Cloze procedure, a technique not originally intended for measurement purposes, has come to be known as the most widely experimented upon testing tool in English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL). Testing experts have indeed used up their energy by constructing and working on various forms of cloze, with the unhappy result that not one person…

Today there is an increasing amount of research promoting the effectiveness of extensive reading (ER) towards increasing learners' vocabulary, comprehension, reading speed, and motivation towards reading. However, little has been done to measure the effects of ER on learners' reading levels. This quantitative study examined the effects…

This study investigated the effects of Academic Literacy-Based Intervention (ALI) on 30 undergraduate Thai university students' English reading proficiency. Based on the English reading proficiency test, these students were sub-classified into 2 groups, 15 in the high English reading proficiency group and 15 in the low English reading…

A number of studies have demonstrated that second/foreign language learners can acquire vocabulary from reading. This study was designed to examine whether advanced EFL learners can acquire vocabulary incidentally from reading an authentic text. Eighteen first year English major students read and listened to the first eight chapters of Pride and…

The current study investigated the relation and comparison of reading comprehension and reading rate in Japanese high school EFL learners. One hundred and forty-eight tenth-graders in a Japanese high school participated in this study. Results showed that the relation between reading comprehension and reading rate was weak, but significant (r =…

This study investigated the cognitive strategies used by Persian EFL (English as a foreign language) graduate students while reading a hypermedia text. Prior to the start of the study, the Nelson-Denny Reading Test was used in order to measure the reading ability of the students. Data was collected through think-aloud protocols, and the strategies…

This study explores how readers' interest, gender, and test types (multiple-choice questions, Yes/No questions, and short-answer formats) affect second language reading comprehension in three different levels and five different categories of topics. A questionnaire was administered to 168 Turkish EFL students to find out the gender-oriented topic…

The present study examined the process and product effects of note-taking strategy training on Iranian EFL learners' comprehension and retention of written material, with gender as a moderating variable. Intermediate undergraduate EFL learners (N = 108) were assigned to experimental and control groups. The Experimental (intervention) Group…

Reading Comprehension is one of the four components tested by the "MUET" (Malaysian University English Test) for Sixth-Form students in Malaysia, and school teachers are charged with the task of helping these students improve. This article discusses how "reciprocal teaching strategies" could help low-proficiency Sixth-Form students improve their…

Matching learners with the right level of graded readers is necessary when graded readers are exploited as both simplified reading materials in extensive reading programs and major instruments in the experiments. A lack of controlling ability level can prevent learners from succeeding in developing reading in an extensive reading program. It would…

Measured both reading speeds and comprehension in two groups of learners exposed to intensive and extensive reading programs. The extensive group was exposed to a regime of graded readers, while the intensive group studied short texts followed by comprehension questions. Results indicate that subjects exposed to extensive reading achieved both…