Item Analysis of the Arabic Final Exams for the Third Year Secondary School Students of Kuwait in view of Linguistic Thinking and Creativity Skills

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the final exam questions in Arabic subject for the third year secondary school students in Kuwait, during the period from 2008/2009 to 2012/2013, in order to reveal the extent to which these questions represent linguistic thinking and creativity skills. To achieve this, a checklist of linguistic thinking and creativity skills and an evaluative form for analyzing the final exam questions were designed by the author. The tools were adequately validated and used to analyze a total sample of 388 exam questions. The results of study indicate that the final exam questions in Arabic for third year secondary school students focus mainly on ability to process and apply information, and do not measure the linguistic creativity skills such as fluency, originality, and flexibility. Moreover, exam questions in Arabic language do not fully observe the standard rules for constructing good items. Implications of the findings for Arabic teachers are discussed.