The Interstrategy Continuum: An Interpretation Of Chinese Students' Reactive Token Strategies In CET-SET Context

In recent years, there has been an increase of interest in the research domain ofreactive token (RT) strategies in test settings. At abroad, a large number of empiricalstudies have suggested that test scores are to some extent affected by examinees'RTstrategies during oral proficiency tests. At home, researchers of conversationalcommunication have started to realize the role of RT strategies in oral proficiencytests like the CET-SET (College English Test–Spoken English Test). However, noresearch has yet interpreted RT strategies in test settings from aninterlanguage-theoreticperspective,oneofthemost influential SLA(secondlanguageacquisition)perspectivesinthepastthreedecades.The present study aims at investigating Chinese EFL (English as a foreignlanguage)students'RTstrategiesinCET-SETcontextfromaninterlanguage-theoreticperspective with respect to the so-called RT interstrategy and RT interstrategycontinuum as well as the influence of RT strategies upon CET-SET evaluations. Inorder to elicit research data, a controlled experiment was conducted during theCET-SETheldinHunan Normal Universityon May21st,2006.Thesubjects were12Chinese EFL students with varying oral proficiency, who were evaluated by twoChinese EFL teachers. The students'test performance was videotape-recorded andtheir test scores given by the testers were taken notes of. In addition, they were askedto fill in a questionnaire on self-evaluation of RT strategies instantly after the test.Data were collected by transcribing test videotapes, encoding questionnaire results,andcomputingstandardCET-SETscores.A preliminary data analysis was first conducted on the correlation between thestudents'RTfrequencies andencodedquestionnaireresults toensurethat theobtainedlinguistic data were valid and reliable. A primary data analysis then followed toaddress the three research questions raised for the present study. Firstly, the students'overall RT frequency and the distribution of their RT types were calculated andcompared with the baseline data of native-Mandarin and native-English RT strategies provided by Clancy et al. (1996) to determine whether the Chinese EFL studentsemploy RT strategies in a way between Mandarin and English in CET-SET context.Secondly, the students'extreme RTs were searched through the test videotapetranscription to see whether the so-called RT interstrategy continuum exists in theChineseEFLstudents'RTstrategies. Finally,the correlationbetweenthe students'RTfrequencies and their CET-SET scores was examined to determine whether theChinese EFLstudents'RT strategies can influence their CET-SET evaluations. Basedoninterpretationfrom aninterlanguage-theoreticperspective,thepresentstudyfinallyarrives at several significant findings: 1) Chinese EFL students tend to partially useRTinterstrategies in CET-SETcontext; 2) There does exist a kind of RTinterstrategycontinuum in Chinese EFLstudents'RT strategies; 3) Those RT strategies noticeablebelow or above the native-English level tend to positively influence the CET-SETevaluations, whereas those RT strategies near the native-English level tend to eitherpositivelyornegativelyinfluencetheCET-SETevaluations.Theoretically, the findings of RT interstrategy and RT interstrategy continuumgreatly validate the widely accepted interlanguage theory. Practically, the finding ofthe influence of RT strategies upon CET-SET evaluations mayenlighten students andteachers alike with respect to oral proficiency testing and EFLclassroom instruction.Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed attheendofthisthesis.