Background: Regarding the research on individuals with autism, more focus was on the behavioral and social aspects, whereas relatively limited attention has received in the domain of learning of this population. As the development of assessments in assessing the needs of the population is getting more comprehensive and sophisticated in recent years, there is a trend of increase in the number of children being identified with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and were placed in general educational settings and engaged in mainstream academic curricula. 　　To survive in the mainstream education setting, proficiency in reading is essential. However, there are evidences suggested that people with ASD show difficulties in reading, especially in reading comprehension. Therefore, it would be valuable to investigate the potential factors that might hinder the reading performance of people with ASD and develops corresponding strategies to cater their needs. 　　In this paper, the role of executive functioning and metacognitive awareness towards reading performance of adolescents with ASD was examined and compared with their typically developing peers, so as to explore the potential factors affecting the reading performance of the group. 　　 Methods: Forty high functioning adolescents with ASD (HFA, aged 12 to 15) and forty matched typically developing (TD) counterparts (aged 12 to 15) participated in this research. There were one main study and one follow-up study. For the main study (Study One), there were three study focuses of investigation. Firstly, it was aimed at investigating the reading performance profile of the two groups (HFA vs TD) and to explore the pattern of reading deficits of students with HFA. Secondly, the EF profile of the two groups was compared to see whether distinct features of impairments were noted in the HFA group. Thirdly, from the results revealed in the profiles on reading performance and EF of the two groups, the association between the impairment of reading performance and the profile of executive dysfunctions was examined, so as to attest the proposition that deficits in EF skills played a role in reading difficulties of individuals with ASD. For the follow-up study (26 participants for the HFA group and 27 participants for the TD group), it was interested to explore the reading metacognitive awareness of the HFA and TD groups, to see whether there was a differentiated pattern on the aspect, and how it might explain the difference in reading performance of the two groups. Results: For the reading performance, the performance of the two groups was comparable in word reading, reading fluency, word knowledge as well as general knowledge, whereas participants with HFA performed significantly worse than TD peers in reading comprehension and distinct weakness was noted in the ability of inference making and generating novel ideas in the HFA group. For the ability in EF skills, participants with HFA were found to be performed poorer only in the Higher-order EF domain (i.e. self-monitoring and generativity) as compared to the TD group. In which, associations were found between reading comprehension performance and some of the EF skills, suggesting that reading comprehension performance was affected by the proficiency of specific EF skills. Moreover, the follow-up study also highlighted the difference in preferences on repair strategies and reading strategies adopted as well as perceived reading difficulties of the HFA and TD group, which further support the findings of Study One. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Psychology

This study investigates the effects of cultural background on reading comprehension of ESL learners. Theoretically, this study emanates from schema theory. That is, the readers' comprehension is believed to be affected by background knowledge. Forty-eight ESL students, sorted into three groups (beginning, intermediate and advanced), were randomly assigned to the treatment, which was the reading of a familiar and unfamiliar, high difficulty and/or low difficulty passages. Procedures included a survey, a pre-test, passages and a post-test. The survey was used to select the two topics for the passages. The pre-test consisted of questions based on both passages. The passages were one familiar and one unfamiliar, and each type was written on two difficulty levels. The post-test was the same test given to the students as a pre-test. The dependent variable was the 20-item multiple choice test based on two passages, "The Weekend" and "Groundhog Day". Two question types were included: (1) literal, and (2) inferential. The data were analyzed using several analyses of variance, t-tests and, for post hoc testing of significance, the Scheffe was utilized. Results indicate that the reading level has an effect on the ESL students' comprehension when reading a culturally different passage. However, passage type (familiar-unfamiliar) and passage difficulty (high difficulty-low difficulty) did not have effects on ESL readers' comprehension.

本研究旨在探討連接詞對台灣高職生英文閱讀理解的影響，分別從以下兩方面來探討：一、連接詞是否對閱讀理解有幫助？二、那些類的連接詞較簡單？哪些類較困難？ 總共有七十五位高職生參與本實驗研究，他們共接受了「有」、「無」連接詞兩種版本的閱讀測驗，以及一個克漏字測驗，所收集的資料更進一步分為高低程度來探討，並加以統計的方式分析。 結果顯示連接詞在英文閱讀理解上的確有正面的影響，然而，高程度組在整篇文章的文意的理解上受益較大，相反地，低程度組則在細節的了解上所獲得的幫助較多，此發現說明了高程度的學生所採取的閱讀方式為「由上往下」，而低程度的學生則採取「由下往上」的方式。本研究也發現了在連接詞本身的理解上，由簡單到困難的順序為：遞增類(additive)、時間類(temporal)、轉折類(adversative)、 因果類(causal)，此順序沒有高低程度的不同，表示語言本身句型結構的難易與相對的認知困難度才是決定此順序的關鍵。同時，越簡單的連接詞，如：遞增類，高低程度學生的表現差異越大，而最困難的連接詞：因果類，高低程度學生的表現並無不同。最後，錯誤分析發現了高程度的學生對自己選擇的答案較有自信，而低程度的學生則傾向用遞增類來取代其他類的連接詞。 / This present study aims to investigate the influence of logical conjunctions on Taiwanese vocational high school students’ English reading comprehension. It mainly discusses whether logical conjunctions play a facilitating role as well as determines what types of logical relations are more challenging and what types are easier. This study adopted an experimental design. A total of 75 EFL students participated in the experiment. They received two versions of reading comprehension tests: texts with / without logical conjunctions first and then a cloze test. The data collected from the high and low groups were compared and analyzed statistically. The results confirm the effects of conjunctions and the sequence of comprehension difficulty among the four types of relations. Logical conjunctions are facilitating in EFL students’ reading comprehension. They are beneficial to the high group in overall comprehension of the texts while they are more helpful to the low group in the understanding of detailed information. This finding suggests that higher achievers adopt a more top-down approach in reading whereas lower achievers adopt a more bottom-up approach. As for the sequence of comprehension difficulty, the results revealed an ascending difficulty order: additive, temporal, adversative, and causal conjunctions. The fact that no different order was found between the high and low groups suggests that linguistic complexity and cognitive processing difficulty are more likely the causes of this order instead of language proficiency. Also, it is found that the gap between the two groups is becoming widened as the difficulty level is decreasing. For example, the high group performed much better than the low group in additive conjunctions, but it performed as poorly as the low group did in causal ones. Finally, error analysis also discovered that higher achievers are more confident and capable in choosing their own answers while lower achievers tend to substitute additive conjunctions for the other ones.

Upon entering tertiary education students have to undergo development with regard to the way in which information is gathered, processed and produced because the academic context (secondary environment) is different to the primary context in so many ways. Students have to acquire the identity or discourse of the secondary environment, in other words they must learn how to behave, interact, believe, speak, read and write in an academic way (Gee, 1996:viii). When students have acquired the identity of the secondary environment they are well on their way to a successful academic career. The choice has been made to focus on one component of identity, namely reading, and specifically academic reading. The latter concept is defined as the process to accept, reject and synthesize incoming information from various sources – the guiding principle in this process is the aim of theorizing. It was found that comprehension of the semantics and function of conjunction markers played an important role in the academic reading process. And that the cloze test is a good method to teach comprehension of conjunction markers. The aim of the current study is to establish whether the use of cloze tests, focused on conjunction markers, will improve academic reading comprehension, within the framework of academic literacy. The empirical research was conducted amongst first year students at the North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus. Participants were selected using the following criteria: they had AGLA111 and they were first year students during 2008-2010. As basis for this research a pretest-posttest control group experimental design was used. The nature of this research is quantitative and a null-hypothesis (H0) was formulated: cloze tests as a teaching method will not improve reading comprehension. Six sets of data were used for this investigation: the January 2008 results, the June 2008 results, the January 2009 results, the June 2009 results, the January 2010 results and the June 2010 results. These sets of data were compared using independent t-tests to establish whether the means were statistically significant. The sets of data were compared looking at - the TAG as a whole and - only the questions that involved conjunction markers. The test in January is written before students commence with their studies and the test in June is written after they have received intervention by way of the academic literacy module. The only intervention in 2008 was the standard academic literacy module – this group serves as the control group. During 2009, besides the standard intervention, students underwent five weeks of cloze tests with conjunction markers as focus – this was the pilot study. The experimental group which had standard intervention as well as nine weeks of cloze tests, was the group of 2010. The results of the experiment show that the effect size was big with regard to the results of the TAG as a whole and medium with regards to the questions that involve conjunction markers. The results were statistically significant in both cases and the mean of the post tests were higher in each event. The finding is that cloze test training focussed on conjunction markers is a good method for improving academic reading comprehension, but more research is still necessary. / MA (Afrikaans en Nederlands), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

The aim of the present study is to examine four teachers’ experience of pupils’ reading comprehension, with special focus on their perceptions of reading comprehension, their experience of pupils’ changed attitudes to reading in the last ten years, and the reading strategies the teachers use in their teaching The result shows that the teachers have a relatively unanimous view of what reading comprehension means, but they use different reading strategies and they have differing experiences of pupils’ attitudes to reading. The pupils’ decreasing motivation to read means that they need more guidance today than before. The teachers give the pupils a chance to develop their reading ability by revealing different reading strategies, but the lack of motivation in the pupils is an obstacle to their development.

The thesis focuses on teachers’ pedagogical subject knowledge and teaching of reading in English as a second language (L2) in Botswana Primary Schools. The participants consisted of ten teachers from four lower primary classrooms setting. To carry out the research, I adopted the qualitative methodology. The three modes of inquiry used in the study are semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews. All the data were transcribed, coded and analysed qualitatively. For organisation purposes, the NVivo 8 software package was used in handling the interview data gathered from the study. The findings revealed that teachers’ classroom practices were not always consistent with their pedagogical subject knowledge. They demonstrated having knowledge on how reading ought to be taught and it was observed that in most cases, their beliefs were not put into their classroom practices. This research highlighted the importance of the phonics instructions in teaching early reading, which most of the teachers’ practices revealed that they lack confidence in teaching. Therefore, this seems to have an impact on the learners in lower classes because this level is considered the foundation, which needs solid base of reading strategies. Most recent studies have revealed that a lack of phonics based on reading instructions leave learners without important decoding skills necessary in recognizing letter/sound relationships in reading. It emerged that most of the activities observed focussed on word level because more emphasis was placed on decoding than comprehension. Although the study indicates that teachers face a number of challenges, which might have an impact in practising their espoused beliefs, it seems that they did not get proper foundation from pre-service training with phonics instructions. Hopefully the insights presented in this study can lead to increased awareness of how reading can be effectively taught and how teachers base classroom practices on their experiences and the contexts within which they work.

The major purpose of the research was to determine whether the curiosity levels of children would be increased and whether gains would be made in children's reading comprehension when selected questioning procedures were used. The study was confined to teacher-directed instructional situations where children were engaged in reading acts. More specifically, answers were sought to the following questions: 1. Does the use of selected questioning procedures produce a significant increase in curiosity over the use of regular classroom procedures? 2. Does the use of selected questioning procedures produce a significant gain in reading comprehension over the use of regular classroom procedures?

Today’s world is a fast developing world, with the transportation sector being one of the fastest developing sectors (Goldschagg, 2007). Through technologies such as an aircraft, one is able to travel across the globe in shorter periods of time. Unfortunately such progress often comes with environmental hazards; one such hazard being environmental noise (Stansfeld et al., 2005). However there has been little attention given to the effects of environmental noise, with much research focusing on aspects such as lead and air pollution on people’s wellbeing (Stansfeld et al., 2005). Yet environmental noise particularly aircraft noise is increasingly becoming an inevitable part of people’s world and has consequences on health, cognitive development and overall quality of life. Consequently this study investigates the impact of aircraft noise on a crucial component of learning (Reading Comprehension). Primary school learners in KwaZulu- Natal (N=834) scores on a test measuring Reading Comprehension (Suffolk Reading Scale2) were compared across a control group and an experimental group. Furthermore because Reading Comprehension involves language acquisition, in addition to investigating the impact of aircraft noise the impact of having English as an additional language on Reading Comprehension was also investigated. Learning in South Africa is predominantly facilitated in English while South Africa has eleven official languages with nine of them being indigenous languages. English for many learners may only be a second or even third language. Significant results were observed for both aircraft noise and language on reading comprehension as well as an interaction effect.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / Problem The purpose of this study was: (1) to develop graded study guides for use in paired practice in sixth grade social studies, and (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure as one means of improving the power of recall and the ability to comprehend and retain subject matter. Procedure Forty-four study guides based on Ginn and Company's textbook, Your World and Mine, were constructed. They included: fifteen detailed-question lessons in aided recall; fourteen outline-techniques exercises in summarizing; and fifteen general-question lessons in unaided recall. The study guides were planned for use in the regular social studies period for twenty-five teaching days. Children worked independently in pairs within three ability groups, with each group progressing at a different rate. The study was conducted in two public school systems within a fifteen-mile radius of the city of Boston. Five hundred and twenty-three pupils were divided into two groups, with 265 in the experimental group and 258 in the control. Groups were equated on the basis of chronological age, mental age, reading achievement, and ability in oral recall. The following battery of seven tests was administered: (1) Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Ability Tests, Beta Test, Form A; (2) Gates Reading Survey for Grade 3 (2nd Half) to Grade 10, Forms I and II; (3) a social studies test constructed by the investigator; (4) a modified form of the Bogardus Social Distance Scale; (5) a pupil and a teacher questionnaire developed for the purpose of evaluation; and the following instruments developed at Boston University: (6) Bucknam's selections for measuring oral and written recall; and (7) a subject preference rating scale. Reliability was established on the original social studies test and on each of the four recall selections, as tests of both oral and written recall. Teachers evaluated the procedure in individual conferences with the investigator. Conclusions 1. Both groups made significant gains in oral and in written recall. Slightly greater gains were made in each by the experimental group; however, the difference in gains was not statistically significant. 2. The difference in mean score on the social studies test resulted in a critical ratio of 2.58 which favored the control group. 3. Gains were made by both groups in reading achievement, expressed as reading age. All gains and all differences between the gains of both groups in total reading age, comprehension, vocabulary, and the speed of reading lack statistical significance. 4. Significant gains were made in social acceptance among pupils in both groups. 5. No significant change was found in the attitudes of children toward the social studies. 6. Pupils in experimental classrooms enjoyed the lessons and liked working with a partner. They preferred: reading questions after reading the textbook; answering questions to one paragraph at a time; and giving answers orally. 7. Teachers observed that pupils generally liked the lessons and greatly enjoyed paired practice. Criticisms and Suggestions for Further Study These materials used with virtually complete self-direction on the part of pupils have had practically the same value as the regular teacher-directed method of teaching social studies. Previous research further indicates the value of team learning; therefore, additional research in this area seems justifiable. In future investigations using graded study guides in paired practice, the following changes appear advantageous: 1. Extend the actual working time of the study and cover the textbook material more slowly. 2. Shorten each study guide and provide more time for daily class discussions. 3. Limit the use of study guides to three or four lessons a week. 4. Provide for systematic review at regular intervals. 5. Employ a greater variety of materials. 6. Vary the approach more and add greater flexibility to the procedure. 7. Include specific provisions for enrichment activities. 8. Provide increased opportunities for pupil-teachers to work with the slower pupils who have reading difficulties.

Adults with mild to moderate acquired brain injury (ABI) often pursue post-secondary or professional education after their injuries in order to enter or re-enter the job market. An increasing number of these adults report problems with reading-to-learn. The problem is particularly concerning given the growing population of adult survivors of ABI. Combat-related brain trauma and sports concussions are two factors contributing to increases in traumatic brain injuries, while higher incidences of stroke in young adults and better rates of survival after brain tumors are contributing to increases in non-traumatic brain injuries. Despite the rising need, empirical evaluation of reading comprehension interventions for adults with ABI is scarce. This study used a within-subject design to evaluate whether adult college students with ABI with no more than moderate cognitive impairments benefited from using a multi-component reading comprehension strategy package to improve comprehension of expository text. The strategy package was based on empirical support from the cognitive rehabilitation literature that shows individuals with ABI benefit from metacognitive strategy training to improve function in other academic activities. Further empirical support was drawn from the special education literature that demonstrates other populations of struggling readers benefit from reading comprehension strategy use. In this study, participants read chapters from an introductory-level college Anthropology textbook in two different conditions: strategy and no-strategy. The results indicated that providing these readers with reading comprehension strategies was associated with better recall of correct information units in two free recall tasks: one elicited immediately after reading the chapter, and one elicited the following day. The strategy condition was also associated with better efficiency of recall in the delayed task and a more accurate ability to recognize statements from a sentence verification task designed to reflect the local and global coherence of the text. The findings support further research into using reading comprehension strategies as an intervention approach for the adult ABI population. Future research needs include identifying how to match particular reading comprehension strategies to individuals, examining whether reading comprehension performance improves further through the incorporation of systematic training, and evaluating texts from a range of disciplines and genres.