Transition planning and writing instruction: the effects of a brief intervention

This study used a multiple probe design across behaviours to determine if four high school students with learning disabilities could plan post‐school transition goals using a modified GO 4 IT … NOW! intervention while learning essential paragraph and essay writing skills. The results of this study indicate a functional relationship between the intervention and increased writing skills needed for high‐stakes testing and increases in students' knowledge of transition planning. During baseline, students produced extremely short essays and did not include essential paragraph elements. After instruction, students wrote longer compositions and included more details, and paragraphs contained more paragraph elements. All participants increased essay quality during the intervention as measured by the rubric used to evaluate end‐of‐instruction writing prompts.     

Focus of attention and choice of text modality in multimedia learning

The term ‘modality effect’ in multimedia learning means that students learn better from pictures combined with spoken rather than written text. The most prominent explanations refer to the split attention between visual text reading and picture observation which could affect transfer of information into working memory, maintenance of information in working memory or the effective size of working memory. The assumption of a continuous need for split attention is questionable, however. Learners can keep pictorial information in working memory, when they have seen the picture before, especially if they have higher prior knowledge. Instead of suffering from a permanent split attention, learners frequently show tendencies to simply ignore pictures. This suggests guiding learners towards picture analysis by picture-related text paragraphs. We assume that these paragraphs are associated with stronger modality effects than content-related paragraphs, especially if the pictures are new to learners. These assumptions were tested in an experiment with 120 students learning about volcanism from illustrated text consisting of segments each including a content-related paragraph followed by a picture-related paragraph describing the accompanying visualization. Content-related and picture-related paragraphs were presented as visual or auditory texts leading to 2x2 conditions of text presentation. Picture novelty was manipulated by presenting a picture throughout the whole segment or only when the picture-related paragraph was read. As expected, picture-related paragraphs were associated with stronger modality effects than content-related paragraphs if picture novelty is high. The distinction between different kinds of paragraphs seems to be important for the prediction of modality effects.     

语文阅读教学中文本细读的策略探赜

文本细读是阅读教学的一种重要方法,有利于学生领会文本内涵。教师应积极创新文本细读策略,可以先从阅读文本的关键字词入手,引导学生细读文本中的字、词、句,进而引导学生理解文本中的段落内容。教师要通过情境创设、读写结合等方式,促使学生将细读成果与写作训练结合以提高读写能力。     

随班就读轻度智力残疾学生阅读能力研究

采用试卷分析的方法,以265名3—5年级随班就读轻度智力残疾学生为对象,研究其在词语、句子、修辞格、段落以及篇章理解等五个层面的阅读能力,并与634名年级匹配的普通学生的阅读能力进行比较。结果显示,随班就读轻度智力残疾学生的阅读能力普遍偏低,个体间差异较大,与普通学生存在极其显著的差距;基础知识及阅读技能的不足、智力与非智力因素欠缺等是随班就读生阅读能力较低的主要原因。     

汉语思维方式对英语语篇影响的调查研究

英汉思维模式存在着很大的差异,对英语学习尤其是对英语写作影响很大。很多国内外学者对此都进行了大量的研究。本研究通过对35份作文采取文本分析,发现汉语思维模式对中国学生英语说明文的语篇结构有一定的影响但不是很大;但是对语篇连贯尤其是使用语言粘连手段方面有很大的影响。文章提出英语教师应该注重培养学生的英语思维,在课堂教学中要重视篇章结构分析和语篇连贯手段以期提高学生的英语写作水平。     

语篇分析视角下的大学英语阅读教学

阅读教学中的语篇分析包括语篇的主题分析、结构分析以及文体分析。语篇主题分析能帮助学生领会作者的写作意图及手法。语篇结构分析着重分析语篇中句子与句子之间和段落与段落之间的层次关系,以及段落与段落之间的思维逻辑和语言形式的内在联系,引导学生更好地把握文章结构从而加深对文章的理解,同时可以帮助学生了解不同体裁语篇的结构和交际目的,进而认识语篇的深层含义,迅速抓住文章的主题。     

语篇分析与学生写作能力的培养

本文笔者在文章中提出,在大学非英语专业的英语精读课上通过对典型的语篇的分析,不仅有利于学生对课文的理解,而且有利于写作能力的培养。通过分析全文的布局与结构、段落之间的联系,以及各段在文章中的作用,可以帮助学生把握文章的整体结构和作者的写作意图,进而提升学生布局谋篇的写作能力。     

Do drawing tasks improve monitoring and control during learning from text?

In two experiments it was investigated how drawing as a monitoring task affects self-regulated learning and cognitive load. To this end, participants (Exp. 1: N = 73, Exp. 2: N = 69) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the experimental condition, students were asked to read an expository text on the formation of polar lights consisting of five paragraphs, whereby, after each paragraph, they had to create a drawing of the text's content. In the control condition, students read the same text, but performed no drawing task. In both conditions, students had to give judgments of learning (JoLs) after each paragraph and after reading the whole text as well as rate their cognitive load. Then, they were asked to select paragraphs for restudy. In Experiment 1, participants continued with an assessment of their learning outcomes immediately after their restudy selection, whereas in Experiment 2 they were first given the opportunity to actually restudy the selected paragraphs before working on the posttest. Results of both experiments indicate that JoLs rather than cognitive load predicted posttest performance. Moreover, students in the drawing condition compared with the control condition exhibited more accurate (relative) monitoring in Experiment 1 in that their JoLs were more strongly related to performance. Moreover, JoLs predicted students' restudy decisions in both experiments; however, this effect was by-and-large independent of whether they had to draw. Overall, results hint towards the potential of drawing to support metacognitive monitoring.     

Volleyball and other analogies: a response to Englert.

Englert and her colleagues have contributed much to our knowledge about effective writing instruction. They have demonstrated that interventions that make explicit the writing process and text structures are successful with students with learning disabilities as well as those without. Englert attributes this success to the holistic, social, and interactive nature of the instruction. However, one must keep in mind that CSIW was a package approach that included other validated instructional components. CSIW teachers presented conceptual models, used examples and nonexamples to illustrate text structure concepts, modeled thinking overtly while demonstrating the process, provided guided practice by prompting the process through dialogue and think-sheets, faded prompts as students took over more of the responsibility for the process, and taught for generalization by addressing more than one text structure and promoting student talk about the process. As Englert reported, most teachers seldom do these things, even when they claim to teach the writing process. Englert allows for the possibility that all students with learning disabilities may not be ready for cognitive strategy instruction as it is described in her article, and professionals must acknowledge that different techniques may be more effective for students of different ages and abilities. Swanson (1990) emphasized that there must be a match between strategy and learner characteristics and that strategies must be considered in relation to a student's knowledge and capacity. Strategic teaching requires that the teacher have a repertoire of approaches along a continuum that encompasses coaching students to use their own mental resources at one end and basic skill instruction at the other.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Description and interactions of informative text structure knowledge and skills of French-speaking Grade 6 students

This study was conducted in the province of Québec, Canada, among French-speaking Grade 6 students (n?=?175) in the context of a school curriculum that does not clearly address text structure and main idea instruction. It aims to understand whether these students can identify informative text structures and main ideas in isolated paragraphs, comprehend main ideas and text structure in an informative text, and write a short structured informative text. It also describes relationships between these knowledge and skills coming from different reading and writing tasks. Three assessments relative to informative text structures were administered: a multiple-choice test on text structure knowledge and identification of main ideas, a reading comprehension test, and a short writing task. Results revealed that students performed better in the multiple-choice assessment compared to other assessments. Correlations between variables stemming from the three assessments were significant but their effect sizes were low to moderate. A hypothesized model was investigated via a path analysis suggesting that structure knowledge and main idea identification influence reading comprehension, which then influence writing.     

Shared understandings: structuring the writing experience through dialogue

When teachers view writing as a social process in which authors write for real audiences and authentic purposes, they change their instruction accordingly to meet the needs of writers with learning disabilities. As more experienced members of a larger community of writers, teachers play a primary role in apprenticing students into the inherently social functions of writing. Through teacher-student dialogues about the complexities of the writing process, students gradually develop and control their own writing "voice" as they use and transform the shared understandings of the group process. Text structure, writing strategies, and metacognitive knowledge of the writing process provide opportunities for teachers and students with learning disabilities to interact and create shared understandings about the composition process. This article reviews some recent attempts to use text structures and the writing process as frameworks to guide the composition dialogue.     

Adolescents with Learning Disabilities as Writers: Are We Selling Them Short?

This article chronicles the evolution of a programmatic line of research on strategic writing instruction for adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) conducted by staff and affiliates of the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. The goal associated with this research is that students with LD learn the writing skills that they need to succeed in high school and beyond and that their skills are comparable to the skills of their peers. Individual studies have shown that adolescents with LD can master a given writing strategy and can apply that strategy to novel prompts and in general education classes. Moreover, they can learn simple writing strategies from computerized programs. They can also maintain use of a writing strategy over time. When students learn several writing strategies, their scores on standardized tests improve, and their writing competency is comparable to that of peers. Studies have also shown that teachers can teach the writing strategies and achieve successful results. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that students with LD receive the instruction under conditions where they have multiple opportunities to reach mastery on each skill and receive individualized feedback on practice attempts. Overall, the research has shown that adolescents with LD can learn complex writing skills such as planning, writing, and editing multiparagraph themes; can apply these skills to tasks that are assigned in required general education courses; and can be successful in those courses.     

Using the Expressive Writing Program to Improve the Writing Skills of High School Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract. The complex nature of written expression presents difficulty for many students, particularly those with learning disabilities (LD). The literature in the area of written expression and students with learning disabilities indicates that explicit, rule‐based instruction can enhance the writing skills of struggling students. Research in Direct Instruction (DI) writing programs is promising, but limited at this time to a small number of group design studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the DI writing program, Expressive Writing, for high school students with learning disabilities using a single‐subject design methodology. Results indicated that the Expressive Writing program improved the writing skills of the students in this study. Students also were able to generalize and maintain the writing skills learned during intervention.     

Fostering literacy learning in supportive contexts.

Young children with learning disabilities typically encounter difficulty with academic tasks requiring intentional effort and effective use of metacognitive skills--qualities that competent readers and writers possess. In response to these difficulties, special educators often modify literacy instruction, isolating the "basic skills" of literacy (such as decoding and penmanship) from meaningful reading and writing activities. Such instruction contributes to impoverished notions of literacy and exacerbates problems of metacognition. The two research programs reported here challenge the conventional literacy instruction provided to many young students with LD. The programs are rooted in developmental and cognitive theory and research, as well as emergent literacy theory. The social nature of learning is emphasized, with a focus on the role of the teacher, the form of discourse, and the role of text in literacy instruction. Results show that children with learning disabilities benefit from strategy instruction occurring within classroom cultures that support collaborative discourse, the flexible application of comprehension strategies, and appropriate, meaningful opportunities for reading and writing.     

Reading comprehension difficulties experienced by students with learning disabilities

Abstract

Students with learning disabilities often experience poor comprehension due to their failure to read strategically and to spontaneously monitor their understanding while reading. This paper discusses in relation to current literature, the various problems with reading comprehension commonly experienced by students with learning disabilities. Specifically, these students may encounter problems in: (A) using background knowledge appropriately; (B) decoding and word recognition; (C) vocabulary knowledge; (D) fluency; (E) strategy use and metacognitive skills; and (F) differentiating between common text structures.     

The Effects of a Summary Writing Strategy on the Literacy Skills of Adolescents with Disabilities

Many adolescents, particularly adolescents with disabilities, have difficulty with literacy tasks such as reading and writing. Yet research has found that when students with disabilities receive appropriate instruction, they typically are able to improve their overall writing outcomes. This study explored the effectiveness of a summary writing strategy taught through a mnemonic device (WINDOW) with prompts for self-regulation on the summary writing and reading comprehension of high school students with disabilities. Results indicated that the students who received the intervention wrote longer and higher quality summaries and improved their reading comprehension scores after learning the strategy when compared to a control group. These outcomes indicate that the WINDOW strategy may have the potential to improve reading and writing outcomes for high school students with disabilities. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

基于新五级HSK初中级过渡期综合课中的语段写作训练探索

新HSK考试较之旧HSK考试更侧重于语言交际能力的考查,尤其是新五级HSK开始强调语段的理解和写作,基于这一考试改革动向,对外汉语教学,尤其是在初中级过渡期的综合课课文教学应该开始担负培养学生的语段写作能力的重任。在此阶段应该培养学生在语境中正确应用词汇和语法的能力,引入常用、简明易懂的语段衔接和连贯的方法。     

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.