Development Of Esl Reading Comprehension Assessment System For Malaysian Year Five Students
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Date
2018-08
Authors
Chang Kuan Lim
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The present study focused on the development of an ESL reading comprehension
assessment system for Malaysian Year Five students. The current Malaysian Primary
school achievement test assigns a composite grade to summarise students‟ performance.
The composite grades do not provide any specific information with regards to each
student‟s reading ability. In this study, the ESL reading comprehension assessment
system includes the development of standardised generic reading comprehension test,
reading matrix and reading performance descriptors. The standardised generic reading
comprehension test consists of three sections with reading comprehension questions at
elementary, intermediate and advanced levels based on Barrett‟s and Bloom‟s
Taxonomy in line with the Malaysian English Language Syllabus and Standard
Curriculum Document and Assessment. Each section of the test contains linear and nonlinear
texts with literal, reorganisation and inferential comprehension questions. The
standardised generic reading comprehension test was piloted and the researcher
proceeded to develop the reading matrix by determining the cut score for each band and
the number of bands. A Reading Matrix is a chart that ESL teachers match their
students‟ test scores with educational levels. The administration of the standardised
generic reading comprehension test involved Year Five respondents from primary
schools located in Larut, Matang and Selama. The data gathered was analysed for the
development of reading performance descriptors illustrating the reading sub-skills the
students have and have not acquired. The findings revealed that the Year Five respondents at Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 have acquired the literal,
reorganisation and inferential reading sub-skills to a certain extent. The ESL reading
comprehension assessment system provides information on students‟ reading abilities at
micro and macro levels. By knowing the information at micro level, ESL teachers can
plan their teaching instructions to meet their students‟ needs and parents can better
understand students‟ reading capacity. Perhaps, the information at macro level can assist
the District or State Education Departments in Malaysia to plan reading programmes to
improve the students‟ reading ability.
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Education