therefore, when addressing vocabulary learning, it is necessary to consider both what VLS should be used and how challenging it is to use them.
