Learning from texts: activation of information from previous texts during reading

Learning often involves integration of information from multiple texts. The aim of the current study was to determine whether relevant information from previously read texts is spontaneously activated during reading, allowing for integration between texts (experiment 1 and 2), and whether this process is related to the representation of the texts (experiment 2). In both experiments, texts with inconsistent target sentences were preceded by texts that either did or did not contain explanations that resolved the inconsistencies. In experiment 1, the reading times of the target sentences introducing inconsistencies were faster if the preceding text contained an explanation for the inconsistency than if it did not. This result demonstrates that relevant information from a prior text is spontaneously activated when the target sentence is read. In experiment 2 free recall was used to gain insight into the representation after reading. The reading time results for experiment 2 replicated the reading time results for experiment 1. However, the effects on reading times did not translate to measurable differences in text representations after reading. This research extends our knowledge about the processes involved in multiple text comprehension: Prior text information is spontaneously activated during reading, thereby enabling integration between different texts.     

Talk about texts: reading as a social event

Drawing on anthropological evidence that interactions with texts are often mediated through oral language practices and Vygotsky's ideas about the primacy of social dialogue for individual intellectual development, the authors argue that children's informal talk about both electronic and printed texts throws new light on the reading process as a whole. They analyse children's talk about a school library book, a piece of graffiti, a television programme and a film to show how readings are shaped by the social organization and personal relationships of the readers, whether in curriculum activities, friendship groups or at home in the family. Readings are constructed, contested and negotiated through talk at the point where texts are first calculated and reshaped again when they are jointly recalled. Talk also helps to construct the text's legitimate audience and the reader's position within it.     

Diffraction and response-able reading of texts: the relational ontologies of Barad and Deleuze

In this paper, we use a diffractive reading developed by feminist philosopher and quantum physicist Karen Barad, as part of a response-able methodology, in order to consider the claim made by Serge Hein in his paper ‘The New Materialism in Qualitative Inquiry: How Compatible Are the Philosophies of Barad and Deleuze?’ (2016) that the philosophies of Barad and Deleuze and Guattari are incommensurable. Our point of departure is from a stance which is quite different from that of Hein’s – we propose that it is indeed productive to put the work of Barad into conversation with that of Deleuze. As an alternative to critique used by Hein to engage with the work of Barad and Deleuze, we consider how a response-able and diffractive reading of notions of critique could provide a more affirmative and productive way of reading academic texts, including those by Barad and Deleuze.     

Middle-school students reading and creating multimodal texts: a case study

This article focuses on the graphic novel produced by a 12-year-old student who participated in a multifaceted study that provided her with opportunities to engage with multimodal texts. An ecological perspective on teaching and learning framed the classroom-based research that explored how developing students' knowledge of literary and illustrative elements affects their understanding, interpretation and analysis of picturebooks and graphic novels, and the subsequent creation of their own print multimodal texts. During a 10-week period, 25 Grade 7 students participated in interdependent reading, writing and oral activities that offered them opportunities to learn about metafictive devices, some art elements and a few compositional principles of graphic novels. For the culminating activity of the study, the students created their own multimodal print texts. The in-depth analysis of one student's graphic novel reveals how her participation and engagement in a particular classroom community of practice affected her learning of the content and concepts under study.     

Reading biographical texts: a gateway to historical disciplinary reading

We examined the response of high school students in Israel to biographical texts. Students were exposed to three sub-genres of biographical texts (a literary-biographical text, an autobiographical text and a scientific-biographical text). These texts all differ from the conceptual schema of ordinary school texts. The data were collected from 64 participants from three classes in two different public schools in Israel. The ability of students to apply historical disciplinary reading skills was evaluated for each text, with an emphasis on ‘sourcing’ and ‘corroboration’. The basic premise was that the texts the students are exposed to influence not only their level of knowledge but also their disciplinary concepts and skills.

We contend that it might be that biographical texts, and especially autobiographical and literary-biographical texts, evoked historical reading in students, and strengthened their disciplinary reading abilities.     

内外兼修,综合发展——浅析课外阅读对中学生语文综合能力提高的影响及其对策

作为语文学习的一个重要组成部分,课外阅读是一种综合性的活动,不但可以提高学生语文素养、开拓学生视野、发展学生智力,还可以为学生作文素材的积累提供保证。针对当前中学生存在的阅读不良习惯,帮助他们树立正确的人生观,为他们的终身学习奠定坚实的基础。     

Collective reading of multiple texts in argumentative activities

The paper focuses on principles for the design of school activities involving the collective reading of multiple texts. We show that the collective reading of multiple texts has been practiced in rare occasions in Western history. Scrutiny of the reasons for the persistence and the decline of this practice in different societies suggests that it may have powerful implications on our society and that we should be aware both of the opportunities it opens and of the dangers it hides. We articulate the theoretical tenets for an appropriate design of the collective reading of multiple texts. We then describe a new experimental study based on collective reading of multiple texts, and show how this reading impinged on further argumentative activities.     

Student connections with academic texts: a phenomenographic study of reading

Concerns about the ability of post-secondary students to read scholarly materials are well documented in the literature. A key aspect of reading at the deeper level expected of these students is connecting new information to prior knowledge. This study is based on an activity where students were explicitly required to make such connections as part of an in-class workshop on reading. Phenomenographic analysis of these connections showed that students could establish links between the scholarly article and their personal and academic knowledge. It also showed that students read at both surface and deep levels, making connections to the words in the text or on a deeper level, to the meaning of the text. These insights suggest ways of encouraging students to deepen their engagement with academic texts.     

Predicting reading comprehension of narrative and expository texts among Hebrew-speaking readers with and without a reading disability

The aim of this study was to investigate which cognitive and reading-related linguistic skills contribute to reading comprehension of narrative and expository texts. The study examined an Israeli national database of Hebrew-speaking readers in fourth grade, from which a subsample of 190 readers with a reading disability (RD) and 190 readers with no reading disability (NRD) was selected. IQ, text reading, reading comprehension, and various linguistic and cognitive skills were assessed. Structural equation modeling results suggested that both groups rely on lower level processes such as text reading accuracy and orthographic knowledge for reading comprehension of both genres. However, RD readers depend more heavily upon these lower level processes compared with NRD for whom higher level processes contribute more to reading comprehension. The various variables accounted for only 25-34% of reading comprehension variance, and possible explanations are discussed. Taken together, these findings highlight the variety of factors influencing reading comprehension and its multidimensional nature.     

你我之间,永远都有说不完的故事——詹姆斯与布伯对读

通常认为,亨利·詹姆斯晚年的长篇小说《鸽翼》、《金碗》是刻画现代男女之间情感纠葛的名著。借助马丁·布伯代表作《我与你》中所提出的"我—你"关系模式,可以看到这两部小说从对话主义的角度,将爱理解为现代主体的成长模式。这两部作品实际上是一种新型的成长小说,突破了只强调男性成长,而女性不过起辅助作用的传统成长小说模式,认为真正的成长是男女双方的共同成长,只有这种成长才能将爱情带出基于"我—它"关系的利益模式。     

苏南冲突内幕--苏联大国大党主义的真实写照

苏联和南斯拉夫曾是情同手足的兄弟，二战后，两国在的里雅斯特领土归属，经济关系，对外政策，社会政治生活等一系列问题上发生冲突，关系破裂，究其原因，主要是由于苏联大国大党主义，企图控制南斯拉夫引起的，苏南冲突成的社会主义阵营的第一次大分裂，给国际共产主义运动带来极大的损害，客观上使南斯拉夫学党和人民走上一条自己探索的社会主义道路。     

Curriculum change and climate change: Inside outside pressures in higher education

In higher education today, institutions are facing a number of challenges—including the challenge to create future-proof graduates. Higher education institutions have a particular mandate to develop future leaders and decision-makers capable of understanding and providing solutions to complex, global issues. Education programmes that focus on multi-disciplinary thinking are required to prepare future leaders to solve problems not yet known to be problems. Using a case study of a postgraduate climate change programme, this study illustrates the challenges addressed and resulting rewards when reforming the curriculum. Two theoretical curriculum models informed the re-imagination of the programme: objectives-based and action research following the process inquiry model. The reformation was undertaken by the programme teachers as researchers of their practice. To future-proof graduates, this study discusses how curricular intentions are aligned with the institution’s capacity for action towards change. Avoiding a business-as-usual scenario when faced with complex, politicized and global issues such as climate change requires both programme and course curricula continuous evaluation and revision. Alignment with internal (university and teacher-level) goals and external directives is required.     

Effects of text-belief consistency and reading task on the strategic validation of multiple texts

In the comprehension of multiple controversial scientific texts, readers with strong prior beliefs tend to construct a one-sided mental representation that is biased towards belief-consistent information. In the present study, we examined whether an argument in contrast to a summary task instruction can increase the resource allocation to and strategic validation of belief-inconsistent information which should be positively related to comprehension. Undergraduate students read one belief-consistent and one belief-inconsistent text about a controversial scientific issue either with an argument or a summary task instruction. The use of strategic validation and memorization strategies was assessed with think-aloud protocols, and a verification task was used to investigate comprehension outcomes. As predicted, readers following a summary task read belief-consistent information longer and used more memorization strategies for such information. Readers following an argument task spent similar time reading both text types and used more validation strategies when reading the belief-inconsistent text. In addition, the use of strategic validation during reading the belief-inconsistent text improved comprehension for this text type but hindered the comprehension of the belief-consistent text.     

The effects of formative reading assessments closely linked to classroom texts on high school reading comprehension

Older student reading of informational texts like those found in most high school classrooms continue to be a concern. College entrance exams scores attest to the fact that this age group of readers remain largely unprepared for the rigorous, discipline area reading and comprehension demands of higher education. In response to this issue content area teachers have been encouraged to teach reading skills for their subject matter. Standard reading instruction tools have included reading guides and summative reading assessments. This study sought to compare the effects of standard reading pedagogy with computerized, formative reading assessments given to students as they read. The largest publisher of high school textbooks, Pearson Prentice-Hall, and the publisher of the high school government text used in this study currently does not have in place digital, formative reading assessments tracking section by chapter section. High school seniors in nine sections of American Government under two different instructors participated in this mixed method, quasiexperimental study. Results indicate a significant difference in content comprehension with the formative assessment pedagogy. Survey and questionnaire responses suggest students thought they read better and were more motivated to read responding to computerized formative assessments (CBA’s) that closely tracked their subject matter textbooks.     

清代刑部官员的形象:自我期许与外部评价

一般认为,在古代中国传统士大夫的观念中,从事司法工作往往与深文苛酷联系在一起,执法越是严密,就越是刻薄寡恩。可是,古代执法者是怎样看待自己的职业和工作的?他们的看法与外人的看法有怎样的不同?这种不同反映了怎样的社会现实?这些问题迄未受到认真的对待。研读清代资料可知,雍、乾以后,刑部法律专业化程度日益提高,法律最精的官员多系科举正途出身,兼有儒生与法吏双重身份。在长期的司法实践中,逐渐形成了群体的自我认同。他们把惩罚人与拯救人、读儒书与读法律、做俗吏与做青天、惩强暴与积阴功的关系作了辩证的理解,具有某种专业认同的性质。但是在儒家观念起主导作用的形势下,其他士大夫则仍然对他们持有刻薄和精明自用的批判态度。刑部官员的自我期许与他们在其他士大夫心目中形象的差异,主要基于职责的不同所带来的心态的不同。由于君主对刑部施压的不断加大,这种差异也随之加大。这是清代社会问题日趋严重,刑部在法制体系中地位空前提高在官员心态上的真实表现。     

Networking around The Waterhole and other tales: the importance of relationships among texts for reading and related instruction

This article explores ways in which children's picture books form networks of relationships, and their implications for readers and classroom teachers. In this exploration, reading is seen to involve making connections within and beyond the text at hand. These connections, evoked differently across readers, shape readers' interpretations of text. Many possible meanings may arise from just one text, reinforcing the idea that no single correct meaning resides in a text. This article demonstrates tools for exploring textual connections with readers, and the value of such explorations for opening‐up reader interpretations of a text.     

走出盲点关注学生历史课外阅读

阅读是从书本材料中获取信息并影响读者的智力与非智力因素的过程。本文从开展历史课外阅读的意义和培养学生历史课外阅读的方法探讨如何培养学生的历史课外阅读。