Using Rational Cloze for Diagnostic Testing in L1 and L2 Reading

Abstract

Although both first and second language reading have been frequently explored, much of the research has tended to be product oriented and comparative in nature. That is, researchers have tended to focus on quantitative differences in reading comprehension test scores between groups of native and non-native speakers. Very few studies have examined how readers understand text in both their first and second languages. This paper presents results from a case study of a bilingual reader (French Ll/English L2) who read both easy and hard texts in her first and second language. Rational doze and introspection tasks were used to examine quantitative and qualitative differences in comprehension across languages. Results indicated that there were differences in the extent to which this reader successfully manipulated meaning especially at the whole text level. Implications of the rational doze procedure for diagnostic testing and teaching are discussed.