Testing second language reading comprehension for postgraduate studies in a Mexican public university

Abstract

In many public universities in Mexico, candidates are required to pass a reading comprehension examination in a second language, frequently English, before admittance to postgraduate studies. These examinations are frequently developed by in-house design teams within the University itself. However, due to its importance as a gatekeeping measure, these exams are open to criticism from test users who see the test requirement as unfair, as the level expected exceeds that attained in the standard curriculum for public schooling in Mexico. A further criticism is that the test requirement is irrelevant, as test users believe they will not need to read in languages other than Spanish to achieve success in their postgraduate studies. To address these questions of fairness in test design and to inquire more deeply into L2 reading requirements, we designed and applied an online questionnaire to 244 students enrolled in postgraduate programs at Especialización, master’s, and doctoral levels. Our results show that students, once they are enrolled in study programs, perceive the L2 reading requirement to be fair and that they, in fact, read widely in English and other languages to fulfill course demands. However, we also identify that, despite attaining passing grades on the entrance exam, students are not confident about their understanding of texts in English and are substantially less confident about their ability to read texts in French. Our results point to a need to work with the academic community to develop greater assessment literacy and improve understanding of the purpose of these tests and their usefulness. Further understanding of different program requirements should enable a differentiated approach to test design which would hold higher standards for some programs, with higher proficiency requirements and lower the level expected for programs with less need for L2 reading. We also see a need to work on more communicative tasks for the examination to reduce the perceived mismatch between test design and real-life requirements.