How to Test Reading?
May, 2020, Week 10
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Testing Reading
• We ensure that we select an appropriate text.
• We make sure that the language used in the
text is suitable for the students' proficiency.
• We ensure that the information in each
paragraph is tested.
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Reading Comprehension
1. Literal,
2. Interpretive, and
3. Critical comprehension
Literal comprehension involves surface meanings. At this level,
teachers can ask students to find information and ideas that
are explicitly stated in the text. In addition, it is also
appropriate to test vocabulary. According to Karlin(1971),
"being able to read for literal meanings ie stated ideas is
influenced by one's mastery of word meanings in context'.
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Reading Comprehension
• Interpretive or referential comprehension where students go beyond
what is said and read for deeper meanings. They must be able to read
critically and analyse carefully what they have read. Students need to
be able to see relationships among ideas, for example how ideas go
together and also see the implied meanings of these ideas. It is also
obvious that before our students can do this, they have to first
understand the ideas that are stated (literal comprehension).
Interpretive or referential comprehension includes thinking processes
such as drawing conclusions, making generalizations and predicting
outcomes.
• At this level, teachers can ask more challenging questions such as
asking students to do the following:
– Re-arrange the ideas or topics discussed in the text.
– Explain the author's purpose of writing the text.
– Summarize the main idea when this is not explicitly stated in the text.
– Select conclusions which can be deduced from the text they have read.
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Reading Comprehension
Critical reading whereby ideas and information are
evaluated. Critical evaluation occurs only after our
students have understood the ideas and information
that the writer has presented.
At this level, students can be tested on the following
skills:
• The ability to differentiate between facts and opinions.
• The ability to recognize persuasive statements .
• The ability to judge the accuracy of the information
given in the text.
from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Mohamad-TestingReading.html
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Types of Reading Test Questions
1. Comprehension means understanding or mentally grasping the
meaning of something. The answer to a comprehension question
usually is something you can point to in the paragraph or passage.
• Most comprehension questions look like this:
• According to this paragraph, . . .
• According to this passage, . . .
• According to this article, . . .
• According to this book, . . .
• You are to find . . . (answers will include phrases or sentences)
• This means . . .
• It is clear from this passage that . . .
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• Strategies for answering comprehension
questions:
• Look for the word, phrase, or sentence(s) that
answer the question directly.
• Be aware that some questions are just
another way of saying something in the
paragraph or passage.
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Detail Questions
2. Detail questions specify smaller chunks of information than
comprehension questions. The answers deal with specific,
small items in the paragraph or passage such as a number, a
date, or a name.
• Most detail questions look like this:
• Your answer to this question will be in: number of miles,
number of hours, or speed. (The answers will be very
specific as the question suggests - a number, a specific
time.)
• What college did Alice attend?
• How old was Alice when she won the Pulitzer Prize?
• Hilda has all-gray hair, a wrinkled face, and a cane, so that
we know she is what? (old)
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• Strategies for answering detail questions:
• Look for answers in the paragraph or passage
that are limited to only one or a few words, a
date, some numbers and other very specific
items.
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3. FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS QUESTIONS
• Following directions is a particular kind of comprehension. You are
asked to understand how to answer a question, not to answer the
question itself. For example, the directions could tell you to
underline the subject once, underline the verb twice, and put
parenthesis around the prepositional phrases. If you do not read
the directions, you would (1) not know what to do with the paper
or (2) not know how to write the answers the correct way.
• Most questions that require following directions look like this:
• This question asks you to find . . .
• Maria answered the question this way. Did Maria answer correctly?
or Did Maria follow directions?
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• Strategies for answering following directions
questions:
• Do not worry if the answer contains the correct
information. Worry about whether the answer is
written in the correct way, or worry about how
the question is answered. For example, the
directions might tell you to underline, but you
drew a circle around the correct answer.
Therefore, you answered the question itself
correctly, but wrote your answer in the wrong
way or how you answered was wrong.
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• Make sure your choice is not too narrow. In other
words, make sure your choice for a main idea
cannot be answered by only one sentence of the
paragraph or passage. Most of the sentences
must be about this/these reason(s), place(s),
time(s), person(s), (how) process(es), or thing(s).
• Make sure your choice for the main idea is not
too broad. Can your choice include more things
not in the paragraph or passage? If it can, then it
is not specific enough.
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4. MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS
• The main idea covers most of what a paragraph or passage is about;
it may answer who, what, where, when, why, or how. It includes a
topic and something specific about that topic. or example, a topic
might be the Civil War. A main idea about the Civil War might be:
The two most important causes of the Civil War were
disagreements slavery and state rights.
• Most main idea questions look like this:
• This paragraph is mostly about __________.
• Passage talks mainly about __________.
• Text tells as a whole __________.
• Story tells as a whole __________.
• Article tells as a whole __________.
• Reading tells as a whole __________.
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• Strategies for answering main idea questions:
• In the answers, look for one or two sentences that are mini-summaries of the
whole paragraph or passage.
• Refer to SSS Main Ideas Guide
– If you find mostly reasons or explanations, the main idea will deal with "why."
– If most of the sentences talk about a place, the main idea will deal with
"where."
– If most of the sentences are about time, the main idea will deal with "when."
– If most of the sentences give steps to do or make something, the main idea
will deal with "how."
– If most of the sentences are about one person or several people or even a
group of people, the main idea will deal with "who.">
– If most of the sentences describe something, or, if none of the other answers
seems right, then the main idea may deal with "what." ("What" main ideas
can be very different kinds of things.)
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• INFERENCE
• In contrast to facts or information stated directly in the paragraph or
passage, inferences are decisions, conclusions or judgments the reader
makes from information in the paragraph or passage. The information is
like a hint, and the inferred ideas are not stated directly. The reader must
reason or think about her answer.
• Most inference questions look like this:
• . . . probably . . .
• We can tell from this . . .
• We can figure out that . . .
• We can guess that . . .
• We can expect that . . .
• The writer seems to expect . . .
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INFERENCE
• Pick the answer that seems most reasonable
to you.
• The reason he did that was probably . . .
• You can assume . . . probably . . .
• You can conclude from this paragraph/passage
that . . .
• The author suggests that . . .
• Which is more likely to happen . . . ?
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• Strategies for answering inference questions:
• Refer to SSS Drawing Conclusions Guide;
– Look for limiting words to help you decide which group fits the answer
(all, some, a few, none).
– Look for comparisons: (a) two things may be compared in the
paragraph or passage; or (b) one thing in the passage may be
compared to something you already or should already know.
– Look for logical results or endings of a chain of reasons or events. Then
you can predict what will probably happen next.
– Look for pairs of concepts in special relationships such as cause and
effect, general and specific, or time and place. The best answer will be
one part of the pair. For example, President Jordan is the first deaf
president of Gallaudet University. You can generalize, "Deaf people can
get good jobs now." (This example showed a specific fact, and you
chose a generalization that matched the specific fact.)
• Look for evidence for your inference in the reading passage.
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5. SEQUENCE
• Sequence shows the chronological order of events - what happened
first, second, and sometimes more. Note that the sequence is not
the same as the order of events presented in the paragraph or
passage. For example, the passage could start talking about what
happened last, and then jump back to the beginning.
• A sequencing question often looks like this:
• Strategies for answering sequence questions: Write the rule* for
after / after order:
• After 1st event, 2nd event.
• Before 2nd event, 1st event.
• 1st event, before 2nd event.
• 2nd event, after 1st event.
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• Note: One sentence may include more than two events; it could use both
before and after in one sentence. These sentences are a little trickier.
• Example:
• (2nd Event) (3rd Event) (1st Event)
Randy walked the dog before he went to work and after he took out the
trash.
• Make a list of all the events in the passage or paragraph to help you
answer the question(s).
• (Person's name) did things in this order:
• (Name) first worked for . . .
• The oldest person here is . . .
• Terry hired Frank after/before . . .
• Who was born first?
• The events are scrambled. Please unscramble them and put them in the
right order.
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• https://www.gallaudet.edu/tutorial-and-
instructional-programs/english-
center/reading-english-as-second-
language/types-of-questions-and-tests/types-
of-reading-questions
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Extensive Study
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gyYtys8
05UUnderstanding reading comprehension
assessment: what every teacher should know
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Any questions??
• Portfolio of this week:
Create at least two reading test items for the students
at your practicum school based on their age, language
proficiency level and syllabus. Explain the rationale of
your CHOICE related to each writing test item (refer to
the extensive video content). Submit your file onto the
system (CUBIS).
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Summary?
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Reflection?
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