Qualities of a Good

Reading and Text

Comprehension
 To undertake an effective assessment of reading and text
comprehension skills, the distinguishing features of test , measurement,
evaluation , and assessment must be clearly understood.

Test- is an instrument containing items or tasks intended to measure

the achievement of learners as they learn reading.
Measurement- the teacher determines the number of items correctly
answered by each learner, information is collected as to how much
score a learner has understood the reading selection.
 When the teacher makes a decision that a particular
learners score depicts an instrumental level of performance
, EVALUATION is done.
There is a need to use written tests , actual performance ,
observations, and other measures. In this systematic
process , the language teacher is engaged in
ASSESSMENT.
 Purpose of Reading and text
comprehension tests

Testing and comprehension skills

have many purpose {Harris,
1968;Hakuta & Beauty].
1.To measure the extent of the learners achievement of the instructional
objectives.
2.To diagnose the learners strengths and weaknesses.
3.To monitor learners progress in learning.
4. To measure aptitude for learning.
5. To evaluate the effectiveness of teaching.
6. To classify or place learners in appropriate reading classes.
7. To determine readiness for instructional processes.
Qualities of a good test
To ascertain that test results are of educational value to the reading
teachers , they must posses certain qualities . ( Bachman ,1990;
Bachman & Palmer , 1996 ; Fulcher & Davidson , 2006) cite the major
principles or characteristic of good , namely:
1.Validity-the ability of the test to measure what it intends to asses .
Inferences made from the results are appropriate, meaningful , and
useful ( Gronlund , 1998)
2.Reliability- the ability of the test to provide
consistent or stable information . It is usually
dependent on developing items that thoroughly
cover the essential competencies and topics
discussed in class.
3. Practicality- the ease of constructing the test , as
well as the ease of administering and scoring.
Developing objective
tests
To effectively use the varied objectives tests , certain considerations must
be followed :
• True or False/Yes or No
- this test measures the ability of the reader to determine the truth or falsity of the
statement presented.
In constructing True or False items when using content-based reading selections,
the following suggestions need to be considered ;
a. Sentence must be simple and declarative , using direct language .
b. Statement are absolutely true or false , no qualification needed.
c. Paraphrase the statement and do not lift direct statements from the selection.
d, Include enough background , context , and qualification necessary .
According to the author , . . .
e. Avoid using statement of commands or orders ; as these are neither true nor false.
Brush your teeth three times a day .
f. Never use qualifiers , like always , sometimes , and never.
MULTIPLE- CHOICE TEST
-Test item that asks students to recognize from a set of choices the best
or correct answer to the question.
- It is difficult to construct , but easier to score , it is more reliable and it
reduces anxiety among learners.
PARTS OF MULTIPLE QUESTIONS
• STEM- question of introducing the item.
• DISTRACTORS- plausible answer that draw the learners attention
from the correct answer , they do not really know the answer.
• KEYED ANSWER-the correct answer.

SUGGESTIONS NEED TO CONSIDER IN

CONSTRUCTING MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
a. Be specific with that is asked in the stem to make the learners
anticipate the correct answer after reading it.
EXAMPLE- From the details provided by the author , what is the setting of the
story(STEM)
CHOICES: A. BEACH - DISTRACTOR
B. FARM - KEYED ANSWER
C. MOUNTAIN - DISTRACTOR
b. Avoid giving grammatical clues like, A ( answer is expected to begin with
a consonant ) or AN ) expected answer begins with a vowel.
Incorrect: The animal tortoise described in the story is a good example of an-
A. reptile B. amphibian C. mammal
Correct : The animal tortoise described in the story is a good example an/a-
c. Make the choices similar in length , tense , number , sentence
structure , part of speech , etc. to avoid giving irrelevant clues to the
correct answer.
Incorrect: What did the boy expect from everyone he met?
A. trust B. treat him with mercy C. obedience
Correct: What did the boy expect from everyone he met ?
A. trust B. mercy C. obedience
d. In constructing the stem , use more often a direct question and less
of the incomplete sentence type of stem.
Less Preferred: The floating house that-
Preferred : What does the floating house imply?
e. Word 0r phrase that are repeated in the h
B. Muslims are pearl diverse.
C. Muslims are boat dwellers.
D. Muslims are good fishers.
Correct: What do the floating house imply ? Muslims are-
A. sea lovers
B. pearl divers
C. boat dwellers
D. good fishers

f. Arrange response in a logical order.

> Number - highest to lowest or vice versa
> date - earliest to the most recent or vice versa
> proper nouns - alphabetical order
g. Give clear directions to guide the learners on what to do with the
questions and how to answer.

3. Fill - in - the - Blank

- this type of test asks the learners to supply in the blank the
correct answer based on the context suggested by the statement.
Vocabulary Test : Ask learners what the word or phrase means as it
is used in the sentence.
Example: The opposite of SILENT is----.
Supplying the Details of the story: Ask learners about the title
of the story , the author , setting , main characters , and other
major details of the story read.
Example: The author of the story is
With the description given by the author , the setting of the
story is
The following suggestions are given to make this type of test
more effective:
a. Put the blank at the end of the statement to orient th learner
on the context.
Example : The sentence “ This assignment is a piece of cake” means
b. Make the situation specific for the learners to provide the correct
answer.
c. In a set of fill-in-the -blank items make the blanks of the same
length to avoid giving a clue to the correct answer.

4. Matching Type
This type of test measures the learners ability to recognize
relationships among homogenous pairs . It enables the reading teacher
to cover more content in one test .
Column A presents the premises , while Column B presents the choices .