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An EFL Reading Experiment With University Students

Posted on:2007-10-09Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:W Q HeFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360185981065Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
This reading test experiment on university students was aimed to investigate effects of topic familiarity, task types and language proficiency on their EFL reading test and task performance. The results indicated that: First, subjects achieved higher scores on reading tests within their own subject area than reading tests outside it. Second, subjects with familiarity with the propositional content of a reading test performed better than subjects who do not have that knowledge. Third, subjects at the medium and low proficiency level did benefit from their background knowledge, while effect of background knowledge on readers with a higher level of language proficiency was not so significant. The results also indicated that language proficiency shared larger of variance in affecting performance on test. However, performance on task types didn't vary in accordance to their level of proficiency. Finally, the results showed that performance on different task types was significant different among themselves, yet task types in this study were not a significant predictor of students'performance compared with the factors of topic familiarity and proficiency in influencing performance. The interaction among topic familiarity, task type, and language proficiency appeared as a highly significant source of variance in subjects'test performance. The findings of the experiment on reading test may help to evoke considering on assessing English for academic purpose in universities.
Keywords/Search Tags:EFL reading assessment, topic familiarity, task types, language proficiency, test performance
PDF Full Text Request
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