Galiya Tatarinova - Institute of Natural Sciences and Geography, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan, ۱۳, Dostyk Av., ۰۵۰۰۱۰ Almaty, the Republic of Kazakhstan
Nour Raheem Neamah - ۲Al-Manara College for Medical Sciences, Maysan, Iraq
Aisha Mohammed - College of Pharmacy / Al-Farahidi University, Baghdad , Iraq
Aalaa Yaseen Hassan - Al-Nisour University College, Baghdad, Iraq
Ali Abdulridha Obaid - Mazaya University College, Iraq
Ismail Abdulwahhab Ismail - English Department, Al-Noor University College, Nineveh, Iraq
Hatem Ghaleb Maabreh - People’s Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia
Al Khateeb Nashaat Sultan Afif - People’s Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia
Shvedova Irina Viktorovna - People’s Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia

Unidimensionality is an important assumption of measurement but it is violated very often. Most of the time, tests are deliberately constructed to be multidimensional to cover all aspects of the intended construct. In such situations, the application of unidimensional item response theory (IRT) models is not justified due to poor model fit and misleading results. Multidimensional IRT (MIRT) models can handle several dimensions simultaneously and yield person ability parameters on several dimensions which is helpful for diagnostic purposes too. Furthermore, MIRT models use the correlation between the dimensions to enhance the precision of the measurement. In this study a reading comprehension test is modelled with the multidimensional Rasch model. The findings showed that a correlated ۲-dimensional model has the best fit to the data. The bifactor model revealed some interesting information about the structure of reading comprehension and the reading curriculum. Implications of the study for the testing and teaching of reading comprehension are discussed.

Bifactor model, Multidimensional IRT, reading comprehension, Unidimensional IRT