DEVELOPING READING SKILLS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF [2013a-2020] WASSCE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37301/culingua.v3i3.125Keywords:
Language Assessment, Reading Comprehension, Senior High School, GhanaAbstract
The paper is a study aimed at scrutinizing the levels of thinking the West African Examination Council adopted in their previous English Language comprehension test items. It is observed that the examination body’s adoption of largely lower thinking levels of reading comprehension questions has resulted in limiting the cognitive abilities of language learners with regard to understanding what is read in school or out of school. Using Potts’ (1976) three main levels of questioning, this qualitative study analyzed eight reading comprehension passages with their questions from 2013 to 2020. The analysis results showed that the levels of thinking questions in comprehension were low and do not challenge the cognitive abilities of learners at the senior high school level. This study is crucial because it helps examination bodies to have a clear picture of the language assessment situation in the subregion of Africa.
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