ASSESSING READING

Edgar Lucero

AGENDA Why reading first? Defining reading Reading importance in SLA The reader and the text/test Inference in reading? Bottom-up and top-down Designing assessment tasks

(what to consider?)

WHY READING FIRST?MY IDEA OF SLA (SMITH, FLANAGAN, DEESE, RIVERS, GASS)

CognitiveStructure

Theory ofThe world

WORLD

New CognitiveStructure

learn

ing

Through ourSensory systems And Making sense

ComprehensionProcess of meaningPrediction of meaningUncertainty process work

Reading

DEFINING READING Read the following text…

Too difficult??So, read the following text:

Ver gente decente perecer me estremece, Mequetrefes venden 3 CDs, ¿qué se creen? Se creen jefes de este Edén, ¡Herejes! Deben entender que defenderme es querer perder, ¿Pretenden vencerme en este set? Empecé desde el retrete, enterré el estrés, El eje es tener fe.

Trabaja, plasma las palabras, hazlas balas, Atrapa ráfagas, sal, machaca cada sala, Ladra hasta rasgar la garganta, Saca las garras, las armas, Las gradas harán palmas, La fama tarda, patán, jamás hallarás paz. Amargas caras largas arrastran la maldad, Andarás a rastras, pagarás caras las cagadas, Las carcajadas sabrán saladas, Tras, tantas trampas, Tantas falsas alabanzas…

DEFINING READING What did you do to understand the text?

So, what’s reading?

It is the ability to process a text through decoding, interpreting, and understanding it. (Brown, 2004)

It is a process of negotiating meaning. A dialogue between the reader and the writer. (Widdowson, 1984, 1990)

READING IMPORTANCE IN SLA Reading is important because much info

you need to know is communicated via written texts.

We need reading to function in this modern society.

It is a readily available exposure to the TL.

It opens up worlds. It brings prior knowledge, cognitive

development, and text processing. (Barnet, 1989)

It is a social and cultural event involving written language. (Smith, 1984)

THE READER AND THE TEXT/TESTGRABE (1991)

The reader approaches the text/test by careful reading and using her/his skills with clear objectives.

During reading, the reader discards, reuses, and implements different strategies to interpret the text.

The reader then has to activate meta cognitive awareness of the interpretation process and of individual processing strategies.

INFERENCE IN READING?SchemataVision of the worldCultural/social knowledgeLinguistic knowledgeReading skillsReading strategiesMeta cognitive awareness

ContentSyntactical featuresLexical featuresDiscourse featuresCoherence / cohesionCompleteness / unityAuthor’s world vision

Decoding processInterpretation processUnderstanding processLinguistic and Semantic level

All assessment of reading must be carried out by inference (?)

BOTTOM-UP Concentrating on individual features Focusing on individual words and

phrases Stringing details together to understand

the whole

TOP-DOWN

Looking down from above Getting an overall picture Having appropriate expectations

(schemata)

Now that you've learned about top-down processing and bottom-up processing, try this practice task. Look at these texts. Then answer the questions below.

ONE READING ASSESSMENT TASK… What is this organ?

This organ creates lymphocytes for the destruction and recycling of old red-blood cells. It is also where white blood cells trap organisms. The tissues of this organ can be classified into two types, white ored pulp and red ored pulp. The red pulp consists of a large number of sinuses and sinusoids which provide the supply of blood in case of lack of it. The white pulp consists of aggregates of lymphoid tissue. Its main purpose is to mount an immunological response of antigens.

Splenomegaly is the main health problem associated with the organ. It consists of an enlargement due to trapping platelets at an abnormal rate.

THE SPLEEN

NOW ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WITH YOUR OWN WORDS What is the main function of the spleen?

Describe the two tissues of the spleen and their functions in our body?

Why does Splenomegaly happen? Explain clearly.

DESIGNING ASSESSMENTS TASKSCONSIDERATIONS

Probable difficulties Considerations

• Global processing difficulties(Prior knowledge ≠ concepts in the text/test)•Grammatical features(nouns, phrases, clauses)•Discourse features(no gender nouns, ambiguity, false friends, verb forms/tenses)•Lexical accessibility (1 word = different meanings)(semantic level ≠ structural level)

•Provide a context•Reach authenticity•When, what to read?•Activate a purpose for reading•Cultural aspects of language•Appropriateness of language•Grammatical aspects of language•Ambiguities of language•Correspondence question-answer•Students’ literacy level•Students’ interpretation of the world•Teacher’s beliefs•Teacher’s level of objectivity and subjectivity