The number of options in multiple choice items in language tests: does it make any difference? Evidence from Thailand

Language Testing in Asia

Table 3 Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of the experimental tests

	No. of items	3-option test	4-option test	5-option test
Structure section	31	0.872	0.890	0.885
Reading section	8	0.532	0.375	0.444
Overall	39	0.887	0.887	0.890
p < 0.05 Confidence intervals:
Structure section		0.786 – 0.925	0.818 – 0.935	0.799 – 0.935
Reading section		0.303 – 0.703	0.121 – 0.583	0.173 – 0.652
Overall		0.810 – 0.934	0.813 – 0.933	0.807 – 0.938