Abstract
This research is an attempt to examine the possibility of using oral reading as a diagnostic approach to learners' general English proficiency. Oral reading, here, is confined to 'first-sight' oral reading, and is evaluated in terms of oral reading rate and comprehension tests. In the experiment, participants were required to read passages aloud without any preceding time for comprehension. Two conditions were prepared for the oral reading: one was to read orally focusing on the reading speed, and the other focusing on the comprehension. As this task is deeply related to working memory in that it contains dual-task procedure, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate which of the two variables, learners' general English proficiency or working memory capacity, would be more reflected in the task performance. Eighty Japanese EFL learners were tested and the data was analyzed firstly based on the group made up by STEP score, and secondly on the group by RST score through 2(High and Low groups)×2(oral reading conditions)×3(difficulty levels of the texts) ANOVA. The result was that the learners' oral reading has reflected their general English proficiency more than their working memory capacity. Regression analysis was also conducted with STEP score (dependent variable) and oral reading rate, comprehension score (independent variables). The result was that comprehension score of the oral reading focusing on the meaning has reflected learners' English proficiency best in this study.
