Guidance on the principles of language accessibility in National Curriculum Assessments : research background

This review accompanies the document, which describes the principles which should guide the development of clear assessment questions. The purpose of the review is to present and discuss in detail the research underpinning these principles. It begins from the standpoint that National Curriculum assessments, indeed any assessments, should be: - appropriate to the age of the pupils - an effective measure of their abilities, skills and concept development - fair to all irrespective of gender, language, religion, ethnic or social origin or disability. (Ofqual, 2011) The Regulatory Framework for National Assessments: National Curriculum and Early Years Foundation Stage (Ofqual, 2011) sets out a number of common criteria which apply to all aspects of the development and implementation of National Assessments. One of these criteria refers to the need for assessment procedures to minimise bias: “The assessment should minimise bias, differentiating only on the basis of each learner’s ability to meet National Curriculum requirements” (Section 5.39, page 16). The Framework goes on to argue that: “Minimising bias is about ensuring that an assessment does not produce unreasonably adverse outcomes for particular groups of learners” (Annex 1, page 29). This criterion reinforces the guiding principle that any form of assessment should provide information about the knowledge and understanding of relevant content material. That is to say that the means through which this knowledge and understanding is examined, the design of the assessment and the language used should as far as possible be transparent, and should not influence adversely the performance of those being assessed. There is clearly a large number of ways in which any given assessment task can be presented and in which questions can be asked. Some of these ways will make the task more accessible – that is, easier to complete successfully – and some will get in the way of successful completion. Section 26 of the Fair Access by Design (Ofqual, 2010) document lists a number of guiding principles for improving the accessibility of assessment questions, although the research basis for these principles is not made completely clear in that document. The aim of the current review is to examine the research background more closely in order to provide a more substantial basis for a renewed set of principles to underpin the concept of language accessibility. In the review, each section will be prefaced by a statement of the principles outlined in Guidance on the Principles of Language Accessibility in National Curriculum Assessments and then the research evidence underpinning these principles will be reviewed

Towards a new model of readability

This thesis attempts to develop a new model for a renewed concept of readability. The thesis begins by discussing the rationale for carrying out this research. Next, the extensive literature around the topic of readability is reviewed. The literature suggests that most research into readability has stemmed from a positivist paradigm, and has used quantitative methods to assess text comprehensibility. This approach has been widely criticised and, recently, more qualitative methods stemming from an interpretive paradigm have been employed. It seems that both quantitative and qualitative methods have strengths and limitations. Therefore, the research I have carried out has explored the concept of readability by combining these two research approaches. The data collection methods include readability formulae; text feature analyses; miscue analyses; retellings and interviews. This research has been conducted in the United Kingdom and involved 16 male and 16 female pupils with an age range from 6 to 11 years old. All the participants were fluent readers. Data were analysed using; (1) six online readability formulae - ATOS (1997); Dale-Chall (1948); Flesch-Kincaid (1948); FOG (1952); SMOG (1969); and Spache (1953); (2) Reading Miscue Inventory (Goodman, Watson & Burke, 2005); (3) Judging Richness of Retellings (Irwin & Mitchell, 1983); (4) text feature analysis forms; and (5) a cross-interview analysis approach. Two computer software programmes i.e Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 17) and Qualitative Data Analysis (Nvivo 7) were used to organise and analyse the quantitative and qualitative data. The findings suggest that the concept of readability is influenced by both reader and text factors. The reader factors involve a complex relationship of nine embedded elements within the reader, namely interest, prior knowledge, attitude, reading ability, motivation, purpose of reading, engagement, age and gender. The text factors include eight elements, these being the physical features of the text, genre, content, author, linguistic difficulties, legibility, illustrations and organization of the text. This research comes to the conclusion that the concept of readability is a complex matching process involving the dynamic interaction between both reader and text factors and bound by certain contexts

Explorando la Comprensión Lectora como Tareas de la Evaluación: La Influencia del Texto y de los Factores del Lector

Readability is the degree to which a text is matched to its intended and actual reader. The factors influencing readability, both text factors and reader factors, have been widely researched from the standpoint of attempts to maximise reader understanding of texts. The application of understandings in the area has not, however, always been applied systematically to the design and writing of assessment tasks and consequently test items are sometimes less accessible to the intended test takers than they might be.This paper is an attempt to provide a wide ranging review of literature which bears on the task of the assessment designer in ensuring that assessment items measure what they are supposed to measure, and not just the reading abilities of the test takers.La comprensión lectora es el grado en que un texto se empareja con su lector. Los factores que influencian, los del texto y los del lector, han sido ampliamente investigados desde la perspectiva de intentar maximizar la comprensión lectora de los textos. Sin embargo, la aplicación de las interpretaciones en dicha área no han sido siempre aplicados sistemáticamente al diseño y escritura de las tareas de evaluación y, en consecuencia, las preguntas de los tests suelen ser menos accesibles a las intenciones de los examinadores de las que tendrían que serlo. Este artículo intenta aportar una ampia revisión de la literatura que está relacionada con la tarea de evaluación del diseñador de ésta, en asegurar que los ítems de evaluación miden lo que supuestamente tienen que medir, y no solo las habilidades lectoras de los participantes en los tests

Penggunaan Buku Teks dan Penerimaan Ilustrasi dalam kalangan guru dan murid: Pendekatan Kualitatif dan kuantitatif

Kajian ini bertujuan mengenal pasti penerimaan ilustrasi dan kekerapan penggunaan Buku Teks Bahasa Melayu, Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM) dalam kalangan guru dan murid tingkatan satu. Reka bentuk kajian tinjauan dengan menggunakan instrumen soal selidik dan protokal temu bual telah digunakan dalam kajian ini. Sampel kajian terdiri daripada 30 orang guru Bahasa Melayu dan 50 orang murid tingkatan satu. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan penggunaan Buku Teks Bahasa Melayu adalah pada tahap memuaskan, iaitu 63.4 peratus guru dan 58 peratus murid setuju bahawa buku teks digunakan dalam setiap sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Dapatan elemen ilustrasi pula menunjukkan 90 peratus guru dan murid setuju bahawa ciri-ciri, jenis-jenis dan fungsi-fungsi ilustrasi mendorong mereka menggunakan Buku Teks Bahasa Melayu. Walau bagaimanapun, dapatan data temu bual menunjukkan terdapat kekangan penggunaan buku teks dari aspek kandungan terutamanya nota-nota tatabahasa. Kesimpulannya, kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa kekerapan penggunaan Buku Teks Bahasa Melayu adalah pada tahap memuaskan sahaja walaupun responden mengakui elemen ilustrasi mendorong mereka menggunakan buku teks. Implikasinya, masih terdapat ruang untuk menambah baik pembangunan buku teks agar kekerapan penggunaan mencapai tahap yang baik

Validasi terhadap rubrik sebagai alat pengukuran penulisan ilmiah melalui penskoran kendiri pelajar terhadap tugasan (Validation of rubrics as an academic writing measurement tool through students' self-scoring of assignment)

Purpose - This study explored changes in the quality of students’ academic writing and the consistency of scoring between students and examiners, to validate rubrics as a measurement tool for academic writing. Methodology – A pre-experimental single-group design with probability sampling was employed. Two lecturers from a Malaysian university scored academic writing samples of 122 students from two different groups using the same rubric. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), limit of agreement (LOA) and standard error of measurements (SEM) were used to examine the agreement between examiners’ and students’ scores. Findings – It was found that there was a change in the quality of students’ academic writing between the initial and final draft, based on the increase in students’ self-assessment scores. The data further indicated that in terms of agreement, reliability was rather low, although still considered satisfactory, with evenly low LOA values. Importance - This study points to the importance of engaging students in the assessment process to increase their understanding of assessment criteria and expectations of lecturers, especially for courses with subjective forms of assessment

PENGUASAAN BIDANG BAHASA DALAM KALANGAN KANAK-KANAKPRASEKOLAH

Pendidikan awal kanak-kanak sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran yang penting bagiperkembangan intrinsik dan ekstrinsik kanak-kanak. Banyak kajian menunjukkan gurupendidikan awal kanak-kanak mempunyai pengetahuan yang terhad dalam aspek penilaianperkembangan kanak-kanak akibat pendekatan pra perkhidmatan yang berunsurkan teori danmengetepikan ataupun memandang ringan pengaplikasian teori dalam aspek pengajaran danpembelajaran. Bagi mencapai matlamat yang diinginkan, perbincangan tentangmempelbagaikan teori pembelajaran dan penguasaan kemahiran berbahasa perlu dijalankansupaya dapat digunakan dalam membentuk program pendidikan bahasa yang mantap, berkesandan bermanfaat untuk masa ini. Objektif kajian ini ialah untuk mengenal pasti sejauh manakahprinsip asas dalam amalan pengajaran bahasa dilaksanakan dan diselaraskan dalamkurikulum prasekolah dan mengenalpasti potensi penguasaan bahasa dalam kalangan kanakkanak prasekolah berdasarkan pendekatan kurikulum terancang. Sebanyak 75 orang kanakkanak yang berumur lingkungan 3 hingga 5 tahun dipilih secara rawak untuk ditemu bual untukmelihat tahap penguasaan mereka. Dapatan kajian mendapati bahawa penguasaan bahasakanak-kanak 5 tahun lebih tinggi daripada kanak-kanak umur 4 dan 3 tahun. Namun begitu,pengkaji mendapati hasil dapatan songsang berdasarkan tahap penguasaan bahasa kanakkanak mengikut bidang bahasa. Penguasaan bahasa kanak-kanak banyak dipengaruhi olehproses pedagogi guru yang kurang menyeimbangkan dan menyusun pengajaran bahasamengikut hierarki bidang bahasa yang betul

The effect of reading literacy to mathematics comprehension of elementary school students in Indonesia and Malaysia

This article aims to measure the effects of reading literacy to mathematical comprehension of fifth grade elementary students both in Indonesia and Malaysia. This article used quasi-experiment with factorial design. Samples included 398 students that consisted of 173 elementary students in Indonesia and 216 elementary students in Malaysia. The data were taken by using three instruments: a test and three questionnaires. A test was used to assess the students’ mathematical comprehension. Meanwhile, the questionnaires were used to measure their reading literacy and motivation to study mathematics. They have been validated by two experts and estimated the reliability coefficient by using the Cronbach Alpha formula. Experts judged the instruments were valid based on the content validity. The reliability coefficient of all of the instruments was more than 0.5 so they were reliable. A descriptive statistical analysis was used to describe the data, while the analysis variant was used to examine the different mathematical comprehension levels of the students based on reading literacy and the motivation to study mathematics. The result showed that there is a difference in mathematical comprehension levels between students that have a high reading literacy level and those with a lower level. Besides that, this study also shows that there is a distinction in mathematical comprehension levels between students which have a higher motivation to study mathematics with students that have less motivation. This study concluded that reading literacy and the motivation to study mathematics have an effect toward mathematical comprehension ability of elementary students

Proposing My Reading Experience Questionnaire (MREQ) as an instrument to measure reading motivation and reading comprehension

The reading experience in the Malaysian context is often perceived and understood as being about reading in specific languages. Particularly, research in the field of English as a Second Language is replete with work on reading motivation. However, in this paper, it is argued that reading needs to be seen as going beyond language, setting reading as an experience rather than an ability. This paper therefore sets out to validate the My Reading Experience Questionnaire (MREQ) through a discussion of the questionnaire design as well as the statistical data validation based on the questionnaire items. From there, reading motivation levels of primary school children in Malaysia is analysed. 544 primary school children aged 8 and 11-yearsold completed the MREQ . Findings from the questionnaire were matched with the Malay language reading comprehension levels of these children. Both the validation and comparisons showed that the MREQ not only gauges reading motivation levels but also reveals the complexities that come with Malaysia’s multilingual literacy context in schools. This paper concludes by proposing for the MREQ to continue to be used especially with how its design is underpinned by sociocultural theories of language and literacy

MODEL OF TEACHING MALAY LANGUAGE TO NON-NATIVE AND FOREIGN SPEAKER

Purpose – This study aims to develop a teaching model of the Malay language for non-native and foreign speakers in schools. Implementing this model can assist educators in teaching the Malay language to students who do not use it as their first language in everyday use. Methodology – This study used a qualitative approach to develop teaching models for non-native and foreign Malay speakers. Interviews were conducted with 27 teachers and 23 stakeholders who are experts in teaching the Malay language, especially in teaching non-native speakers. A prototype model was developed thematically as a result of interviews using ATLAS.ti 22. Further, the prototype model was used by ten teachers from primary, secondary, and international schools in their teaching. Findings – This study has succeeded in developing a model for teaching the Malay language to non-native speakers and foreigners that includes five elements: teaching strategies, individual differences, input, social, and motivation. This model strongly emphasises instruction involving interaction, communication, and bilateral relations as a medium for students’ language acquisition and meaningful input. Verbal interaction between teachers and students can stimulate and improve students’ language skills in learning Malay. Significance – This model can help teachers teach the Malay language to non-native speakers and foreigners with a greater focus on achieving learning objectives. This model is expected to expand the usage, cultivate interest, and facilitate teaching the Malay language in educational institutions

Exploring the Readability of Assessment Tasks: The Influence of Text and Reader Factors

Readability is the degree to which a text is matched to its intended and actual reader. The factors influencing readability, both text factors and reader factors, have been widely researched from the standpoint of attempts to maximise reader understanding of texts. The application of understandings in the area has not, however, always been applied systematically to the design and writing of assessment tasks and consequently test items are sometimes less accessible to the intended test takers than they might be.This paper is an attempt to provide a wide ranging review of literature which bears on the task of the assessment designer in ensuring that assessment items measure what they are supposed to measure, and not just the reading abilities of the test takers