The role of reading self-concept and home literacy practices in fourth grade reading comprehension

This study examined the relationships among reading comprehension, reading self-concept, and home literacy environment (HLE) in a sample (n = 67) of fourth grade children enrolled in an urban school district. Children’s reading comprehension, word reading, and verbal ability were assessed using standardized measures. Reading self-concept was assessed with a child-administered survey that is comprised of three subscales (i.e., competence in reading, perception of ease with reading, attitude towards reading). Information on child and family literacy practices was collected via a questionnaire administered to parents of participating children. Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses demonstrated that all three reading self-concept subscales were positively related to reading comprehension after controlling for verbal ability and word reading skills, and aspects of HLE were positively related to aspects of reading self-concept. The findings support the inclusion of psychosocial and family literacy measures in future studies designed to investigate the process of reading comprehension for children beyond the primary grades.

Phonological skills and reading comprehension

In the present study the mainfocus is on the impact of phonologicalawareness on reading comprehension. The studyinvolved 1300 children in Grade 1. Syllableawareness, phoneme awareness, word decodingand reading comprehension were each assessedwith two or three subtests. The results wereanalyzed by structural modeling. Due to themarked skewness observed for some of themanifest variables, separate analyses wereperformed for students with average worddecoding performance and for students with poorword decoding. Both among average and poordecoders, phonological awareness had a directimpact on reading comprehension, indicatingthat phonological factors play an independentrole in the processing of text. One possibleway to explain this observation is that atleast two critical factors in comprehension,vocabulary and short-term memory, are bothdetermined in part by phonological ability. Itmight also be the case that phonologicalawareness partly reflects metacognitiveprocesses assumed to be involved in readingcomprehension.     

A model of reading comprehension of geometry proof

This study aims to investigate a construct of reading comprehension of geometry proof (RCGP). The research aims to investigate (a) the facets composing RCGP, and (b) the structure of these facets. Firstly, we conceptualize this construct with relevant literature and on the basis of the discrimination between the logical and the epistemic meanings of an argument, then assemble the content of RCGP from literature and propose a hypothetical model of RCGP. Secondly, mathematicians and mathematics teachers are interviewed for their ideas on reading mathematical proof in order to enrich the content of RCGP. Adapting the phases of reading comprehension in language, the content of RCGP is classified into six facets. Lastly, these facets are structured using the hypothetical model and then justified by students’ performance in the facets of RCGP using the multidimensional scaling method. The results sustain that the structure of facets can be characterized by this conceptualized model.     

Working memory resources and children's reading comprehension

Reading and Writing - Working memory capacity is described as a pool of limited resources that carry out processing and storage functions. Its role has been emphasised in adults' reading...     

Reasoning in a reading context: Deductive inferences in basal reading series

This study examined three basal reading programs published by Heath (1989), Silver Burdett Ginn (1993) and Houghton Mifflin (1993), to determine how frequently logically necessary relationships are expressed in text used by basal readers, and whether direct instruction in making logically necessary inferences accompanies such expressions in basal reader series. The complete contents of the basal readers, from grades one through eight, and all teachers' instructions pertaining to content read by students, were examined for each series. Frequency counts made by independent raters indicated that readers of these three series have a steady and frequent rate of opportunities to make logically necessary inferences, and to observe such inferences being modeled by the text; no significant differences were found between any of the series in the number of such opportunities. We found that while children's reading materials clearly offer a natural context in which logical understanding may be constructed, instructions for teachers in the basal series we examined did not include directly teaching students to use this kind of reasoning in reading comprehension. Suggestions are offered for how such instruction might be integrated with current teaching strategies in inference-making.     

国外阅读理解监控教学模式述评

阅读理解监控作为阅读活动中一个重要的元认知加工过程,在近２０年内引起了心理、教育工作的极大兴趣,取得了一些令人鼓舞的研究成果,尤其对阅读理解监控教学模式的探讨,更具有直接的实际价值。阅读理解监控教学可帮助学生提高阅读理解能力,强化阅读教学效果。本试图通过国外三种阅读理解监控教学模式的评述,以期对探讨和发展我国阅读理解监控教学模式起抛砖引玉的作用。     

Word reading and reading comprehension: stability, overlap and independence

Longitudinal twin data were analyzed to investigate the etiology of the stability of genetic and environmental influences on word reading and reading comprehension, as well as the stability of those influences on their relationship. Participating twin pairs were initially tested at a mean age of 10.3 years, and retested approximately five years later. Both word reading and comprehension were found to be highly stable, and genetic influences were primarily responsible for that stability. In contrast to studies with younger participants, no unique genetic influences were observed at follow-up testing in this older sample. High genetic correlations were obtained between word reading and reading comprehension at both ages, indicating common genetic influences. However, significant genetic influence on comprehension was also observed, independent of that on word reading. Although the phenotypic relation between the two measures appeared to decline across time, the genetic etiology of this relation was highly stable.     

Effects of fluency, oral language, and executive function on reading comprehension performance

Reading disability (RD) typically consists of deficits in word reading accuracy and/or reading comprehension. While it is well known that word reading accuracy deficits lead to comprehension deficits (general reading disability, GRD), less is understood about neuropsychological profiles of children who exhibit adequate word reading accuracy but nevertheless develop specific reading comprehension deficits (S-RCD). Establishing the underlying neuropsychological processes associated with different RD types is essential for ultimately understanding core neurobiological bases of reading comprehension. To this end, the present study investigated isolated and contextual word fluency, oral language, and executive function on reading comprehension performance in 56 9- to 14-year-old children [21 typically developing (TD), 18 GRD, and 17 S-RCD]. Results indicated that TD and S-RCD participants read isolated words at a faster rate than participants with GRD; however, both RD groups had contextual word fluency and oral language weaknesses. Additionally, S-RCD participants showed prominent weaknesses in executive function. Implications for understanding the neuropsychological bases for reading comprehension are discussed.

Pre-service teachers' use of reading strategies in their own readings and future classrooms

The main purpose of this study was to determine pre-service teachers' use of reading strategies in their own readings. In addition, pre-service teachers' use of these strategies in their future teaching practices was also investigated. The subjects for this study were 505 pre-service teachers enrolled in one of the major universities in Ankara. The results of the study revealed that pre-service teachers employed 28 out of 38 reading strategies most of the time, but interview results illustrated that they reported using very limited scope of reading strategies. An interesting finding in this study was that all subjects accepted the responsibility to teach and improve their future students' reading skills.     

Using curriculum-based measurement to inform reading instruction

The focus of this article is recent CBM work that incorporates diagnostic reading assessment. The goal is to help general and special educators tailor more effective reading instruction for developing readers. The development process for this CBM diagnostic reading assessment is described; the resulting assessment is presented; and preliminary data on its technical features and utility are provided. This research was supported in part by Grant #H324C000022 from the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, and Core Grant #HD15052 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Vanderbilt University. Statements do not reflect the position or policy.     

Fostering the reading comprehension of secondary school students through peer-assisted learning: Effects on strategy knowledge, strategy use, and task performance

Based on the work of Fuchs and Fuchs [Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2001). Peer-assisted learning strategies in reading: Extensions for Kindergarten, first grade and high school. Remedial & Special Education, 22, 15–21], this study examined the effects of a peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS) program on the reading comprehension of 7th-grade students. In a pretest–posttest (active) control group design, eight intact classes consisting of 186 students were assigned either to a PALS condition or to a traditional instruction condition (TI). In 17 lessons, students were instructed by their regular teachers in the understanding of age-appropriate reading material. Treatment success was assessed with both performance-related (reading comprehension) and strategy-related (declarative and procedural strategy knowledge) test tasks. At posttest, PALS students (a) scored higher on experimenter-constructed and standardized comprehension tests, (b) achieved higher scores on declarative and procedural measures of summarizing strategies, and (c) improved to a greater extent in their understanding of self-regulated reading activities than TI students.     

英语逻辑连接词在阅读理解中的作用

逻辑连接词是衔接的一种主要方式,能实现语篇的连贯。本文分析了逻辑连接词作为一种语篇衔接手段在阅读理解中的作用。文章首先解释了逻辑连接词的定义及分类,接着论述其在阅读理解两个方面的作用即对阅读策略的影响和阅读速度、效果的影响。文章最后进一步强调逻辑连接词在阅读理解及其主要问题中的极强解释力。     

Listening comprehension and reading comprehension in poor decoders: Evidence for the importance of syntactic and semantic skills as well as phonological skills

The relation between decoding and comprehensionin the oral and written modalities was studiedin a randomly selected group of nine-year-olds,subdivided into good, average and poordecoders. Performances on two types ofcomprehension tasks (story retelling andcloze tasks) were compared and related tophonological, syntactic and semantic abilities.(Story retelling demanded the ability to retellthe gist of a story, while the cloze tasksdemanded precise skills in drawing anaphoricreference across sentence boundaries.) Atwo-way analysis of variance using IQ ascovariate showed that poor decoders scoredlower than average and good decoders on allcomprehension tasks. This suggests a highdegree of interdependence between listeningcomprehension, reading comprehension anddecoding. The associated pattern of oralcorrelates furthermore varied with task demandsand to some extent, independent of modality.Vocabulary was related to the ability toretell a story. Syntax and, in particularphonemic awareness, were on the otherhand more strongly related to the ability todraw anaphoric reference. The results wereinterpreted in favor of ``the phonologicaldeficit hypothesis', but the interactionbetween linguistic sub-skills and task demandswas also underscored.     

The effects of instruction on situation model construction: an eye fixation study on text comprehension in primary school children

This study examined whether the formation of a situation model can be encouraged by a situation‐focused instruction in primary school children. To achieve this, the standard reading‐for‐comprehension instruction was adapted so that it would emphasise the importance of imagination in narrative text comprehension. The results showed that the situational instruction enhanced the situation model construction abilities in good comprehenders in such a way that it improved not only their memory for the situation model but also the ease with which they filled in the gaps in time and space that appeared in the narratives. In poor comprehenders, the situational instruction led to a redistribution of attentional resources allocated to textbase‐ and situation‐level processing. It was suggested that this caused them to go beyond encoding the explicit text and instead construct a situation model from it, and that they did so without enriching the model with general‐knowledge inferences as much as good comprehenders.     

Investigating the causes of reading comprehension failure: The comprehension-age match design

The reading-level (or reading-age) match design has become a widely-used tool for investigating the possible direction of the relation between particular skills and word reading ability: Cause or consequence. This paper outlines an analogous method for identifying candidate causes of reading comprehension failure, the `comprehension-age match design' and discusses the strengths and limitations of this design.     

Inspecting a picture before reading affects attentional processing but not comprehension

Abstract

This study investigated whether presenting a picture before reading can encourage situation-model construction. We compared two conditions (n?= 30) which differed in whether a picture of the initial situation described in a narrative text was presented before reading (i.e. pictorial-support condition) or not (i.e. no-picture condition). Situation-model construction was measured using both process- and product-oriented measures. Eye-tracking data indicated online resource allocation to the different levels of text representation: surface, textbase, and situation model. Literal text questions and inference questions were used as an offline indication of textbase and situation-model processing, respectively. The results showed that a picture presented before reading led to a redistribution of processing resources during reading, evidenced by a shift from textbase to situation-model processing. This attentional shift did not translate into higher comprehension scores. The results were interpreted in line with multimedia learning theories suggesting pictures can serve as a mental scaffold for situation-model construction.     

Effects of motivational and cognitive variables on reading comprehension

The authors examined how motivational and cognitive variables predict reading comprehension, and whether each predictor variable adds unique explanatory power when statistically controlling for the others. Fourth-grade students (N = 205) completed measures of reading comprehension in September and December of the same year, and measures of background knowledge and cognitive strategy use in December. Teachers rated internal reading motivation of each student. Results from multiple regression analyses showed that motivation, background knowledge, and cognitive strategy-use made significant, independent contributions to children’s reading comprehension when the other predictor variables were controlled. Further analyses showed the same cognitive and motivational variables predicted growth over a 3-month period in reading comprehension. Possible explanations of the observed relations between motivation, cognitive variables, and reading comprehension are presented.     

Text comprehension strategy instruction with poor readers

The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of teachingtext comprehension strategies to children with decoding andreading comprehension problems and with a poor or normallistening ability. Two experiments are reported. Four textcomprehension strategies, viz., question generation, summarizing,clarification, and predicting were taught through directinstruction and reciprocal teaching. In both experiments, effectswere measured according to a pretest – posttest – retentiontest – control group design. Dependent variables wereexperimenter-developed strategic reading and listening tests, andstandardized reading and listening comprehension tests. In thefirst experiment the subjects were 9 to 11-year-old poor readersfrom special schools for children with learning disabilities. Inthis experiment, the intervention program's texts and strategyinstructions were presented in listening settings only. Thesubjects in the second experiment were 10-year-old children fromregular elementary schools and 9 to 11-year-old children fromspecial schools. They were also poor readers but their decodingperformance was not as poor as in the subjects in experiment 1.In experiment 2, the intervention program involved textpresentations in alternating reading and listening lessons.Although in general, normal listeners performed better on allcomprehension tests than poor listeners, there were nodifferential program effects for the two listening levels. Cleareffects of both programs were found on strategic reading andlistening tests administered directly after the interventions. Inthe first experiment, maintenance test performance showedprolonged program benefits, whereas in the second experimentthese maintenance effects were blurred by unexpected gains of thecontrol groups of students, especially from regular schools.Finally, apart from some local successes, neither of the twoexperiments offered stable evidence of transfer of comprehensionstrategy training to standardized general listening and readingcomprehension tests.     

英语阅读中的默读与朗读

阅读是一种技巧,掌握了这种技巧,学生们就会如虎添翼,阅读能力大大提高。阅读有多种方法,本文主要谈论默读和朗读两种阅读技巧。通过默读和朗读,可提高学生阅读理解力和阅读速度,锻炼学生英语表达能力,并帮助学生在听、说、写等方面得到进一步提高。