Personality Differences on the English Reading Comprehension Test Performance of Korean Learners

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence on the hypothesis that learners’ personality types have influences on their L2 reading comprehension test results, varying with the task types. The specific research questions investigated are 1) Is there any relationship between personality distinction and L2 reading comprehension test scores?, and 2) Do the effects of personality types vary according to the task types in a reading comprehension test? Twenty five female high school students participated in the study. Thirty three reading comprehension test items from a set of mock tests were used and categorized into five task types. A simplified, free version of MBTI test was used to classify the students’ personality types. The results show that Introverts were better on task type 1 such as ‘mood, impression, tone of a reading passage’. The Intuition group performed better on the task type 2 items than the Sensing group, which is reasonable in that the logical inference is more related with abstract and conceptual processing of information. Therefore, personality factors could be considered in teaching and preparing reading comprehension tests. Teachers should give an instruction to students on the ways learners’ personality factors interact with task types in high-stakes tests.