Testing Reading In An Esl Classroom

The four skills that are necessary in the process of learning a new language are reading, writing, listening and speaking. These skills encompass the understanding and knowledge of a language as a whole, and therefore must be included in a second language teaching syllabus. Moreover, there are many elements to be taken into consideration within each of these skills so that they might taught effectively (Flor 2004:1). Additionally, to evaluate and check overall levels of understanding and knowledge of the various skills of the target language, it is essential that the student is tested in that particular skill. Therefore for the purpose of this essay the skill that will be discussed in detail is 'Reading' and more specifically the testing of reading. First and foremost this essay will provide a brief summary of reading as a skill in second language acquisition and then provide a more in depth study on testing reading. Moreover, finally and most importantly, this essay will move on to a broad analysis of an example ESL test to assess and evaluate the test in consideration of the essential elements and criteria that make for a valid and competent ESL reading test.

The act of reading entails that the reader is to comprehend the material within the text and the act of comprehension is also a process. As claimed by Farrell et al. `The process of comprehension is a combination of top-down and bottom-up when readers try to comprehend, there is a bouncing back and forth between readers and the text between the top- down knowledge of the topic and the text ` (Farrell 2009 : 21). More over, bottom up processes refer to a very mechanical understanding of a text, where meaning is derived one word at a time. On the other hand top- down process in more reader controlled and is based largely on the` goals` , `expectations` and `strategic processing` of the reader (Grabe 2009 : 89). Furthermore, Urquhart and Weir provide a model that looks at the reading skills and strategies by identifying them as being `expeditious` or `careful` and `global` or `local`.Castello provides a brief yet detailed descri ption of the model, describing the process of reading expeditiously and globally as reading to find the main point of the text or look out for a topic that the reader as been lead to look out for, an example of this is skimming. Moreover, reading a text expeditiously and locally entails that the reader is looking out for more specific and detailed information, like particular words and symbols. Moreover, reading a text carefully and globally suggests that the reader is looking to `infer " propositional" meaning` whereas when reading a text carefully and locally a reader is focused on the lexical, syntactical and grammatical aspects of the text. (Castello 2008 : 20).

Furthermore, 'Reading', as a language acquisition skill is a '.meaning - focused input. where the learners' focus in on understanding the message.'(Nation 2009:1). Moreover, 'it also involves a deliberate attention to language features'(ibid).As is mentioned here, L2 learners will enhance their reading skills of the target language by looking out for specific language structures, so they are able to understand specific aspects of the text and specific language elements that are being taught to them in that reading lesson.Further in L2 Learning classrooms it is essential that reading is done for comprehensive purposes rather than interpretative purposes, so that the goal of reading is primarily a marker of linguistic achievement rather than intelligence regarding a specific topic within a text.It should be more a case of comprehension and advancement of reading skills rather than reasoning and interpretation (Alderson 2000 : 101).As a result, it would be valid to conclude that when testing reading abilities of L2 learners, to achieve a clear portrayal of their reading and comprehensive abilities in the L2 language it is essential that the text they are reading

are up to specific standards.Moreover, as described by Grabe ` Reading assessments are meant to provide feedback on the skills, processes and knowledge resources that provide reading ability ( 2009 : 353).

As a test maker it is essential that not only choice of text but choice of task is chosen in such a way that the task and text go hand in hand to create for a test that is a productive challenge to students rather than too easy or too difficult to perform.Moreover, Urquhart and Weir claim that in choosing a task, the skills and strategies that are being tested must be well-known to the teacher and in choosing a text the needs of the students must be well - known (1998:121, 141).Castello mentions that `text, task (and test) and reader are all interrelated and interdependent variables` (2008 :16).It is justifiable to state that tasks and texts are chosen with the proficiency of the student who is taking the test in mind.(Grabe 2009 :357).Furthermore, Urquhart and Weir suggest that Moreover, as previously mentioned, there are several factor within a text that must be taken into consideration to enhance the validity of the test, the validity being the characteristic of a test being `...valid if it is testing what it is supposed to test` (Harmer 2001: 381).

Furthermore, Urquhart and Weir identify these `text based factors` that make up for a valid text, one of them being the content of the text. Alderson claims that, ` Just as it is commonly assumed that what readers know will affect what they understand, so too it is commonly assumed that text content will affect how readers process text` (2000: 61). Furthermore, Urquhart and Weird identify that the content keeping in mind of the audience that the text is being written for, so the audience have experienced this type of text before and are familiarised with it as well. Additionally, Urquhart and Weir identify topic familiarity as factor within texts that must be taken into consideration. Students must be familiar with the content so that they comprehend it and thus can carry out the tasks to do with them (1998 :41). Furthermore, the aspect of `difficulty` must also be of value, in regard to the text.As claimed by Castello `...text difficulty and task difficulty...depend on each other and the characteristics of the reader` (2008 :17). Moreover, the level of difficulty of the text must go hand in hand with the linguistic level of the students taking the test.Additionally other factors that must be taken into consideration are the channel, size and vocabulary within the text that they are all within the linguistic needs and expectations of the students and the level they are at (Urquhart 1998 :1450.Moreover, in addition to factors of text and task within the test, the test format also plays a role in creating an effective ESL reading text.

Ekbatani gives a brief descri ption of aspects that must included within every test format (particularly those testing reading skills),stating that the test must be designed with the test taker in mind, so that they are familiar with the format of the test and are given enough time and writing space to answer the questions within the test (2011 :40). Moreover, Urquhart and Weir similarly, speaks of `user friendliness`, `format familiarity`, `time control`, `speed` (reading speed of students) and question design as crucial aspects to take into consideration within the tests format (1998 : 150 - 152). Furthermore, Urquhart and Weir use Filmore and Kay`s (1983) guidelines for setting appropriate questions for a test. In brief, the guidelines express that the questions shouldn't be harder than the text, in reference to the vocabulary and structure of the question. Moreover, the question should have one answer, information that is not relevant to the text should be avoided and questions on the style of the text or skills unrelated to reading should not be questioned (1998 : 152).Furthermore, there are several types of questions, or question formats within ESL reading tests of which examples are, multiple choice questions, Cloze, short answer, gap-filling questions etc. (Grabe 2009 : 359).

Analysis :

As claimed by Fulcher and Davidson 2007 " the engineering of test creation is not driven by models but by the nut-and-bolts effect-driven work done in crafting test specifications" (Kim 2008 : 87). Therefore it would be common sense to analyse the test that will be analysed in this essay in conjunction with how it meets its very own test specifications and whether the specification of the text match the test itself.first and foremost, under the section of operations, the specifications imply that text one should be used for skimming, but in the test text one spread out into short passages that are too short to skim and find main ideas from, taking away the whole effect and point of skimming a text. Moreover text 2, assesses the skill of scanning, this however is successfully tested in text 2 as the questions ask for specific answers that allow readers to scan for particular items that the questions asks for. Moreover text 4 also successfully requires readers to read the text carefully as the task to do with the text elicits whether particular statements are true or false according to the content within the text.lastly, text 4, according to the specifications is deals with unknown vocabulary and it is evident that it deals with unknown vocabulary in the test as well as the multiple choice questions for that task elicit the meaning of words within that text.

the second category that is specified within the specifications is the Types of texts, which suggests that texts 1,2 and 3 are authentic texts and hat text 4 is semi- authentic so that the level of English is more appropriate for the level of English of the readers, and it is alright to alter texts to meet the needs of students as `...full authenticity of texts may not be necessary, attainable or desirable` (Uruquhart 1998 : 141).furthermore, the specifications state that the addressees of the text are `educated adults, native speakers, similar ages and status to those of students`. The texts are largely to with homes, holiday destinations, shopping and information about popular cities. These are definitely topics that are addressed to adults and native speakers as they speak of statistics to do with other cities. However it can be said that the specifications could have given specific about the gender of the majority within the class as it appears, shopping and the interior structure of homes is more a feminine topic than a is a masculine, so one would hope the majority of the class consists of females.

Furthermore, the specifications propose the length of each text suggesting that text 1 has 440 words, text 2 has 636, text 3 has 732 words and text 4 has 333 words.it is important that the length of the text is taken into consideration to meet the needs speed at which the skills required in each task requires the students to read as well as the time the students have to do each section of the text. As mentioned above, Urquhart and Weir speak of these aspects when talking about test format and factors that must be considered within texts. Futhermore, the specifications speak of the topics that are discussed within the texts suggesting that the are relevant to the different student background and interests as they cover aspects of leisure, holiday, history and shopping. As mentioned earlier, Urquhart and Weir speak of the importance of the content in relation to the audience it is speaking too, and how the two are interdependent (2000: 61).However, as mentioned earlier, it appears that all the topics are very femininely inclined, even those to do with the topics that appear more heterosexual, like history and holidays. The history section is speaking about a Goddess Aphrodite and all her characteristics and attributes that a woman would want, whereas

only the text of activity two seems to be more factual and heterosexual rather than inclined towards one gender more than the other.

Moreover, under the category of Readability , which suggests that the texts are appropriate to the level of the students.The texts and tasks that go hand in hand with them do appear to be written for students at an intermediate level and appear to be positively challenging to the test takers rather than too easy or too difficult to understand and perform according to instruction.Moreover, it appears that the scoring is too difficult as the scoring suggests that a 59 percent or less is a fail. However, one could argue that the instructions and questions were clear and could be answered well if this format of testing and the task types and reading skills have already been familiarised to students. Urquhart and Weir , as previously mentioned, regard `format familiarity` amongst students as a crucial aspect of test format.Moreover, the test is merely there to score reading abilities, therefore they will not be marked down for grammatical or vocabulary blunders, which makes it easier to score points as they are merely required to comprehend the text for its meaning.

Next, the specifications look at structural range, it appears that most of the grammar within the text is within the experience of students and therefore that should not hinder their comprehension of the texts.Additionally the vocabulary range within the texts shouldn't hinder the comprehension of the texts either.it appears that the specification under the category of Structure, timing , medium/channel and techniques all appear to match the test in itself except that of the timing.By carrying out the test for me, a native speaker , it took over three minutes to complete the first activity, therefore it would definitely take an intermediate English student longer to carry out that segment of the test.the timing allotted for activity 2 seems more accurate as the students are expected to scan for particular information and therefore do not have to read everything within the short passages. the time allotted is 6 minutes and through carrying out the test myself I do believe that students will only need about a minute per question.Furthermore, I believe that allotting 11 minutes towards completing activity 3 is overestimating the amount of time it will take to complete that section as true or false questions are also a type of scanning activity, which generally don't require that much time. Finally the choice to put aside 8 minutes towards activity 4 seems accurate as it is a multiple choice task where students have to look out for word phrases and guess the meaning of them within the context they are written, with the help of options. This might take 8 minutes as students need time to think about the word meanings they are most probably unaware of, in relation to the text.

Overall, the test appears to meet most standards that Urquhart and Weir, as well as other theorists studying the` ESL testing` field, put forth as appropriate. however, there were certain aspects that didn't seem to match the criteria of proper test formatting, such as timing and topics that are aimed towards both genders. Although the class might have predominantly consisted of women, the teacher should have specified it in their specifications.As mentioned previously a test is formed mainly with the audience it is written for, in mind, leaving the reader and the text and the test as all interrelated, one having no meaning without the other within a test ( Alderson 2000: 61). Therefore it is justifiable to conclude that there are a few aspects that appear ambiguous in the specifications, regarding the audience to which this test is addressed as their ages, gender and nationality aren't mentioned. As a result there is only so much that one can conclude when matching up the test specifications and the test itself.

Bibliograhy:

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Castello, Erik. Text Complexity and Reading Comprehension Tests. Bern: Peter Lang, 2008.

Ekbatani, Glayol. Measurement and Evaluation in Post-secondary ESL. New York: Routledge, 2011

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Urquhart, A. H., and Cyril J. Weir. Reading in a Second Language: Process, Product, and Practice. London: Longman, 1998