Syntactic skills in sentence reading comprehension among Chinese elementary school children

The present study examined the role of syntactic skills for reading comprehension in Chinese. Two hundred and seventy-two Chinese children were tested on their phonological processing, orthographic, morphological, syntactic, and literacy skills at Grades 1 and 2. Hierarchical multiple regression results showed that syntactic skills, in terms of word order, connective usage, and knowledge of morphosyntactic structure (measured by an oral cloze task) in Grade 1, significantly predicted sentence reading comprehension in Grade 2 after controlling for the children’s age, IQ, and word level reading-related cognitive skills in Grade 1, and word reading in Grade 2. As in alphabetic languages, syntactic skills are essential for reading comprehension in Chinese. The unique roles of individual syntactic skills for understanding sentences in Chinese are discussed.     

The effective visual field in reading Chinese

The size and shape of the effective visual field in Chinese reading was investigated by systematically manipulating the availability of meaningful information on both sides of a fixated character. A self-paced, moving-window technique (Chen 1992) was adopted to measure the viewing time of individual characters as an on-line indicator of reading effectiveness under various display conditions. The results showed that the effective visual field in reading Chinese was asymmetric and skewed in the direction of scanning with a highly limited size, composing of the fixated character and two characters to its right.     

Predictors of Chinese reading and literacy skills among Chinese school children: a 3-year longitudinal study

Abstract

This study aims to identify the predictors of Chinese reading and literacy skills among Chinese school children in Taiwan. Participants recruited in the study were 182 Grade 1 elementary school students. First, data were collected on these students’ literacy skills, which comprised morphological awareness, orthography processing, visual perception skills, phonological awareness, and rapid automatised naming. In Grade 2, data were collected from these students on their word decoding skills, which comprised character recognition and reading fluency. Finally, in Grade 3, data were collected on the Chinese comprehension skills of the same students. A structural equation model examined the direct and indirect effects of students’ literacy skills at Grade 1 on their reading comprehension at Grade 3, with students’ word decoding at Grade 2 acting as a mediator. Results showed that reading comprehension of students at Grade 3 was predicted by their literacy skills at Grade 1.     

谈小学语文阅读与教学技巧

小学语文课堂是学生形成阅读习惯、掌握阅读方法的重要阵地,语文教师应该在教学过程中灵活运用教学技巧,兼任图书管理员、活动比赛裁判、阅读向导的角色,提高课堂教学效益.     

Language and reading development in children learning English as an additional language in primary school in England

Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) are a growing population of learners in English primary schools. These children begin school with differing levels of English language proficiency and tend to underperform in relation to their non-EAL peers on measures of English oral language and reading. However, little work has examined the developmental trajectories of these skills in EAL learners in England. EAL learners and 33 non-EAL peers in Year 4 (age 8–9 years) were assessed at three time points over 18 months on measures of oral language (vocabulary, grammar and listening comprehension), phonological processing (spoonerisms and rapid automatised naming) and reading skills (single-word decoding and passage reading). At t1, EAL learners scored significantly lower than non-EAL peers in receptive and expressive vocabulary (breadth but not depth), spoonerisms and passage reading accuracy. Contrary to previous research, no significant group differences were found in listening or reading comprehension skills. With the exception of passage reading accuracy, there was no evidence for convergence or divergence between the groups in rate of progress over time. After three years of English-medium classroom instruction, EAL learners continue to underperform relative to their non-EAL peers in breadth of English vocabulary knowledge. This discrepancy in vocabulary knowledge does not appear to narrow as a result of regular classroom instruction in the run up to the final stages of primary school, pinpointing vocabulary as a key target for intervention.     

The reading experiences and interests of junior school children

David Wray taught in primary schools for several years and is now Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Exeter. He was President of the United Kingdom Reading Association for 1992–93 and is editor of the association's journalReading. He has written and edited many books on aspects of literacy development.     

初中语文阅读教学文本细读策略探微

阅读教学是初中语文教学的重要组成部分,也是存在问题较多的部分,粗放式阅读便是我们面临的令人担忧的现状之一.语文课堂迫切需要加强对文本的细读.文本细读不但是对阅读教学现状的匡危扶正,更是新课程理念在阅读教学中的应然表现.从朗读入手、从比较入手、从想象假设入手的细读,可以使学生超越文本之表,体会艺术魅力,提高文学素养.     

小学识字与写字教学改革的基本理念

学生语言发展的规律以及实践的经验和教训证明 ,识字教学内容应该符合学生日常生活的语言实际 ,但不能等同于学生的语言实际。识字应该采取认、写、讲、用分进合击的理念。现实的需要和对写字教学功能认识的变化引发了写字教学的改革。     

Sensitivity to auditory and visual stimuli during early reading development

An investigation was conducted into the visual and auditory temporal processing profiles of two groups of 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children: pre‐alphabetic children, who showed no alphabetic ability (failing to read any non‐words in a test), and those who demonstrated some alphabetic ability. This alphabetic group showed higher scores in reading and spelling attainment than the pre‐alphabetic group. They were also faster than the pre‐alphabetic group in reacting to the onset and offset of auditory and visual stimuli. However, when age was used as a covariate, only reaction times (RTs) to the offsets of visual stimuli were found to be faster in the alphabetic than the pre‐alphabetic group. This suggests that responses to the offset of visual stimuli are becoming more rapid during the same developmental period when alphabetic ability is beginning to be acquired. Within the alphabetic group, after accounting for age, visual and auditory onset RTs were strongly correlated, whereas within the pre‐alphabetic group there were high correlations between visual and auditory offset RTs. It is therefore suggested that a strong association between RTs to visual and auditory onsets may be beneficial during early alphabetic acquisition, when phoneme–grapheme associations are established. Multiple regression analyses showed visual offset RT as the only variable to account for a significant amount of variance in spelling attainment after age was taken into account, which may relate to Frith's (1985) contention that spelling is important in driving early alphabetic ability.     

Dynamic testing, working memory, and reading comprehension growth in children with reading disabilities

This longitudinal study assessed (a) whether performance changes in working memory (WM) as a function of dynamic testing were related to growth in reading comprehension and (b) whether WM performance among subgroups of children with reading disabilities (RD; children with RD only, children with both reading and arithmetic deficits, and low verbal IQ readers) varied as a function of dynamic testing. A battery of memory and reading measures was administered to 78 children (11.6 years) across three testing waves spaced 1 year apart. WM tasks were presented under initial and dynamic testing conditions (referred to as gain and maintenance testing). The important results were that (a) WM performance as a function of maintenance testing was a significant moderator of growth in reading comprehension and (b) WM performance of children with RD was statistically comparable within subgroups of RD but inferior to that of skilled readers across all testing conditions. The results support the notion that children's WM performance under dynamic testing conditions was related to the rate of growth in reading comprehension but unrelated to subgroup differences in reading.     

小学语文阅读教学策略建构中的朗读探析

在小学语文阅读教学中,教师要通过朗读教学法促进学生对作品的理解而不是单纯的进行朗读教学;必须对学生进行必要的朗读指导,使朗读水平和理解能力交互作用同步提高;对朗读的要求和指导,应以深化对作品的理解和提高阅读水平为最终目的。朗读教学法还存在一些使用误区,需要老师们在厘清定位和内涵的基础上,做出调整。     

小学语文阅读教学艺术探索

教学艺术,是教师为了达到最佳教学效果而采取遵循规律、富有个性的审美创造性实践活动。现在小学语文阅读教学中出现了种种"疾病",以至于让孩子们无法在适当的年龄接触到美的东西,体验到阅读的享受性和审美性,更不用说能够在阅读上显现出创造性的才能。因此,希望通过对小学语文阅读教学艺术的探讨能够有助于治愈这些"疾病"。     

Within‐year changes in Chinese secondary school students' perceived reading instruction and intrinsic reading motivation

This study aimed to expand on existing research about motivational change by investigating within‐year changes of adolescents' intrinsic reading motivation and perceived reading instruction among students from different grades and achievement levels. Six hundred and ninety five students from 10 secondary schools in Hong Kong voluntarily completed a questionnaire that measured these two variables at the beginning and near the end of a school year. The study's findings indicated that students' intrinsic reading motivation was generally stable over a school year. A significant increase in the perceived degree of mastery goal structure in reading instruction was observed near the end of the school year. Students' perception of instruction remained a strong and positive predictor of intrinsic motivation after controlling their prior motivation and other background variables. Different factors affecting students' motivational change are discussed to provide insights for promoting their reading motivation and counter the prevalent trend of motivational decline.     

试论高中语文阅读教学质量的强化

语文阅读,是检验学生文章认知感和理解力的一个重要标尺。如果一个学生在拥有能够使用华丽辞藻和优美句子的能力的前提下,还能够对阅读水平自成一派,那他就可以说的上是语文水平高的学生。因此,阅读能力的提高一直是教师和学生所追求的。然而,学生关于阅读的理解力和思考能力依然不尽如人意,本文针对以上现状提出阅读教学质量强化的方法。     

万物兴歇皆自然--中考作文阅卷的思考

本以2003年中考作为例，就初中生的读书与作问题、受流行化影响的问题以及作命题的“实”与“虚”等问题进行了探讨。     

群文阅读在初中语文课堂教学中的有效实施

群文阅读是目前初中语文教学过程中的一种新的尝试,它的出现打破了传统教学模式中对固定课文讲解的模式,冲破了那种针对某篇课文展开独立式讲授的束缚。在这种新的教学模式中,如果教师能够很好地将其运用到实践教学中,不仅能让课文学习变得更加精彩,还能有效的提升学生对多篇课文的整理理解能力,提升学生对某一作者、某一主题、某一题材文章的整体认识,对更好地提升学生综合实践能力有很大的促进作用。