Bottom‐up processing and reading comprehension in experienced adult readers

Previous research has indicated a weak to moderate role for word recognition skill in contributing to reading comprehension efficiency in highly experienced adult readers. The goal of this study was to re‐evaluate the strength of this association, including assessment of the contribution of skill in discriminating unfamiliar shapes and identifying letters. Unexpectedly, the results revealed a very strong association between efficiency in reading connected text and word recognition skill, as measured by efficiency of access to the orthographic lexicon. Ability to identify letters rapidly and accurately also contributed to orthographic access skill. These associations were only minimally reduced by controlling for skill in discriminating unfamiliar shapes. The results were interpreted in terms of the verbal‐efficiency theory, according to which rapid and accurate lower‐level processing liberates resources for equally crucial higher‐level comprehension processing, ultimately resulting in more efficient text comprehension.     

Classroom and Worksheet Activities across the Curriculum

This article shows how teachers can create useful classroom activities to underpin data‐handling methods for pupils aged 7–19. We use the data base of responses from the UK CensusAtSchool project that are available for pupils and teachers.     

Adolescent CIT Use: Paradigm shifts for educational and cultural practices?

This paper argues that the rapid take-up of communications and information technologies (CITs) by adolescents effectively lifts them out of the institutional control of school and family. Their use of interactive and wearable technologies is characterised by increasing levels of personalisation, mobility and global reach. This aspect of adolescents' use of CITs signals a qualitative change in the nature of popular culture and educational practices, and necessitates a paradigm shift in how we understand the learning contexts of contemporary adolescents.