This volume contains criterion referenced tests to be used in a Spanish-English bilingual second grade. These tests are based on pictures and word lists and are designed to evaluate the student's pronunciation. (CFM)

Describes a modification of the cloze procedure which was used to assess the reading achievement of selected students in the Mariana Islands. (MKM)

Fifty-nine English-as-a-foreign-language students in Saudi Arabia took a cohesion test in which they identified four types of cohesive ties in a reading text, including conjunction, reference, substitution, and ellipsis. Incorrect responses were analyzed. It was found that substitution was the most difficult cohesive tie to process. (Author/VWL)

Intermediate-level English as a second language students were examined for levels of reading comprehension. Half of each group (experimental and control) received more complete versions of test passages than the other half, and the experimental group was taught appropriate cultural background information between tests. Background knowledge did…

Approaches to the assessment of literacy skills in bilingual learners, particularly learners of English as a Second Language, are discussed. Literature is reviewed and an assessment technique that attempts to identify both strengths and needs of bilingual learners is outlined. It is argued that current assessment of bilingual readers is based…

Combined multiple regression and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses to study the interrelationships of variables that affect the item difficulty of items on tests of second language reading and listening comprehension. Results for 214 computerized items completed by 87 nonnative English speakers show the value of synthesizing…

This study investigated the relationship between foreign language (FL) anxiety and achievement in that language. The role of the FL teacher as perceived by the learners was also tested. Participants were 67 seventh-grade students. They were administered an anxiety questionnaire, a Hebrew reading comprehension test, an English reading comprehension…

English contains many nominals that would be absent in Chinese because Chinese makes greater use of "zero anaphora," which is an empty grammatical slot in a sentence standing for a previously mentioned referent. Native Chinese and native English speakers were compared in comprehending modified English passages from a standardized reading test with…

The Hawai'i State Assessment is an annual testing program that measures student progress on Hawai'i's reading, writing, and mathematics standards. This handbook provides all Department of Education personnel at the school, complex area, and state levels with information about participation in the Hawai'i State Reading and Mathematics Assessment…

This document (two manuals combined) offers a practical, straightforward means of evaluating the reading level of students in French immersion classes at the elementary level. The evaluator's manual features a good review of the relevant publications in the field and provides clear, detailed descriptions of each of three reading levels, the…

Much research in second language reading uses a free written recall task to measure comprehension. The significance of differences in research design is analyzed. Sixteen groups of college Spanish students (N=20 each group) were given a recall task (in appendix). Research variables, including level of study, language of recall, and pre-reading…

Examines the performance of native speakers of Chinese and of English on a random detection cloze in their native language, and in the case of the Chinese, also in English as a Second Language, for what they reveal about native and nonnative readers' strategies and about reading in the two different languages. (24 references) (Author/CK)

Data are presented on the development of tests of reading skill for primary school pupils in rural Tanzania. Instruction in these schools is in Kiswahili, a regularly spelled language. Three graded tests were developed to test children who had only some letter knowledge, could read single words, or were proficient readers. The tests correlated…

This literature review examines use of the cloze procedure for assessing reading and language competence and for planning individualized reading curricula. The first half of the paper describes studies performed with non-hearing-impaired students, discussing validation of the cloze procedure, establishment of criterion test scores, and the…

The author examines some statistics which indicate entire classrooms of Indian students at the junior high school level are reading at the second or third grade level, and are graduated from high school with perhaps intermediate grade reading ability. Various surveys seem to have established that children are able to achieve at grade level through…