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Development of Listening Comprehension Tests with Narrative and Expository Texts for Portuguese Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

Sandra Santos ,
Fernanda Leopoldina Viana ,
Iolanda Ribeiro ,
Gerardo Prieto ,
Sara Brandão  and
Irene Cadime
Sandra Santos*
Affiliation:
Universidade do Minho (Portugal)
Fernanda Leopoldina Viana
Affiliation:
Universidade do Minho (Portugal)
Iolanda Ribeiro
Affiliation:
Universidade do Minho (Portugal)
Gerardo Prieto
Affiliation:
Universidad de Salamanca (Spain)
Sara Brandão
Affiliation:
Universidade do Minho (Portugal)
Irene Cadime
Affiliation:
Universidade do Minho (Portugal)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sandra Santos. Research Center on Psychology (CIPsi). School of Psychology. Universidade do Minho. Campus de Gualtar. 4710–057. Braga (Portugal). Phone: +351–937551393. E-mail: sandra.css@gmail.com
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Abstract

This investigation aimed to develop and collect psychometric data for two tests assessing listening comprehension of Portuguese students in primary school: the Test of Listening Comprehension of Narrative Texts (TLC-n) and the Test of Listening Comprehension of Expository Texts (TLC-e). Two studies were conducted. The purpose of study 1 was to construct four test forms for each of the two tests to assess first, second, third and fourth grade students of the primary school. The TLC-n was administered to 1042 students, and the TLC-e was administered to 848 students. The purpose of study 2 was to test the psychometric properties of new items for the TLC-n form for fourth graders, given that the results in study 1 indicated a severe lack of difficult items. The participants were 260 fourth graders. The data were analysed using the Rasch model. Thirty items were selected for each test form. The results provided support for the model assumptions: Unidimensionality and local independence of the items. The reliability coefficients were higher than .70 for all test forms. The TLC-n and the TLC-e present good psychometric properties and represent an important contribution to the learning disabilities assessment field.

Keywords

listening comprehension assessmentlearning disabilitiesnarrative and expository textsitem response theoryvertical scaling
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 18 , 2015 , E5
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2015 

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