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Part of
Applied Linguistics in the Middle East and North Africa: Current practices and future directions
Edited by Atta Gebril
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 15] 2017
► pp. 185–202

Chapter 8
A Qatari case for authenticity in the investigation of reading abilities and strategies

| Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar

This chapter argues that schools in the Middle East should incorporate “multilingual reading” tasks where conceptual knowledge is developed through integrating knowledge from sources in more than one language. Making a case for increased research on such tasks and the language use strategies that students employ when performing them, the chapter presents an assessment instrument developed as part of a nation-wide project aimed at improving Qatari middle-grade students’ science reading. To consider the instrument’s validity, a theoretical model of multilingual reading as well as the context and typical tasks where the ability might be used are discussed. This is followed by a description of the pilot instrument with an evaluation of its innovations and limitations.

Keywords: multilingual reading, science reading, situational model of reading, reading tasks, reading assessment, assessment instruments, reading strategies, Arabic, English, Qatar
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Multilingual reading ability
  • Test-takers and multilingual reading tasks in Qatar
  • Designing a multilingual reading assessment
    • Instrument
    • Administration
    • Evaluation of instrument
      • Response rates
      • Inferences about text models
      • Inferences about situational model
      • Inferences about strategy use
  • Conclusions and implications
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 18 July 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.15.08rey
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