Theorists have been concerned with the overlap of reading and problem solving for at least a century (Thorndike 1917, 1973-1974; Sternberg & Frensch, 2014). Various reading models have been proposed including bottom-up and top-down reading processing (Goodman, 1972; Gough, 1972). In second language literature, theorists have further noted that reading consists of strategic, purposeful, and interactive processes (Grabe, 2009). In test taking situations, problem solving is important because it can compensate for students' language proficiencies. In spite of research showing the use of problem solving in reading, less is known about how learners actually read and problem solve in test-taking situations. This study centers around Khalifa, Weir and colleagues' model for cognitive processing in reading (Weir, Hawkey, Green, Unaldy, & Devi, 2009) in combination with eye-tracking technology in order to examine how ESL readers employ careful and expeditious reading. Data were gathered from 50 students attending a university sponsored Intensive English Program. Participants read eight validated reading comprehension items at varying difficulty levels while their eye movements were recorded. Results indicate that student level may not be a factor in how carefully and expeditiously a student reads. However, statistical analyses suggest that text difficulty may be a factor in how carefully students read.

以英文為外語的學習者常仰賴閱讀獲取英文相關的知識跟文化，所以閱讀在台灣的英文課中得到相當程度地的重視，即便如此，台灣的高中英文閱讀教學多半只專注在仔細閱讀的教導上，而忽略了包含略讀、搜索閱讀跟掃讀的快速閱讀，這是因為快速閱讀並沒有納入在大學入學考試的測驗當中。考量到快速閱讀是日常生活跟學習上不可或缺的技能，本研究旨在檢驗台灣高中學生的英文快速閱讀能力，他們在進行快速閱讀中所採用的閱讀策略跟遇到的閱讀困難也是本研究的調查目標。研究者設計了一份快速閱讀測驗跟一份仔細閱讀測驗來比較學生們的閱讀能力。此外，研究者設計了一份問卷來調查學生們在快速閱讀測驗當中所運用的閱讀策略跟遭遇的閱讀困難。 研究結果顯示台灣高中學生在快速閱讀測驗上的表現略優於他們在仔細閱讀測驗上的表現。此外，學生們在掃讀上表現得最好，優於在搜索閱讀上的表現，而略讀上的表現則是最差。關於策略的使用，學生們雖然會運用快速閱讀策略來完成快速閱讀的任務，但他們仍然在快速閱讀測驗當中普遍地使用仔細閱讀的策略。至於閱讀的困難，學生們進行快速閱讀時的困難主要來自於文章的用字、主題熟悉度跟長度。根據研究的發現，本研究對於教導與評量台灣高中學生的快速閱讀能力提出了實務上的建議。 / As a crucial language skill for EFL learns to gain English knowledge and culture (Alsamadani, 2009), reading receives considerable pedagogical attention in English classes in Taiwan (Wu, 2010). However, the reading instruction at the senior high school level focuses on the careful reading (Hsu, 2004). The expeditious reading, including skimming, search reading, and scanning (Urquhart & Weir, 1998), is often neglected. Considering the usefulness of expeditious reading in daily and academic life (Brown, 2007), the present research examined the expeditious reading ability of Taiwanese senior high school students, their strategy use and difficulties they had experienced in conducting expeditious reading. The researcher composed an expeditious reading test and a careful reading test to compare the students’ reading performances. Besides, the researcher designed a questionnaire to survey the strategy use and difficulties experienced by the students in the expeditious reading test. The result showed that the Taiwanese senior high school students’ performance on the expeditious reading test was marginally higher than their performance on the careful reading test. In addition, the student’s scanning score was the highest, followed by the search reading, and the skimming was the lowest. As for strategy use, the students applied expeditious reading strategies to approach expeditious reading tasks in the test, but they also appealed to some careful reading strategies in the expeditious reading test. Concerning difficulties, the students faced more problems with the vocabulary, topics, and length of texts when conducting expeditious reading. The findings yielded practical implications for teaching and assessing the expeditious reading at the senior high school level in Taiwan.

Students entering academic programmes are frequently overwhelmed by the demand for extensive reading and comprehension of information derived from multiple and contrasting sources. This entails both careful and expeditious reading. The latter has been generally neglected in research and has not been the focus of many tests. Both types of reading were investigated in this study through a validation process of the summative English reading test for academic purposes taken at the end of the Foundation Programme in Oman. In particular, context validity was established through focusing on the interaction between the linguistic demands and task setting parameters and also the cognitive processes through which the students engaged with the test tasks. To establish the context validity of the test, this study adopted Khalifa and Weir’s (2009) model which not only embraced the complex and multi-componential nature of reading but also provided a workable validation framework. A multi-strategy approach was adopted. A natural experiment utilising Verbal Protocol Analysis captured the cognitive processes through which students engaged in reading. Automated analysis software and opinions of expert judges were used to compare test passages with text extracts drawn from first year academic courses. Correlation tests and factor analysis revealed these cognitive processes and established the robustness of the Khalifa and Weir (2009) model, which was thus validated in a second language context. Passages in the foundation tests were found to be generally representative of academic texts although certain features such as abstractness were under-represented.

Students entering academic programmes are frequently overwhelmed by the demand for extensive reading and comprehension of information derived from multiple and contrasting sources. This entails both careful and expeditious reading. The latter has been generally neglected in research and has not been the focus of many tests. Both types of reading were investigated in this study through a validation process of the summative English reading test for academic purposes taken at the end of the Foundation Programme in Oman. In particular, context validity was established through focusing on the interaction between the linguistic demands and task setting parameters and also the cognitive processes through which the students engaged with the test tasks. To establish the context validity of the test, this study adopted Khalifa and Weir’s (2009) model which not only embraced the complex and multi-componential nature of reading but also provided a workable validation framework. A multi-strategy approach was adopted. A natural experiment utilising Verbal Protocol Analysis captured the cognitive processes through which students engaged in reading. Automated analysis software and opinions of expert judges were used to compare test passages with text extracts drawn from first year academic courses. Correlation tests and factor analysis revealed these cognitive processes and established the robustness of the Khalifa and Weir (2009) model, which was thus validated in a second language context. Passages in the foundation tests were found to be generally representative of academic texts although certain features such as abstractness were under-represented. / Government of the Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Manpower