Designating reader perspective to increase comprehension and interest

In three experiments we examined whether reader perspective on a long expository text could be manipulated such that increased text interest and enhancement of two comprehension outcomes would result. In Experiment 1 we verified the viability of a new text for experimental purposes. We then assigned readers a perspective before reading in Experiment 2 and after reading in Experiment 3. One primary research question addressed whether interest in a long expository text could be manipulated by assigning readers a perspective. We considered this to be an examination of purpose-driven interest ( Schraw & Dennison, 1994). As hypothesized, participants rated text segments as more interesting when the segments corresponded to their assigned perspective. In support of our second hypothesis, that recall would increase as a function of reader perspective, low to medium effects were found for both total number and depth of ideas recalled. We discuss implications of this work for understanding of the role of relevance in increasing recall. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed.     

Do vocabulary,syntactic awareness,and reading comprehension in second language facilitate the development of each other in young children?

This study explored whether children's second language (L2) vocabulary, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension contributed to the growth of each other. A total of 184 Chinese primary school children (91 girls) aged 8–10 years old in Hong Kong participated in the pre-test of this study. Among them, 88 were in Grade 3 and 96 were in Grade 4. One year later, 178 of these children also participated in the post-test. These children learned English as an L2 at school. They completed a series of English language tasks. The results from a cross-lagged panel model show that vocabulary predicted the growth of syntactic awareness and reading comprehension. Syntactic awareness predicted the growth of vocabulary and reading comprehension. Reading comprehension facilitated the growth of vocabulary, and it also predicted the growth of syntactic awareness in Grade 4 students but not in Grade 3 students. Implications for teaching children an L2 are discussed.     

小学语文阅读教学文本细读的策略

阅读教学是小学语文教学工作的重要内容之一,随着新课改的深入,要求小学语文教师在开展阅读教学时,进而不断提升学生的语文素养。为此,本文结合当前小学语文阅读教学的情况,重点分析如何在小学语文阅读教学中进行文本细读,旨在切实发挥出文本细读的作用,全面提升学生的语文素养。     

篇章结构在阅读理解中的作用

缺乏对篇章结构的认识是目前大学英语阅读教学的一个主要问题。由于传统教学偏重对词和句法的讲解,阅读教学缺乏对篇章的宏观处理,因而制约了学生阅读理解水平的提高。篇章结构作为文本重要的内在特征对提高阅读理解的正确性和效率有着积极作用,采用正确的阅读教学策略,传授篇章结构知识,从长远来看可以大幅提高阅读教学的效率。     

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.     

How Simple is the Simple View of Reading?

According to the Simple View of Reading, reading ability can be divided into decoding and language comprehension. In the present study, decoding and comprehension's contribution to reading ability was studied both in children with reading difficulties and in children with typical reading ability. Decoding and comprehension was further divided into sub-components, and the contribution from non-verbal ability and general processing speed was also studied. The results demonstrated that decoding made the largest contribution to reading ability for children with reading difficulties, while language comprehension contributed the most for children with typical reading ability. The contribution of non-verbal ability was not significant, and general processing speed only made a significant contribution to decoding for typical children. The two factors in the Simple View of Reading, decoding and comprehension, together explained less of the variance in reading ability for children with reading difficulties than for children with typical reading ability.     

A comparison of three read-aloud methods with children’s picture books in the Turkish language context: Just reading,performance based reading,and interactional reading

This study compared the effects of three different read-aloud methods on text reading fluency and reading comprehension. The sample included a total of 152 first-grade and third-grade students. The data were collected by evaluating students' text reading fluency and reading comprehension levels. The analyses showed that while the first graders’ text reading fluency scores did not vary by the read-aloud methods, the first graders’ reading comprehension varied by the read-aloud methods in favor of the group practicing just reading. This result would be important for first-grade students’ teachers. However, the findings from the third graders indicated that neither their text reading fluency nor their reading comprehension levels varied by the read-aloud method. The results of this study provide evidence on the effectiveness of three different read-aloud methods on reading fluency and reading comprehension in the Turkish language context, which is more orthographically transparent than the English language.     

高等医学院校医学专业英语阅读测试内容效度实证分析

本文从内容效度的主要影响因素入手,基于近5年来某高等医学院校医学专业英语阅读测试试题为样本,以语篇输入视角,进行历时性研究与分析,客观评价某高等医学院校医学专业英语阅读测试的内容效度,提出相应建议,以期对提高医学专业英语测试水平有所裨益。     

背景知识对外语阅读进程的影响

背景知识是制约外语阅读进程的一个重要因素。首先,它为阅读进程补充必要的信息;其次,它有助于节省阅读数量;再次,它影响着阅读者的思维方式和态度,从而间接地影响阅读进程。因此,外语教学内容要尽量包含相对应国家的背景知识;要向学生传授有关相对应国国民思维方式的内容;要发挥教师主导作用,培养学生辩证分析问题能力。     

英语阅读及其智能和技能

英语阅读智能是指读者阅读英语时所需要的智力.它体现在阅读中的猜词能力、推理判断能力、概括能力等方面,在解决阅读理解问题中起着决定性作用.英语阅读技能是指读者阅读英语时所运用的技能.它包括用眼技能、阅读习惯、阅读方式等.本文旨在对英语阅读及其智能和技能在英语阅读中的作用进行分析和阐述.     

Young learners’ reading and writing performance: Exploring collaborative modeling of text structure as an additional component of self-regulated strategy development

This study examined the effects of adding collaborative modeling of text structure as an additional component of self-regulated strategy development for elementary school 6th-grade students learning English as a second language (ESL). In this study, 34 students receiving a ‘Self-regulated strategy development plus collaborative modeling of text structure’ intervention were compared with 36 students receiving a ‘collaborative modeling of text structure only’ intervention, 38 students receiving a ‘self-regulated strategy development only’ intervention, and 36 students receiving traditional instruction. Several measures (i.e., content comprehension, summarization of main ideas, and essay writing) were administered after the one-month intervention. Results revealed that, compared to traditional instruction, self-regulated strategy development and collaborative modeling of text structure respectively resulted in better comprehension levels and writing performance. The combination of self-regulated strategy development and collaborative modeling of text structure was particularly effective in increasing primary school students’ content comprehension and writing quality. These findings highlight the benefit of coupling self-regulated strategy development and collaborative modeling of text structure for elementary school ESL classroom instruction.     

阅读理解模式与大学英语阅读教学

阅读是辨认和理解书面语言并领会其内容的心理言语活动过程,它是人脑中各种知识共同作用的结果,阅读理解模式可归纳为:"自上而下"、"自下而上"与"相互作用"(interactive)模式。在阅读教学过程中,应激发学生的学习兴趣,激励其学习主动性,培养其良好的阅读习惯,将不同的阅读理解过程有机地结合起来,以有效地提高学生的阅读能力。     

Character and word reading in Chinese: Why and how they should be considered uniquely vis-à-vis literacy development

Two correlational studies from the same data set demonstrated the distinctiveness of character and word reading for Chinese reading development among 337 Hong Kong Chinese children in grades 1–3. Study 1 examined the cognitive-linguistic correlates of single-character reading and two-character word reading. Rapid automatized naming, morphological awareness and visual-orthographic skill independently explained variance in both character and word reading beyond age, grade, nonverbal IQ and vocabulary knowledge. Importantly, rapid automatized naming and morphological awareness additionally explained variance in word reading even after statistically controlling for character reading; there were no such unique correlates for character reading beyond word reading. Study 2 investigated the roles of character and word reading in reading comprehension. Both were individually significantly associated with reading comprehension even when a multifaceted measure of language comprehension was statistically controlled. Moreover, character reading and language comprehension significantly explained variance in reading comprehension through word reading; word reading and language comprehension uniquely contributed to reading comprehension in the model. Results suggest that character and word reading likely reflect slightly different processes in Chinese literacy: Theoretically, these results underscore the importance of models of reading that integrate unique features of Chinese. Practically, these results suggest that character and word reading may depend on different cognitive-linguistic processes which can be cultivated when teaching them, separately or together.     

窄式阅读对英语阅读教学的启示

窄式阅读作为新的教学理念,为高职英语阅读教学注入了新的活力和生机。恰当地运用窄式阅读,能帮助学生在掌握相关词汇、积累背景知识、了解语篇模式、激发阅读兴趣、养成阅读习惯等方面发挥作用,进而有效地提高学生的阅读理解能力。