Assessment of Reading Skills Challenges

This annotated bibliography explores the challenges associated with assessing reading skills. It examines various studies that have investigated the relationship between component reading skills and reading comprehension, including language conception, pseudo word decoding, and rapid automatized naming (RAN). The analysis suggests that morphological awareness has a stronger connection to reading than RAN. The study also highlights the importance of regular reading habits in developing language intuition and improving reading skills.

Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Annotated Bibliography
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Introduction
This annotated bibliography will be based on the challenges faced in testing the skills of
reading. Reading is one of the four skills used in communication apart from listening, speaking
and writing. In order to be a good communicator an individual needs to be proficient in all the
four skills. However, to work on this paper the skills of reading have been selected and the
challenges faced in testing the skills. Reading is considered as a skill of learning, which is
helpful in improving several categories such as vocabulary, writing, spelling and grammar. There
are techniques such as skimming or scanning which helps in the evaluation of reading skills.
Following will be the selected articles to focus on the challenges faced in testing the reading
skills.
Babayiğit, S. (2014). The role of oral language skills in reading and listening
comprehension of text: A comparison of monolingual (L1) and bilingual (L2) speakers of
English language. Journal of Research in Reading, 37(S1).
This article has examined the functions of oral language skills in reading and listening
comprehension levels of 125 monolingual (L1) and bilingual (L2) English speaking learners. The
study was conducted among the respondents in England and the testing was carried out in
English. In the survey, the L1 learners had superseded the L2 respondents on the steps of oral
language and text comprehension. However, both the groups had performed at the relative levels
on the topic of speed and accuracy of word- reading.
It can be found after analyzing the paper that oral language was indexed by vocabulary
and morpho-syntactic skills. It was raised as the strongest predictor of both the levels of reading
and listening comprehension. Even though there was a probability that oral language will be

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related to L2 reading comprehension but its relation with the listening comprehension was
compared between the two groups. The individual distinction between the two groups in oral
language skills were considered as the key factors. This consideration had shed light on the
difference in language groups in the levels of text comprehension.
Babayiğit, S. (2015). The relations between word reading, oral language, and
reading comprehension in children who speak English as a first (L1) and second language
(L2): A multigroup structural analysis. Reading and Writing, 28(4), 527-544.
This particular study had compared the reading and oral language skills of children
whose first (L1) and second (L2) language was English. It was examined if the intensity of
relation between word reading, reading comprehension and oral language was equivalent
between the two groups. There were 183 L1 and L2 participants selected for this study in
England. It was predictable that there would be a remarkable advantage in first language as oral
language and reading understanding. However, this will not be applicable for word reading.
It can be evaluated from the findings that the analysis of multi group structure possessed
the power of relationships between oral speech and reading. These two were comparatively
invariant between the two groups. It can be stated that the oral language was the most powerful
forecaster in both groups for comprehension reading level. In addition to all these facts, the skills
of weaker oral English language described the poorer performance of L2 learners. The summary
of this outcome had underpinned the significance of assisting oral language development among
the learners of minority language.

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Conrad, A. L., McCoy, T. E., DeVolder, I., Richman, L. C., & Nopoulos, P. (2014). Reading
in subjects with an oral cleft: Speech, hearing and neuropsychological
skills. Neuropsychology, 28(3), 415.
The objective of this article was to evaluate hearing, speech and neuropsychological by
correlating among children and the young adults who had non-syndrome cleft or their lips or
palate (NSCL/P). The method of all type of tests was conducted in the Midwestern university
hospital. The study was conducted in the age group of 7- 26 years. The subjects were analyzed
completely on a battery of standardized tests to scrutinize aptitude, word reading and
neuropsychological skills. The respondents went through speech assessment and past audiology
records for assessment.
It was found out from this study that with the control over age and socioeconomic status,
the students who had cleft or reading deficits could not be related to the measures of hearing and
speech. However, they were related with mutilation in their auditory memory. From the analysis,
it can be concluded that there were weaker reading among those respondents who had clefts or
NSCL/P in comparison to those who were fit and fine. There is still a scope to continue with this
research to focus among correlates of reading among those with clefts. It would be helpful for
prevention of the risk at an early stage.
Ekstrand, M. D. (2017). Challenges in Evaluating Recommendations for Children.
This particular article has stated that the research and development of recommender
system cannot progress without huge evaluation strategies. There are several evaluation
strategies, which were effective in arranging and examining the recommenders. This testing can
be done for the generic audiences, recommendations related to children which come in the form

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of peculiar challenges and evaluation strategies of adult that do not need to translate. This paper
has described the challenges faced in assessing the recommender systems for children.
Moreover, the ways in which the challenges could be related to the similar kind of problems for
general audience and the reason behind the inadequacy of current solutions from the community
of recommenders have been discussed in this paper.
The analysis of this article have concluded that there is gradual improvement taking place
in making effective and customized information experiences for children which will need new
forms of innovation in the assessment of effectiveness. It can be stated that the evaluation
process is not easy with the adults but the level of understanding is better. On the other hand,
complications are faced in the recommender evaluation process among children.
Hartshorn, K. J., Evans, N. W., Egbert, J., & Johnson, A. (2017). Discipline-specific
reading expectation and challenges for ESL learners in US universities. Reading in a
Foreign Language, 29(1), 36.
This article had focused on the increasing numbers of English as a second language
among the learners in the US. English language skills are considered important for the
improvement of the learners. Other researches, which were carried out on similar kinds of these
topics analyzed the challenges of reading along with the expectations that the faculties have from
the students. The students belonged to the first year and the subjects included Psychology,
Engineering, Computer Science, Business and Biology.
The analysis of this paper had disclosed the differences among the key challenges faced
by the learners in their first year of reading comprehension. Based on this research the reading
expectation of the faculty members was examined. When the reading expectations among the

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majors were compared, the professor perceptions were also contrasted. The findings were
presented with the observation of the faculty in the linguistic preparation of the students within
their specific discipline. The implications and applications of the findings from this research
were well- comprehended.
Heafner, T. L. (2018). Elementary ELA/Social Studies Integration: Challenges and
Limitations. The Social Studies, 1-12.
This article had focused on the process of teaching social studies as a practical and
logical step by making the teachers responsible and holding instructional time. This step was
taken to modify a very old method of marginalization. The case study was based on the
qualitative method adopted at an urban elementary school, to scrutinize nine teachers and one
administrator. These respondents had enabled district reforms to add 45 additional minutes to the
instructional day and steps of formative and summative assessments were implemented.
It can be analyzed from the article that each of the respondents in the survey was
considered as a specific case and the process of within- case analysis was used. The strategies of
classroom observations, time journal, interviews and official school documents were
implemented. Moreover, the hidden perceptions and priorities became hurdles to any kind of
positive impact where time or testing could have afforded social studies. The findings of the
research work have suggested that the routine and compulsory integration of social studies does
not necessarily appear and no reason is found behind this gap.
Kosmidis, M. H. (2018). Challenges in the neuropsychological assessment of
illiterate older adults. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 33(3), 373-386.

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This article had focused on the over- representation of the illiterate individuals among the
elderly members. The disruptions faced in the performance of neuropsychological test between
the educated and uneducated groups had increased questions about the efficiency of due to the
probable over- diagnosis. In addition to that, the performance of the illiterate individuals is found
similar to that of the literate individuals who have dementia. The literacy studies have described
the brain changes structurally and functionally by attaining literacy. The performance factors
among the illiterate individuals consist of insufficient meta-linguistic training and others.
It can be analyzed that the factors for assessing and improving diagnosis of aged and
ignorant individuals consists of edition or development of tests. This can be done with the help
of strong and valid normative data for the group centering on the effect of illiteracy. The impact
is based on the use of structural brain indices.
MacCullagh, L., Bosanquet, A., & Badcock, N. A. (2017). University students with dyslexia:
A qualitative exploratory study of learning practices, challenges and
strategies. Dyslexia, 23(1), 3-23.
This article is based on the under- representation of dyslexic people in the universities. It
is a serious issue for the modern societies, which prioritize social justice. That is why the
research was conducted to find out about the learning experience of the dyslexic students in the
university and the features that are helpful in contributing to their success. For this research, 13
dyslexic and 20 non- dyslexic students were interviewed about their learning experiences in the
university using qualitative method. The dyslexic students responded positively about their
involvement in learning activities. The challenges and strengths faced in these were also
described by the students.

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Thus, it can be analyzed that the strengths and challenges of the dyslexic students were
related to lectures, assessments, technology, skills and support services. Analysis of this paper
helped in describing the effective strategies such as self- directed adaptive techniques, facilities
from the lecturers and help from the university. The findings were helpful in providing
suggestions that the dyslexic students face a wide range of challenges at the university however
there are strategies for their help.
McCown, M., & Thomason, G. (2014). Informational text comprehension: Its challenges
and how collaborative strategic reading can help. Reading Improvement, 51(2), 237-253.
This article has mentioned about the raising impact on the informational text with that of
the Common Core State Standards and hardships faced by the students with these types of texts.
The article has scrutinized the impact of Collaborative Strategic Reading on the comprehensive
awareness of class- five students. The research was conducted among a mixed group of
education students, disabled students, and learners of English. In this article, a quasi-
experimental approach was used for determining the effects of CSR. Moreover, Qualitative
Reading inventory- 5 and Georgia’s Criterion Referenced Competency Test were used for
assessing the skill.
It can be analyzed that, metacognitive awareness was measured using the metacognitive
awareness of reading strategies inventory (MARSI). The data that was evaluated using the
technique of multivariate analysis of covariance and variance (MANCOVA and MANOVA)
found out a statistical difference in the comprehension of information text. The difference was
put on QRI- 5 among the groups of experiment and control at the same time while surpassing the

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control group and managing the reading level of students. The analysis focused that there is no
major difference between the two groups on the MARSI subscales.
Tighe, E. L., & Schatschneider, C. (2016). Examining the relationships of component
reading skills to reading comprehension in struggling adult readers: A meta-
analysis. Journal of learning disabilities, 49(4), 395-409.
This article has considered a meta- analytical advancement to find out the consequence of
reading skills for comprehension among the adult readers. For the purpose of this research, 10
component skills were recognized among 16 studies and 2707 respondents. The random effect
models created 76 effects between the predictor and reading which were measured in 10
constructs. The outcome has focused that out of ten; six component skills reflected a tough
connection with reading such as language conception. The other three skills shared a moderate
relationship such as pseudo word decoding. Only one component, rapid automatized naming
(RAN) was weakly related to reading.
It can be analyzed that morphological awareness had a better relationship with reading
than pseudo word decoding and RAN. Analysis of this study was successful in synchronizing the
reading skills of those adults who had low literacy skills. It can be analyzed that this particular
study will provide a scope for future research based on the basic education programs of the
adults relative to the outcome of children’s literature.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from this annotated bibliography that there are challenges faced in
the assessment of reading skills. Although it helps in language intuition development but the

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brain imitates the same to produce similar kinds of sentences. The learners compulsorily get
acquainted with the jargons by making regular habit of reading.

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References
Babayiğit, S. (2014). The role of oral language skills in reading and listening comprehension of
text: A comparison of monolingual (L1) and bilingual (L2) speakers of English
language. Journal of Research in Reading, 37(S1).
Babayiğit, S. (2015). The relations between word reading, oral language, and reading
comprehension in children who speak English as a first (L1) and second language (L2): A
multigroup structural analysis. Reading and Writing, 28(4), 527-544.
Conrad, A. L., McCoy, T. E., DeVolder, I., Richman, L. C., & Nopoulos, P. (2014). Reading in
subjects with an oral cleft: Speech, hearing and neuropsychological
skills. Neuropsychology, 28(3), 415.
Ekstrand, M. D. (2017). Challenges in Evaluating Recommendations for Children.
Hartshorn, K. J., Evans, N. W., Egbert, J., & Johnson, A. (2017). Discipline-specific reading
expectation and challenges for ESL learners in US universities. Reading in a Foreign
Language, 29(1), 36.
Heafner, T. L. (2018). Elementary ELA/Social Studies Integration: Challenges and
Limitations. The Social Studies, 1-12.
Kosmidis, M. H. (2018). Challenges in the neuropsychological assessment of illiterate older
adults. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 33(3), 373-386.

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MacCullagh, L., Bosanquet, A., & Badcock, N. A. (2017). University students with dyslexia: A
qualitative exploratory study of learning practices, challenges and
strategies. Dyslexia, 23(1), 3-23.
McCown, M., & Thomason, G. (2014). Informational text comprehension: Its challenges and
how collaborative strategic reading can help. Reading Improvement, 51(2), 237-253.
Tighe, E. L., & Schatschneider, C. (2016). Examining the relationships of component reading
skills to reading comprehension in struggling adult readers: A meta-analysis. Journal of
learning disabilities, 49(4), 395-409.