The comparison of reading comprehension tests

between the elementary level GEPT and BCET 2

NA1C0004

I-Pei Tsai

Procedures and Data Analysis

Results and Discussion4-1. Reading Topics

As Salvager-Meyer (1991) stated, the reading topics, in comparison with the textual structures, were relatively vital to the reading comprehension processes.

Also the genre variable had a crucial role in the overall reading comprehension processes.

4-1 Reading Topics

The family relationships seemed to be the core issues that the BCETs expectedly reflected to the teenagers’ parents, the school instructors and the whole society.

GEPT reading issues were still centered on the test takers’ daily life.

Remarkably, both the BCET and GEPT reading issues had the common reading goal: targeting and reflecting junior high school students’ daily reality.

4-2 The Readability Levels

The reading texts were assumed to be comprehensible in terms of the Flesch Reading Formula for the test takers given that all of the reading extracts were scored above 70 points, except for 2008-1.

Only one out of one hundred and four reading tasks were labeled as fairly difficult for test takers to comprehend.

4-3 The Measured Reading Skills

The macro-skills occupied the central role in the BCETs, accounting for 82.26%.

In particular, greater focus of macro-skills was placed upon finding details.

Besides, moderate attentions were devoted to using graphic references to locate required information and making the inference.

5. Conclusions

First, Both the BCETs and the Elementary Level GEPTs seem to have bearing on the instructional guidelines of the Grade 1-9 Curriculum.

The reading texts were readily comprehensible for test participants given that the easy level was over eighty percentage from the year 2001 to 2008.

5. Conclusion

As far as the reading skills were concerned, the macro-skills of reading held the central role in the BCETs (82.26%) and Elementary Level GEPTs (95%), especially the explicitly stated information covering searching details, judging facts and opinions, identifying the cause and effect and the like.

6. Comments

In data collection, the author use Minguo Calender and Anna Domini at the same time. I believe they were used as correct years. But, when reading the data, sometimes it could be confusing, especially for the foreigners.