Interpreting Reading Comprehension Test Results: Quantile Regression Shows that Explanatory Factors Can Vary with Performance Level

One of the most important findings to emerge from recent reading comprehension research is that there are large differences between tests in what they assess—specifically, the extent to which performance depends on word recognition versus listening comprehension skills. Because this research used ordinary least squares regression, it is not clear that the findings apply similarly to poor and good readers. The current study uses quantile regression to assess whether there might be differences within tests in the relative contributions of component skills as a function of performance level. There were 834 individuals (ages 8–18) who took 5 reading comprehension tests. Quantile regression showed that, for 3 of 5 tests, the contributions of word recognition and listening comprehension vary as a function of reading comprehension skill. These quantile differences hold across both younger and older readers. Our findings show that what skills a test assesses vary not only with the specific test used but also with how well the person performs.     

The Role of Executive Functions in Reading Comprehension

Our goal in this paper is to understand the extent to which, and under what conditions, executive functions (EFs) play a role in reading comprehension processes. We begin with a brief review of core components of EF (inhibition, shifting, and updating) and reading comprehension. We then discuss the status of EFs in process models of reading comprehension. Next, we review and synthesize empirical evidence in the extant literature for the involvement of core components of EF in reading comprehension processes under different reading conditions and across different populations. In conclusion, we propose that EFs may help explain complex interactions between the reader, the text, and the discourse situation, and call for both existing and future models of reading comprehension to include EFs as explicit components.     

Linguistic Diversity and the Development of Reading Skills: A Longitudinal Study

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the same component processes are involved in reading acquisition for children with varying levels of proficiency in English in kindergarten and the first grade. The performance of 858 children was examined on tasks assessing basic literacy skills, phonological processing, verbal memory, and syntactic awareness. There were 727 children who were native English speakers (NS children) and 131 children who spoke English as a second language (ESL children). Although ESL children performed more poorly than NS children on most measures of phonological and linguistic processing in kindergarten and first grade, the acquisition of basic literacy skills for children from both language groups developed in a similar manner. Furthermore, alphabetic knowledge and phonological processing were important contributors to early reading skill for children from both language groups. Therefore, children learning English may acquire literacy skills in English in a similar manner to NS children, although their alphabetic knowledge may precede and facilitate the acquisition of phonological awareness in English.     

基于策略培训的大学英语阅读教学

培养学生阅读理解能力是大学英语教学的一个重要目标。提高阅读能力的有效途径是对学生进 行阅读策略的培训。本文介绍了一种以策略培训为基础的大学英语阅读教学模式。这一教学模式要求教师转变 角色,分析学生的需要,将策略培训融入课堂教学,培养学生自主学习的能力。     

论超语言因素对阅读理解的导向作用

在阅读理解过程中,正确理解文本的含义,不能只停留在语言形式的表层意义上,还必须突破语言形式的束缚,充分利用超语言因素的导向作用,从超语言因素的角度对作家文本中塑造的人物的性格特征、陈述的基本观点和情感立场、奠定的特定情景和状态、描述的人物心理状态、预设的感官形象、设置的人物活动状况,以及特定的文化背景和民俗习惯等几个方面去全面把握文本的真正含意。     

语境在阅读理解中的作用

阅读理解和语境是密切相关的;语境对阅读理解有巨大的制约力,语境可以排除歧义,可以帮助理解语篇中的省略意义,可以帮助确定所指和理解隐含的意义。     

语境在大学英语阅读理解中的作用

语言的理解依赖于语境,语境理论对大学英语阅读理解起着重要作用。只有借助语境才能正确理解词义、句意和篇章。教师要培养学生的语境意识,进而提高学生的篇章解读能力。     

The Role of Orthographic and Semantic Learning in Word Reading and Reading Comprehension

We tested the theoretically driven hypotheses that children’s orthographic and semantic learning are associated with their word reading and reading comprehension skills, even when orthographic and semantic knowledge are taken into account. A sample of 139 English-speaking Grade 3 children completed a learning task in which they read stories about new inventions. Then they were tested on their learning of the spelling and meaning of the inventions (i.e., orthographic and semantic learning, respectively). Word reading and reading comprehension were assessed with standardised tasks, and orthographic and semantic knowledge were assessed with choice tasks targeting the spelling and meaning of existing words. The results of our structural equation modeling indicated that orthographic learning predicted word reading directly and reading comprehension indirectly via word reading. We also found that semantic learning predicted reading comprehension directly. These findings support integration of the self-teaching hypothesis and the lexical quality hypothesis.     

从图式理论的视角看阅读理解的心理过程

阅读理解是个复杂的心理活动过程，在这个过程中，读者往往借助“自下而上”和“自上而下”两种信息加工方式的交互作用来解读阅读内容。因此，图式理论将阅读过程解释为读者所具备的背景知识和阅读材料相互作用的过程。影响阅读理解的主要因素是内容图式和形式图式。对图式理论的研究，有助于揭示阅读理解的认知心理过程并对外语教学有所启示。     

论语境线索在阅读理解中的作用

阅读是读者和作者以语篇为中介交流思想的过程，作者借助语篇表达自己的思想和意图，读者则需要通过推理采解读语篇的意义，领会作者的思想和意图。然而，舍理的推理必须依据语境线索进行。语境线索是指作为语境的语篇为读者解读语篇意义提供的线索。当读者在阅读过程中遇到理解障碍时，语境线索起着十分重要的作用：它们不仅可以帮助读者确定多义词的情景意义、推测生词的意义，而且还有助于推导超常搭配的隐含意义、填补信息空缺。     

教师朗读对学生阅读理解的作用

通过对比,了解教师朗读对学生阅读理解产生的影响。实验组在阅读时伴随教师朗读,控制组自己默读,然后进行综合选择和故事结构两种测试。结果表明,实验组的成绩明显好于控制组。本研究证明,教师朗读可以促进学生对于文章的正确理解。     

试谈语境知识在英语阅读理解中的作用

阅读理解,不仅要理解词汇和语法的字面意义,还要挖掘其隐含意思,正确地理解离不开一定环境——语境。根据语用学理论分析影响语言理解的各种因素,阐述语境诸要素在阅读理解中的作用,并进一步提出,教师必须引导学生积极探索语言与语境的联系,适当地分析语境含义,切实有效地培养和提高学生的语言素质。     

任务型教学法在大学英语阅读教学中的运用

本文分析了英语阅读教学的要求以及任务型教学法的特点,探讨了任务教学法在英语阅读教学中应用的可行性及在教学中实施的方法,提出了任务型教学法在英语阅读教学中的不足及解决的方法。     

预设在CET阅读理解中的作用

语言学家们一直都在研究预设的问题。预设往往由触发语(trigger)来引发，根据不同的触发语，George Yule将其分为事实预设、非事实预设、反事实预设、存在预设、词汇预设和结构预设。触发语有助干我们在阅读当中理解作者的真正用意。因此如果我们将预设触发语运用于阅读理解当中，那么对学生阅读理解能力的提高会起到良好的作用。     

英语阅读教学中语篇信息词的作用

文章作者以教学研究者和反思者的双重身份,以自己的课堂教学为试验基地,通过两年的实践,在英语阅读教学中有意识地强调语篇信息词在英语阅读课文中的作用。研究试验数据、教师的实际教学、问卷调查和随后的访谈都表明有意识地培养学生在英语阅读课文中关注语篇信息词,不仅可以提高学生阅读理解的效率,还可改进教师英语阅读课的教学方法和提高授课技巧。     

Measures of Reading Comprehension: A Latent Variable Analysis of the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Comprehension

This study compares 2 measures of reading comprehension: (a) the Woodcock-Johnson Passage Comprehension test, a standard in reading research, and (b) the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Comprehension (DARC), an innovative measure. Data from 192 Grade 3 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) were used to fit a series of latent variable analyses designed to explicitly test the discriminant validity and differential determinants of the 2 measures. Findings indicated that the 2 measures are related (r =. 61) but distinct, and influenced by different factors. The DARC is less strongly related to word-level skills and more strongly related to measures of narrative language production and memory. Both tests are equally influenced by measures of nonverbal reasoning. These differential patterns of relations, which cannot be explained on the basis of differential reliabilities, reflect true differences in the processing demands of the tests for 3rd-grade ELLs.     

由语结谈阅读测试中的信息碎片化问题

语结是篇章生成的基础,同时也是阅读理解的重要内容。英语专业生篇章能力薄弱,在阅读测试中往往获取信息碎片,无力应对宏观题目的问题。解答宏观题目需要回归篇章的语结,将相关细节和篇章的语结进行关联和推理。语结作为语篇处理模型能有效整合篇章信息,提高阅读速度和质量。     

Investigating Cognitive and Linguistic Abilities that Influence the Reading Comprehension Skills of Children from Diverse Linguistic Backgrounds

This study investigated the influence of cognitive and linguistic skills on the reading comprehension performance of a group of learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds. The study also compared the reading comprehension performance of grade 4 children who entered kindergarten with little or no experience with English (ESL) to that of a group of native English speakers. Examiners administered various tasks of reading, language, and memory to the children in the study (n=480). The sample included three comprehension groups: (1) children with poor comprehension in the absence of word reading difficulties (Poor Comprehenders; PC), (2) children with poor word reading and poor comprehension (Poor word Recognition and comprehenders; PR), and (3) children with good word reading and comprehension abilities (Good Comprehenders; GC). Due to the small sample size of PR reader group, no comparative analyses were conducted. However, the results indicated that within the GC and PC groups there were no differences between the ESL and L1 children on measures of reading and phonological processing. Further, within the GC and PC groups, on measures of syntactic awareness and verbal working memory, the ESL speakers performed at significantly lower levels than the L1 speakers.     

Ordinary Least Squares and Quantile Regression: An Inquiry-Based Learning Approach to a Comparison of Regression Methods

We present a short, inquiry-based learning course on concepts and methods underlying ordinary least squares (OLS), least absolute deviation (LAD), and quantile regression (QR). Students investigate squared, absolute, and weighted absolute distance functions (metrics) as location measures. Using differential calculus and properties of convex functions, students discover the sample mean, median, and pth quantile by minimizing sums of distances. Students use these metrics to define loss functions for OLS, LAD, and QR, and explore methods to minimize them. We discuss classroom experiences over two semesters. Classroom activities, Maple worksheets, and R demonstration code are available at a companion website.