At certain point(s) of your learning, you would like to check how much you have improved. Reading is one of the most difficult skills to measure because a reading activity does not bring about any concrete product for measurement. In order to measure increased reading ability, we need to devise some activities that give both qualitative and quantitative evaluation. This advice sheet will give you some ideas on how to evaluate how much you have improved in your reading.

Evaluating reading

There are different methods of evaluation. They include the following:

• Do a reading test.
• Evaluate your own improvement.
• Discuss your understanding of an article with your peers.
• Discuss your understanding of an article with a consultant/instructor.

For each of the above evaluation methods, here are the possible resources and/or materials to use.

Do a reading test
The most economical way to test your reading comprehension is by doing a test. A good test should be able to reflect your reading ability. You may find reading tests in the SAC. On the "Test/Exam practice" shelf and the "Coursebooks" shelf, there are a number of books that contain reading tests with answers. On the "Reading" shelf, you may find the books "Inside meaning" and "Developing reading skills" particularly relevant.

Evaluate your own improvement
If you have never assessed your own reading ability, you may find it rather difficult to begin. Why not start with something concrete? Try reading speed first. It is easy to compare how much faster you can read before and after practice (see R4).

Other than reading speed, of course, you want to see how much "better" you can read. You want to check your text interpretation against a standard one. A book on the "Study Skills" shelf named "Reading and thinking in English" may be able to help. This book contains 6 chapters of reading materials based on different functions: generalizations, descriptions, definitions, classifications and hypotheses. To understand the short reading passages, there are annotated notes in the margins to guide you through. Another relevant book is "A guide to learning independently" (chapter 15) on the "Learning a language" shelf.

Discuss your understanding of an article with your peers
You may check your understanding of an article with your peers. Some reading books suggest group activities that encourage learners to make meaning of an article among themselves. You may try "Effective reading" and "Study reading".

Discuss your understanding of an article with a consultant/instructor
Another resource you may use is the SAC consultant or your language instructor. At the beginning of your learning, you may not be very confident in your text interpretation and need someone "with authority" to reassure you of it. In that case, talk to a SAC consultant. Once you feel confident enough, you may try other evaluation methods.

And now...

If you need any further advice:

• see an Adviser, on duty at the SAC Advice Desk (for details of advisers and their availability, please go to http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/sacadviser.html)
• e-mail lcsac (lccommons@ust.hk) with your query;
• ask at the reception counter of the SAC — if the receptionist cannot help you directly, s/he will pass your query on to one of the SAC advisers.

  Good luck and enjoy your learning!

Note
The introductory leaflet in this series is the leaflet How do you become a better reader? (R1)

This advice sheet is part of the Reading series of leaflets supporting independent language learning produced by the HKUST Language Center SAC team. This leaflet was written by Susanna Ho, 1997. If you copy this leaflet, please acknowledge the source. Thanks.