| This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that some of the items included in Form 1, Stage II of the Canadian Language Benchmarks Assessment (CLBA) reading subtest favour certain cultural groups whose first language orthographies differ markedly. It was posited that Mandarin speakers, who have a tendency to use bottom-up, local reading strategies, would perform better on particular questions than Arabic speakers, who have a tendency to use top-down, global reading strategies and vice versa. In Part 1 of the study, verbal report data were collected from Arabic and Mandarin speaking intermediate ESL learners to identify, clarify, and elaborate on the reading strategies involved in carrying out the CLBA reading comprehension tasks.; In Part 2 of the study, two samples of examinees were drawn from previously administered CLBA Form 1, Stage II Reading Assessments. One sample consisted of 250 Arabic speaking immigrants, and the other consisted of 250 Mandarin speaking immigrants matched for education and language level on time of arrival. Three ESL reading experts classified each of the 32 CLBA reading items into one of the seven bottom-up or five top-down reading strategy categories that had emerged from the data in Part 1 of this study. Differential bundle functioning (DBF) analyses were then conducted to determine whether groups of CLBA items classified according to the bottom-up, top-down organizing principle functioned differentially for equal ability Arabic and Mandarin ESL learners. SIBTEST analyses revealed systematic group differences in four of the bottom-up strategy categories and three of the top-down categories. Items involving breaking words into smaller parts, scanning for details, identifying synonyms or paraphrases, and matching key vocabulary in the text to key vocabulary in the item were found to favour the Mandarin speaking examinees. Items involving skimming for gist, connecting or relating information presented in different parts of the text, and drawing an inference based on information presented in the text were found to favour the Arabic speaking examinees. These results provide (a) evidence for the validity of the bottom-up, top-down reading strategy framework and (b) a substantive method for interpreting group differences on the CLBA Reading Assessment. |
