英語聽力測驗焦慮量表建構與驗證：一個多向度分析

Abstract

近七年來，臺灣的升學考試加考英語聽力，以測驗國中與高中畢業學生之英語文能力，已成為當前趨勢。聽力測驗廣為人知的特性之一，正是聽覺訊息的稍縱即逝，也因此，考生必須於有限的答題時間內即時理解以利作答。面對如此具有相當難度且需要高度專注的考試情境，考生極有可能產生負面的心理情感，尤其是測驗焦慮。有鑑於此，學習者與教育者實有必要深入瞭解引發聽力測驗焦慮的根本潛在因素。 據文獻定義，測驗焦慮為特定情境中的一種焦慮特性。廣義測驗焦慮所涵蓋的向度，最初乃基於認知─情意二分法之概念，被認定為「擔憂」與「情緒性」；後又被細分為四個向度，包括隸屬於認知方面的「擔憂」與「無關考試的想法」，以及隸屬於情意方面的「情緒性」與「生理症狀」。聚焦於臺灣「以英語為外語(EFL)」的學習環境，以及國高中學生英語聽力測驗之考試情境，本研究旨在探討過去文獻中所認定測驗焦慮之構念，是否能確實反映聽力測驗焦慮之因素結構。 本研究經由改編現有相關文獻中之量表題目，建構一聽力測驗焦慮量表，並以試題反應理論為基礎，透過驗證性因素分析與多向度羅序模式分析，進行量表驗證，以驗明英語聽力測驗焦慮之構成因素。研究結果顯示，研究假設之四向度因素結構，包含「擔憂」、「情緒性」、「無關考試的想法」與「生理症狀」，最適配聽力測驗焦慮之多向度結構。此外，共有16題經篩選為正式之聽力測驗焦慮量表(LTAS)題目；依統計數據顯示，該16題量表題目與其個別相對應之向度間，具有顯著的因素負荷量，證實本研究建構之聽力測驗焦慮量表(LTAS)確具備聚歛效度。 本研究在教學實務上的涵義有二。其一，英語學習者得利用聽力測驗焦慮量表(LTAS)，使自己更加了解引發聽力測驗焦慮的因素，從而調整應考策略。其二，英語教育者可深入了解學生對於聽力測驗的感知，從而調整教學方法，以協助學生適應聽力測驗情境。 未來研究可以本研究為基礎，延續探討聽力測驗焦慮相關議題，甚或是將觀點擴展至貫穿學習歷程所可能發生的焦慮症狀。

Over the recent seven years, assessing secondary school students’ English listening comprehension competence has become a trend in admission tests in Taiwan. Listening tests generally feature the transiency of audio input and inevitably require instant comprehension within limited response time; with such demanding situational characteristics, negative mental feelings, especially test anxiety, can possibly be induced in test takers. In this regard, it is therefore essential that learners and teachers be well aware of the factors underlying listening test anxiety arousal. Test anxiety, as typically conceptualized in literature, is a situation-specific form of anxiety trait. The dimensionality of general test anxiety was initially posited as the cognitive-affective dichotomy of worry and emotionality, and further subdivided into four components, with worry and test-irrelevant thinking as cognitive components while emotionality and bodily symptoms as affective components. Targeting at the EFL learning context in Taiwan and the English testing context of secondary school students’ listening comprehension tests, the present study aims to verify whether the test anxiety construct recognized in previous studies can well mirror the factorial structure of listening test anxiety. To identify the components of English listening test anxiety, a rating scale addressing listening test anxiety symptoms was constructed through adapting scale items in existing literature on general test anxiety, and was validated through confirmatory factor analysis and multidimensional Rasch analysis based on Item Response Theory. The results indicated that the hypothesized four-factor model, bearing four dimensions including worry, emotionality, test-irrelevant thinking and bodily symptoms, best captured the multidimensionality of listening test anxiety. Also, a total of 16 items were selected as the finalized items forming the newly constructed Listening Test Anxiety Scale (LTAS); with the statistical proof of significant factor loadings between these items and their corresponding dimensions, the convergent validity of the LTAS was proved to be existing. The pedagogical implications of the current study lies in two folds. First, by utilizing the LTAS, English learners can better understand the factor(s) causing their arousal of anxiety, and thereby adjust their test taking strategies. Second, teachers can know more about learners’ perception toward listening tests, and thereby adjust their instructional methods in order to assist learners in accommodating themselves to listening test situations. The present study serves as a preliminary foundation for future research on the current issue and also on broader views of anxiety symptoms occurring throughout the learning process.