【简介】

Components of L2 Reading investigates the linguistic and processing factors underpinning the reading comprehension performance of Japanese learners of English.

The volume describes a comprehensive and rigorous empirical study to identify the main candidate variables that impact on reading performance and to develop appropriate research instruments to investigate these. The study explores the contribution to successful reading comprehension of factors such as syntactic knowledge, vocabulary breadth and reading speed in the second language

Key features of the book include:

·an up-to-date review of the literature on the development and assessment ofLI and L2 reading ability

·practical guidance on how to investigate the L2 reading construct using multiple methodologies

·fresh insights into interpreting test data and statistics, and into understanding the nature of L2 reading proficiency.

This volume will be a valuable resource for academic researchers and postgraduate students interested in investigating reading comprehension performance, as well as for examination board staff concerned with the design and development of reading assessment tools. It will also be a useful reference for curriculum developers and textbook writers involved in preparing syllabuses and materials for the teaching and learning of reading.

【出版说明】

语言测试作为语言教学的重要组成部分，一直是社会关注的焦点。近年来，我国学术界对语言测试研究的关注也在逐渐升温。国际上，学者们对语言测试的研究已经达到较高的水平，无论是从理论框架的形成到复杂数学模型的建构及其应用方面都取得了实质性的进展，而且在对有国际影响力的外语考试（如雅思、托福等）的信度、效度的研究方面也取得了不俗的成果，出版了不少优秀的著作。

英国剑桥大学出版社出版的‘Studies in Language Testing”是其中较有影响力的系列之一。丛书由剑桥语言测评中心策划推出，从测试领域的各个研究视角入手，展示了该领域研究的设计、数据收集和数据分析等环节的基础理论与实践操作，反映了测试领域的最新研究动态。

外教社从中精选9种，引进出版。这些图书中，有对语言测试听说读写等方面的效度和质性研究，也有对测试反拨效应及其对教学影响的研究，还有对雅思考试和欧洲语言共同参考框架的分析思考。希望丛书的出版可以为我国语言测试研究领域的发展和创新提供具有借鉴意义的启示，打开更广阔的研究思路。

Acknowledgements

 Series Editors note

 Abbreviations

 1 Introduction

 2 Literature review

 3 Methodology

 4 Preliminary studies: phase I

 5 Preliminary studies: phase 2

 6 The main study: background data

 7 Results and discussion 1: measured variables accounting for reading performance

8 Results and discussion 2: latent variables accounting for reading performance

 9 General discussion and conclusion

Appendices

Appendix 1 Test of passage reading comprehension: Classical item analysis(dichotomous scoring)

Appendix 2 Rasch analyses of the test of passage reading comprehension (data from preliminary study D and the main study combined): Persons-to-items map, model fit, and item difficulty estimates

Appendix 3 Test of passage reading comprehension: Classical item analysis(COPS)

Appendix 4 Test of computer-based sentence reading: Classical item analysis

Appendix 5 Test of syntactic knowledge: Classical item analysis (dichotomous scoring)

Appendix 6 Rasch analyses of the test of syntactic knowledge (data from preliminary study D and the main study combined): Persons-to-items map, model fit, and item difficulty estimates

Appendix 7 Test of syntactic knowledge: Classical item analysis (COPS)

Appendix 8 Test of vocabulary breadth: Classical item analysis

Appendix 9 Rasch analyses of the test of vocabulary breadth (data from preliminary study D and the main study combined): Persons-to-items map, model fit, and item difficulty estimates

Appendix 10 Measures of recognition latency: Classical item analysis

Appendix 11 Measure of language-independent metacognitive knowledge: Classical item analysis

Appendix 12 Rasch analyses of the measure of language- independent metacognitive knowledge about the text and reading: Persons-to-items map, model fit, and item difficulty estimates

Appendix 13 Summary of the significant predictors of reading comprehension performance across separate analyses when syntax raw score was used in place of COPS score

Appendix 14 SEM fit statistics and diagram for the model with the syntax raw score in place of the syntax COPS score

Appendix 15 Results of a post-hoc SEM analysis that explored the separability of lexical-semantic processing efficiency from computer-based visual processing/key-pressing efficiency

References

Author index

Subject index