Comparative Analysis of Multi-Strategic Assessment Predictors in Reading Comprehension: A case Study of Pakistani Advanced EFL learners

Abstract

The inevitability of assessment in reading comprehension revitalizes English language
instructions. The enhanced performance of Pakistani EFL graduate learners in reading
comprehension is an ample indicator of their potential in synthesizing, evaluating and
analyzing the text-oriented information. This study intends to (comparatively)
diagnose the required potential of EFL students in processing inferential and general
information through short and long texts by employing multi-strategic reading
comprehension assessment modes. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of text
passage questions, cloze tests and inferential questions surface a gap in the
performance of Pakistani EFL students. The analysis of the data shows that general
multiple short text questions result in better understanding of the text but inferential
mode rendered considerable impediment for learners. The assessment is sought under
Blooms taxonomy by applying four questionnaires as research tools. This research
intends to detect the main difficulties and the obstacles that hamper students’ text
comprehension by visualizing higher level of questioning that results in developing
higher order of thinking.