A study examined the role of the native language (Arabic) in assessing the reading comprehension of learners of English as a second language. Subjects were 60 secondary school students in two comparable classes in Jordan. After receiving instruction for one month using reading material in the prescribed textbook, students were administered a reading comprehension test. One class was given a version with comprehension questions in Arabic, and the other with comprehension questions in English. Results indicate that the Arabic-version group performed better than its English-version counterpart. However, advanced students in each class performed equally well regardless of test version. Implications for native language use in instruction and testing are discussed. Contains 20 references. (MSE)