Systematic Literature Analysis of the on the Difficulty Policy of the English Language in the College Scholastic Ability Test(CSAT): From 1993 to 2022, focusing on domestic journals

Objectives This study aims to conduct a systematic literature analysis on the difficulty level of the College Scholastic Ability Test (hereinafter referred to as the ‘CSAT’) to examine domestic research trends, and to explore policies that have influenced the difficulty level of the CSAT and their effects. Methods To achieve this, a systematic literature analysis was conducted on domestic research papers related to the difficulty level of the CSAT published in domestic academic journals from the year of its introduction in 1993 to 2022. Based on the PRISMA guidelines, 56 overall SAT difficulty studies were selected and the first analysis was conducted. Among them, 24 papers on difficulty in the English domain were selected and the second analysis was conducted. Results Studies related to the difficulty level of the CSAT have been conducted across various subjects including Korean, English, mathematics, second foreign language, social studies, history, science, agriculture, and others. Among these, research on the difficulty level of the English subject comprised the largest portion with 24 articles (42.8%). A prominent characteristic of studies on the difficulty level of the CSAT English section is the prevalence of research exploring the correlation between CSAT policies and difficulty level. Conclusions First, the significant increase in studies on the difficulty level of the CSAT English section since 2014 has primarily focused on the linguistic characteristics of reading passages. Second, the policy that influenced the difficulty level of the CSAT English section is the policy associated with EBS (Educational Broadcasting System). Third, there was no significant change in the difficulty level of test items due to the CSAT English section being graded on an absolute scale.