4.3. Part 5 Results of the Pre-Test and the Post-Test
The pre-test included 40 Part 5 grammar questions following the TOEIC format, and the same ques-
tions were used in the post-test. As explained earlier, out of the 40 questions, 20 questions are repeated and
the other 20 questions are new. Over all, the students’ scores increased by 23.5% (=Post-test Average of
57.2% ― Pre-test Average of 33.7%) after the review sessions. See Table 3 for individual student’ scores of
the pre-test and the post-test. The students’ TOEIC reading scores are used again as a criterion.
The average rate of the correct answers for the pre-test is 33.7%. Because this pre-test was adminis-
tered at the very beginning of the intensive course, all 40 questions were new and unfamiliar to the students
at that point. The following Graph 4 shows the relation between the students’ TOEIC reading scores and
the percentages of the Part 5 correct answers in the pre-test. The solid line is an approximation of the re-
sults.
The results thus show that, even though there may be a general tendency that the students with higher
TOEIC reading scores did slightly better than those with lower scores, over all, students’ TOEIC scores
seem to have little correlation to how well they did on the pre-test grammar questions. On the other hand,
the post-test results indicate a clearer correlation with the students’ TOEIC reading scores (Graph 5). The
students with higher TOEIC reading scores do much better than those with lower scores.
When we compare the results of the two tests, the differences between the pre-test and the post-test as
well as the correlation with the students’ TOEIC reading scores become clear. The ones with higher TOE-
IC reading scores clearly demonstrate higher accuracy rates in the post-test, suggesting that they perform
better after working on practice tests and reviewing the practice test questions (Graph 6).
Out of the 40 Part 5 questions, the increase in the number of correct answers from the pre-test to the
post-test is 9.4 on average. Graphs 7 and 8 show each student’s increase in the number of correct answers.
The students with higher TOEIC reading scores had a greater increase in the number of correct answers
than those with lower scores.
Because the Part 5 questions consist of both the repeated questions and the new questions, this next
section looks at the results of the repeated and new questions separately. For the 20 repeated questions,
the students increased the number of correct answers on the post-test by 7.3. The analysis of the repeated
questions indicates that the students with higher TOEIC reading scores tend to obtain a higher number of
correct answers (Graph 9). For the 20 new questions, the students’ increase in the number of correct an-
swers is only 1.9. No differences are observable between the students with higher TOEIC reading scores
and those with lower scores (Graph 10.) In fact, the two students with the highest TOEIC reading scores
in the group (192.5 and 187.5, both of which are higher than the department average) demonstrated zero
increase for the new questions. Two students with lower TOEIC reading scores (97.5 and 101.7) showed
negative gains on the new questions. No obvious contributing factors, therefore, are identifiable for the in-
crease/decrease in the number of correct answers.
Graph 11 below combines Graph 9 and Graph 10, showing the students TOEIC reading scores and
’
the differences of the results for the repeated questions and for the new questions.
Additionally, the increases in the number of correct answers for the repeated questions and for the
new questions are compared in Graph 12. There seems no correlation between the two, and those who had
a greater increase on the repeated questions did not do any better on the new questions. Therefore, for the
new questions no apparent differences are identifiable between the students with lower TOEIC reading
scores and those with higher scores in spite of the fact that the students with higher TOEIC reading scores