Málfríður - 15.10.2008, Síða 22

22 MÁLFRÍÐUR
the lower level) scored below 5.00 (fewer than half 
of  the  test  questions  correct)  and  yet  many  scored 
high on seeing themselves as not having significant 
difficulties with reading in English. This incongru-
ity between scores and self-assessment is interesting 
as one would expect high  test  scores and a  strong 
awareness of lack of difficulty to coincide and that 
students  scoring  low  on  the  reading  test  would 
score low on lacking difficulties in reading (i.e. score 
high for finding reading in English difficult). 
On  the  survey  questionnaire  accompanying  the 
assessment  students  were  asked  to  rate  their  own 
ability  in  English.  The  options  they  could  choose 
between are taken from the descriptors of European 
Portfolio Levels A1, B1 and C2 (levels one, three and 
six of a total of six levels). Of the 32 students assessed 
in English who scored at PISA Level 4 in Icelandic, 
14  (44%)  self-assessed  their  reading  proficiency  in 
English  at  European  Portfolio  Level  C2,  claiming 
that they “can understand a wide range of long and 
complex  texts”  (Europe,  2006,  p.  89). A  further  15 
assessed themselves at Level B1, approximately the 
level the National Curriculum for Upper Secondary 
School expects them to be at. Three students placed 
themselves at Level A1, far below the expected level 
of the National Curriculum for Compulsory School 
after five years of English study. Of the 25 students 
who placed at PISA Level 2 for reading in Icelandic, 
eight assessed themselves at Level C2 for reading in 
English, nine at level B1, and a further eight at the 
lowest level, A1.
Following nine short questions about possible dif-
ficulties  in reading in English to be answered on a 
Likert scale of 1 – 4, students were asked to mention 
any  other  difficulties  they  encounter  that  are  not 
listed.  A  further  sign  that  the  students  concerned 
here may not have good metacognitive skills is that 
very few (approximately10%) volunteered an opin-
ion about what they find difficult about reading in 
English. Naturally, students may have been keener 
to  finish  the  questionnaire  than  to  spend  time  on 
written  answers,  but  nonetheless  it  may  be  fair  to 
assume  that  some  have  little  clear  idea  of  what  is 
causing them problems. 
Perhaps  the  most  striking  finding  of  this  study 
is that students with lower-ability reading skills  in 
Icelandic  do  not  perform  at  a  significantly  lower 
level when reading in English, whereas higher-scor-
ing  students  in  Icelandic  reading  do  significantly 
worse when reading in English. 
These findings did not support the original theory 
put forward in the study. 
Implications for students
Implications  of  the  test  results  are  that  more  able 
students need  to be aware  that  they do not comp-
rehend  texts  in  English  as  well  as  they  do  texts 
in  Icelandic.  These  students  are  also  concerned 
about  not  understanding  English  at  a  text  level, 
i.e.,  not  grasping  the  overall  meaning  of  texts. 
Questionnaire  answers  showed  that  more  skilled 
readers  in  Icelandic  see  reading  in  English  as  a 
potential  problem  in  higher  education  and  would 
like to able to read faster in English. These students 
need to concentrate on reading challenging material 
that  will  familiarise  them  with  the  conventions  of 
formal academic English and extend their vocabul-
ary.  If  their  goal  is  university  they  have  a  specific 
target to aim for.
Students who tend to score lower on school work 
involving  reading,  both  in  Icelandic  and  English, 
need, on the other hand, to realize that they can build 
positively  on  their  more  accurate  self-assessment. 
These students read at a word level in English, not 
moving  beyond  the  difficulty  of  individual  words 
to be able to deal with challenging comprehension 
questions. They need to read more in order to build 
up sight vocabulary and better decoding fluency.
Students‘  motivational  beliefs  are  important  for 
success  in  learning and  Icelandic  students need  to 
move from a sense of competition with their peers 
to a more self-centred concern with their own ability 
to influence their learning. 
Implications for teachers
Techniques  teachers  could  consider  to  improve 
students’ reading comprehension include:
•   conveying  the  belief  that  reading  is  a  pleas-
urable  occupation  that  can  extend  students’ 
knowledge and give them happiness.
Test scores and Factor 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55
All students
Sc
or
es
English score Self-assessment of lack of technical difculties in reading English
Figure 6. Test scores in English for all students and student self-assess-
ment of lack of technical difficulties in reading English