‫…………………‪Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya‬‬
‫‪Content Validity of National Exams‬‬
‫‪of English Reading in Libya‬‬
‫‪Dr Masoud Aboulgasim Ghuma‬‬
‫‪English Department,‬‬
‫‪Sabratha College of Arts‬‬
‫‪ ‬د‪ .‬مشعود ابولقاسم غومه‬
‫قشم اللغة االجنليزية‪ -‬كلية االداب صرباته‬
‫ملخص‬
‫يذٍ الُرقة عبارة عو حماَلة الستكصاء مصداقّة امتحانات الكزاءة فـْ اللغة‬
‫اإلجنلّزِة للمزحلة الثانُِة‪ .‬للكّام بذلك مت حتلّل العهاصز املشتًدفة فـْ امتحانني‬
‫نًائّني للكزاءة للشًادة الثانُِة َمكارنة الهتائج مبا مت تكدميٌ فـْ الكتب املدرسّة للمادة‪.‬‬
‫لكد لُحظ أى ما مت تكدميٌ فـْ الكتب املدرسّة ِشتًدف تهمّة مًارات‬
‫الكزاءة املختلفة‪َ .‬عهد مكارنة يذٍ اجلُانب مع ما َجد فـْ االمتحانات تبني انٌ يذٍ‬
‫االمتحانات عهّت باختبار مًارات االستذكار للمعلُمات َالبّانات املذكُرة فـْ‬
‫الكتاب املدرسْ عُضا عو اختبار مًارات الكزاءة اليت مت تكدميًا فـْ الكتاب‬
‫املدرسْ‪ .‬يذا التباِو بني ما ِكدمٌ الكتاب املدرسْ َما مت استًدافٌ فـْ االمتحانات‬
‫ًِدد مصداقّة يذٍ االمتحانات‪.‬‬
‫بهاء على يذٍ الهتائج مت تكدِم بعض التُصّات الرتبُِة َدعُة ملزِد مو البحث‬
‫فـْ يذا االجتاٍ‪.‬‬
‫‪59‬‬
‫‪Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue‬‬
‫‪DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB‬‬
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the validity of English reading tests in
Libyan secondary schools. To achieve this aim, two exam sheets were
checked against the reading section in the textbooks.
It was noticed that the textbooks are addressing the suitable items
that are needed to develop reading abilities. On the other hand, the two tests
investigated were mainly concerned with testing content and information
rather than assessing reading skills and strategies. The contradiction and
lack of harmony between the textbooks and the tests reveals lack of content
validity of these tests. On basis of these findings, some pedagogical
recommendations and call for further research in this area have been
suggested.
INTRODUCTION
This study investigates the validity of the national English reading
tests in Libya. These tests are supposed to be based on what is presented in
the textbooks, which are provided by the Ministry of Education. The
secondary school textbooks of English are in the form of units and each unit
is divided into sections these sections are dedicated to listening, speaking,
pronunciation, reading, and writing. Grammar and language use are
integrated in these sections.
In Libya, the final exam of the third year of secondary school
follows different procedure from the one followed in the first and second
years. Whereas the final exams of the first and second years are prepared by
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
60
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
the teachers of the same school, the final exam of the third year is prepared
and administered by the Ministry of Education. Both tests are supposed to
test what is targeted and presented in the textbooks. The third year test is to
judge and investigate students’ ability for the next stage, which is usually
joining higher education section. Within English textbooks each skill is
addressed in a separate section. Reading section covers many skills and
strategies, and the texts and passages used cover different interests that
range from information technology to history.
This paper is of a descriptive nature. Reading sections in third year
Skills books A and B were anlysed to find out about the aspects and reading
strategies emphasised. Two national exam papers of reading, which were
administered to third year students who were English majors, were
investigated to find out whether they addressed what was presented in skills
textbooks or not. This process will be guided by the following research
questions:
-
What do reading sections in third year skill books address?
-
What do reading final exams in reading investigate?
-
Do final exams of reading achieve content validity?
This study may raise the awareness of educators and researchers to
the validity of these tests and other similar exams.
The first section, of the study, deals with the theoretical aspect of
reading, teaching and testing reading, and the validity and reliability of tests.
The next presents the practical steps i.e. the methodology and the procedure
followed to conduct the study. The following section describes and
examines the data. The penultimate section provides the findings and
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
61
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
summarises them in the form of a table and two charts. The final part
presents conclusions and recommendations.
LITERATURE REVIEW
People anticipate “Reading” as having different meanings. It can
refer to the process of pronouncing the written symbols, which are usually
in the form of letters. When a child goes to school and masters the alphabet,
he/ she starts recognizing sound combinations, which result in words.
Sometimes children can recognize the pronunciation of a word though they
do not know its meaning. However, their teacher and family consider it as
reading i.e. they could read. This is usually achieved easily in languages
such as Arabic in which there is a direct relation between the letters and the
sounds representing them. This way of reading is not limited to children but
it also can be found through adults. Although teenagers and adults feel
confident that they can read fluently, it may happen that they read but not
getting the meaning. It is very often that some Muslims read parts of their
sacred book, Quran, but they do not understand the meaning of the content
as a whole. Reading also can refer to getting meaning from the written
symbols, which can be letters, or other written marks. This is usually done
by fluent readers i.e. those who are skilled. Finally, reading may refer to a
school subject.
There are two dominant theories that have attempted to interpret the
reading process (Fischer, 2003). The first view considers reading as a
linguistic process in which each symbols is transferred into a sound in a
linear order, which finally leads to a comprehensible entity, and these
entities are linked to form larger units. After forming these utterances,
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
62
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
understanding is fulfilled. This theory considers transferring graphemes into
phonemes as a necessary step in reading.
The second theory, about reading, skips the need to transform letters
into sounds or the link between individual symbols and their pronunciation. Its
opponents claim that meaning is achieved just by seeing the written symbols
i.e. getting meaning without resorting to language (in the form of sound).
Whereas the first theory accounts for situations such as the early stages of
learning reading in L1, L2 or when reading unfamiliar words, the second
accounts for reading familiar words, texts and languages. In short, there are
“two different types of reading always obtained: literal or mediate reading
(learning) and visual or immediate reading (fluent)”(Brock, 2002 p 65).
Reading is an intellectual process, which involves knowledge of when
to read, what to read in order to make sense. Effective readers can also monitor
their understanding, and when they lose the meaning of what they are reading,
they often unconsciously select and use a remedying strategy that will help
them reconnect with the meaning of the text. Such reading strategies and others
can be taught explicitly while students are learning subject-specific content
through authentic reading tasks (Grabe, 1991 p 378).
Readers can also link their previous knowledge to newly faced
knowledge within the written texts to achieve comprehension (Brantmeier,
2002 p 8). Prior knowledge depends on lived experience, and it is generally
agreed that the more knowledge about a topic a reader has the easier s/he
grasp the relevant texts. Having a different cultural knowledge also affects
understanding and appreciation of a written text in another language. This
can be clearly seen through jokes and humour, which depend on shared
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
63
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
cultural knowledge between the writer and reader (Erten & Razı, 2009 p 60;
Gee, 2001 p 720). Readers from different cultural backgrounds may read the
same text and create meanings differently because each culture stimulates
the development of different schemata of the world (Palmer, 1981 p 63).
Teaching reading in a foreign language requires helping them acquire the
literate behaviours and the ways of thinking about text, which are practiced
by the native speakers of that language. In fact, learning to read and
comprehend another language entails learning a secondary knowledge about
cultural interpretations and beliefs about language. Learning to read in
another language can change learners’ values and orientations because
literacy is a cultural product loaded with the values and views of the culture
in which it develops (Cook-Gumperz, 1986). Hence L1 literacy is acquired
from birth by being socialised into the native language and the local
culture’s ways of using the language, and the range of reading skills
required for a certain language depends on the structure of that language and
the literacy habits of its native speakers. ESL and EFL teachers, therefore,
should train students in the reading skills that are nurtured by native
speakers of English.
Reading can be taught through introducing strategies to the students
to raise their awareness to the process of reading and to the structure of the
different types of text (Grabe, 2004 p 52). Direct teaching, thinking aloud,
modelling, discussion, and small-group support are some of the approaches
that teachers can use to help students become more strategic and effective
readers.
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
64
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
Reading textbooks and resources have a variety of elements or
features that help the reader locate and use the material. These features can
be in the form of pictures graphs and charts. Texts are developed and
introduced according to the level of the target learner. More features and
clearer cues are introduced within the texts designed for struggling readers.
The visual cues become less as the reader develops. Monitoring the texts
and developing them according to the level of the learner can encourage the
students to process them efficiently.
Language tests are to infer the ability of the subject to use his/ her
knowledge of the language; actually, these tests deal with just a sample of
the whole language. However; the results of the test can give the examiner
an indication about the linguistic ability of the subject (Brown, 1994 pp 119). Tests are usually named after their purpose: proficiency tests,
diagnostic tests, placement tests, and achievement tests. Teachers and
educational boards are usually interested in diagnostic tests, placement tests,
and achievement tests. The first two types help make decisions about
suitability and needs of the learner, but the last type is to make crucial
decisions about the future of the learner and the material introduced in the
classroom (Huhta, 2008 pp 469-482).
Proficiency tests do not depend upon a specific syllabus but they
investigate broad range of linguistic abilities. They are often used to
discriminate candidates for selection purposes. When reading tests are used
to explore the extent of how well the learners are reading and to help them
improve, they are classified as diagnostic. This form of assessment is
usually followed by a feedback and assistance provide to the learners
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
65
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
(Mariotti & Homan, 2005 p 236). Diagnostic tests aim to identify students’
strengths and weaknesses. Items of a test need to include questions that
account for the relevant areas. In reading, such tests are concerned with the
skills that students have and aim at measuring such skills. Placement tests
help the authorities and the teachers decide where to locate a student in a
level of a certain programme. This type of tests is based on the level of
difficulty of the course. In reading, these tests aim to identify students
ability to read certain material of specific characteristics (Nuttall &
Alderson, 1996 p 215).
Achievement tests are different from the other tests in that they
depend on a syllabus, they are administered in a pre-set time, and they have
important consequences such as pass or fail of the students. These tests “are
used in a more summative fashion, that is, to deliver or to contribute to
judgements on students and on courses” (Nuttall & Alderson, 1996 P 217).
Results of achievement tests provide an indication of students’ mastery of
the implemented syllabus. Hence, these tests need to account for the
elements of the textbook as much as possible, and to be carefully
constructed. Being based on the syllabus contributes to the validity of the
achievement test. Reading courses and reading teachers are usually
concerned with improving students’ ability to read rather than sticking to
specific texts.
… it is quite inappropriate in an achievement test to include texts that might have been seen
by some or all students. Achievement tests should contain only unseen texts of similar type
and difficulty to those in the course, and they should test the skills that have been taught
(Ibid p 18).
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
66
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
Providing seen texts in the exam does not investigate reading
abilities. Moreover, Young (2008 p 7) calls for a distinction between content
assessments and assessments of language abilities. Whereas content
assessment is concerned with knowledge and information, language
assessment focuses on the ability to communicate in the target language.
In an investigation of some standard reading tests, Alderson (1990
pp 465-504) highlighted the points that are traced when testing reading
comprehension. Understanding and identifying explicitly stated ideas and
relations within the sentences such as comparison, means, cause, result, and
purpose are of the main points targeted in reading comprehension tests.
Understanding the relationships between parts of the text, through cohesion
devices and by recognizing the indicators such as reference (ordering items),
in the discourse is used as a criterion in reading comprehension tests.
Reading comprehension tests also ask for signalling out the essential part
from the nonessential ones in the text i.e. identifying the main idea from the
supporting ones. Some items of reading tests try to investigate readers’
ability to deduce the meaning and use of unfamiliar words through
understanding word formation and contextual clues. The last issue that is
addressed in reading tests is the ability to transfer information from one
medium such as graphs, charts, or tables to another form such as writing.
Whatever the points included or the aims targeted within a test it should be
reliable and valid.
Being reliable means producing consistent results. Reliability of a
test as a whole can be achieved by administering the test more than once
over time i.e. Test-retest reliability, or through producing different versions
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
67
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
of the test that investigate the same construct, skill, or knowledge to the
same group of individuals, which is called i.e. Parallel forms reliability. The
assessments of different raters of a test should also be consistent to achieve
what is called Inter-rater reliability (Golafshani, 2003 p 598, 599). The latter
kind of reliability accounts for differences among humans when interpreting
the same answers. Consistency between test’s items that probe the same
construct should produce similar results in order to achieve internal
consistency reliability. This type of reliability can be judged through pairing
the items in question, determining the correlation coefficient for each pair,
then taking the average of all the correlation coefficients i.e. Average interitem correlation. Internal consistency reliability can also be achieved
through Split-half technique in which all items that probe the same area of
knowledge are split half in order to form two “sets” of items. After
administering the entire test to a group of individuals, the total score for
each “set” is computed and the correlation between the two total “set”
scores is determined ( Ibid).
Whereas reliability is concerned with the stability of the
measurement, validity is about the extent to which the instrument measures
what is aimed to (Ibid p 599). A valid test should address what it is claimed
to investigate.
There are different types of validity: content validity, face validity
(relevant to content validity), criterion-related validity (or predictive
validity) and concurrent validity. Recently, all the previous types were
unified into a major class called construct validity (Kane, 2001 pp 324,
325).
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
68
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
Content validity ensures that the measurement encompasses the
broad range of areas within the concept under study, and accounts for the
degree to which the instrument fully assesses the construct of interest.
“Content-related evidence is also concerned with the extent to which the
assessment instrument adequately samples the content domain” (Moskal &
Leydens, 2000 p 2). This can be achieved by using a panel of “experts/
raters” to ensure that the content area is adequately addressed and limit
personal bias. Because not everything can be covered within the instrument,
sometimes, it is called Sampling validity. Whereas content validity is
concerned with trait representation, face validity takes care of whether the
measurement is indeed measuring the characteristics of the construct under
study. Criterion validity is concerned with how much the scores of the
instrument match with the actual current or future performance. This
expected performance is called the Criterion whereas the scores achieved in
the instruments are called the Prediction. The more match between the
Prediction and the Criterion the more valid the instrument is. “Constructs”
refers to the internal processes to an individual (Ibid p 3). The relationship
between these theoretical constructs or domains and the instrument is
relevant to what is called construct validity. It is to ensure that the measure
is actually assessing these internal processes. Familiar experts of the
construct can assess this kind of validity. Concurrent validity is about how
much the scores on a test match with the scores on another test administered
at the same time (Kane, 2001 pp 319, 320). Concurrent validity is used to
evaluate tests in view of other previously validated tests.
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
69
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
METHODOLOGY
Skills Textbooks of the third year of secondary school in Libya,
which focus on skills, and two National exams of reading constituted the
source of data for the current paper. The reading sections in textbooks
constituted the start point for this study in order to develop a list of the
target items in these textbooks. The two exams were administered in two
successive academic years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. The tests were
chosen according to accessibility to the researcher. Hence, there were two
units of analysis the first was the reading sections in the third year English
textbook and the other unit was the reading exam papers.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
The reading texts and activities were described and a list of the
strategies used in these books stated in Ghuma (2011) was adapted as a
criterion against which the third year final exams were checked. Then, the
two tests were investigated to account for the types of questions and the
items targeted in these exams. In view of the strategies’ list developed, the
Secondary School National Exams of reading of two different academic
years were checked against the target items in the exams to find out about
tests’ validity.
1.1. Reading tasks and activities
The activities and exercises presented in the targeted textbooks are
in the form of filling gaps, matching items, true and false, and labelling. In
this section, students practise prediction through anticipating what is coming
in the text based on their background knowledge, which is activated by
some clues on the page such as the title, some graphs or charts, or pictures.
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
70
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
The predictions are linked to learners’ everyday experience or to some other
texts predictions. This association is also applied after reading the text. The
textbooks also introduce skimming where the learner seeks general
information that is clearly stated in the text.
While reading for details the learner may encounter some unfamiliar
words, phrases, or expression. To account for such a difficulty, sometimes
the learners practise guessing the meaning through using the structural or
semantic context. To encourage the learners to scan, some questions and
tasks aim to define specific information that is explicitly mentioned in the
text. Some tasks require the learners to identify the main idea i.e. thesis
statements or topic sentences, and the sub ideas. In some situations, the
students are asked to evaluate these ideas or a certain linguistic body
presented in the text and to infer or elicit the implications on basis of their
prior knowledge or experience.
After reading the text and highlighting the ideas, the students are
given the chance to evaluate and express their appreciation and opinion of
the text or of any of its parts. To evaluate their understanding of the written
material, the readers are asked to restate (reproduce a similar version of the
text by using reader’s own words with reference to the text). At the end of
reading section, the students are usually asked to respond to what is
presented into the text i.e. to express their feelings or reactions toward the
content of the text. Within and between these tasks and activities relevant
morphological and syntactic issues are tackled. Understanding how to use
expressions and words receive attention in reading tasks and activities
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
71
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
(Ghuma, 2011 pp 56-62). The following table summarises the target items
and their frequency as they appeared in Ghuma 2011.
Skills A
Skills B
Number Percentage Number Percentage
Association
18
24
10
12
Evaluation
2
3
3
3
Guessing meaning
6
8
3
3
Identifying sub ideas
0
0
1
1
Inferring
2
3
6
7
Language usage
27
36
33
38
Morphology
0
0
1
1
Responding
0
0
1
1
Restating
0
0
1
1
Scanning
17
23
19
22
Skimming
3
4
2
2
Syntax
0
0
3
3
Thesis statement
0
0
1
1
Topic Sentence
0
0
2
2
(Ghuma, 2011 pp 81-83)
1.2. Reading tests
Under reading section, the questions are accompanied by three to
four choices of which one is correct. Knowledge of the subject presented in
the textbook is needed to answer this type of questions.
The two tests were analysed into two levels; at one level the type of
questions were addressed, and at the other level the target components were
highlighted. Following the first step led to identify the flowing question
types: True and False, Multiple choice, Completion, Matching groups, and
texts. Doing the second stage helped signal out the targeted items; they
investigated knowledge of vocabulary, general knowledge, and knowledge
of literary works. They also examined very few writing and reading skills,
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
72
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
and asked questions about texts. Questions about texts consisted of different
wh-questions, yes no questions, and completion.
Whereas the labels of the first level are self-explanatory, some of the
second level labels need clarification by providing actual examples from the
exams. Vocabulary questions ask about the meaning of a word or a phrase,
or seek differentiating between two words:
Desert is served before the main meal. (T/F) (Evaluation and Assessment
Department, 2008-2009 Q 18).
Information questions seek general knowledge:
The solar energy is an alternative energy source. (T/F) (Ibid: 2009-2010 Q 17).
Questions that ask about works and authors were classified
as Literature questions:
Stephen Hawking is a ………….
a. musician.
b. politician.
c. physician.
d. mathematician. (Ibid Q 19)
There are few questions that ask about writing and
reading:
“The soil is alkali”
Identify the information above to the following points.
a. hypothesis
b. results
c. conclusion
d. previous research (Ibid Q 58)
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
73
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
The exam paper of 2008-2009 consists of 70 questions: 35 are in the
form of True and False, 18 are in the form of matching, and 17 are in the
form completion from multiple choices.
In view of the second level 27 questions address vocabulary, 29
questions are asking for information presented in the textbooks, and 14
questions seek information about literary works authors presented in the
textbooks too.
The exam paper of 2009-2010 consists of 70 questions too. 18
questions are in the form of True and False, 2 questions are in the form of
multiple choices, 20 are in the form of completion from choices, 10 are
matching two groups, and 20 questions are about two seen texts: 10 each.
The questions of reading in 2009-2010 reading exam, other than the
two texts, are distributed as follows: 15 for vocabulary, 2 for information,
28 for literature, 3 for writing, and 2 for reading. The following table
summarises the question types and their distribution.
Question Type
2008-2009
2009-2010
Number
Percentage
Number
Percentage
True/ False
35
50%
18
26%
Match
18
26%
10
14%
Completion
17
24%
20
29%
Multiple Choice
2
3%
Text I
10
14%
Text II
10
14%
The following table summarises the target elements in the tests and
their distribution.
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
74
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
Target Item
Vocabulary
Information
Literature
Writing
Reading
2008-2009
Number
Percentage
27
39%
29
41%
14
20%
-
2009-2010
Number
Percentage
15
30%
2
4%
28
56%
3
6%
2
4%
To evaluate the content validity of the exams they need to be
checked against the target elements presented in the reading section
in the textbooks. To avoid subjectivity, three English specialists
were provided with the issues addressed in the courses and the
reading tests, and asked to decide whether the exams test the issues
targeted in the textbooks or not. Their conclusions were similar to
the researcher’s conclusions in that the exams were far away from
the concerns of the textbooks.
FINDINGS
The tasks and activities presented in Skills books A and B were to
develop making associations, predictions and evaluations, guessing and
inferring meanings, identifying the ideas, thesis statements, and topic
sentences, using morphological and syntactic knowledge, scanning,
skimming, restating what is read, and finally responding to the reading
material (Ghuma, 2011 p 84). These activities, tasks and exercises were
based on the reading material presented, and ranged from explicit/ literal
and interpretive reading skills and tasks to critical comprehension ones in
which the students were required to differentiate between facts and
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
75
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
opinions, recognize persuasive statements, and to judge the accuracy of the
information given in the text. These textbooks targeted what should be
addressed in reading as suggested by Alderson (1990)
In the exams checked, reading passages were introduced in one of
them. One of them was about “Shakespeare sonnets” while the other was
about “Phobias”. These seen passages were studied in the textbook.
Achievement tests should contain only unseen passages (Nuttall &
Alderson, 1996).
There was no accordance between the items addressed in the
textbook and the exam items. The target elements were not represented in
the test. Poor sampling of the content affects the validity of the test (Moskal
& Leydens, 2000 p 2). Most of the exam items test content knowledge and
information rather than testing reading skills and strategies. Reading tests
should examine language abilities rather than knowledge of the content
(Young, 2008).
CONCLUSION
Whereas the textbooks were concerned with reading practices,
Libyan final exam tests were far away from testing reading. Another
problem was the lack of unseen texts within the exam. A seen text does not
test reading because of the effect of practise; students may, and usually
happens, memorise these texts. Using seen texts will not enable the
examiner to know whether the learner mastered what he/ she learned during
the course or not. These tests lacked face and content validity because there
is no correspondence between them and the subject matter practised in the
textbooks, and because of presenting seen texts.
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
76
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
Poor presentation of what is targeted in the textbook may affect the
teaching practice during the course. Usually, teachers focus on their
students' performance in the exams. Thus, they will not emphasise some of
the parts of the course when teaching. Providing unseen texts may urge the
teachers to emphasise the reading skills and strategies. More attention needs
to be paid to developing such tests.
Educational authorities need to check exams validity to ensure that
they fulfil the purpose. A set of criteria that ensure tests’ validity and
reliability need to be developed. Future research may investigate construct
validity and the reliability of reading tests.
References
Alderson, J. C. (1990). Testing Reading Comprehension Skills (Part Two) Getting Students
to Talk about Taking Reading Test (A Pilot Study). Reading in a Foreign
Language, 7(1), 39.
Brantmeier, C. (2002). Second Language Reading Strategy Research at the Secondary and
University Levels: Variations, Disparities, and Generalizability. The Reading
Matrix, 2(3), 1-14.
Brock, P. (2002). Australian Perspectives on the Assessment of Reading. In C. Harrison &
T. Salinger (Eds.), Assessing Reading 1: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.
Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (3rd ed.). Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice Hall Regents Prentice Hall, Inc.
Cook-Gumperz, J. (1986). Literacy and schooling: An unchanging equation? In J. CookGumperz (Ed.), The social construction of literacy. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Erten, İ. H., & Razı, S. (2009). The effects of cultural familiarity on reading
comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 21(1), 60-77.
Evaluation and Assessment Department. (2008-2009). English Reading Test. Ministry of
Education.
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
77
Content Validity of National Exams of English Reading in Libya…………………
Evaluation and Assessment Department. (2009-2010). English Reading Test. Ministry of
Education.
Fischer, S. R. (2003). A History of Reading. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.
Gee, J. P. (2001). Reading as situated language: a sociocognitive perspective. Journal of
adolescent & adult Literacy, 44(8), 714-725.
Ghuma, M. A. (2011). The Transferability of Reading Strategies between L1 (Arabic) and
L2 (English). Durham Durham UK (Unpublished Thesis).
Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. The
Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-607.
Grabe, W. (1991). Current Developments in Second Language Reading Research. TESOL
Quarterly, 25(3), 375-406.
Grabe, W. (2004). Research on Teaching Reading Annual Review of Applied Linguistics
(Vol. 24, pp. 44-69). USA: Cambridge University Press.
Huhta, A. (2008). Diagnostic and Formative Assessment. In B. S. and & F. M. Hult (Eds.),
The Handbook of Educational Linguistics (pp. 469-482). USA: Blackwell
Publishing Ltd.
Kane, M. T. (2001). Current Concerns in Validity Theory. Journal of Educational
Measurement, 38(4), 319-342.
Mariotti, A. S., & Homan, S. P. (2005). Linking Reading Assessment to Instructuion.
Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Moskal, B. M., & Leydens, J. A. (2000). Scoring Rubric Development: Validity and
Reliability. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(10), 1-10
Nuttall, C. E., & Alderson, C. J. (1996). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language.
Oxford England: Heinemann English Language Teaching.
Palmer, W. S. (1981). Reading Theories and Research: A Search for Similarities. The
English Journal, 70(8), 63-66.
Young, J. W. (2008).
Ensuring Valid Content Tests for English Language
Learners: ETS.
Libyan bulletin for studies – seven issue
DAR AZZAWYAH LELKETAB
78