samples of participants’ writing were scored by two raters using toefl writing scoring rubric. the readability index of each text was calculated through the use of six readability formulae and graphs, i.e., flesch-kincaid index, reading ease index, fog index, smog formula, fry’s graph, and dale-chall readability index. the scores given to each essay were later compared to the obtained readabili...

BACKGROUND The EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment) is an assessment tool containing the main predictors of reading learning disabilities based on the National Reading Panel (NRP) (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). This study has two main objectives: First, to analyze the internal structure of the EGRA, and second, to examine the validity and normative data for f...

this study aimed to investigate the washback effect of three alternative assessment procedures, namely oral-conferences, portfolios, and corpora-based feedback on the writing achievement and attitudes of iranian efl university learners. the participants taking part in the study were 156 native iranian students in a mixed reading-writing course. through the two three-month semesters, the learner...

Natural Language Processing Tools for Reading Level Assessment and Text Simplification for Bilingual Education

In The Diagnosis of Reading in a Second or Foreign Language, Charles Alderson, Eeva-Leena Haapakangas, Ari Huhta, Lea Nieminen, and Riikka Ullakonoja discuss prominent theories concerning the diagnosis of reading in a second or foreign language (SFL). Until now, the area of diagnosis in SFL reading has received little attention, despite its increasing importance as the number of second language...

Situated learning has been recognized as an effective approach in enhancing learning impressions and experiences for students. Can we take advantage of situated learning in helping students who are not English native speakers to read English articles more effective? Can the effectiveness of situated learning be further promoted by individual portfolio? This paper proposes a situated and reading...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Behavioral disorders are highly comorbid with childhood learning disabilities (LDs), and accurate identification of LDs is vital for guiding appropriate interventions. However, it is difficult to conduct comprehensive assessment of academic skills within the context of primary care visits, lending utility to screening of academic skills via informant reports. The curren...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the readability of several published patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires for use with persons who stutter, and to compare the readability results to existing data about average reading levels for English-speaking adults living in the United States. DESIGN Published PRO questionnaires were identified that are traditionally completed ...