Assessing
Reading Proficiency
Reading
ability is very difficult to assess accurately. In the communicative competence
model,
a
student's reading level is the level at which that student is able to use reading
to accomplish communication goals. This means that assessment of reading
ability needs to be correlated
with
purposes for reading.
Reading
Aloud
A
student's performance when reading aloud is not a reliable indicator of that
student's
reading
ability. A student who is perfectly capable of understanding a given text
when
reading it silently may stumble when asked to combine comprehension
with
word recognition and speaking ability in the way that reading aloud requires.
In
addition, reading aloud is a task that students will rarely, if ever, need to
do outside
of
the classroom. As a method of assessment, therefore, it is not authentic:
It
does not test a student's ability to use reading to accomplish a purpose or
goal.
However,
reading aloud can help a teacher assess whether a student is "seeing"
word endings
and
other grammatical features when reading. To use reading aloud for this purpose,
adopt
the "read and look up" approach: Ask the student to read a sentence
silently
one
or more times, until comfortable with the content, then look up and tell you
what it says.
This
procedure allows the student to process the text, and lets you see the results
of
that processing and know what elements, if any, the student is missing.
Comprehension
Questions
Instructors
often use comprehension questions to test whether students have understood
what
they have read. In order to test comprehension appropriately, these questions
need to be coordinated with the purpose for reading. If the purpose is to find
specific information, comprehension questions should focus on that information.
If
the purpose is to understand an opinion and the arguments that support it,
comprehension
questions should ask about those points.
In
everyday reading situations, readers have a purpose for reading before they
start. That is, they know what comprehension questions they are going to need
to answer before they begin reading. To make reading assessment in the language
classroom more like reading outside of the classroom, therefore, allow students
to review the comprehension questions
before
they begin to read the test passage.
Finally,
when the purpose for reading is enjoyment, comprehension questions are beside
the point. As a more authentic form of assessment, have students talk or write
about
why
they found the text enjoyable and interesting (or not).
Authentic
Assessment
In
order to provide authentic assessment of students' reading proficiency,
a
post-listening activity must reflect the real-life uses to which students might
put information
they
have gained through reading.
It
must have a purpose other than assessment
It
must require students to demonstrate their level of reading comprehension
by
completing some task
To
develop authentic assessment activities, consider the type of response that
reading
a
particular selection would elicit in a non-classroom situation.
For
example, after reading a weather report, one might decide what to wear the next
day;
after
reading a set of instructions, one might repeat them to someone else;
after
reading a short story, one might discuss the story line with friends.
Use
this response type as a base for selecting appropriate post-reading tasks.
You
can then develop a checklist or rubric that will allow you to evaluate each
student's comprehension of specific parts of the text.
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/reading/assessread.htm
Introduction
to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading
YouTube
How
to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions
when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Advanced
Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?
Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister
blogs:
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com
gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of
life
www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com
which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com
just for fun.
To
quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will
know.
The
more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”
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