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Chinese as a Second Language Assessment pp 183–202Cite as

Diagnostic Assessment of L2 Chinese Learners’ Reading Comprehension Ability

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Part of the book series: Chinese Language Learning Sciences ((CLLS))

Abstract

This study explored the feasibility of applying the Rule Space Method (RSM) to diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of reading ability among learners of Chinese based on their performance on the reading comprehension section of a standardized Chinese proficiency test, the C. Test. Combining literature review, instructor coding, and expert judgment, we finalized a set of eight attributes measured by 30 multiple-choice reading comprehension test items. Eight hundred and fifty-seven (857) examinees took the above-mentioned test, and their responses to the 30 test items were used for statistical analyses. The results showed that 90.54% of the examinees were successfully classified into one of the pre-specified attribute mastery patterns, based on which we were able to offer detailed diagnostic reports to individual examinees regarding their mastery/non-mastery of the attributes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As Sawaki et al. (2009) summarized, there are three approaches to identifying attributes: (a) by examining surface test item characteristics, (b) by referring to theoretical taxonomies of language ability, and (c) by analyzing test takers’ reported skills and processes. The current study adopted the first approach because it was based on an existing test.

  2. 2.

    The Fusion Model and the RSM are similar in that they are both probabilistic models that decompose examinee abilities into cognitive attributes based on a Q Matrix. They are different in terms of assumptions of attribute structure, flexibility of handling items scored polytomously, and parameter estimation methods. Interested readers can refer to Lee and Sawaki (2009) for comparing the features of various cognitive diagnostic models.

  3. 3.

    The C. Test (A-D) includes two main components: listening comprehension (70 items) and integrated skill use (90 items). The listening comprehension component further includes four sections: (a) graph-based listening comprehension (10 items), (b) short-dialogue-based listening comprehension (20 items), (c) extended-dialogue-based listening comprehension (10 items), and (d) listening comprehension and note-taking (20 items). The integrated skill use component includes six sections: (1) vocabulary/structure (10 items), (2) word order (20 items), (3) reading comprehension (30 items), (4) error identification (10 items), (5) passage-based blank filling (10 items), and (6) passage-based sentence making (10 items). The allowable time for completing the entire test is 150 min (i.e., 50 for listening and 100 for integrated skill use).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA

    Shuai Li

  2. Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, USA

    Jing Wang

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  1. Shuai Li
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  2. Jing Wang
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Correspondence to Shuai Li .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Dongbo Zhang

  2. Department of Counseling Educational Psychology, and Special Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Chin-Hsi Lin

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Li, S., Wang, J. (2017). Diagnostic Assessment of L2 Chinese Learners’ Reading Comprehension Ability. In: Zhang, D., Lin, CH. (eds) Chinese as a Second Language Assessment. Chinese Language Learning Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4089-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4089-4_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-4087-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-4089-4

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