English reading comprehension ability of Sri Lankan Secondary one and three students

Abstract

Reading comprehension is a multifaceted, complex and interactive process which involves various skills and many reader and text variables. This complexity means that language tests can only cover a small and inadequate sample of what the learner can achieve (Alderson, 1991). In addition, the inherent privacy of the reading act makes studying reading comprehension problematic since it is not possible to determine how much of the text has been understood. In spite of this, it is important for teachers to have some form of objective diagnostic measure of their student's reading comprehension ability. Without this, there is little basis on which teachers can plan effective and useful remedial work which can provide weak students with the reading comprehension strategies they require to become more proficient readers.