Contact-2: a computer-assisted instructional strategy for promoting conceptual change

Previous research seems to support the assumption that students need instructional guidance to activate and correct their preconceptions. Such an instructional strategy is the CONTACT strategy, characterised by continuous, computer-assisted activation of the conceptions of individual learners. Our previous study showed that the CONTACT strategy was effective in promoting conceptual change in text processing (domain: physical geography) because students (fifth- and sixth-graders, primary education) constructed more correct conceptions. However, students mainly seemed to focus on the central concepts from the training texts, disregarding other information. Therefore, the strategy was adapted to solve this problem of selective attention and to increase its effectiveness. Subjects (74 fifth- and sixth-graders) were assigned to three instructional conditions (original CONTACT condition, revised CONTACT-2 condition and control condition NO ACTIVATION). A mixed between-within-subjects design was used with 2 between-subjects factors (instructional condition and students' familiarity with the central concepts from the 7 texts used). Dependent variables concerned quality of conceptions and learning performance. Students from the CONTACT-2 condition constructed better conceptions and achieved higher learning performance scores than students from the other two conditions. Moreover, the effectiveness of the CONTACT-2 strategy appeared not to depend on the degree of conceptual resemblance between the performance test questions and the central concepts from the texts and on the moment of testing. Additional research should shed some light on the instructional conditions required to teach students how they themselves can initiate and perform learning activities aimed at conceptual change.     

Comprehending instructions for using pharmaceutical products in rural Kenya

This paper reports two studies on comprehension of pharmaceutical texta containing pictorial and written instructions by mothers in rural Kenya. The subjects were asked to read and recall instructions for preparing and administering a solution for the treatment of dehydration due to diarrheal disease in children. A set of pictures describing the preparation procedure, together with written text instructions under two conditions, (a) original, as in the commercial product, and (b) revised, to include familiar terminology and explanations of some procedures, were presented to two groups of Kenyan mothers. The verbal protocols generated were transcribed and analyzed using propositional representation of instructional procedures.The results showed that mothers recalled the procedures for the preparation as in the pictures but not those presented in the written instructions. The written instructions were generally found to be difficult, with the original text being more difficult than the revised text. Any conflicting information between the written and pictorial instructions was resolved by selecting the familiar procedure. The information recalled from the revised text that was recalled was that which supported the procedures in the pictures. The results have implications for writing adequate pharmaceutical texts for users such that little room is left for misinterpretation.     

“语言样本”的原创性在文化导入中的功能

依据《大学英语教学大纲》(修订本)对大学英语教材的明确要求,本文对《防空洞》课文文本与剧本文本的比较研究发现,原创性不强的课文文本往往缺乏语言的真实性且有大量的文化因素失落,从而使得文化导入成为无源之水。     

A Comparison of Reader Strategies on Two Versions of A Newspaper Editorial

Reading is seen as a communication process, a meaningful interaction between the reader and his reading text. A number of factors are known to affect this interaction. One prominent factor is the type of text being read. That is, reader strategies may vary in relation to text characteristics. This study used miscue analysis to find out patterns of reader strategies on two types of texts: a syntactically complex and high vocabulary loaded text and a syntactically simple and low vocabulary loaded text. To this end, cloze tests of passages derived from two versions of a newspaper editorial completed by twenty undergraduate education students from the University of Jos were analysed. The results indicated that the readers of the difficult text had less access to semantic and syntactic cues than the readers of the simplified text. Readers for whom the difficult text was on frustration level made less use of context than did readers for whom the same text was on instructional level. There was very little difference in quality of miscues by readers of the simplified text reading on independent level as compared with those reading the same text on instructional level. Readers who performed on instructional level on the difficult passage used similar reading strategies to those who performed on instructional level on the simplified passage. The implications of the findings for reading instruction were discussed.     

A profile of causal development amongst ten-year-olds: Implications for reading and writing

Causality has been singled out by several researchers as an important factor in text comprehension and memory. The basic assumption underlying this view is that the perception of causal ties between elements in a text binds the text elements together and enables the reader to construct a coherent representation of the text in memory. Although research findings indicate that causality is a strong predictor of comprehension in narrative texts, the role that causality plays in the comprehension of expository texts has received relatively little attention. In the research reported in this article, a profile of causal development in ten-year-olds was built up on the basis of their recall of history and science texts in which the amount of causal connectivity differed. Four variables were identified and measured, namely length of recall protocols, amount of causal connections recalled from original test passages, amount of causal density and causal hierarchicalization created in the recall protocols. The results of the recall test were also compared to the subjects' English grades. The findings indicate that causal connections play an important role in expository text recall, and that subjects who have a strong causal profile also, generally, perform well in English. The research and pedagogical implications of these findings for reading and writing skills are discussed.     

Comparative acceptability and effectiveness of teacher-revised and designer-revised instruction

This study examined whether instructional material revised by teachers will be more effective and adopted more readily than material revised by designers and material that is not revised. Teachers from a vocational school were randomly assigned to review one version of the material and complete an Instructional Materials Acceptance Questionnaire. Students were asked to read the chapter randomly assigned to them and complete a posttest.Contrary to expectations, the teacher-revised material was as effective as the designer-revised material and more effective than the original material, yet it was not more acceptable to teachers. As expected, the designer-revised material was more effective than the original material. However, teachers were no more favorably disposed to the designer-revised version than to the original version. Possible reasons for these findings are described and suggestions for future research are offered.     

How to use preconceptions? The contact strategy dismantled

The effects of the contact strategy (a computer-assisted instructional strategy aimed at conceptual change in text processing) were investigated by dismantling the strategy. An experiment with 86 Ss (5th/6th-graders) was conducted in which the number of instructional steps was cumulatively varied from 0 steps (no activation) over 1 step (search for old idea) and 3 steps (1. search for old idea; 2. compare and contrast with new information; 3. formulate new idea) to all 5 contact steps (1. search for old idea; 2. compare and contrast with new information; 3. formulate new idea; 4. apply new idea; 5. evaluate new idea). A design with 2 between-subjects factors (instructional strategy and students familiarity with the central concepts from the 7 instructional texts used) and 2 within-subjects factors (type of learning performance test item and time of testing) was used. Dependent variables concerned quality of final conceptions and learning performance. Results indicated that the complete contact strategy was the most effective variant. It seemed to be the case, however, that students mainly focused their attention on the central concepts from the texts. In our view, instructional strategies to foster conceptual change should both support knowledge restructuring processes and offer a solution for this problem of selective attention.     

The influence of consequence value and text difficulty on affect,attention, and learning while reading instructional texts

The present study investigated how consequence value influences affect, attention, and learning while reading instructional texts, and if text difficulty moderates these effects. Participants studied four instructional texts on research methods in a 2 × 2 consequence value (high vs. low) × text difficulty (easy vs. difficult) within-subjects experiment. Consequence value was manipulated by assigning two of the four texts as having high value and the other two as having low value with respect to a performance goal on a subsequent test, while text difficulty was manipulated via experimenter-created easy and difficult versions of the texts. We hypothesized that consequence value would induce mild anxiety, which would focus attention and facilitate learning, and that text difficulty would moderate the influence of consequence value. Partially consistent with the predictions, high consequence value led to lower valence, higher arousal, longer reading times, and positively predicted knowledge transfer. Arousal mediated the relationship between consequence value and knowledge transfer, but only when the texts were difficult, thereby suggesting moderated mediation.     

An Examination of Text Complexity as Characterized by Readability and Cohesion

To better understand dimensions of text complexity and their effect on the comprehension of adolescents, 103 high school seniors were randomly assigned to 4 groups. Each group read versions of the same 2 informational passages and answered comprehension test items targeting factual recall and inferences of causal content. Group A passages had a challenging readability level and high cohesion; Group B passages had an easier readability and low cohesion; Group C passages had a challenging readability level and low cohesion; and Group D passages had an easier readability and high cohesion. Students in Group D significantly outperformed students in Group C (g = 0.78). Although the effect sizes of comparisons among all groups ranged from g = 0.13 to 0.73, no other comparisons were statistically significant. Results indicate that adolescents’ reading comprehension is dually influenced by a text's readability and cohesion. Implications for matching readers to instructional text are discussed.     

Refutation texts: Implying the refutation of a scientific misconception can facilitate knowledge revision

Refutation texts facilitate knowledge revision by placing science misconceptions in the foreground. However, in some situations, repeating incorrect information can work against the desired goal of correcting misconceptions, or can spread misinformation to new audiences. Thus, our goal was to examine whether merely implying the existence of a misconception, without explicitly stating the incorrect information, is sufficient to facilitate knowledge revision from a text. Undergraduate participants who expressed a common physics misconception read one of three passages about the issue, including a correct explanation of the situation. The passages differed in whether the refutation of the misconception was explicitly stated, implied by a warning phrase, or not referred to at all. We found that participants were less likely to express the misconception when they were questioned about the topic after reading the passage with the explicit refutation or with the warning phrase. Furthermore, the current results indicate that refutations of misconceptions can influence knowledge revision in ways that extended beyond the details of the original learning episode, even when they are only implied by a warning phrase. However, it remains unclear whether implied refutations of misconceptions can endure across a delay in time. These findings have potential implications for optimizing science texts to effectively address misconceptions.     

Investigating the validity of two widely used quantitative text tools

In recent years, readability formulas have gained new prominence as a basis for selecting texts for learning and assessment. Variables that quantitative tools count (e.g., word frequency, sentence length) provide valid measures of text complexity insofar as they accurately predict representative and high-quality criteria. The longstanding consensus of text researchers has been that such criteria will measure readers’ comprehension of sample texts. This study used Bormuth’s (1969) rigorously developed criterion measure to investigate two of today’s most widely used quantitative text tools—the Lexile Framework and the Flesch–Kincaid Grade-Level formula. Correlations between the two tools’ complexity scores and Bormuth’s measured difficulties of criterion passages were only moderately high in light of the literature and new high stakes uses for such tools. These correlations declined a small amount when passages from the University grade band of use were removed. The ability of these tools to predict measured text difficulties within any single grade band below University was low. Analyses showed that word complexity made a larger contribution relative to sentence complexity when each tool’s predictors were regressed on the Bormuth criterion rather than their original criteria. When the criterion was texts’ grade band of use instead of mean cloze scores, neither tool classified texts well and errors disproportionally placed texts from higher grade bands into lower ones. Results suggest these two text tools may lack adequate validity for their current uses in educational settings.     

方原《鲁宾逊漂流记》译本评析——文学翻译中美的传递

《鲁宾逊漂流记》作为一部现实主义小说的代表,有其独特的审美价值,国内众多的译本中,方原译本堪称原作的经典再现。对此译本音形意等美的再现评析,我们可看出经典译作是经典原作美有效传递的结果,也是译者以自身文学素养和专业造诣将原作中的非形式系统和形式系统两方面内容进行结合,再现于译作中的结果。读者也可从中探寻到原作美在翻译中的传递过程,进而更好地体会原作及其译作的美。     

Cognitive and linguistic predictors of text comprehension

The problem was concerned with the extent to which cognitive/linguistic functions and domain-specific strategies could predict readers’ text comprehension when working with science texts. Six hypotheses were stated and tested in two prediction studies (N=101 eighth-graders), and one experiment (N=8 pupils of same age). Handal’s reading test was used for classifying pupils into good and poor readers. Two texts, one with a known subject and another with an unknown theme were imposed pupils as science reading tasks. Questionnaires and tests concerning cognitive and linguistic functions were used as independent variables in the prediction studies. Two different tests were used as independent variables (for text comprehension) in all of the three studies, and one additional criterion test (writing essays on main ideas in the texts) was applied in the experient. The experiment was organized as a 2x2 factorial design where text type and reading skill were the factors. According to the results, 5 of the 6 hypotheses could not be rejected, i.e., general concept information was the most significant predictor of science text comprehension. Furthermore, text based on a subject known to the reader always surpassed text with an unknown subject as to text comprehension. Similarily, across-domain strategies were more closely related to reading comprehension than domain-specific strategies.     

从功能语法的主位结构看《雾都孤儿》原版和简写版

主位结构,在语篇中发挥巨大的作用,是语篇分析的主要方式。本文主要以功能语法中的主位结构为理论依据,对狄更斯的作品《雾都孤儿》原版和一个简写版进行比较分析,试揭示主位结构在不同的语篇中表现和作用。     

The role of interest and text structure in professional reading

Students can be regarded as professional readers: they have to attend to, comprehend and remember the most important information in instructional texts, often about topics they are not readily interested in. Optimising such instructional texts has been the subject of much reading research. This research has shown robust effects for the influence of text structure: information highlighted by a strongly organising structure is retained better than seemingly less important information. Hidi and Baird (1986) suggest that such effects of structure are artefacts, because of the dullness of texts used in such experiments. They argue that readers mainly use interest instead of structure as their guide for attention and learning. In this article three related experiments using Dutch instructional texts are reported. Both interest and text structure were manipulated as within-item factors, and on-line as well as off-line methods were used to measure effects on the reading process and product. The outcomes show no support for the hypothesis of Hidi and Baird: students learn better from texts that are well structured, regardless of the interest of the text or its topic.     

Not Read,but Nevertheless Solved? Three Experiments on PIRLS Multiple Choice Reading Comprehension Test Items

Multiple-choice (MC) reading comprehension test items comprise three components: text passage, questions about the text, and MC answers. The construct validity of this format has been repeatedly criticized. In three between-subjects experiments, fourth graders (N ₁ = 230, N ₂ = 340, N ₃ = 194) worked on three versions of MC items from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2001 reading comprehension test with relevant components successively deleted: “original version” (text, questions, MC-answers), “version without text” (questions, MC-answers), “version without text and without questions” (only MC-answers). Answering correctly the MC items became more difficult as the relevant information was eliminated. In the two narrative fictional texts presented, the students' performance of the version without text was not better than chance. Conversely in the informational (fictional) text, the students' performance of the version without text was better than chance. In the third condition, students' performance was never better than chance.     

Differences in reading strategies among 7 to 8 year old children

In the theoretical context of compensatory processing, the research studied the syntactic, semantic and grapho-phonic miscues made by groups of first year Junior school pupils of high, average and low reading attainments. 60 children aged between 7.5 and 8.5 years of age were asked to read aloud passages from the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability. All miscues were recorded and scored. Analyses of variance were then performed on these scores at two levels of text complexity. Reading attainment and sex were used as independent variables to test specified hypotheses related to miscue quality. The high reading attainment group typically made better quality syntactic, semantic and grapho-phonic miscues at the lower level of text complexity. Passage complexity affected the ability of some children to make effective use of syntactic and semantic cues. As text complexity increased, the miscue quality of high and above average reading attainment groups deteriorated. Higher scores on a word recognition reading test were significantly related to effective use of grapho-phonic miscues, but not to the use of syntactic and semantic cues, in reading material from more demanding texts. Limitations in the methodology used and suggestions for future work are discussed.     

Are poor Chinese text comprehenders also poor in written composition?

We studied the performance in three genres of Chinese written composition (narration, exposition, and argumentation) of 158 grade 4, 5, and 6 poor Chinese text comprehenders compared with 156 good Chinese text comprehenders. We examined text comprehension and written composition relationship. Verbal working memory (verbal span working memory and operation span working memory) and different levels of linguistic tasks—morphological sensitivity (morphological compounding and morphological chain), sentence processing (syntax construction and syntax integrity), and text comprehension (narrative and expository texts)—were used to predict separately narrative, expository, and argumentation written compositions in these students. Grade for grade, the good text comprehenders outperformed the poor text comprehenders in all tasks, except for morphological chain. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed differential contribution of the tasks to different genres of writing. In particular, text comprehension made unique contribution to argumentation writing in the poor text comprehenders. Future studies should ask students to read and write parallel passages in the same genre for better comparison and incorporate both instructional and motivational variables.