A Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment of Chinese Middle School EFL Reading Proficiency: Validating a Standards-Based Framework

While cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) has been increasingly applied to L۲ reading, existing frameworks predominantly target advanced learners, leaving a critical gap in assessing the foundational subskills of middle school students under updated curriculum standards. To address this, the current study adopted CDA to precisely evaluate reading proficiency among middle school students. The study involved ۴۴۹ ninth-grade students from a mid-tier middle school in Heping District, Tianjin, China. Data were collected from a ۱۰۰-minute high-stakes mock High School Entrance Exam. A reading attribute framework and Q-matrix were constructed to strictly align with the Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards (۲۰۲۲ Edition). The G-DINA model was then employed to analyze the test data. The results demonstrate that: (۱) The diagnostic test developed exhibits strong reliability (Cronbach's alpha = ۰.۷۶), excellent item discrimination, and a moderate overall difficulty level, validating its effectiveness as a diagnostic tool. (۲) Group-level analysis reveals that students generally exhibit low mastery probabilities in three critical attributes: A۱ (Vocabulary), A۳ (Inter-Sentence Relationships), and A۶ (Correct Option Processing). (۳) Individual-level analysis confirms that CDA can effectively distinguish between students with identical total scores but different cognitive profiles. Consequently, these findings provide an empirical foundation for targeted remediation. Teachers can utilize the fine-grained feedback to design specific interventions for vocabulary and logical sentence structure, moving beyond generic instruction to address the dominant "knowledge states" in their classrooms and effectively enhance students' L۲ achievement. This study offers a replicable methodological framework for diagnosing reading skills under localized curriculum standards.

کلیدواژه ها:

Cognitive diagnosis ، Educational assessment ، G-DINA model ، Q-matrix Validation ، reading comprehension ، test development