English as a Second Language Reading Strategies:

The study described in this text was undertaken to
test the hypothesis that reading comprehension items,
which elicit specific bottom-up and top-down
strategies, favour certain linguistic/cultural
groups. Although a variety of statistical methods
have been developed for flagging test items that
function differentially for equal ability examinees
from different ethnic, linguistic, or gender groups,
the standard differential item functioning (DIF)
detection procedures have not been very useful in
explaining why DIF occurs. To address this problem, a
confirmatory approach to DIF was used to determine
whether groups of reading test items, classified
according to a bottom-up, top-down reading strategy
framework, functioned differentially for equal
ability Arabic and Mandarin ESL learners. Analyses
revealed systematic group differences in two of the
bottom-up and three of the top-down reading strategy
categories. These results demonstrate the utility of
employing a theoretical framework for interpreting
group differences on a reading test that can be used
to assist ESL reading researchers, test developers,
and instructors in the development of technically
sound reading assessments.

Autorentext
Marilyn earned her doctorate in Measurement, Evaluation, and Cognition in Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta in 2005. She also holds an MEd in Teaching English as a Second Language, and a BEd in Secondary Education. Currently, Marilyn is an Assistant Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta.

Klappentext
The study described in this text was undertaken to test the hypothesis that reading comprehension items, which elicit specific bottom-up and top-down strategies, favour certain linguistic/cultural groups. Although a variety of statistical methods have been developed for flagging test items that function differentially for equal ability examinees from different ethnic, linguistic, or gender groups, the standard differential item functioning (DIF) detection procedures have not been very useful in explaining why DIF occurs. To address this problem, a confirmatory approach to DIF was used to determine whether groups of reading test items, classified according to a bottom-up, top-down reading strategy framework, functioned differentially for equal ability Arabic and Mandarin ESL learners. Analyses revealed systematic group differences in two of the bottom-up and three of the top-down reading strategy categories. These results demonstrate the utility of employing a theoretical framework for interpreting group differences on a reading test that can be used to assist ESL reading researchers, test developers, and instructors in the development of technically sound reading assessments.