Discusses the relevance for the valid testing of reading of the difference between a 'unitary skill' approach to reading and a multiskills approach. The article produces evidence suggesting that a distinction may be drawn between language-based skills and 'global' reading skills. (55 references) (Author/CK)

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in foreign language reading comprehension among high-, middle-, and low-ambiguity tolerance students. The subjects for the study were 150 English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) university students randomly drawn from all freshmen enrolled in the English section at four schools of education in…

Reports findings of a study involving adult, college-educated Egyptians enrolled in English as a second language courses in Cairo. Concludes that students learning to read in a second language interpret materials in terms of their own culture, which affects their comprehension. (FL)

A study compared the effectiveness of three classroom methods for teaching semantic mapping to college-level learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Subjects were 187 freshmen at an Egyptian university, randomly assigned to three treatment groups: teacher-initiated semantic mapping; student-mediated semantic mapping; and teacher-student…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative impact of skills-based and whole language approaches on the listening comprehension of English as a foreign language (EFL) students with low and high listening ability levels. The subjects for the study were 96 pretested EFL students, divided into two treatment groups for 15 weeks. In the…