Attitudes of Language Teachers toward Multiple-Choice Item Writing Guidelines: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Abstract

Previous research has shown that the construction of multiple-choice (MC) items is a very difficult task. As such, textbook writers have proposed some guidelines to help item writers to write more effective items. However, such guidelines reflect the intuition of their writers, and most of them are not necessarily supported by empirical research, and what is preached may not be practiced. The purpose of the present study was, therefore, to analyze the attitudes of language teachers in an EFL setting to better understand if they follow the guidelines when developing MC items. To that end, a 28-item, 5-point Likert type, researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data from 661 Iranian language teachers. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version, 25). Results from frequency tallies and percent values showed the significance of the majority of the guidelines in the construction of MC items. However, mixed results were reported for one of the guidelines, and another guideline was considered unimportant. Findings from factor analysis yielded four major factors underlying the guidelines: Developing plausible distractors, editing and proofreading guidelines, formatting and refining items, and avoiding clues to the correct response. Drawing on the findings, we discuss the pedagogical implications for how to best develop and fine-tune MC guidelines.