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Investigating the performance of alternative types of grammar items

Some educational contexts almost mandate the application of multiple-choice (MC) testing techniques, even if they are deplored by many practitioners in the field. In such contexts especially, research into how well these types of item perform and how their performance may be characterised is both appropriate and desirable. The focus of this paper is on a modified type of MC item dubbed “multitrak”, which was used to test grammar in the Hungarian national admissions test for English between 1993 and 2004. Multitrak items were evaluated in relation to three better-known MC item types and were shown to provide more information about candidates in the ability range represented by Levels B2 and C1 on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), as well as allowing a focus on more difficult content than the other item types in the study.