Reading Assessment

Reading Assessment Group 8: Members: Chelsea, Jessie, Kevin, and Miranda

Principles & Variables • Reader variables (factors within the reader) A. Schemata and background knowledge B. Reader’s skills and abilities C. Reader’s purpose in reading

Principles & Variables • Text variables (aspects of the text) A. Text topic and content B. Text type and genre C. Text organization

Question Types • Introduction • Traditional paper-and-pencil test (discrete-point vs. integrated) A. Cloze 1. Strengths & Weaknesses 2. Sample from cram school B. Multiple-choice 1. Strengths & Weaknesses 2. Sample from cram school

Questions Types • Non-paper-and pencil test A. Read aloud B. Answer Questions on a passage C. Notes from the classroom observation D. Group reviews/meetings E. Interviews/conference with students

Works Cited Alderson, J. Charles. Assessing Reading. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Bailey, Kathleen M. Learning About Language Assessment: Dilemmas, Decisions, and Directions. United States of America: Heinle & Heinle, 1998. The Imitative English Test for JCEE. Liu-Yi Cram School: 1990.

Variables that affect the nature of reading Reader Variables (factors within the reader)

Schemata and background knowledge • The nature of the knowledge that readers have will influence not only what they remember of text, but the product – their understanding of the text – and the way they process it. • Schemata are seen as interlocking mental structures representing readers’ knowledge. • When readers process text, they integrate the new information from the text into their preexisting schemata. More than that, their schemata influence how they recognize information as well as how they store it.

Formal schemata • knowledge of language and linguistic conventions, including knowledge of how texts are organized, and what main features of particular genres are.

Knowledge of language • A reader’s linguistic knowledge continues to develop with age and experience: vocabulary size and depth develop, knowledge of the conventions associated with particular types of text develops well into adulthood, and the ability to process the more complex linguistic structures associated especially with written language must inevitable develop with increasing literacy. • Unknown words will obviously affect comprehension and take the pleasure out of reading.

Knowledge of language • Readers need to know 95% of the words in text to gain adequate comprehension and to be able to guess unknown words from context. • What learners need to know in order to read texts in their subject disciplines was knowledge of the language of that discipline: initially lexis, and then later syntactic and rhetorical features.

Knowledge of genre / text type

Content schemata • Readers need knowledge about the content of the passage to be able to understand it. Such knowledge does not simply need to be available – it needs to be activated by the reader, or the text, if it is to be used in accurate understanding.

Knowledge of subject matter / topic • If one knows absolutely nothing about the topic of a text, one will find it difficult to process. • Readers will find it easier to read texts in areas they are familiar with, for example those they have studied. • Subject matter familiarity. • Some texts outside their subject disciplines proved easier to understand than texts within the disciplines, despite being of roughly equivalent difficulty.

Knowledge of the world • Background knowledge, or knowledge of how the world works, has an effect is essential to reading. • Example: The policeman held up his hand and the car stopped. • Assumed that the car has a driver, and a policeman holding up his hand is a signal to the driver to stop the car.

Cultural knowledge • World knowledge typically refers to your world – the way your world works. Such knowledge may be limited. • Other people’s worlds may work differently due to personal history and experiences unique to one person. • Subjects were able to recall more, and more accurately, from the familiar setting than the unfamiliar one. • Reading texts in unfamiliar cultural settings can result in difficulty of processing and recalling.

Reader skills and abilities • Abilities to learn new knowledge and process information. • Much of reading is a general cognitive, problem-solving ability. • Skills: recalling word meanings, drawing inferences from the content; recognizing a writer’s purpose, tone and mod; following the structure of the passage.

Reader purpose in reading • The reason you are reading a text will influence the way you read it, the skills you require or use, and the ultimate understanding and recall you have of that text. • Objectives that direct students’ attention to aspects of text they would otherwise ignore have been shown to be somewhat effective in enhancing comprehension. • Students are encouraged to read the questions before they process text.

Text Variables(aspects of the text) Text topic and content Text type and genre Literary and non-literary texts Text organization

1.Text topic and content 1.1 Concrete texts Describing real objects, events or activities imaginable, interesting and readable. 1.2 Texts of everyday topics Located in familiar settings preferable and available

1.Text topic and content 1.3 Non-specialized texts of empirical studies Arts, humanities and social science of stronger possibility to read popular fiction, journalism,advertisements and simple expository prose than scientific and technical texts

1.Text topic and content 1.4 Texts of moderate explicitly- stated information More clearly stated less inference is needed Exception: legal textstexts appeal to commonly held assumptions are easier to process

2. Text type and genre 2.1 Narrative texts than expository ones are more recommended Conventionalized text units, simpler story grammars, ‘seeing’ scenes in head facilitate comprehension

3. Text organization 3.1 Two types Chronological ordering Texts organized according to the sequence of eventseasier to understand

3. Text organization Spatial ordering Descriptions of objects that follow a clear logical sequence, from outside in, or left to right easier to recall and understand

3. Text organization 3.2 Coherent texts are much easier to comprehend Texts presenting facts with little explanation of relationships between them enable readers to make many connecting inferences and induce schemata

3. Text organization 3.3 Texts with cohesive ties Lack of connectives may have weak effects to make bridging inferences since conjunctions do facilitate discourse processing average-ability readers vs. less familiar topics esp.

Question Types─ Traditional paper-and-pencil test

Cloze Types • Rational deletion ( selected deletion) ‧Discrete-point testing ‧Tends to test grammar abilities ‧Strengths: § A better understanding of “what is tested” § Useful in the entrance exam ‧Weaknesses § Poor reading comprehension § Only for the “test”

Cloze Types • Fixed ratio deletion (nth word deletion) ‧Integrative testing ‧Test one or more levels of language ‧Strengths § Easy to design § Better reading comprehension ‧Weaknesses § Too restrictive § Hard to score

Sample of Cloze Test “Most airplane crashes occur unexpectedly during takeoffs and landings. Although airplanes seldom break up on impact, they generally (21) immediately. Most fatalities are due to smoke (22) (“The Imitative”).” C21. (A) build a fire (B) set fire (C) catch fire (D) cease fire D 22. (A) inhibition (B) exhibition (C) exhalation (D) inhalation

Sample of Cloze Test “Since crashes usually occur with little or no warning. It is best to prepare (23) for the unthinkable. After (24) an airplane, study as much safety information as possible. (25) the four emergency exists that are nearest to your seat and know how they operate. Instructions are printed on the safety information card which is located In the each seat-pocket. The card also provides valuable information about such things as flotation collars and life rafts (“The Imitative”).” A 23. (A) in advance (B) on purpose (C) right away (D) once in a blue moon A 24. (A) boarding (B) landing (C) embarking (D) disembarking B 25. (A)Located (B) Locate (C) locating (D) To locate

Multiple-choice • Strengths ‧Easy and fast to score ‧Objectively ‧Reduce the chance of guessing correct answer in comparison to true-false items ‧Students’ preference • Weaknesses ‧Subjective judgment hides under the appearance of objectiveness ‧Hard to design

Sample of Multiple-choice “Have you ever told somebody one of the following “facts”? “Some people never dream.”“Lightning never strikes in the same place twice.”“Until Columbus, everybody thought the world was flat.”“William Tell shot an arrow through an apple on top of his son’s head.”“George Washington confessed to his father that he had cut down a cherry tree.” None of them is true! Everybody dreams every night; some people just can’t remember their dreams. The Eiffel Tower is just one example of a structure that has been stuck many times by lightning. A thousand years before Columbus, there were scholars who, after much study, thought the world was round; by Columbus’ time, most educated people agreed. That famous Swiss hero William Tell never existed! Legends about people shooting apples are common in Switzerland and other countries. George Washington never cut down a cherry tree— a writer of a biography about Washington invented that story. Now, people often say that heroes can sleep standing up— but is this true? (“The Imitative”)”

Sample of Multiple-choice C 53. The best title is (A) Facts Everyone Knows. (B) Remembering Dreams. (C) “Facts” That Aren’t True. (D) Heroes of history A 54. The story about George Washington was made up by (A) a biographer. (B) Washington himself. (C) a Swiss storyteller (D) Washington’s father B 55. The story suggests that the answer to the last question (A) is yes. (B) is no. (C) is well-known (D)cannot be proven.

Non-paper-and-pencil Reading Assessment: Techniques used in the informal assessment of readers Techniques for instruction-based ongoing assessment of readers, especially those who are learning to read, or those with particular reading disability.

1. Read Aloud: The learners need to read some certain texts loudly. (Different from reading silently.) Strength– Teacher can find which word or which part that students are not familiar with. Weakness— 1.Some learners or readers are too shy to perform well in public. 2. It is a subjective and impressionistic judgment to students. 3. Teacher don’t know if students understand or not.

2. Answer the questions on a passage (possibly in pairs, orally): The teacher can ask learners some questions related to the texts. Strength—It is easy to find out the learner’s abilities of reading comprehension. Weakness— The learners need time to response. It is sometimes time-consuming.

3. Notes from Classroom Observation: Teachers frequently keep records of their learners’ performance, based on observation and description of classroom behaviors. Strength— • It is a fairly comprehensible profile and a record of monitored progress. • It is easy to see the improvement and reading diets of student (how much can they read during a particular period). Weakness— It may include some subjective points of view from teacher to certain students.

4. Group Reviews/Meetings: Forming some groups to discuss the content of a passage. Strength— • It is one of the simplest and most effective ways of obtaining a wealth of information. • It can help to solve individual difficulties. Besides, students can learn better reading habits or strategies from their peers. Weakness— Students can be misled by their group members.

5. Interviews/Conferences with students : Strength— It can reveal students’ reading disabilities or difficulties. Weakness— • Contributions of group members may not be fair. • Some people may not feel comfortable or easy to have conference with the teacher. • If the teacher asked too many closed questions, it would not be very useful for students’ reading comprehension. Open-ended and Wh-questions are recommended.

Reading Assessment