Reading is a complex construct with multiple components that have been theorized and empirically tested. Two multicomponent reading comprehension models were tested in this study to extend understanding of the relation of components skills and to extend prior research by adding a new component of motivation. A battery of reading measures were completed by 172 seventh- and eighth-grade students that consisted of reading comprehension, vocabulary, background knowledge, inference, motivation, and sentence comprehension fluency. This study examined a full sample of students as well as a subset of students identified as struggling readers for those scoring less than the 25th percentile on comprehension. Two models were tested for best fit for the Modified DIME and the Multicomponent Model of Reading Comprehension (MMRC). The Modified DIME Model accounted for 63.1% of total variance in reading comprehension. The MMRC also accounted for 63.5% of total variance in reading comprehension after motivation was included as a component of comprehension. Consistent with prior research, findings corroborated the direct influence of multiple components on reading comprehension; most notably vocabulary and the ability to make inferences. Vocabulary provided the largest direct and overall effect in both models. In the Modified DIME Model, vocabulary made the largest direct (.428) and overall contribution (.654) to reading comprehension; vocabulary also held the largest influence for the MMRC both directly (.429) and in overall influence (.653) to reading comprehension. Inference-making was the second-largest direct and overall contributor for both the Modified DIME (.398) and the MMRC (.390). Findings were consistent for both struggling and typical readers in both models. In this study, there was no direct path from motivation to comprehension; however, when direct and indirect relationships were combined, motivation became the third largest contributor to reading comprehension (.186). Motivation was significantly and directly related to comprehension for typical readers (.171, p < .05), but not for those who struggle to read (-.043, p > .05). The findings suggest typical readers with higher motivation perform better on reading comprehension tasks, but there is no direct relationship for struggling readers. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are also discussed.

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Scores from high-stakes tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are commonly used as criteria for college admission decisions. So, it is of implied importance to identify factors that contribute to susceptibility to failure on these tests. One potential factor addressed in the current study was whether emotional cognitive load differentially impacts those with low working memory capacity or trait anxiety. Individual differences in subjective arousal were also tested as a mechanism contributing to this effect. In Experiment 1, a reading comprehension task revealed that type of cognitive load affected accuracy. In Experiment 2, state anxiety was induced using methods from previous research. The results revealed that, again, only type of cognitive load affected comprehension accuracy. Together, results suggest that arousal induced via disturbing words negatively influence reading performance regardless of superior working memory capacity. These findings are not based on cognitive load in general, but the semantic value of the words processed, in particular, that led to comprehension difficulty. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.

This thesis has explored the problems of non-native speakers of English in listening and reading comprehension. Through analysis o f tests designed around particular features of the language which were thought to cause comprehension problems, the investigator was able to substantiate several factors of difficulty. These factors areA. knowing the meaning of vocabulary items,B. noting markers that; show relationships,C. ability to handle difficult sentence structures, D. answering questions where the answer is indirectly stated,E. drawing conclusions.The investigator also found that two additional factors strongly affected comprehension:F. answering questions where the wording is different from that of the original passage,G. finding answers when there is intervening material that interrupts the idea..The thesis has discussed formulation of the test questions, explaining what was expected from each question. It has also discussed results of the test questions in detail, suggesting possible problems that were working in each question.

This study was conducted to determine the affect on comprehension of teaching selected key vocabulary words prior to reading an eleventh grade social studies passage. Four hypotheses were stated and the .05 level of confidence was used as the criterion for acceptance or rejection.Data for the study were collected from 143 students in six eleventh grade social studies classes. All students in the study were asked to read the same social studies passage. Students in the treatment group were given vocabulary instruction; students in the control group were given no vocabulary instruction. Upon completion of the reading assignment all students were asked to answer sixteen multiple choice questions. The questions were classified as vocabulary specific and general.The sum of the means for specific and general questions and the difference between the means of specific and general questions were calculated in order to determine if differences between the treatment group and control group could be attributed to the question type. A multivariate and a univariate analysis were applied to the data collected for the study.Hypothesis 1, which stated that there is no significant difference between the comprehension scores of the social studies class which receives vocabulary instruction and the social studies class which receives no instruction, was rejected. Vocabulary instruction improved scores for students in the treatment group. Hypothesis 2 which stated that there is no significant mean difference among the gains in comprehension scores of the social studies students classified as high, medium, or low was accepted. There was no significant difference in the gains in comprehension for students of varying vocabulary development. Hypothesis 3, which stated that there is no significant mean difference between the number of correctly answered vocabulary specific questions and the number of correctly answered general questions, was rejected. Students scored higher on the vocabulary specific questions. Hypothesis 4 which stated that there is no significant mean difference between the comprehension scores of the male and female social studies students was accepted. The vocabulary instruction did not result in a significant difference in comprehension between male and female subjects.

This study examined the effectiveness of the context and the direct vocabulary strategies in the acquisition of vocabulary by secondary students. Forty-eight low-ability tenth grade and eleventh grade students were divided into either the direct or context treatment group. One hundred sixty words were presented over a period of sixteen weeks using either the direct or the context vocabulary strategy. A pretest and a post test of fifty randomly selected words from the one hundred sixty words taught were administered to determine any gains in vocabulary acquisition by the students in the two treatment groups. A multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that there was no significant difference in the two different vocabulary strategies of context and direct in the acquisition of vocabulary by low-ability secondary students. / Department of Elementary Education

The purposes of this study were (a) to determine the levels of metacognition in developmental readers before and after ten weeks of instruction in metacognitive reading skills, (b) to examine differences in mastery of metacognitive skills determined by years away from secondary education, and (c) to investigate the effect of instruction in metacognitive skills on the improvement of reading comprehension in less-skilled readers.Participants in this study were 48 adult students (ages 19-56) enrolled in developmental reading courses at Indiana Vocational Technical College on the Muncie campus and at the Anderson site. Students responded to a 20-item, multiple-choice questionnaire, the Adult Index of Reading Awareness (AIRA), specifically formulated by the author to measure levels of metacognition in adult readers.In addition, the usual pre and post comprehension tests (Reading Comprehension, Forms A and B, of the College Board, ETS, Princeton, NJ, 1979) were administered both before and after instruction. Students also indicated the number of years they had been away from secondary education.Data were analyzed using the t test, the paired t test, and repeated-measures with one between-subjects factor to determine whether statistically significant relationships existed in regard to each of the research questions.Findings indicated that:Metacognitive reading awareness as measured by the AIRA significantly increased (.000 level) after ten weeks of instruction.Years away from secondary education did not significantly affect changes in the students' metacognitive awareness as measured by this instrument.There were no significant differences in comprehension growth scores between those who measured high in metacognition and those who scored low.Instruction in metacognitive reading skills significantly (.000 level) improved comprehension asmeasured by College Board Reading Comprehension tests.There were no significant differences in comprehension growth scores between students who graduated from high school within the last four years and those who had been away for five years or more.The following conclusions were drawn from this study: (a) Less-skilled adult readers can be taught the metacognitive reading skills which are acquired intuitively by effective readers. (b) Age is not a factor in increasing levels of metacognition in adults. (c) Instruction in metacognitive reading skills significantly improved comprehension scores of adult readers; therefore, instructors should include this skill instruction in developmental reading courses. / Center for Lifelong Education

1. AIM - The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between metacognition and reading comprehension and also the relationship between metacognition, age and reading comprehension. 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE STUDY - In chapter 2 the cognitive approach to learning and reading, according to which the learner/reader plays an active role in the processing of information, is discussed. The human information processing system is discussed and the chapter is concluded with a discussion of how reading comprehension failures occur due to problems associated with the information processing system. In chapter 3 metacognition is defined and discussed based on the views of John Flavell, Ann Brown and Scott Paris and his co-workers. Certain factors affecting metacognition are also discussed. In chapter 4 the teaching of metacognition and reading strategies are discussed. Text processing strategies and text reorganising strategies are discussed which enable readers to regulate the level of their reading comprehension when comprehension failures occur. 3. EXPERIMENTAL REVIEW - An ex post facto research was undertaken involving all the standard 1 and standard 3 pupils of the largest of three primary schools in a specific town in the PI/IN region. Two questionnaires were used. One questionnaire, which was completed by both groups, tested metacognitive knowledge and skills such as evaluation, planning, regulation and conditional knowledge. Another questionnaire tested reading comprehension by means of a cloze test, an error detection test and a conventional comprehension test. Two different questionnaires were used for the two groups. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed on the data to determine the contribution of each independent variable (planning, evaluation, regulation and conditional knowledge) on the dependent variables (cloze test, error detection test and comprehension test). 3.1 Results - The following metacognitive variables influenced performance in the reading comprehension tests: * Error detection test : planning and conditional knowledge at std. 1 level and evaluation and regulation at std. 3-level. * Cloze test : only planning at std. 1 level and planning, regulation and conditional knowledge at std. 3 level. * Comprehension test : only conditional knowledge at std. 3 level. The results seem to indicate that metacognitive variables do affect performance in reading comprehension tests and that metacognition is related to age, considering the fact that the more "advanced" components of metacognition namely conditional knowledge and regulation affect performance mainly at std. 3 level. The number of metacognitive variables affecting performance in the three comprehension tests, three at std. 1 level and six at standerd three level, also indicates that metacognition develops with age. Due to the small population sample used in the study, however, no general conclusion can be drawn from these results. / Skripsie (MEd (Psigo-opvoedkunde)--PU vir CHO, 1995