Comparability studies on computer- and paper-based reading tests have focused on short texts and selected-response items via almost exclusively statistical modeling of test performance. The psychological effects of presentation mode and computer familiarity on individual students are under-researched. In this study, 157 students read extended…

This paper reports the effects of the properties of source texts on summarization. One hundred and fifty-seven undergraduates were asked to write summaries of one of three extended English texts of similar length and readability, but differing in other discoursal features such as lexical diversity and macro-organization. The effects of…

The cognitive demands of summary writing are dependent upon the type of summary to be produced. This paper reports part of a larger study in which 157 Chinese undergraduates were asked to write summaries of extended English texts in both English and Chinese. It examines the differential effects of the use of the two languages on summarization as a…