Outline for Oral Presentation

Testing Reading

Introduction

Testing reading is important to do, in order to evaluate the aspects that can be
used to arise the effective way of analyzing and identifying the needs to be put into
account concern reading.

Testing of reading, then, may involve speaking and listening because when
someone is tested in reading such as reading aloud then s/he seems to speak and
listen to some items that will be tested such as the intonation, stress, sounds, applying
phonics, etc.
In doing test of reading, it is urged to decide what to assess so that we can
determine the type of the test appropriately to take out.

Teaching is about design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). Teachers design learning
experiences to support students in meeting the goals of the content, and the school. As
teachers, we have unique expertise: we are at the nexus of understanding the needs of
our students and the demands of the content. No one is better positioned to craft
learning experiences that support academic growth of the particular students in our
classrooms. That’s a weighty responsibility, but it is also a wonderful opportunity. If we
position ourselves as the design experts in our classroom, then we get to take
ownership of our planning and instruction.

One critical component of instructional design is text selection. The text that we
choose can have a significant impact on the success or failure of a lesson. Text that are
.purposely that allows students to further their understanding of the content being
studied and that are engaging and are accessible can go a long way toward providing a
meaningful learning experience for students. On the other hand, texts that are too
difficult, too long, too boring and too biased are unlikely to engage even the most
dedicated students in meaningful learning.

Presentation proper

One critical component of instructional design is text selection. If we are to be

successful designers, we need to be as thoughtful about the texts we select as we are
about preparing for other aspects of our lessons.

Criteria for Selection of Reading Texts

One of the most important topics in teaching reading is text selection, the process by
which teachers choose what their students will read. What students read will also
determine how well they read it.

1. Text as vehicle for teaching language structure and vocabulary.

(Explanation: This are sometimes justified for classroom use on the

grounds that they are not primarily for reading but are exponents of the
structure of language.)

2. Text which teach language through reading.

(Explanation: We select text, not for any distinctive linguistic features,

but because they promote reading.)

3. Text which offer high-interest content.

(Explanation: The text must interesting enough for the learners to want
to read it.)
(Readability, Suitability and Exploitability)

 Readability- Quite simply this means that the text (song or poem, in
this case) is able to be read.

(Explanation : The reading passages selected should not only be

linguistically and culturally accessible but also within the
students’ reach in terms of content, topic familiarity, and
conceptual difficulty. However, over-explicit texts are to be
avoided because they do not allow for adequate training in the
different sub-skills and strategies especially inferencing. As a
matter of fact, in many classrooms, texts are made increasingly
easy for students in the mistaken belief that this supports
struggling students who encounter problems in reading.
However, oversimplification results in texts that lack any
challenge, interest or exemplars of good writing. It is better to
prepare students for a text and teach them how to read it until
they can make those choices for themselves.)

Maybe the children won’t be actually reading it maybe they will

just be listening to it, or watching it on a video. In that case the
words have to be clear to hear, not muffled or inaudible. For
example: If the class is reading or sharing a poem & the words
need to be clear like in a (big enough) big boo', or with a Power
Point, or in big clear print on the board. And there should not be
words that are too
 difficult, or too many words. If the class is listening to a song, the
words should be clear to hear.
Almost all of the words should be known to the children (pre-
teach the few that are not known, let the children try to guess or
word out their meaning from the context etc.) Again there should
not be words that are too long, or too many words. -however you
can have a long song with many verses, and each verse changes
just a little. There are a great many songs and poems out there
that would not really be considered readable’ for young learners.

 Suitability of Content- The content needs to be appropriate to their

age, maturity, and culture.

(Explanation: We need to remember that what they learn through

songs will especially stick in their heads, so we want to fill their
head with good and worthwhile material. Even when we find a
song that is very readable’, we still need to think about whether
the content is suitable for our young learners.)

 Exploitability- One need to consider how we are going to exploit the

song or poem. Sometimes it may simply be for fun and motivation, for
social enjoyment within the classroom.

(Explanation: Exploitability is also a very important criterion that

should be considered in text selection. Texts that do not lend
themselves well to different forms of exploitation are useless for
teaching intensive reading and ought to be discarded.)

(That is a worthy enough purpose. But most of the time we will

have an idea to use the song to teach specific areas of language.
Every exploitable song may be one that is versatile, that can even
be adapted and changed by substituting words and extending
ideas. An example could be Old MacDonald had a Farm. On the
one hand there is the great variety of animals and their sounds
that teachers have inserted into the song, on the other hand there
are innumerable variations to the song that have been written and
taught to children over the years. Even the children themselves
are capable of adding verses.)

 Length/Size:
The texts that the students have to handle must be of reasonable
length.

(Explanation: The rationale behind this is to secure variations in

reading speed rate and to process texts for different purposes.)
 4. Text which are authentic.

(Explanation: Authentic texts are vital because they motivate students,

offer a real context, and prepares students to read outside classroom,
intend to communicate meaning.)

5. Text which has varied reading genres.

(Explanation: This criterion has to do with text types. The reason for
exposing students to a variety of text types can be amply substantiated.
First and foremost students are allowed exposure to and training in
different types of text, such as narrative descriptive, argumentative,
expository, etc. By the same token, the use of different text types
makes different demands on the readers, requires different procedures
and approaches, and calls for different reading strategies.)

According to Brown, it is necessary to mention different types of genres

of written texts since “it is the genres which ultimately form part of the
specifications for assessments of reading ability” (Brown 2004:196). He
divides genres of reading into three groups:

1. Academic reading
· general interest articles (in magazines, newspapers)
· technical reports (lab reports, professional journal articles)
· reference material (dictionaries)
· textbooks, theses, essays, papers, test directions

2. Job-related reading
· messages (phone messages)
· letters/emails
· manuals, directions, directories, financial documents
· reports (job evaluations, project reports)

3. Personal reading
· newspaper and magazines
· letters, emails, greeting cards, invitations, messages, notes, lists
· schedules, recipes, menus, maps, calendars, advertisements
· novels, short stories, jokes, drama, poetry
· questionnaires, forms, medical reports, immigration documents
(Brown 2004:186-187)

Significant factors in the Reading Selection Process

Factors directly related to the students:

 Students’ Level- The teacher needs to be aware of the students’ level
and acknowledge that fact when selecting the materials for the reading
class. Once they have determined the students ‘ level, they can
choose
appropriate sources to select reading materials for each particular
group of students (Melvin and Stout, 1987).

(Explanation: Asking the students to read material that goes

beyond their level might be counterproductive since learners may
feel that they are simply incapable of reading in the target
language.)

 Students’ Interest- Interest is closely related to motivation. When the

topic of a passage is not of interest to students, their motivation to read
is substantially lessened (Day, 1994).

(Explanation: Without this motivation, it is exceedingly difficult to

meet one of the generally accepted aims of a reading program: to
help get the learners to read in English on their own, outside the
reading classroom.)

 Student’s Needs- The mismatch between students ‘expectations in

regards to their needs and interests can result in students ‘frustration,
which might imply failure on a reading course (Grellet, 1981).

(Explanation: Teachers should be aware of the students ' needs

to be able to help them fulfill these needs by providing
appropriate materials.

 Students’ Background Knowledge- “Background knowledge is an

important part of the students ‘ability to read and understand a
particular text (Fox, 1989).

(Explanation: It is possible and not uncommon for a reader to

understand every word in a passage, without really
understanding what the words mean. For this reason, the role of
the teacher is to consider students ' background knowledge when
selecting materials for the reading class. This does not imply that
it is not possible to use texts for which the students or the
instructor himself lack the background knowledge, but rather that
it is the teacher 's responsibility to provide the students with the
information required for comprehending a particular text. Pre-
reading activities are particularly useful for this purpose.
 The issue of students ' background knowledge should be
considered in the text selection process and course design due
to the fact that background knowledge plays a critical role in the
reading comprehension process. This aspect is particularly
important when the)

Factors related to the text:

 Relevance- The topic, the type of text and the information it sustains
make the text relevant. The readings should be related to real world
reading purposes.
(Explanation: Students must find that the reading material used
in the course is relevant for their lives.)

 Content- If the selected content is interesting for the students, they will
be successful in the reading process no matter how difficult the text
rnight be.

(Explanation: When the students are required to read a complex

text that is at the same time interesting for them or that refers to
knowledge required in other classes, they will probably make
more effort to comprehend it, and they will probably use a variety
of strategies to digest it.)

 Authenticity- The rationale for selecting authentic material may include

the following: Students need to be able to comprehend real-life
language, Teachers can take advantage of the grammatical aspects
found in the texts and students will be prepared to read any type of
text.

(Explanation: Authentic material, i.e. material which is not

adapted or intended for mere linguistic purposes, despite its
complexity and the demand it puts on the readers, is highly
recommended and should be provided enough room in the
syllabus. Faced with authentic passages, the students are
exposed to natural input, real-life language data where the text
language, with all its system of references, repetition,
redundancy, as well as discourse markers that learners draw
upon when reading, is kept unchanged and un adapted.)
 Reading Assessment Techniques
In testing reading, some points should be understood in order to be best in conducting
the test. Starting to make preparation such as decide what to assess, determining the
level of testee, and providing them the understanding of doing the test.

Dealing with what to assess, there are some types of tests that can be conducted such
as Reading Decoding which aims to assess whether the children are able to code or
decipher sounds and phonics in a letter and or words or not and there are at least six
steps to do to prepare the test. The next test is Reading Fluency which aims to assess
the accuracy and automatic decoding of the words in the text, along with expressive
interpretation of the text, to achieve optimal comprehension and there are at least seven
instructions to be followed in conducting the test. Reading Speed is one of the tests in
testing reading. This test aims to assess the speed; how many words attained or read in
minute and of course clearly and accurately. There are at least six steps to follow to
prepare the test. The last type of reading test is Reading Comprehension that is the
general testing of reading because this includes the ability to decode, fluency, and
speed. It is not only three of the things mentioned before but it is more to how to
understand what is read.

Four types of ability will represent in what to test in testing reading and the first three
types are the basics to reading comprehension.
Reading Decoding. This is the basic reading ability. Reading decoding is the ability to
decipher the sounds represented by each letter or combination of letters in a word. For
years, it was thought that if children could learn to decode words accurately, they would
be successful in reading printed text. While it is true that accuracy in decoding is
important for fluency, readers not only need to decode words accurately, and they also
need to decode them automatically with ease. In reading decoding, tester would like to
assess whether the children are able to code or decipher sounds and phonics in a letter
and or words. This type of test is not only for merely children but this is also fit to adults
who are still having problems in spelling some distinct letters or alphabets. In
conducting this test, a tester should have some preparations and steps as follow:
1. Providing and showing letters or alphabets. Make them as clear as possible to
see and if it is needed, make them in one by one big size
2. Allowing the candidates spell the letters prior to giving them correct spelling.
3. Writing all misspelling letters and aspects that the candidates did.
4. Allowing the candidates to repeat spelling from the beginning to three times.
5. Concluding all aspects that candidates did during spelling the letters. Telling them
what letters were misspelled?
6. In order to let the candidates learn, tester should teach them how to correctly spell
the letters.
Tests used to measure the candidates’ reading comprehension should be based on
candidates’ level and provide various techniques.

Reading Fluency. Reading fluency refers to accurate and automatic decoding of the
words in the text, along with expressive interpretation of the text, to achieve optimal
comprehension. Wagaman (2013) in eHow Contributor defined fluency as the
combination of speed of reading and the ability to read with expression. In this test,
candidates are supposed to read with appropriate phrasing and interpretation. Fluent
reading requires speedy recognition of words, decoding accuracy, and oral
expressiveness; these are to be assessed. One of the simple tests to assess
children’s reading fluency is by oral reading. This is also important to improve their
reading speed adn develop stronger vocabulary. The way is simple where the parent
reads out loud at the rate they'd like their child to attain. This is done while their child
reads along with them. This should model what reading fluency looks like. It helps
the child read at a faster rate. This activity should be done with a grade appropriate
book so that the child does not get frustrated. Wagaman recommeded some
instructions in conducting reading fluency test as follow:

1. Choosing a book or passage for the student to read. The child may need to read
several different levels of books before the proper reading level is determined, so
it is a good idea to have several levels on hand prior to beginning the test. The
optimal level is one in which the child is able to read fluently, but not perfectly.
Perfect reading would indicate the child has mastered this level of reading,
known as the independent level.

2. Telling the child to begin reading aloud while starting a stopwatch. The amount of
time it takes the student to read the book will help determine the child's fluency.

3. Take a running record while the child is reading. A running record is a written
record of the child's reading. It is basically a shorthand method of writing down
everything the child reads, correctly and incorrectly. Some of the basic notations
include a check mark for a correctly read word, a dash for a word left out, and a
carrot to insert a word if the child adds an extra word to the sentence. If the word
was read incorrectly, you should write whatever the child said, phonetically. For
example, if the word was "house," you might right "hos." If the child self-corrects,
or says a word incorrectly but then repeats it correctly, add the letters SC next to
the notation, indicating the fact that the student corrected himself.

4. Observe the student's ability to read with expression. Expressive reading

involves changes of pitch, volume, rhythm and tone of voice while reading.
Students who do not read with expression will often sound choppy or speak in a
monotone. Reading with expression should sound like normal conversation.
5. Determine reading accuracy. After the child has completed the reading, you need
to decide if any of the mistakes changed the meaning of the story. Errors that do
not change the meaning do not count against the student for determining fluency.
Examples of mistakes that do not change the meaning include mispronounced
names. A 90 percent to 96 percent accuracy rate is considered instructional
level, or the level at which the child should read at school. To determine accuracy
rate, divide the number of words read correctly by the total number of words. So
for example, if the student read 187 words correctly out of a total of 200 words,
the student's accuracy rate is 94 percent. This would be a book at an
instructional level for this child.

6. Determine reading rate. To determine the child's reading rate, you need to know
how many total words there were in the story that the child read, how many words
the child read correctly and how long it took the child to read the story. Then divide
the total number of words read correctly by the total amount of time it took to read
the story. Continuing our example from above, if the student read 187 words
correctly in a minute and a half, the student read 125 words per minute. This is in the
instructional range for a fifth grader.

7. Determine reading fluency by looking at the accuracy rate, reading rate and child's
ability to read with expression. The accuracy and reading rates should be in the
instructional range, and the child should read with some expression to be considered
to be reading fluently.

Tests used to measure the candidates’ reading fluency should be based on

candidates’ level and provide various techniques.

Reading Speed. This test is almost the same as testing reading fluency but the
speed in time is prominent. Hughes (2003) explained speed as follow: Reading
speed may be expressed in words per minute. Different speed will be expected for
careful and expeditious reading. In the case of the latter, the candidates is, of
course, not expected to read all of the words. The expected speed of reading will
combine with the number and difficulty of the items to determine the amount of time
needed for the test, or part of it. (Hughes, 2003, p. 141) Speed reading is the art of
silencing sub vocalization (Spreeder.Com, 2010- 2012). Nordquist in About.Com
said that sub vocalization means saying words silently to oneself while reading
(Nordquist, R. 2013) but sub vocalization is unnecessary to the adult reader, except
perhaps when reading poetry (Shepherd & Mitchell, 1997). One of the best
techniques in fasting reading is to less eyes movement. Cutler (1993) flatten the
study result that slow reader may make as many or more visual stops per line as
there are letters in the words on that line. Good reader may stop (fixate) only once
every two or three words, taking larger visual “bites” as they move forward. Excellent
readers seldom stop (visually fixate) more that twicw per line, and only once on the
shorter line-lenghts. In testing reading speed, the only thing to assess is the speed.
 How many words per minute a reader can read clearly and accurately. There are at
least some preparations to conduct the reading speed such as follow:

1. Determining the level of candidates that is intended to test.

2. Providing stop-watch in order to count minute and a recorder to record.
3. Providing any text that depends on candidates’ level.
4. Asking the candidates one by one to read as a tester starting to turn on
the watch.
5. Asking the candidate to stop reading as the time is enough for a minute.
6. Counting how mwny words that the candidate has read during minute.

Tests used to measure the candidates’ reading speed should be based on

candidates’ level and provide various techniques. This website
http://www.studygs.net/reading.htm and http://www.readingsoft.com/ are
recommended if anyone wants to test his/her reading speed by online.

Reading Comprehension. It is better to define comprehension in terms of reading

that it refers to be able to find meaning of what is read or the ability to understand
what is being read, Gunning (2010) said that comprehension is a constructive
process in which students create meaning based on their background knowledge.
He further said that the more background knowledge you bring to an article or story,
the better you will understand it. It indeed needs time to be being comprehension,
Blachowicz & Ogle (2008) stated that comprehension does not happen in one point;
rather, it is a process that takes place over time. It of course needs times to be able
to comprehend what is read so it needs to read as a habit.

In testing reading comprehension, there are some tasks to assess as Snow (2002)
stated that ...widely used comprehension assessments are heavily focused on only a
few tasks: reading for immediate recall, reading for the gist of the meaning, and
reading to infer or disambiguate word meaning. In doing these tasks, tester should
prepare such as the followings as Mohamad (1999) recommended:
1. Ensuring that we select an appropriate text.
2. Making sure that the language used in the text is suitably pitched to our students'
proficiency.
3. Scrutinizing carefully the text to ensure that the information in each paragraph is
tested.

ELT methodologists recognize two types of testing reading according to its production.
First type is oral production and thus oral testing which concerns expressing pupils´
opinions, attitudes, ideas and feelings about the read material. The most common type
of oral testing is retelling content of a text. Nevertheless, Heaton warns that in order to
provide authenticity, teachers should assign tasks which pupils might encounter in real
life and not to focus only on pure talking about a particular text (Heaton 1990:92).
Secondly, it is written production. The most widely spread formats of reading
comprehension tests will be discussed in this presentation.

Reading tests may sometimes integrate testing language sub skills, in particular
vocabulary and grammar. Heaton claims that “tests of vocabulary often provide a good
guide to reading ability” since it is important to show not only knowledge of the meaning
but also knowledge of collocations (Heaton 1990:79). When constructing a reading test
that integrates vocabulary, it is necessary to decide which words students are expected
to use (active or productive vocabulary) and which words they are expected to
recognize (passive or receptive vocabulary) (ibid.).

Reading assessment techniques are used to help determine where a child is in his or
her reading development.

As we strive to understand and use reading assessment, it is important to consider

three questions.
First, why do we assess reading? (All reading assessment should be conducted with
the purpose of helping students achieve in reading.)

Second, what do we assess when we assess reading? (Asking this question allows
us to focus on reading program goals and outcomes and what we hope for our students
as we teach and support their reading development.)

Third, how, where, and when do we assess reading?

Why do we assess reading?

Representative Audiences and Purposes for Reading Assessment
Assessment Audience Assessment Purpose

Students To report on learning and communicate progress

To motivate and encourage
To learn about assessment and how to self-assess
To build independence in reading

Teachers To determine the nature of student learning

To inform instruction
To evaluate students and construct grades
To diagnose students' strengths and weaknesses in reading

Parents To be informed about children's achievements

 To help connect home efforts with school efforts to support children's reading
development

Source: Modified from Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K–12 (p. 6), by P. Afflerbach, 2007,
Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Copyright 2007 by the International Reading Association.

What do we assess when we assess Reading?—The focus of assessment

-We should plan to assess what we plan to teach.
-The question of what we assess when we assess reading must be asked because it
can help us become better at assessment. This question helps us prioritize our reading
instruction goals and focus on the most appropriate assessment materials and
procedures. Schools use an array of assessments conducted across the school year,
from reading inventories at the beginning of the year to standardized, norm-referenced
tests at the end of the year. An accounting is necessary to optimize this variety of
assessments that are intended to serve different audiences and purposes.

Assessment is a measure of students' …

 Cognitive Reading Strategies and Skills: (Phonemic awareness, phonics,
sight-word recognition, and fluency (National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development [NICHD], 2000), as well as vocabulary knowledge (Stahl & Bravo,
2010) and literal and inferential comprehension (Snow, 2002). The assessment
options to be used are tests and quizzes, portfolios, performance assessments,
teacher questions, reading inventories, teacher observations.
 Motivation for Reading: portfolios, teacher questions, teacher observations
 Social Uses of Reading: portfolios, performance assessments, teacher
questions, teacher observations
 Independence in Reading: portfolios, performance assessments, teacher
observations
 Reading in Collaborative Learning Environments: portfolios, performance
assessments, teacher questions, teacher observations
 Choosing Reading Over Attractive Alternatives: portfolios, teacher questions,
teacher observations

How, Where, and When Do We Assess Reading?

This is where the logical relationship among why we assess, what we assess, and how
we assess should be evident. If we assess students' reading comprehension strategies
and skills to determine the general success of a district wide reading program, then
standardized and norm-referenced tests might be the first choice of school
administrators and other educational decision makers. Such tests, administered toward
the end of the school year, seem well suited to the task. Test scores tell us whether
certain cognitive strategies and skills have been learned. In contrast, if we assess
students' progress to gauge the effectiveness of daily reading lessons, then our
assessment must be sensitive to the detailed goals of the lessons, and the information
provided by the assessment must be immediately useful. Here, we could focus on
questions about the contents of the chapter being read, with students' responses
providing formative assessment information.

There are numerous methods and forms of reading tasks that can be used in assessing
students understanding of a text. These techniques may take formal or informal forms.
Sally and Katie (2008) state some of these tasks:

1. Yes-No Questions

These are questions that should be answered with either yes or no. However, teachers
are recommended to follow up these questions by other types of questions to make
sure that students have understood the text as Yes/No questions can be answered
correctly by chance.

2. True or False questions

This is another type of a reading test that is familiar to most learners .It consists of a text
accompanied by a series of statements. Learners need to decide and mention whether
the given statements are true or false according to the text.

This kind of reading comprehension questions provides learners with a set of sentences
or statements. For answering these questions, learners are required to read the text and
discover the true and the false statements without giving answers in a complex written
response .They are good activities for memory of literal details in the text but they are
limited in assessing specific comprehension skills such as making inferences and
meanings. More importantly, teachers should not rely exclusively on them because, like
Yes/No questions, learners can give right answers by chance without knowing why
these answers are correct.

True or False questions need to be carefully designed because the false answers
should target the potential misunderstandings of a text.

Besides, the false answers that sound obviously incorrect do not help teachers assess
learners‟ comprehension because learners do not need to understand the text to
recognize them as incorrect.

TRUE/FALSE TESTS
True/false tests belong, according to Kitao, among the most common type of reading
comprehension tasks. She sees many advantages in employing them. To mention only
some of them, they are quickly and easily constructed, they may be used even for very
elementary learners and the true/false items can be written on a fairly short reading text
which is suitable even for less advanced readers (Kitao&Kitao). Another pro for
employing this test format is, according to experts from UW Teaching Academy, the fact
that the completed tests may be scored electronically (UW Teaching Academy).
On the other hand, many experts and teachers draw attention to the fact that this test
technique encourages students to guess and thus gain score as high as 75 percent
even though they only knew correct answers to fifty percent of the items.
Methodologists suggest at least two ways of dealing with problems of guessing.
Madsen recommends introducing a penalty for guessing in form of awarding two points
for each correct and one point deducted for each incorrect answer (Madsen 1993:88).
On the other hand, Kitao suggests providing a third alternative – ´not stated´ – and thus
reduce the probability of guessing the correct answer. However, she is aware of the fact
that sometimes it may be difficult to include a statement which seems close to the
content of the reading passage and yet is not correct (Kitao&Kitao). As stated above,
many teachers and experts call attention to low validity of such test technique, however,
there has so far been no evidence that this is true. Heaton is of different opinion. He
claims that test-takers guess only if the test is too difficult for them and they are not sure
of the correct answer. In order to prevent candidates from guessing, teachers must
make the statements as understandable, clear, and concise as possible (Heaton
1988:84). True/false test format will be discussed in the practical part of the paper with
respect to its scoring, effectiveness and formative role in teaching/learning processes.

3. Matching

This type is likely to be less familiar to learners, but increasingly common. They are
used by many assessors. Some of reading comprehension tests designers may include
more than one matching task in their tests.

For doing a matching task, learners need to choose from a list of prompts. These
prompts may be statements, headings, or question completion .For instance, learners
can be asked to match a description to the appropriate paragraph, or to match words
and phrases to their meanings.

MATCHING TESTS
Learners´ task is to match together appropriate items (synonyms, antonyms,
interpretations of certain signs or labels) which are selected from a number of other
options. This approach is, according to Alderson, useful for testing beginning learners
(Alderson in Brown 2004:197).
As any other test technique, even matching has its pros and cons. Brown sees the
biggest advantage in the fact that matching tasks offer an alternative to traditional
multiple-choice format and are relatively easy to construct, as long as the matches have
been selected carefully. On the other hand, he points out the similarly to multiple-choice
tests. Learners
may never encounter matching tasks in real life situations. Brown´s advice is to provide
more items so that the last pair is not so easy recognisable. On the other hand, he
declares that sometimes this framework can “become more of a puzzle-solving process
than a genuine test of comprehension as test-takers struggle with the search for a
match,
possibly among ten or twenty different items”(Brown 2004:198). The technique of
matching will be further discussed in the practical part of the paper with respect to its
scoring, effectiveness and formative role in teaching/learning processes.

PICTURE-CUED TESTS
According to Brown, there are two variations on this task. Firstly, learners are presented
with a sentence or a short passage and choose one of a certain number of pictures
being described (Brown 2004:199). Kitao adds that this type of task may be altered in
such way that the candidates look at one picture, certain number of pictures and must
decide which of the sentences accurately describes the picture (Kitao&Kitao). Secondly,
as Brown states, it is also possible to present test takers with a set of definitions or
sentences. These describe a labelled part of a picture and the learners´ task is to
identify each labelled item (Brown 2004:199). Picture-cued tests will be presented in the
practical part of the paper with respect to their scoring, effectiveness and formative role
in teaching/learning processes.

ORDERING TESTS
Acquiring the skill of ordering and sequencing is necessary for remembering the order in
which the author has arranged details of the text. Assembling little strips of paper in a
logical story is a testing reading technique highly popular among both teachers and
learners. Alderson, however, sees a danger in evaluating this test format. Often, there is
not only one logical order of instructions, events, or ideas (Alderson in Brown
2004:209). An ordering test will be presented in the practical part of the paper with
respect to its scoring, effectiveness and formative role in teaching/learning processes.

4. WH questions
Wh questions are questions that begin with Wh such as: “where”, “why”, “who”, “when”,
and “how”. These questions are useful in providing learners with literal understanding of
a text and help them recognize information in the text and make evaluations and
personal predictions.

5. Open -Ended Questions

These questions are used in standardized assessments .They are useful in assessing
the component skills of comprehension such as the ability of learners to make
inferences from the text .In fact, learners are asked different questions for the reason of
testing their memory and their comprehension of the text .However, it is important to
mention that this form of assessment may have some weaknesses because learners
have to formulate verbal or written responses which may underestimate their
comprehension because of their language deficits .
6. Multiple-Choice Questions

This type of the reading task is the most familiar to learners. It is composed of a text
which can be of any type accompanied by one or more multiple choice items. These
choices may be in the form of statements, a question with answers, or incomplete
statements with a choice of phrases or words .Generally, there are three or four options
and only one of them is the right one .It is important to have statements corresponding
to specific paragraphs or sections of the text, but there may be statements that assess
comprehension of the whole text.

Developing a good multiple-choice question needs a careful consideration. In fact, a

question with four choices works best for learners with low proficiency in the target
language, and one of the four choices should sound the right and the desired answer.
Literal comprehension can be checked more effectively by the use of multiple-choice
questions. Besides, they can also be used for prediction and evaluation. However,
these questions need to be followed by other activities to make learners explain their
choices.

Generally, this type of questions may have one correct answer when it targets the literal
comprehension. Actually, a multiple-choice format with “wh” question is easier than no-
choice “wh” question because it pushes learners to check the text to know if any of the
choices are discussed.

(Multiple-choice questions are a common device used in testing text comprehension

(Weir, 1995; 1990; Cohen, 1998; Ur, 1996; and Hughes, 2003). Ur (1996) defines
multiple-choice questions as consisting "... of a stem and a number of options (usually
for), from which the testee has to select the right one" (p.38). In multiple-choice items
the test-taker is presented with a question along with four or five possible answers from
which one must be selected. Usually the first part of a multiple-choice item is known as
the stem. The different possible answers are known as alternatives or distractors
(Richards and Schmidt, 2002). In addition, Verghese (2005) points out that “Multiple-
choice questions are particularly valuable for testing the receptive skills because no
composition skill is required in the answering, however, a good deal of sophistication
and diligence is required to compose multiple-choice questions” (p. 100). Alderson
(1996; 2000) states that ‘multiple-choice’, ‘short answer questions’, ‘yes/no questions’,
‘true or false’, and ‘Wh-questions’ are commonly used for testing text comprehension.)

MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS
According to Brown, the most crucial role of MCQs (multiple-choice questions) is testing
reading comprehension. However, multiple-choice technique is widely used when
testing reading knowledge of grammar and vocabulary as well. It is up to every teacher
to decide into what extent context should be implied. They may test vocabulary or
grammar tasks with a very little context provided in the text or they may test reading
comprehension on more contextualized text (Brown 2004:194). The following are only
some examples why Weir believes that teachers are fond of MCQs. Firstly; tests of such
type are completely reliably marked. That is to say that there is no subjective evaluation
since there are no alternatives to the correct answer. Furthermore, marking is simple
and very effective in terms of time. Secondly, MCQs are not confusing for test-takers
because they know exactly what they are required to do in contrast to open-ended
format. Thirdly, multiple-choice tests do not require deploying of the writing skill unlike
some other test formats (short answer questions for example) and therefore do not
influence the skill being assessed (Weir 1990:43). However, we may find many
problems in connection with this technique. In the first place, there is much doubt about
validity as a measure of language ability of such tests, since answering multiple-choice
items is an unreal task, as in real life it is not probable that learners will be presented
with four (three, five) alternatives of which only one is always correct. For the second,
devising satisfactory distractors may be time-consuming and very demanding (Weir
1990:43-44). Therefore, Heaton suggests that rather than creating a great number of
absurd distractors (which every learner can see are wrong), it is preferable to select
fewer options. However, these distractors must appear correct to anyone who is not
sure of the correct answer (Heaton 1990:79-80).
Thirdly, Alderson sees a disadvantage in the fact that the distractors actually present
learners with possibilities they may not otherwise have thought of (Alderson in Nuttall
2005:223). The issue of MCQs tests scoring apart from being objective (thus reliable)
may be rather questionable because there is always twenty-five percent (provided there
are four options) probability of guessing the correct answer. Multiple-choice questions
will
be discussed in the practical part of the paper with respect to their scoring,
effectiveness
and formative role in teaching/learning processes.

7. Gapped Texts

This kind of reading comprehension test includes texts or diagrams from which single
words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs are deleted .These filling the gaps tasks can
also be used in testing grammar and vocabulary.

In some tasks, learners have to decide what should fill in the gap, while in some others,
they are given a series of alternatives for choice .Where words, sentences, or
paragraphs are removed, there is an item among the given alternatives that is odd to
the text.

Gapped texts offer a task that can be used in testing or assessing learners‟ reading
skills. It can be applied to all types of texts and can be included in lower-level exams
and for learners with low-level performance.

8. Proofreading
This kind of tasks includes deliberate errors or mistakes of different types in the text
provided. Despite the fact the proofreading activities make part of grammar and
vocabulary tests, they can also be used in reading comprehension assessments .In fact,
the texts can be of any type and, in most cases, is formed of numbered lines .Some
lines may involve an extra, or a misspelt word, or an error of punctuation, while the
other lines are correct .At this level, learners need to read the text, mark the correct
lines, remove the extra words, and correct the spelling and punctuation errors.

9. Short-answer’ tests is an alternative approach to ‘multiple-choice’ test whereby

learner has to write a brief response to a question and by this technique teacher can
interpret students' response whether he/she understood the subject (Alderson 1996;
2000). According to Alderson, (1996) and Cohen, (1998), ‘short-answer’ questions are
not easy to construct therefore, it is essential to put question in such a way that all
answers are foreseeable. Hughes (2003) points out that the "best short-answer
questions are those with a unique correct response" (p.144). However, he states that
thorough consideration ought to be observed in preparing answer key, which is
essential and on which the scoring depends.

SHORT-ANSWER TESTS
According to Brown, short-answer tests (sometimes referred to as open-ended
questions) require the test-takers to produce answers based on information from the
text in spaces provided on a partially completed chart. The candidates are presented
with a set of questions which must be answered in one or two sentences (Brown
2004:207). Tests of such format are most appropriate for questions that require student
recall over recognition. In other words, the technique is employed in cases when it is
desirable to ensure that the learners have committed the information to their memory
(UW Teaching Academy).

The following are some advantages and disadvantages that experts from UW Teaching
Academy, Weir, Brown, Heaton and Alderson see in use of this technique. The
justification for this technique is that students are never provided with the right answer
(as opposed to multiple-choice test) and therefore guessing is very much eliminated
(Weir 1990:45). Brown mentions the fact that open-ended tests offer learners a chance
to create their own answers which teaches them how to express themselves.
Furthermore, there may be a possibility of potential follow-up discussion and therefore
achieving beneficial washback effect (Brown 2004:207). However, as any other test
technique, even short-answer tests have their flaws. Firstly, the main disadvantage lies
in the fact that this technique involves the candidate in writing and there is a possible
danger of the teacher evaluating writing rather than reading skill. On the other hand, as
Heaton suggests, accuracy of both written expression and reading comprehension need
to be taken equally in account (Heaton 1993:87). Alderson also mentions that no short-
answer test is easy to construct.

Furthermore, this test format is suitable only for questions that can be answered with
short responses. According to him, teachers “must ask such questions that all possible
answers are foreseeable otherwise they may be left with a bewildering range of
responses” (Alderson in Nuttall 2005:223). Scoring of such tests is very subjective,
teachers are presented with variety of correct, partially correct, and incorrect answers
and they must decide how to deal with them (Kitao&Kitao).

10. Cloze Tests are reading passages with the blanks representing words that are
deleted from the original text; the blanks are to be filled in by the reader.

Type of Cloze Tests

a. Fixed Ratio Cloze or Nth word deletion
Words are deleted systematically by counting off, regardless of the part of speech.

b. Rational Deletion Cloze

Words are deleted by part of speech or content area vocabulary.

c. Maze Technique
Three word choices are provided at each missing word interval.

(Cloze technique. Alderson (2000) defines cloze test as "...typically constructed by

deleting from selected text every nth word ... and simply requiring the test-taker to
restore the word that has been deleted". According to Alderson nth refers to every fifth
or every twelfth word; for McNamara (2000) nth refers to fifth and seventh; and
according to Weir (1990) the nth number is either fifth or eleventh. As an alternative
integrated approach C-test is introduced a derivative of the cloze test, in which the
second half of every second word is deleted which has to be restored by the reader
(Alderson, 1996). A different alternative technique is called the cloze-elide test. In
1960's this is known as 'intrusive word technique' but later relabeled as the 'cloze-elide'
test (Alderson, 1996; 2000). According to Alderson (2000), this test is also called "...
'text retrieval', 'text interruption', 'doctored text', 'mutilated text,' and 'negative cloze'..."
(p.225). He goes on to state that this type of test is not for comprehension but for a
measure of comprehension for instance, "The number of correctly identified items was
taken as a measure of reading speed" (p.226).)

CLOZE TESTS
Nowadays, cloze tests are, without doubt, among one of the most popular types of
reading assessment tests. The word was coined to capture “concept of ´closure´ that is,
the ability to fill in gaps in an incomplete image (visual, auditory, or cognitive) and
supply (from background schemata) omitted details (Brown 2004:201). When
constructing a cloze test, test-makers must decide if they want to delete every eighth
word (experts recommend deleting of every fifth to twelfth words) regardless of whether
this word is unfamiliar of whether it is a person’s name. Methodologists then talk about
´fixed-ration deletion´. On the other hand, if test designers use ´rational deletion´
(sometimes referred to as ´gap-filling procedure´) they omit words according to their
discourse of grammatical functions. The only exception to this rule are the first two
sentences which should stay without any blanks so that the test-takers can get used to
the style and topic of the passage (Nuttal 2005: 222).

Scoring of cloze tests is, according to Brown, simple once the exact word scoring
procedure is adopted. In other words, when teachers mark answers to this test, they
can only give credit to test-takers only if they fill in the exact word which was deleted.
However, there is another method of scoring, known as appropriate word scoring which
can cause problems regarding face validity. That means that teachers can accept any
word which is grammatically correct as long as contexts maintain sense (synonyms)
(Brown 2004:201).

C-TESTS
As mentioned above, C-tests type of test is derivative of cloze tests. In other words, C-
tests work on the same basis as standard cloze tests. Both methods work with deleted
words. However, when creating a C-test, test-designers partially delete every second
word in a text. To enable candidates to find solutions, they are presented with the first
half of the deleted word (Nuttal 2005:224).

CLOZE ELIDE TESTS

This technique is based on the fact that test-makers purposely insert grammatical or
rhetorical errors in a text and the candidates must detect where these insertions have
been made (Weir 1990:50). According to Madsen, intrusive words must never be put in
at fixed intervals. Words are added at random, however they must never come in
succession (Madsen 1993:96). Even though cloze-elide technique is popular with many
methodologists; Weir and Madsen mention a few disadvantages. Firstly, Weir points out
that scoring is problematic to a certain degree since candidates may delete words which
are redundant, yet correct (Weir 1990:50). Furthermore, experts claim that editing tests
encourage word-by-word reading and thus essentially do not lead learners to the
objectives of reading comprehension. What is more, use of this technique decreases
reading speed (Madsen 1993:97).

SUMMARISING AND RESPONDING TESTS

Directions for writing a summary are quite simple. They usually include length and
drawing attention to necessity to describe the main and supporting ideas of the text.
Since evaluating summaries may sometimes be difficult for teachers, the following
criteria serve as suggestions when assessing them. The ability to express accurately
the main and supporting ideas is, according to Kitao, the most crucial one since it
implies assessment of reading, and reading only (Kitao&Kitao). The other three factors
(writing in own words, logical organization of the summary, and clear expression of
ideas) pertain more to writing performance and it is up to the teacher’s subjective
decision how he or she evaluates the summary (Brown 2004:214). According to Brown,
responding to the text should not be confused with summarising as it often happens.
The learner’s task when writing a summary of a certain text requires expressing his on
his or her opinion on the text. It is usual for the candidates to write into what extent they
agree or disagree with the author and support their opinions with information from the
text or from their own experience. Similarly to summarising, scoring or responding tests
may be rather subjective, depending on the accuracy of reflection of the text itself (ibid).

MIXED FORMAT TESTS

It is often possible to encounter test formats which are mixtures of some of the above
mentioned techniques. For instance, learners may be presented with multiple-choice
cloze, multiple-choice picture cued, or picture-cued true/false tests. Mixing techniques
is, according to Brown, mostly used in nowadays testing (Brown 2004:192-
193). Mixed format technique (ordering/picture-cued test) will be presented in the
practical part of the paper with respect to its scoring, effectiveness and formative role in
teaching/learning processes.

11. Information-Transfer Test

The students’ task is to identify in the target text the required information and then to
transfer it, often in some transposed form, on to a table or map.

(In addition, Alderson (1996) points out another test which is used to measure students'
understanding of texts is the use of information-transfer techniques, often associated
with figures, charts, tables and illustrations. In this procedure, test takers have to
restore information deleted from a figure, chart, table and so on.)

INFORMATION TRANSFER TESTS

According to Brown, information transfer test format is highly authentic and is essential
for every educated person in order to be able to comprehend maps, charts, graphs,
calendars, menus or class schedules. However, the sole comprehension of the above
mentioned is not sufficient and must be accompanied by oral or written interpretations,
comments, or questions. In other words, learners must imply a process of information
transfer from one skill to another skill (from reading graphic or written information to
speaking, for example) (Brown 2001:210).

12. Summary Test

Students read a text and then are required to summarize the main ideas, either of the
whole text or of a part, or those ideas in the text that deal with a given topic. It is
believed that students need to understand the main ideas of the texts, to separate
relevant from irrelevant ideas, to organize their thoughts about the text and so on, in
order to be able to do the task satisfactorily.
13. Free-recall’ test. In this test, Alderson (1996) points out that, readers are simply
asked to read a text and then put it aside. Next, the reader has to write down everything
they can remember from the text.

Sample Reading Test on Reading Skills

2 Recent Pedagogical Practices/Activities in reading (try search the internet on

Pedagogical practices in reading assessment techniques)

Vignette

Insights

References