The Reading–Spelling Connection: Developing and Evaluating a Beginning Spelling Intervention for Children at Risk of Reading Disability

Abstract In this article, we describe the development and evaluation of a beginning spelling intervention for young children at risk of reading disability. We first summarize the literature that supports beginning spelling as an ideal method for strategically integrating the beginning reading big ideas of phonemic awareness and alphabetic understanding. We then summarize the literature on effective instructional principles for students at risk of reading disability. Next, we describe how instructional design was applied to the development of an intervention for young children at risk of reading disability, then summarize the findings of an experimental study supporting the effectiveness of this intervention. Finally, we provide selected examples from the spelling intervention to illustrate the findings' translation into instructional practice.     

Making Connections: Linking Cognitive Psychology and Intervention Research to Improve Comprehension of Struggling Readers

Many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of reading comprehension interventions for struggling readers, including students with learning disabilities. Yet, some readers continue to struggle with comprehension despite receiving these interventions. In this article, we argue that an explicit link between cognitive psychology and intervention research contributes to knowledge regarding for whom and under what conditions reading comprehension interventions are most likely to be beneficial. First, we provide a brief overview of a cognitive perspective on reading comprehension. Next, we illustrate an application of this perspective by describing a collaborative project in which we examined interactions among reader characteristics, text properties, and instructional contexts. Last, we highlight directions for future research and implications for practice.     

Metacognition and EFL/ESL reading

Several distinct research streams are converging in the field of foreign or second language reading in the U.S. Separate research streams in metacognition, in reading strategies, and in the training of reading strategies are converging in the field of English as a foreign or second language. This confluence of research is dramatically impacting the teaching of English to adult non-native speakers for academic purposes. In this article we will briefly review these distinct research streams for their relevance to the population in question, and will then describe the research design for an empirical study we are currently conducting to further investigate the efficacy of metacognitive strategy training for adult EFL/ESL reading.     

A case study of reading instruction in a Philippine classroom

In this article, we describe the reading practices in a public and high-achieving 6th grade English classroom in the Philippines. By utilizing a four resources model, we discuss the different roles that students assume in this classroom. Students in this class are mainly code breakers and text users and have limited opportunities to assume the other two roles of the four resources model. This case study provides a different view of reading, specifically a view of a culture of reading wherein higher status is given to oral reading performance rather than comprehension. We describe the way a high-achieving 6th grade Philippine classroom perceives reading. Through this article, we would like to contribute to the research literature on Philippine education and increase our knowledge of reading practices as they are conceived and practised in this particular classroom.     

Examining Reading Development and Reading Disability in English Language Learners: Potential Contributions from Functional Neuroimaging

Neuroimaging studies have suggested that across different written languages, skilled reading behavior is supported by similar, largely left hemisphere (LH), networks. In addition, recent studies of reading disability (RD) in monolingual readers, conducted in several languages, suggest a common neurobiological signature for this syndrome (disruption of LH posterior regions that support fluent reading). Thus, at the neurobiological level of analysis, reading and its disorders appear to be more similar than dissimilar across languages. In this article, we consider the neurobiology of reading development and RD in English language learners (ELL). There is some evidence suggesting that fluent bilingual readers tend to engage primarily overlapping circuits for both L1 and L2. There is, however, a paucity of neurobiological research on both reading development and RD in this population. Using the existing research on RD as a starting point, we consider in this article how developmental neuroimaging techniques might be applied to (1) help identify RD readers in the ELL populations, and (2) provide neurobiological outcome measures to help evaluate the efficacy of different approaches to the teaching of reading in English.     

Oral Reading Fluency as an Indicator of Reading Competence: A Theoretical,Empirical, and Historical Analysis

The purpose of this article is to consider oral reading fluency as an indicator of overall reading competence. We begin by examining theoretical arguments for supposing that oral reading fluency may reflect overall reading competence. We then summarize several studies substantiating this phenomenon. Next, we provide an historical analysis of the extent to which oral reading fluency has been incorporated into measurement approaches during the past century. We conclude with recommendations about the assessment of oral reading fluency for research and practice.     

Improving early reading comprehension using embodied CAI

An embodied approach to reading comprehension suggests that emerging readers must learn to map words and phrases onto their remembered experiences, but this is made difficult by the necessity of focusing attention on decoding. Having children manipulate toys to correspond to what they are reading overcomes this problem, but introduces its own problem for the classroom, namely having to provide a classroom full of children with manipulative. In this article, we demonstrate that having first- and second-grade children manipulate images of toys on a computer screen benefits their comprehension as much as physical manipulation of the toys. In addition, manipulation on one day facilitates reading in the same domain one week later. These findings encourage the use of manipulation of text-relevant images as an educational technology for enhancing early reading comprehension. The findings also set constraints on theoretical accounts of embodiment while reading.     

Mona Tobias Award Winner, 2008 Effective instruction for socially disadvantaged low-progress readers: The Schoolwise Program 1

In this article, I consider social class and reading performance, outline a non-categorical approach to reading disability, describe the reading intervention program we have developed for older low-progress readers and seek to demonstrate how students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds can, and do, make substantial progress when offered effective reading instruction based on the available scientific research evidence.     

浅谈英语阅读理解技巧

阅读能力是英语综合技能的一个重要方面,它标志着一个人的英语水平。在阅读中掌握一定的阅读技巧能提高阅读速度和理解程度。在阅读中我们要注意文章的主题段、主题句和关键词等。     

Reading Anxiety in L1: Reviewing the Concept

Elevated levels of anxiety have been associated with students’ poor academic performance. Research on domain-specific anxiety patterns in reading has demonstrated that reading anxiety is associated with, yet distinctive from, general anxiety. Reading anxiety is an unpleasant emotional reaction experienced by students when reading; it is a specific phobia, situational type. Although reading anxiety has been largely studied in the context of second language acquisition (L2), there is a lack of new research on reading anxiety related to first language learning (L1). In this article we investigate the concept of reading anxiety, as well as the instruments that have been used to evaluate it. Finally, we present the repercussions of reading anxiety upon students’ reading performance and discuss the importance of evaluating reading anxiety as a route to better understandings of reading disabilities.     

What Science Offers Teachers of Reading

Although educators may teach well without knowledge of scientific research, students obtain greater benefits from knowledgeable teachers who ensure that scientific research is incorporated into their instruction. In this paper, scientific findings and practical implications are compared and some suggestions to close the gap between science and practice are provided. In this article we examine what science offers general and special educators who teach reading. We review some well‐established scientific findings about reading and their practical implications, not only for children with reading disabilities, but for other children as well. In addition, we consider some broader ways that science may be useful to educators. We conclude with some suggestions for individual teachers interested in becoming more familiar with scientific research on reading.     

Some considerations for Advancing the Teaching of Reading Comprehension

In this article we identify a number of issues that need to be addressed if we are to continue to make advances in the teaching of reading comprehension. First, we suggest that it is important to continue the search for a variety of effective instructional approaches for teaching reading comprehension and to learn more about the conditional applicability of the instructional approaches currently in vogue. Second, we argue that it is important to expand our definition of reading comprehension to more fully appreciate the social, political, and educational dimensions of reading comprehension and reading instruction. Finally, we consider some of the impediments hindering the classroom application of comprehension instruction research and we argue that researchers must become more concerned with the pragmatic aspects of how to make a difference to comprehension instruction in the classroom.     

Reading and the Neurocognitive Bases of Statistical Learning

ABSTRACT

The processes underlying word reading are shaped by statistical properties of the writing system. According to some theoretical perspectives, reading acquisition should be understood as an exercise in statistical learning (SL). SL involves the extraction of organizing principles from a set of inputs. Several lines of research provide convergent evidence supporting the connection between SL and reading acquisition. An obstacle to fully appreciating the theoretical and educational implications of these findings is that SL is itself not well understood. In this article, we review the current literature on SL with a particular focus on organizing this literature by grounding it in theories of learning and memory more generally. This approach can clarify the nature of SL and provide a framework for understanding its role in reading, reading acquisition, and reading disorders.     

A Bourdieusian approach to academic reading: reflections on a South African teaching experience

As in many other parts of the world, ‘academic literacy’ has emerged as both a concern and a contested concept in South African universities. In this article we focus specifically on academic reading, which we argue is a relatively underemphasized aspect of academic literacy. This article is the product of reflections on academic reading during and subsequent to the development and presentation of a postgraduate module presented at Stellenbosch University. It briefly explores the literature on academic literacy; develops the Bourdieusian perspective on academic reading that we used to develop the module; and concludes with a discussion of the module. Our intention was to make ‘reading as social practice’ more visible to students. Bourdieu's concepts of ‘competence’, ‘habitus’ and ‘field’ set the scene for a discussion of the role of reading in different disciples and more generally within the social sciences and humanities.     

The Value of Reading and the Effectiveness of Sustained Silent Reading

In this article, we explore the association between students’ value of reading and their behavior during a sustained silent reading (SSR) period, and their attitudes toward SSR and reading leisure books. 362 secondary students participated in this study and data were collected by means of a questionnaire. The results showed that more students in the high value of reading (HVR) group behaved better during SSR periods and had a more positive attitude toward SSR and leisure book reading than those in the lower value of reading (LVR) group. The value of reading was also found to be associated with the frequency of interaction with parents in reading activities, and we thus suggest that parents should be involved in the SSR program.     

提高小学语文阅读教学有效性的措施探究

小学生在进行语文学习的过程中,阅读能力是必不可少的一项能力。阅读教学活动中,教师通常会通过一篇很长的文本来向学生渗透阅读方法、文章情感等方面的内容,以期能够深化学生对文本的理解,使学生对文本的情感能够有更加深刻的感悟,在此基础上,实现阅读教学目标的达成。但是从现阶段的情况来看,通过这样的教学方式组织学生进行阅读学习,多数情况下都是无用功,不仅无法实现学生阅读能力的提升,也无法帮助学生养成良好的阅读习惯,更不利于激发学生的学习兴趣。因此,探讨提升小学语文阅读教学有效性的措施十分有必要,希望本文的研究能够带给大家一些有益的启发。     

Principal Hiring Practices: Toward a Reduction of Uncertainty

Teachers, parents, and librarians are constantly looking for methods and materials that engage students as readers and motivate them to increase the time they spend reading. In this article we describe findings from a study of middle schoolers’ magazine reading habits that gave us a close look at the power of magazines as supplemental supports for struggling and reluctant readers as well as the specific reasons students gravitate toward magazines for leisure reading. We provide suggestions for the ways in which classroom teachers can leverage student interest in magazine reading to increase independent reading in school, and validate students’ out of school literacies.     

Higher-Order Comprehension Processes in Struggling Readers: A Perspective for Research and Intervention

Many children struggle to learn to read, and these difficulties can persist well into adulthood. To address this problem, researchers have investigated the processes that underlie reading. An informative body of work has thus identified basic skills (e.g., decoding, vocabulary knowledge) as necessary for successful reading. Researchers also have begun to examine comprehension skills and their contributions to the reading process. In this article we describe research from the cognitive sciences on the processes that underlie higher-order, coherence-oriented comprehension to provide an empirically and theoretically driven perspective for investigating struggling readers' difficulties. We show that this perspective is particularly beneficial in the development and assessment of instructional approaches by relating it to existing, effective interventions. Finally, we demonstrate how our own research activities have derived from this perspective and how preliminary findings extend our understanding of readers' difficulties. This work seeks to address existing challenges in the field of reading comprehension while also suggesting new ways of investigating the plight of struggling readers.     

Effects of strategy training on reading comprehension in first and foreign language

In this article we report on the effects of an experimental programme to train reading strategies. Students had to work in pairs on the execution of reading tasks following a consciousness-raising method, consisting of an orientation phase in which they explore the reading tasks and select a reading strategy, a practice/application phase in which actual performance takes place and a verbalisation phase, in which the steps that lead to a correct solution must be formulated explicitly. The programme was directed to four reading strategies: looking for key fragments, paying attention to structure marking elements (hinge words), making up questions (questioning) and mapping the most important information from a text (semantic mapping). On the basis of this programme 15-year old Dutch students from the third year of regular secondary education (N=12) have been trained in applying these reading strategies when reading in their first language (Dutch). The results have been compared with those of a control group (N=119). We will show that the training programme has an effect on the mastery of the four strategic reading activities and leads to a substantial improvement of the reading comprehension in the first language (Dutch). Transfer effects to reading in a foreign language (English) could not be ascertained.