The Construct Validity of a Reading Test Based on Narrative Texts.

The study examines the construct validity of a reading test based on narrative texts. It aims to evaluate the extent to which the test tasks target the narrative macrostructure and microstructure elements in both the text passage and the test questions as well as the extent to which the order of test questions is sensitive to the narrative story line. The study uses 40 test items randomly selected from the DR Congo English state examination (ESE). The results indicate that the construct validity of the ESE based on narrative texts is threatened by the inclusion of a limited number of episodes in the narratives, the absence of some elements of episodic structure, the use of truncated narratives that fail to include coherence elements, the failure to examine all the critical aspects of the narrative construct, the inclusion of some test items that require examinees' abilities that are irrelevant to narrative story grammar, and the ordering of information requested by the test items that does not relate to the way information is ordered in the narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]