Málfríður - 15.10.2008, Blaðsíða 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
11
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