A Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Investigating Test Takers’ Strategy Use and Reading Test Performance
A Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Investigating Test Takers’ Strategy Use and Reading Test Performance
Keywords: Reading strategies; EFL reading; test performance; structural equation modeling
Limei Zhang
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Bio
Limei Zhang is currently a PhD candidate in applied linguistics at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research interests focus primarily on second language reading assessment in relation to classroom teaching and learning and metacognition in second/foreign language reading.
This article investigates the relationships between test takers’ reported strategy use and test performance on the College English Test Band 4 (CET-4) reading subtest by using structural equation modeling (SEM) as the primary research tool. 228 Chinese college test takers were invited to take the 50-item reading comprehension test and answer a 30-item Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) (Mokhtari, Sheorey, & Reichard, 2008). The results showed that monitoring (GLOB_MON) and evaluating strategies (GLOB_EVA) were related to reading test performance (RTP) positively and significantly, whereas planning (GLOB_PLA) and support strategies (SUP) affected RTP negatively and insignificantly. Problem-solving (PROB) strategies were weakly related to RTP. This suggests that metacognitive strategies played a very important role in the CET-4 reading subtest.
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