An Exploration Of Content Validity Of CSE Self-assessment Scale For Reading Ability

The Self-assessment Scale for Reading Ability(SASRA)of the China’s Standards of English Ability(CSE)can be utilized to self-assess learner’s reading ability and set appropriate learning goals.However,it is found that there are some differences between the reading ability self-assessment scale and the reading descriptor pool with regard to parameters of the descriptor.Against this background,this study focuses on content validation of the SASRA.This study intends to judge content relevance through a semi-structured interview with a panel of experts and to explore content representativeness by comparing and analyzing the SASRA and the reading ability descriptor pool.The study suggests that most items of SASRA are highly relevant to its construct at the item level and scale level,with only one item irrelevant to the construct.At the same time,it is found that the SASRA has some problems of under-,over-and misrepresentativeness through text analysis.Building upon the findings of this research,the author makes suggestions from two aspects:(1)irrelevant sub-ability needs to be modified in terms of content relevance;(2)with respect to content representativeness,developers of the scale should clearly explain cognitive ability,reasonably choose reading material and its modifier and its topic,sensibly determine the appropriate reading goal,and quantify the concept of language difficulty.The findings of this research conduce to the improvement of SASRA.More research on validation is needed,because it will better serve the purpose of language education for which it is intended.