Morphological awareness, phonological awareness, and reading in English–Arabic bilingual children

The paper reported an exploratory study that tested (a) the relationship between phonological and morphological awareness in English (L1)–Arabic (L2) bilingual children in Canada (N = 43), and (b) the relevance of these skills to word and pseudoword reading accuracy, and to complex word reading fluency. The results showed a significant correlation between phonological awareness in English and in Arabic. However, morphological awareness in the two languages was not correlated. Phonological awareness predicted reading cross-linguistically, but only Arabic morphological awareness predicted word reading in English. Moreover, while both phonological and morphological awareness in English predicted independent unique variance in English word reading, only phonological awareness in Arabic predicted Arabic word reading. Complex-word reading fluency was predicted by morphological awareness within both languages. Similarly, in both languages, phonological awareness was the single factor predicting pseudoword decoding accuracy. The results are discussed in terms of cross-linguistic differences between English and Arabic in orthographic depth and in morphological structure and transparency.     

Word reading and reading comprehension: stability, overlap and independence

Longitudinal twin data were analyzed to investigate the etiology of the stability of genetic and environmental influences on word reading and reading comprehension, as well as the stability of those influences on their relationship. Participating twin pairs were initially tested at a mean age of 10.3 years, and retested approximately five years later. Both word reading and comprehension were found to be highly stable, and genetic influences were primarily responsible for that stability. In contrast to studies with younger participants, no unique genetic influences were observed at follow-up testing in this older sample. High genetic correlations were obtained between word reading and reading comprehension at both ages, indicating common genetic influences. However, significant genetic influence on comprehension was also observed, independent of that on word reading. Although the phenotypic relation between the two measures appeared to decline across time, the genetic etiology of this relation was highly stable.     

Primary teachers as readers

In the context of the continued pressure and politicisation of the teaching of reading in England, the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) sought to ascertain patterns in primary teachers' reading, both personally and professionally. The project, undertaken in 11 Local Authorities in England, explored 1200 primary teachers' personal reading habits and preferences, investigated their knowledge of children's literature, and documented their reported use of texts in the classroom through a questionnaire. In addition, it sought to establish the extent of the teachers' involvement with and use of local area/school library services. This paper reports on the findings with reference to the teachers' personal reading, the frequency of this reading and the sources they use to select their reading material. It also considers the teachers' favourite childhood texts and the books they identified as highly significant to them, as well as their perceptions of the importance of literature. Connections are made to the data gathered about their knowledge of children's literature, and how primary teachers decide which literature to work with in the classroom.     

Phonemic awareness,naming, visual symbol processing,and reading

This study examined differences between adequate and poor readers in phonemic awareness, rapid continuous and confrontation naming, and visual symbol processing. It also investigated which of these skills make independent contributions to word recognition, pseudoword reading, and reading comprehension. Subjects were 170 school referrals of average intelligence, aged 6 to 10 years. The strongest differentiators of adequate and poor readers, with IQ and reading experience controlled, were phonemic awareness, naming speed for letters and pictured objects, and visual symbol processing. Letter naming speed made the largest independent contribution to word recognition, phonemic awareness to pseudoword reading, and object naming speed to reading comprehension. Confrontation picture naming accounted for minimal variance in reading skills, when IQ was controlled. It was concluded that tasks of naming speed, phonemic awareness, and visual symbol processing are valuable components of a diagnostic battery when testing children with possible reading disability.     

高中生阳光阅读:目标、对象、策略及效用

“基于心性品德涵养的高中语文自主学习研究”,引导被试学生亲近名著,拥抱经典,饶益身心。首先重新认识书本阅读对于人们完善德性、增进福祉所蕴涵的终极关怀要义;据此而实行阳光阅读,规避负面阅读、无谓阅读等可能招致的心灵污染和光阴虚掷;且能高扬信念,端正态度,善施策略,对字纸书本代表的人类文化给予应有尊重,加以高效摄取。从而达成“读好书,好读书;读善书,善读书;精选名著,整本摄取;以读引思,读思济用”的效用预期,促进被试心性品德素养和语文核心素养的提高。     

图式理论的探索与实践

本简要回顾了图式理论，强调背景知识在阅读理解中的重要性。建议在外语阅读教学中应充分运用这一理论，激活或提供学生阅读中所需的图式，指导学生树立正确的阅读观，积极有效地阅读。     

An international comparison using Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment: Fourth graders’ diagnostic profile of reading skills on PIRLS 2016

Cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) approach has been increasingly applied to non-diagnostic large-scale assessments to extract fine-grained diagnostic feedback about students’ ability in a given domain and meet accountability demands for student achievement. This study aimed to diagnose the reading abilities of 4324 students from 19 European Union (EU) member countries that participated in the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), one of the most comprehensive international studies that investigate students’ reading achievement. The PIRLS data were analyzed by using the Log-linear Cognitive Diagnosis Modeling (LCDM), a type of cognitive diagnostic classification model (DCM). Students’ weaknesses and strengths were identified based on a four-skill reading ability model. The results revealed that the methodology could provide more fine-grained diagnostic information about students’ reading skills than traditional aggregated-test scoring could. Such information could be utilized by teachers, school administrators, decision-makers, and students for maximizing the learning outcomes of reading programs and instruction.     

Headsprout® Early Reading for children with severe intellectual disabilities: a single blind randomised controlled trial

Research evaluating phonics reading programs for children with severe intellectual disabilities (ID) is limited. The current study investigated whether using an online reading program (Headsprout^® Early Reading; HER) as supplementary reading instruction for children with a severe ID leads to improvements in reading skills as compared to children not receiving this additional instruction. Fifty-five children from a special school were randomly allocated into the HER group or a waiting list control group. For six months, children in the intervention group received HER as supplementary instruction, whereas children in the control group received only ‘reading as usual’ teaching. Pre- and post-intervention tests on standardised reading measures were conducted. Analysis of data from outcome measures indicated that the HER group made improvements at post-intervention in comparison with the control group, with medium effect sizes on two domains from the main outcome measure. These results support the case for a larger research trial of HER for children with severe ID.     

图书馆阅读推广人角色研究:类型构成、前置因素和后续影响

阅读推广已经成为图书馆的主流服务,但作为阅读推广主体的阅读推广人在实践中仍然存在角色模糊的问题,这在一定程度上制约了阅读推广人的专业化发展。本文在借鉴公关人员角色和团队成员角色研究的理论视角和实证研究的基础上,采用混合研究方法,试图明确图书馆阅读推广人角色的类型构成,并分析其前置因素和后续影响。研究发现,当前图书馆阅读推广人的角色类型包括组织联络、宣传评估、调研策划、现场主导和内部辅导;这一角色分类体现了从管理者到混合型再到技工的连续体,其中组织联络位于管理者一端,宣传评估位于技工一端,调研策划因其典型的混合型特点位于中间位置,而现场主导和内部辅导这两个角色则可能位于该连续体的其他任何中间位置;除了性别和学科背景之外,职称、所在图书馆的类型、图书馆所处地域和工作性质对图书馆阅读推广人的角色类型都有一定的影响,而这些角色类型又在很大程度上影响他们对角色重要性的认知和对工作满意度的评价。本研究可为图书馆培养阅读推广人提供参考。图1。表6。参考文献47。附录1。     

阅读疗法对大学生心理健康影响的实验研究

当前,大学生心理健康教育工作已受到社会各界广泛关注,心理学界关于心理健康教育的理论和实践的新成果不断涌现,这为我们开展阅读疗法的实验奠定了基础。本研究随机选取300名2005级大学生,运用《大学生心理健康量表》对他们进行集体测量,筛选出40名心理健康状况在轻微问题以上的大学生,对他们实施3个月阅读疗法的集体干预。研究结果表明：阅读疗法对大学生心理健康教育是有效的,能够对大学生心理健康产生显著影响,可以提高大学生心理健康水平。高校图书馆建立阅读疗法阅览室可以成为解决大学生心理健康问题的新途径。