Evidence for different parent–child strategies while reading

This study examined the strategies parents use naturally to help early readers at difficult points of text or pronunciation. Forty‐two children were videotaped reading to a parent. Results suggest parents are not likely to provide specific instructional feedback when listening to their children read. When given, parental feedback tends to be well tuned to the child's reading ability, with parents of less skilled readers providing richer and more varied feedback than parents of more skilled readers. A tree clustering analysis placed parents in one of three groups: 1) ‘Learner centred’ parents use a variety of feedback strategies; 2) ‘Inactive’ parents allow their children to continue uncorrected; 3) ‘Direct’ parents supply the miscued word. The children of ‘learner centred’ parents did not perform as well as children of ‘inactive’ parents on measures of reading ability, possibly because parents of better readers no longer need to be ‘learner centred’.     

An explanation of reading comprehension across development using models from Cattell–Horn–Carroll theory: Support for integrative models of reading

The purpose of this research was to investigate the cognitive abilities that explain reading comprehension across childhood and early adulthood. Drawing from the standardization sample of the Woodcock–Johnson III, analyses were conducted with large samples at age levels spanning early childhood to early adulthood: 5 to 6 (n = 639), 7 to 8 (n = 720), 9 to 13 (n = 1,995), 14 to 19 (n = 1,615), and 20 to 39 (n = 1,409). Using a model including factors representing general intelligence, Cattell–Horn–Carroll broad abilities, and reading decoding skills, results revealed significant direct effects for reading decoding skills and Crystallized Intelligence on reading comprehension across all age levels. Memory‐related abilities, processing speed, and auditory processing demonstrated indirect effects on reading comprehension through reading decoding skills. The magnitude of direct and indirect effects varied as a function of age. The results provide support for integrative models of reading that include both direct and indirect effects of cognitive abilities on reading comprehension and for consideration of developmental differences in the cognitive aptitudes predicting reading comprehension. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Preschool children's exposure to story grammar elements during parent–child book reading

Twenty‐three preschool‐age children, 3;6 (years; months) to 4;1, were videotaped separately with their mothers and fathers while each mother and father read a different unfamiliar storybook to them. The text from the unfamiliar storybooks was parsed and coded into story grammar elements and all parental extratextual utterances were transcribed and coded for (1) their relationship to the story grammar elements found within the storybook, and (2) the natural strategies parents used to direct their children's attention to these elements. Children's overall exposure to story grammar elements during book reading was also explored for its relationship to their language abilities. Results indicated that parents focused significantly more on the resolution, attempt, and consequence compared to the initiating event and plan, and most frequently used the text and pictures as strategies for recruiting their children's attention to the story grammar elements within the book. In addition, the frequency of parental utterances related to story grammar elements was negatively correlated with children's language abilities. This study did not examine the complexity or depth of parental utterances related to story grammar elements. These findings provide initial evidence that children may derive their understanding of story grammar at least in part through their parents' extratextual discussions during parent–child book reading.     

地方院校英语专业精读课程教学行动研究探索

教学行动研究是在自我反思的教学模式上发展起来的教学实践理论。本文通过教学行动研究理论在英语专业精读课程中的实践,使外语教师认识到行动研究对于解决外语教学中出现的问题具有极大的应用价值,及其所产生的巨大效应。     

Web‐based reading annotation system with an attention‐based self‐regulated learning mechanism for promoting reading performance

Due to the rapid development of information technology, web‐based learning has become a dominant trend. That is, learners can often learn anytime and anywhere without being restricted by time and space. Autonomic learning primarily occurs in web‐based learning environments, and self‐regulated learning (SRL) is key to autonomic learning performance. Moreover, sustained attention to web‐based learning activities can be challenging for students. Therefore, a web‐based reading annotation system with an attention‐based self‐regulated learning mechanism (ASRLM), which is based on brainwave detection, is designed to enhance the sustained attention of learners while reading annotated English texts online, and thereby promote online reading performance. In total, 126 Grade 7 students in four classes at a junior high school in New Taipei City, Taiwan, are the participants. Among the four classes, two classes are randomly distributed to the experimental group and the other two classes are randomly distributed to the control group. The experimental group utilizes the ASRLM to support their reading of annotated English texts online, whereas the control group is not supported by the ASRLM while reading annotated English texts online. Experimental results show that sustained attention and reading comprehension of the experimental group are better than those of the control group. Moreover, the web‐based reading system with ASRLM support promotes the sustained attention and reading comprehension of female learners more than those of male learners while reading annotated English texts online. Additionally, learners with high‐SRL ability in the experimental group have better sustained attention and reading comprehension than those learners with low‐SRL ability. Furthermore, the sustained attention and reading comprehension of the experimental group are strongly correlated, and the duration of sustained attention strongly predicts their reading comprehension performance.     

Reading lessons: teacher–pupil interactions with text during three KS1 shared reading sessions

Changes in the teaching of reading during the past decade include a shift away from a previous emphasis on ‘one‐to‐one’ learning experiences to a focus upon more communal forms of learning which place the teacher center stage. With the teacher's role thus highlighted, teacher–pupil interaction in practice has come under the spotlight, with a number of studies raising concerns about the quality of teaching taking place and suggesting this is featuring more traditional patterns of ‘IRF’ exchanges between teachers and pupils, which are limiting to children's learning. This article reports on a small‐scale study into teacher–pupil interaction styles during three Key Stage 1 ‘shared reading’ sessions – an activity in which teacher and children work together on an enlarged, illustrated text, with the teacher explicitly modeling components of the reading process to children. The article considers the more tacit modelling taking place during these sessions and how particular linguistic patterning used by teachers frames reading as an educational and cultural activity in ways that position children differentially in relation to it. In particular, it considers how variation in the use of the IRF exchange can mediate different cultural meanings about what it is to engage with text as a reader.     

Forecasting reading anxiety for promoting English-language reading performance based on reading annotation behavior

To reduce effectively the reading anxiety of learners while reading English articles, a C4.5 decision tree, a widely used data mining technique, was used to develop a personalized reading anxiety prediction model (PRAPM) based on individual learners' reading annotation behavior in a collaborative digital reading annotation system (CDRAS). In addition to forecasting immediately the reading anxiety levels of learners, the proposed PRAPM can be used to identify the key factors that cause reading anxiety based on the fired prediction rules determined by the developed decision tree. By understanding these key factors that cause reading anxiety, instructors can apply reading strategies to reduce reading anxiety, thus promoting English-language reading performance. To assess whether the proposed PRAPM can assist instructors in reducing the reading anxiety of learners, this study applies the quasi-experimental method to compare the learning performance of three learning groups, which are, respectively, supported by a CDRAS with individual annotations, collaborative annotations, and collaborative annotations with online instructor's support to reduce reading anxiety by the proposed PRAPM. The instructional experiment was conducted on Grade 7 students at Taipei Municipal Wan-Fang high school. Experimental results indicate that the average correct prediction rate of the proposed PRAPM in identifying the reading anxiety levels of learners was as high as 70%. Moreover, analytical results show that the collaborative annotation with online instructor's support for reducing reading anxiety by the proposed PRAPM indeed helps learners reduce reading anxiety, particularly for the male learners, showing that gender difference exists. Furthermore, based on online instructor's support for reducing reading anxiety by the proposed PRAPM, the correlation analysis also shows that the online instructor's interaction with the male learners is significantly correlated with the reading anxiety reduction. Furthermore, English-language learning performance of the three learners groups, which were given a CDRAS with different learning mechanisms, was significantly promoted.     

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Woodcock reading mastery tests–revised with special education students

The factor structure of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests–Revised (WRMT‐R) was analyzed using data from a sample of 140 special education students with learning disabilities, mild mental retardation, and serious emotional disturbance. Woodcock asserted that the WRMT‐R measured two important aspects of reading ability: Basic Skills and Reading Comprehension. According to Woodcock, the Word Identification and Word Attack Tests measure two elements of Basic Skills, and the Word Comprehension and Passage Comprehension Tests measure two elements of Reading Comprehension. Together, Basic Skills and Reading Comprehension produce the Total Reading Full‐Scale score. Principal axis factor analysis with a promax rotation and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate evidence that the four tests of the WRMT‐R combine to form the two factors: Basic Skills and Reading Comprehension. The results of the analyses indicated a robust single factor (Total Reading Full‐Scale), and provided little support for Woodcock's hypothesized two‐factor structure. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

西藏女孩健康发展与阅读写作的行动研究

为了探索具有实践性和操作性的西藏女性发展课程,研究者对43名西藏女生开展了三轮健康发展与阅读写作的行动研究,研究包括认识自己和树立理想两部分内容,通过活动达到了女孩认识自己,提高自信,树立理想,激发学习动机的目的。     

Computer-assisted remedial reading intervention for school beginners at risk for reading disability

The aim of the longitudinal study was to investigate whether a computer application designed for remedial reading training can enhance letter knowledge, reading accuracy, fluency, and spelling of at-risk children. The participants, 7-year-old Finnish school beginners (N=166), were assigned to 1 of 3 groups: (a) regular remedial reading intervention (n=25), (b) computer-assessed reading intervention (n=25), and (c) mainstream reading instruction (n=116). Based on the results, computer-assisted remedial reading intervention was highly beneficial, whereas regular type of intervention was less successful. The results indicated that at-risk children require computer-based letter-name and letter-sound training to acquire adequate decoding and spelling skills, and to reach the level of their non-at-risk peers.     

Motivation for reading comprehension

In a sample of 104 Norwegian ninth-grade students, we examined whether perceived reading efficacy and reading task value uniquely predicted the comprehension of a social studies text after variance associated with gender, achievement in the domain, topic knowledge, deeper strategies, and surface strategies had been removed through forced-order hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results showed that even after removing variance from these variables, the motivation constructs accounted for additional variance. However, only reading task value was a statistically significant positive predictor of reading comprehension, whereas the relationship between reading efficacy and reading comprehension did not reach statistical significance. Thus, reading task value seems particularly important because it can override the contributions of other important constructs. In terms of education, the findings suggest that an emphasis on cognitive constructs such as prior knowledge and strategic text-processing should not make us overlook the specific importance of promoting motivation for reading comprehension.     

Preparing children for reading

Most practical in a situation where one-to-one relationships thrive, this constructive method of preparing children for reading will be of special interest to family day care providers, caregivers in infant and other centers with low caregiver/child ratios, and parents.Gerard Giordano is Associate Professor of Reading Education and Coordinator of Reading Programs at New Mexico State University's College of Education. He can be reached at the College, Box 3AC, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003.     

Synthetic speech and computer aided reading for reading disabled children

A simple way to partially compensate for word decoding problems is to let disabled readers have a micro-computer pronounce the words they are unable to read. Using a program developed for the IBM-PC/AT and a Scandinavian multilingual text-to-speech unit, children can read a textfile (of any size) on the monitor and use a mouse to request the immediate pronunciation of a word. In study 1, Grade-2 children did not perform better on a reading comprehension test when using computer-aided reading, but they rated their understanding significantly higher than when using a text. In study 2, the effect of computer-aided reading in special education settings was studied. Results indicated that older children, from grade 4 and up, benefited more from the computer aided reading than did younger ones. However, both experimental and control groups showed gains in several aspects of reading. Some children did not seem to have metacognitive skills enough to benefit from the computer-aided system. These children may initially need more extensive training in how to use the system and how to monitor their own reading. Reasons for letting the computer deliver the decoding aid as morphological segments are discussed.