Reading approach and strategy use across languages in an assessment context: does one-size fit all?

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the approaches and strategies used by secondary school learners of different languages in England completing Asset Languages reading tasks at levels A1 and A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Assessments across languages at the same level of proficiency were designed to a common specification and at comparable levels of functional difficulty following the CEFR. However, as the majority of research in this area has focused on learners of English, little is known about the impact of having a common framework on learners of non-European languages. Does one-size fit all? Findings from think-aloud protocols reveal that different approaches and strategies were used by learners of different languages. In particular, the study shows the impact of learning a new writing system and the variation in ability of community language learners, highlighting limitations in adopting a framework designed for ‘typical’ foreign language learners for learners of all languages.