Variation of Scores in Language Achievement Tests according to Gender, Item

Statement of the Problem

Sunderland (1994) claims that even if the effects of gender differences are everywhere, it is ironic that gender appears rarely in writing and thinking on English language teaching: the fact that gender is often neglected as a variable in language learning by writers and language researchers has been pointed out by Nyikos as well (2008). Likewise, even if there are few studies about the effects of item format and skill areas on achievement of learners (Graham, 1997; Ryan & Demark, 2002), the relationship between gender, item format and skill areas has not been studied before. Careful analysis of these factors will be valuable for stakeholders while making decisions or evaluations based on test scores.
Although the studies conducted on gender and language learning mostly report a female dominance in terms of success in language learning, recent research points in a more complex direction, suggesting that males and females might differ in completing specific learning tasks and in different learning contexts (Gu, 1996).

Ignoring any potential differences between male and female scores, or possible relationships between item format, skill areas and gender may result in biased tests advantaging one gender or disadvantaging the other one unintentionally. Gender, in this study, is not only a biologically based term, but it also includes socially constructed roles (e.g. identity, reasoning skills, spatial skills) created by the ways sexes are raised from birth and socialized within a certain culture (Ellis, 1994).

Hence, differences in language achievement, if any, caused by gender may reflect social factors which depend on the culture of the setting where teaching takes place. There has not been a study done in the Turkish educational and cultural context that looks at whether language learners’ achievement scores vary depending on gender or whether gender interacts with other test features such as item format or target skill.
This study attempts to address the following research questions:

1. 
   How do Turkish EFL learners’ scores on language achievement tests vary according to
   
   1. 
      Gender?
      

2. 
   Item Format?
   

3. 
   Skill Areas?
   

2. 
   To what extent do male and females’ scores vary according to item format?
   

3. 
   To what extent do male and females’ scores vary according to skill areas?