This study investigates the relationship among working memory (WM), mathematics, and language, with the aim of understanding: (1) whether the functions and capacities of WM components can predict achievement in language and mathematics; and (2) whether competence in the first language (L1) and achievement in mathematics can predict success in…

This study examined the long-term effect of L1 reading achievement on L2 reading achievement while assessing the mediating roles of L1 print exposure and L2 aptitude measured by the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT). Structural equation modeling was used to determine the direct and indirect effects of L1 reading achievement on L2 reading…

Reading is one of the most important skills in higher education. Various students show problems with reading, which can lead to problems with text decoding, reading comprehension, or both. In this study, we investigate the L1 (Dutch) and L2 (English) reading comprehension performance of students with and without dyslexia. Participants were…

The concept of large-scale assessment has long been on the concern of the education system worldwide. PISA, which is one of the large-scale international assessment, has been administered in a number of countries worldwide since 2000. When PISA was first launched, there was an "unconditional acceptance" of this new application worldwide,…

We examined whether English language proficiency (ELP) related to interim reading and math performance differently when academic assessments were administered to students in either English or Spanish. We also tested these effects with Spanish language proficiency (SLP) as well as jointly with ELP and SLP. Students from a midwestern suburban school…

This study investigated potential item bias in a large-scale grade 3 reading achievement test, specifically against culturally diverse students with limited familiarity with mainstream Canadian culture. Students were classified based on their first language and length of residence in Canada, which was used as a proxy for cultural familiarity. A…

Purpose: Prosodic sensitivity, or the ability to perceive suprasegmental features of speech such as lexical tone in Cantonese and lexical stress in English, has been recognized as an essential component of reading acquisition. However, the specific pathways by which it influences reading comprehension remain unclear. This study evaluates how…

This study examined group differences in online reading comprehension (ORC) using student data from the 2016 administration of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (ePIRLS). An explanatory item response modeling approach was used to explore the effects of item properties (i.e., item format, text complexity, and cognitive…

This study examined whether the phonological awareness (PA) deficit in Arabic speaking dyslexic children could be impacted by the presence vs. absence of verbal working memory (WM) as function of the sensory modality of administration (auditory vs. visual) of the phonological tests. Three phonological awareness (PA) tasks, i.e., phoneme…

The study investigates the effect of the perception of text and task difficulty on adults' performance in reading tests in L1 and L2. The relationship between the following variables is studied: (a) readers' perception of text and task difficulty in L1 and L2 measured in a self-reported post-task questionnaire, (b) the number of correct answers to…

Multilingualism in education is encouraged in South Africa, and children are expected to become bilingual and biliterate during the early primary grades. Much focus has been placed on measuring literacy in children's first language, often the medium of instruction (MOI), and English, the language typically used as MOI from fourth grade. However,…

A fundamental requirement of language assessments which is underresearched in computerized assessments is impartiality (fairness) or equal treatment of test takers regardless of background. The present study aimed to evaluate fairness in the Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic Reading test, which is a computerized reading assessment, by…

Recent studies have proposed developments to the Simple View of Reading to reflect reading development across age groups and differences among learner profiles and account for additional factors that explain reading comprehension performance beyond word recognition and language comprehension. One of these proposals is the inclusion of cognitive…

Originally designed to measure reading and passage comprehension in L1 readers, cloze tests continue to be used for L2 assessment purposes. However, there remain disputes about whether or not cloze items can measure beyond local comprehension information, as well as whether or not they are purely a test of reading alone, or if performance can be…

The purpose of this research is to evaluate secondary school Turkish language assessment tools in the sense of PISA reading skills criteria. To this end, document analysis, one of qualitative research methods, was employed in the current study. The research data were collected from 82 assessment tools prepared by 23 teachers. The questions…