This case study explored how ten English as a First Language (Li) and ten English as a Second Language (L2) average Grade Three readers used Prior Knowledge and Non Prior Knowledge strategies to understand two Science texts and to answer three types of questions on the texts. The questions were classified according to the Pearson and Johnson taxonomy (1978). Answers to Textually Explicit questions could be found in the text; answers to Textually Implicit questions invited inferences from the text and answers to Scriptally Implicit questions required readers to use their own resources. Readers thought out loud or verbalized their thoughts after reading each sentence of the text, rated reading strategy statements, orally answered the three types of questions and then rated question-answering strategy statements. Patterns of strategies emerged from the Text and Questions protocols. Frequency counts of strategies were tallied and percentages were calculated. Analyses of the bar graphs showed that there were apparent differences between Li and L2 students in their use of Prior Knowledge and Non Prior Knowledge strategies when they read texts and answered questions on texts. It was felt that these differences indicated that Li readers seemed to be less “text-bound” or focussed on the text than L2 readers were. There were also apparent differences between the three types of questions and Li and L2 readers’ use of Prior Knowledge and Non Prior Knowledge strategies, providing evidence that the three types of questions elicited use of different types of strategies, and lending support to Wixson’s comment (1983) that the types of questions asked influenced the kinds of strategies used. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

The major purpose of this study was to attempt to determine word recognition and comprehension criteria for the frustrational level of reading by means of the galvanic skin response (GSR), in order to substantiate the conventional criteria used by authorities in the field. The sample consisted of 60 children in grades two and three, for whom parental consent for inclusion in the study had been obtained. Scores from a standardized reading achievement test were used to stratify all second and third grade children on reading achievement level (below, average, and above average). Ten children for each grade and reading achievement level were then randomly selected (N=60). Subjects were required to read the words on the Wide Range Achievement Test-Level 1 (1965) while being monitored on the GSR in order to obtain an index of each child's high arousal level. This level was then to have been used to indicate the frustrational level of reading as the child read the passages of the Diagnostic Reading Scales (1972), that was treated as an informal reading inventory. At this level, word recognition and comprehension accuracy scores were to have been obtained, and these compared to the existing criteria. However, during the reading of the Diagnostic Reading Scales passages no subject attained the arousal level obtained on the Wide Range Achievement Test, and therefore frustrational level of reading had to be determined from the criteria stated in Johnson and Kress (1965). As a result, alternate hypotheses were postulated. GSR arousal levels were obtained for the instructional and pre- frustrational levels of reading, for both the oral reading and comprehension sections of the test, and these statistically compared. At the frustrational level of reading, comparisons were made between the oral reading and comprehension sections of the test, the three reading achievement groups, and for the boys and the girls. Data were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance for a repeated measures design. It was found that there was no significant difference between the oral reading of the passage and the comprehension section at both the instructional and frustrational levels of reading. The three reading achievement levels did not differ significantly in arousal at the frustrational level of reading. Implications of the results were discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

The aim of the present study is to describe and analyze what modes of discourse for reading comprehension were prominent among six teachers in two different schools in Stockholm, Sweden. Based on a teacher perspective on how to describe, teach and assess reading comprehension, the investigation concentrated on teacher discourses and their alignment with influential theories of reading. The study was based on transcriptions of six tape-recorded teacher interviews and classroom observations. The method for analyzing the material was a discourse analysis based on Rosalind Ivanic’s (2004) six writing discourses that were adapted to the context of reading comprehension. The results show that teachers in both schools tended to utilise several modes of discourse at the same time. There was overall a significant difference between the discourse styles that were used when the teachers were defining the purpose of reading comprehension and the styles used when the teachers were assessing reading comprehension. The teachers mainly used a creativity discourse and a social-practice discourse when explaining the purpose of reading comprehension. In describing assessment of reading comprehension however a skills discourse was more prominent among the teachers. Hence a discrepancy could be seen between how the teachers view the purpose of reading comprehension and how they assess it.

Orientadora: Simone Aparecida Capellini / Banca: Cristiane Moço Canhetti de Oliveira / Banca: Luciana Paula Maximino / Resumo: Habilidades complexas como vocabulário, habilidades metalinguísticas, memória de trabalho fonológica e nomeação automática rápida estão relacionadas com a compreensão leitora. Os objetivos deste estudo foram caracterizar, comparar e relacionar o desempenho de escolares do 3º ao 5º com bom desempenho acadêmico em vocabulário, nomeação automática rápida, habilidades metalinguísticas, memória de trabalho e compreensão leitora. Participaram deste estudo 90 escolares do Ensino Fundamental I, de ambos os gêneros, na faixa etária de oito anos a 10 anos e 11 meses de idade, divididos em três grupos: Grupo I (GI), composto por 30 escolares do 3º ano, Grupo II (GII), composto por 30 escolares do 4º ano e Grupo III (GIII), composto por 30 escolares do 5º ano. Os escolares foram submetidos à aplicação do teste de desempenho escolar (TDE), teste de vocabulário por figuras (TVF-USP), prova de nomeação automatizada rápida (RAN), protocolo de habilidades metalinguísticas e de leitura (PROHMELE) e à prova de compreensão de leitura (PROCOMLE). Os resultados mostraram que houve desempenho semelhante entre os escolares do 3o ao 5o ano na prova de vocabulário. Todos os grupos apresentaram menor tempo na execução das provas de nomeação rápida de letras e maior tempo de execução na prova de objetos, foi possível verificar desempenho superior nas habilidades silábicas em relação às habilidades fonêmicas. Os escolares do GII apresentaram diferença estatisticamente significante no texto narrativo e o... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Complex skills such as vocabulary, phonological processing, and work memory, and rapid automatized naming are all related to reading comprehension. The aims of this study were to characterize, compare and relate the performance of students from 3rd to 5th grade level with good academic performance in vocabulary, rapid automatized naming, metalinguistic skills, working memory and reading comprehension. 90 students of both genders, ranging from 8 years to 10: 11 months years old, divided into three groups participated trhis study: Group I (GI), composed by 30 students of the 3rd grade level, Group II (GII), composed by 30 students from the 4th grade level and Group III (GIII), composed by 30 students from the 5th grade level. The students were submitted to the application of the test of school performance (TDE), vocabulary test by figures (TVF-USP), rapid automatized naming test (RAN), metalinguistic and reading skills protocol (PROHMELE) and reading comprehension test (PROCOMLE). The results showed that there was a similar performance between students in 3rd to 5th grade level in the vocabulary test. All the groups presented less time in the execution of the rapid naming of letters and greater time of execution in the rapid naming of objects, it was possible to verify superior performance in the syllabic skills in relation to the phonemicskills. The students of the GII presented a statistically significant difference in the narrative text and the GIII students presented significant difference in the expository text. There were positive correlations between vocabulary and narrative text in GIII, rapid automatized naming and narrative and expository text in GII, phonemic skills and repetition of non-words with narrative text in GI and GII. There was a similar performance among the students in the vocabulary test. With regard ...(Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

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This study compares the different primary school language of instruction models found in South Africa for performance on the higher-order reading comprehension processes tested in the international, large-scale assessment, prePIRLS 2011. The language of instruction groupings include the African languages, Afrikaans, English L1 and English L2 as an immersion model. The marked differences in performance observed on the higher-order prePIRLS 2011 items across the language models are not singular reasons for performance in themselves, but reflect embedded contextual factors that influence performance. It was, therefore, examined how language of instruction creates or restricts access to ‘social tools’ and ‘cultural capital’ which mediate the development of higher-order reading comprehension at home and at school. It was found that socio-economic status (SES) at the school level contributes 86.06 (SE=20.48) and 98.54 (SE=17.28) score points for English (N=2 205) and Afrikaans (N=1 463) respectively as a school level indicator. For the Afrikaans LoLT grouping access to text explained 44 score points (SE=11.09). Neither SES nor access to text explained significant variance in performance for the African languages schools when examined within the language grouping (N= 12 076). A linear regression (N=6 342) showed that low SES learners whose language of instruction is English, despite it not being their mother tongue, benefit by 20.35 score points (equivalent to half a year) from being in the English L2 group, in comparison to the African languages L1 group as a measure of achievement on the higher-order subscale. The hypothesis that SES and access to text significantly affect performance in higher-order reading comprehension was further supported by the findings of a two-level regression, showing that access to text at school contributed 32.91 score points (B=32.91, SE=13.96, p=.03) to performance for English L2 low SES learners (N=480). It is argued that better provision of text at school can mediate the development of the cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies required for higher-order reading comprehension across all language of instruction models and socio-economic strata. Print material is often more accessible to learners in English. This strengthens a pragmatic, contextually-based argument for focused prioritisation of English L2 instruction concomitant to raising the quality of home language instruction. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / Centre for Evaluation & Assessment (CEA) / PhD / Unrestricted

Children with intellectual disabilities often struggle with reading, and traditional ways of learning can be frustrating and difficult. This thesis investigates the ability to adapt gaming as a more creative and engaging way for these children to practice sentence structure and reading comprehension. The result is a prototype that makes use of reading scenes mixed with interactive scenes where the user gets to build sentences through different game mechanics such as drag & drop, marking of words and point & click. Depending on what sentence is built, the story changes. The overall evaluation feedback of this prototype is positive and that it has potential but would require further work since reading is a complex activity and the reading levels of children with special needs are very individual.

Morphological awareness (MA) is the knowledge of word structure and capacity to manipulate the meaningful parts of words (Kuo & Anderson, 2006). This study examined derivational MA in the English reading processes of 85 linguistically diverse middle school students in grades six through eight. 56 participants had a native/home language (L1) of Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Haitian Creole, or Cape Verdean Creole (CVC) and were acquiring English as a second language (L2). 29 participants were L1 English speakers, which facilitated comparisons between L1 and L2 English readers in how three predictors—MA, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge—related to English reading comprehension. Tests were administered in English to assess word reading, reading comprehension, MA, reading vocabulary, and silent word reading fluency for all 85 participants. The study a.) Explored the unique contribution of English MA to English reading comprehension; b.) Examined this relationship in light of English word reading and English vocabulary knowledge; c.) Compared linear regression models to examine which factor (or combination of these factors) explained the most variation in English reading comprehension; d.) Looked at differences in the relationships between the reading variables for L2 English readers, based on L1 background; and e.) Explored L1 background as a possible moderator between MA and L2 English reading comprehension; and e.) Observed potential differences in these relationships between L1 and L2 English readers. All four measures correlated with L2 English reading comprehension for the combined group of L2 English readers, yet MA showed the strongest association. MA was also found to predict L2 English reading comprehension—as did word reading and vocabulary knowledge—when controlling for grade/ time of testing, district, and socio-economic status (SES). Using the same control variables, the bivariate model of MA and English word reading was equal in strength to the model combining MA, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge to predict L2 reading comprehension. Vocabulary knowledge did not add significant predictive value. Differences by L1 background were seen in correlations and in various regression models predicting L2 English reading comprehension. Controlling for grade/time of testing, district, and SES, MA alone created the best model to explain variance in L2 reading comprehension for Chinese speakers. For Portuguese speakers—using the same controls—the combination of MA, word reading, and vocabulary created the best predictive model for L2 English reading comprehension. The bivariate model of vocabulary and MA and the combined model with all three variables equally predicted English reading comprehension for Spanish speakers. No models effectively predicted English reading comprehension for Haitian Creole speakers. The model combining all three predictors explained the most variance in L2 reading comprehension. Additionally, L1 did not moderate the relationship of MA to L2 English reading comprehension. For L1 speakers of English, MA uniquely predicted English reading comprehension—as did word reading, and vocabulary—when controlling for grade/time of testing, district, and SES. However, the best predictor of L1 English reading comprehension was the combined contribution of MA, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge. L1 and L2 English readers differed in the correlations between variables and in how well the various regression models explained variance in English reading comprehension. The controls of grade/time of testing and SES were significant as predictors in models of L1 English reading comprehension. Z- tests did not reveal significant differences when comparing the correlation coefficients of independent variables in the regression models. Implications for instruction and future research are presented.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the longitudinal effects of a multi-tiered narrative language intervention in at-risk students provided in kindergarten on fourth grade reading comprehension. The participants included 686 students from four school districts in the upper Midwest. Twenty-eight kindergarten classrooms were randomly assigned to a treatment or control condition resulting in 14 treatment classrooms and 14 control classrooms. Every student in the study participated in a pretest regarding oral narrative language skills. Students in the control group were considered to be at-risk, average performing, or advanced performing depending on their pretest score. Each student in the treatment group received large group oral narrative language instruction that followed Story Champs procedures and was led by the classroom teachers for 14 weeks. The control group engaged in their regular classroom instruction that was established at the commencement of the school year. Students who were unable to meet the narrative retell criterion at pretest and whose oral narrative retell skills did not improve after one month of large group instruction then received additional small group (Tier 2) oral narrative intervention for 10 weeks. Tier 2 intervention followed Story Champs small group procedures and was administered by speech-language pathologists. Posttest scores reflecting a significant difference in progress between treatment and control groups in narrative skill in kindergarten are given in Mollie Brough's thesis (Brough, 2019). Reading comprehension was then measured five years later via the state standardized assessment. The results indicated that the at-risk treatment group had similar reading comprehension scores to the average performing, advanced performing and combined average and advanced performing control groups. This study provides preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of a multi-tiered oral narrative language intervention on later reading comprehension skills in at-risk students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the evidence base for using computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to improve the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities (LD). Twelve peer-reviewed studies (seven comparison group studies, five single-case studies) met selection criteria and were evaluated according to the relevant What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) procedures and standards. Results showed that seven studies (five comparison group and two single-case studies) met WWC standards with or without reservations. Key instructional features employed in CAI studies meeting the WWC standards without reservations included practice opportunities, self-correction and immediate corrective feedback, teacher-directed instruction, and contingencies for enhancing student motivation and engagement. Implications for future research and suggestions for using quality indicators to improve the rigor of future CAI investigations are discussed.