Structural model validation and performance analysis of classical Chinese reading skills among senior high school students

Abstract

Identifying the structure of reading skills is essential for developing language curricula, designing instruction, and establishing assessment criteria. While many studies have validated the structure of modern reading skills both domestically and internationally, empirical research on the structure of classical Chinese reading skills is limited. This study administered a classical Chinese reading test to 1,637 senior high school students in Hong Kong, using confirmatory factor analysis to validate the structural model of classical Chinese reading skills and to analyze students' skill performances. The results indicated that the classical Chinese reading test demonstrated good item quality, reliability, and validity. Factor analysis supported the structural model, identifying five skills: retrieving, explaining, summarizing, elaborating, and evaluating. Students performed relatively well in lower-level skills (i. e., retrieving and explaining) but showed weaknesses in higher-level skills, particularly in elaborating, followed by evaluating and summarizing. This study offers theoretical and practical implications for the assessment and teaching of classical Chinese reading. 明确阅读能力结构是发展语文课程、设计教学与评估目标的重要基础。对于现代文阅读能力结构，国内外已有大量研究，而对文言文阅读能力结构的实证研究则少之又少。本研究对我国香港地区1 637名高中生进行文言文阅读测试，采用验证性因素分析方法验证了文言文阅读能力结构，并分析了学生在不同能力层次上的表现。结果显示，文言文阅读测试在试题质量、信度、效度等方面表现良好，因素分析结果验证了文言文阅读的五个能力层次，包括复述、解释、重整、伸展和评鉴。学生在复述和解释等初级能力上表现相对较好，而在高阶能力上表现相对较差，其中伸展表现最差，其次是评鉴和重整。本研究为文言文阅读能力的评估和教学提供了理论和实践参考。