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Syftet med min studie var att öka kunskapen om vilket sätt åtta lärare resonerar kring och arbetar med undervisningen av läsförståelse i årskurs 1–3. Jag använde mig av kvalitativa intervjuer och intervjuade åtta lärare för att undersöka deras syn på läsförståelse och deras beskrivningar om hur de arbetar med läsförståelsestrategier för att utveckla elevers läsförståelse. Resultatet visar att de intervjuade lärarna hade en hel del gemensamma åsikter om hur man kan arbeta med att utveckla elevernas läsförståelse. Lärarna har berättat att det inte finns en optimal modell som de använder i sin undervisning utan är inspirerade av flera olika metoder. De anpassar undervisningen efter elevernas förutsättningar och behov. Lärarna diskuterade också kommunikationens betydelse för att utveckla läsförståelse, och att de arbetar gemensamt med eleverna genom samtal och diskussion. / <p>Godkännande datum: 2022-01-16</p>

To operate in our modern society an individual need to possess a well-rounded reading ability, and to know of and use reading strategies is crucial for learners to develop this ability. The present study sets out to explore the beliefs of Swedish English teachers regarding the significance of reading and reading strategies. Furthermore, the study aims to investigate to what extent their classroom practice of teaching explicit reading strategies instructions is consistent with their beliefs. In this qualitative study, four 7-9 English teachers and two student groups participated. These come from two Swedish schools with different social-economic backgrounds. The data was collected by conducting content analysis of the teachers' lesson plans and conducting semi-structured interviews with both the teachers and students. The results show that the teachers express positive attitude to reading and reading strategies as they believe that these constitute essential elements in the communicative classroom. However, the results also indicate that the teachers’ actual classroom practice for reading strategies is not always consistent with their beliefs: for example, despite all teachers being positive to reading and reading strategies’ instruction, only the teachers from the school with lower social-economic background provide reading strategies’ instruction explicitly. Further, the results indicate that factors such as the teachers’ theoretical conceptions, time contraints, student composition and proficiency level, the school’s socio-economic background are the reasons for the teachers including explicit reading strategies’ instruction in their repertoire.

abstract: Artificial general intelligence consists of many components, one of which is Natural Language Understanding (NLU). One of the applications of NLU is Reading Comprehension where it is expected that a system understand all aspects of a text. Further, understanding natural procedure-describing text that deals with existence of entities and effects of actions on these entities while doing reasoning and inference at the same time is a particularly difficult task. A recent natural language dataset by the Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence, ProPara, attempted to address the challenges to determine entity existence and entity tracking in natural text. As part of this work, an attempt is made to address the ProPara challenge. The Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KRR) community has developed effective techniques for modeling and reasoning about actions and similar techniques are used in this work. A system consisting of Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) and Answer Set Programming (ASP) is used to address the challenge and achieves close to state-of-the-art results and provides an explainable model. An existing semantic role label parser is modified and used to parse the dataset. On analysis of the learnt model, it was found that some of the rules were not generic enough. To overcome the issue, the Proposition Bank dataset is then used to add knowledge in an attempt to generalize the ILP learnt rules to possibly improve the results. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2019

Effects of Interactive Read-Aloud and Literature Discussion on Reading Comprehension for First-Grade Students With Language Impairments in a Title 1 School. Elizabeth Vultaggio Salah, 2014: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler School of Education. Language Impaired, First-Grade, Title 1 Schools, Reading Comprehension, Interactive Read-Aloud, Literature Discussion, Fountas and Pinnell. This applied dissertation was designed to determine the effects of the interactive read-aloud and literature discussion on reading comprehension for first-grade students with language impairments in a Title 1 School. This study was conducted as an embedded case study design using a quantitative method for data collection and analysis. The de-identified data was collected and analyzed from two consecutive school years (i.e., 2012-2013, 2013-2014). Data on the students' overtime (i.e., from kindergarten to first-grade) was collected and analyzed based upon a multiple case study design. Data points were collected using the A-B design, a two phase, basic signal-subject design. The A in the A-B design was the individual student's baseline data point; whereas B, was the data point after the intervention. The researcher observed and measured individual student data from the kindergarten school year (A). The researcher administered the read-aloud intervention, and observed and measured multiple data points after the intervention (B). The students' scores were determined using ongoing data collection. Since the overall design was to measure improvement in the four students overtime, no comparison groups were used. An analysis of the de-identified data revealed how individual language impaired students responded to the intervention. The researcher concluded that interactive read-aloud coupled with literature discussions improved reading comprehension of first-grade language impaired students based on results of the Oral Language Assessment and the Comprehension Conversation Assessment of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark System 1. Recommendations were made for future research.

This diploma thesis deals with the speech skills of reading comprehension and comparison of its implementation in selected textbooks of Czech as a foreign language at the B1 level. The analysis focuses on comparing how reading comprehension is approached in individual textbook materials - whether separate sections are set aside for this skill or not, whether reading texts are appropriate in terms of content and language of the level B1, and whether they are included in the reading texts activities before, during and after reading the text, or what form they have and what type of reading they focus on. The aim of the diploma thesis is also to find out whether the preferences of practicing only one of the types of reading do not prevail in selected textbooks, or whether the focus on practicing different types of reading according to SERR is balanced.

Reading comprehension proficiency is vital for learners to be successful in their academic career, however, South African studies have revealed that reading comprehension skills are severely underdeveloped in secondary school learners. Local research has investigated many contributing factors such as multilingualism and deficits with the national curriculum standards. Far fewer studies have examined the cognitive underpinnings that differentiate between English second language (ESL) learners who are proficient in reading comprehension and those who are not. Certain multi-coding theories assert that the integration of visual mental imagery and verbal information is essential for the formation of a comprehensive mental model, which forms the basis of reading comprehension. This study explored the relationship between visual reasoning ability and the reading comprehension proficiency in a group of 83 ESL learners from two urban Gauteng schools. One school represented learners who are proficient readers whilst the second group represented learners who are developing readers. The Non-Verbal Reasoning and the 3D Spatial Manipulation subtests from the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) battery were used to explore the learners’ ability to reason using visual-object and visual-spatial mental imagery. The Verbal Reasoning test was used to establish a baseline for the learners’ language skills. The items of the Reading Comprehension subtest of the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test battery (SDRT-RC) were evaluated for textual factors that contribute toward word concreteness effects. The relationships between the DAT subtests and the SDRT-RC Mixed, Abstract and Concrete Items subtests were discussed in light of multi-coding models of reading comprehension.

Learner’s processing styles may play a vital role in their approach to learning, more specifically; the ability to make inferences plays an important role in all areas of language and learning and may contribute to difficulties learners are experiencing at school. It is therefore that the research was directed at investigating a possible relationship between the left hemispheric analytical and right hemispheric holistic processing styles and the types of errors inferential versus literal, made in reading comprehension tasks. The hemispheric processing styles were operationalised as the approach taken to the Rey- Osterreith Complex Figure (ROCF) and the types of errors made on the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT) across two levels of educational development. The sample consisted of grade 4 and grade 10 model C learners from the same schooling district. The data obtained from both assessments were subjected to correlation analyses, chi squared tests, analyses of variances (ANOVAs) and logistic regressions. Finally the results and associative conclusions indicated that there were only modest positive relationships between the predominant hemispheric processing styles and the error types on reading comprehension tasks and the demographics of the learners were the main contributors and accounted for the results discovered in the study as opposed to general hemispheric processing. Thus there is a need to understand the unique dynamics within the country and to explore alternatives to teaching practices to account for the variations evident in the classrooms.

Det observerade problemet var att det fanns brister i evidensen på om elevers läsförståelse påverkades av vilket medium de läste i. Litteraturstudiens syfte var därför att bidra med kunskap gällande digital och traditionell läsning vid läsförståelse och hur det kan komma att reflektera elevernas resultat. Syftet mynnade ut i frågeställningen: Vad påverkar elevernas prestationer i läsförståelse vid digital- och traditionell läsning? Efter att en utförlig analys av sju peer reviewed-artiklar som berörde elevers läsförståelse i digital och traditionell läsning genomförts, visade artiklarna olika resultat. I litteraturstudiens resultat presenterades fem olika teman som presenterade olika faktorer som påverkar elevernas läsförståelse mer än faktorn om de läser digitalt eller traditionellt. Slusatsen som drogs utifrån det var att det fanns andra och viktigare faktorer som påverkar elevers läsförståelse mer än i vilket medium de läser och genomför sin läsförståelse på. Vilket medförde att det för nyblivna och yrkesverksamma lärare var viktigt att uppmärksamma dessa faktorer då skolan rör sig mot en allt mer digitaliserad vardag. / The observed problem was that there were a gap in the evidence regarding whether students’ reading comprehension actually were affected by the medium in which they read. The aim of this study was to contribute with research on digital and traditional reading in relation to reading comprehension and how it reflects on students' results. The research question used was What affects students' accomplishments in reading comprehension in digital and traditional reading? After a thorough thematic analysis of seven peer reviewed articles that examined students reading comprehension in digital and traditional reading, the articles showed a variation of results. The study presents a result with five different themes that each represent different factors that affect students' accomplishments more than digital or traditional reading. The conclusion that were drawn were that there were other and more important factors that affect the reading comprehension than in which medium the reading was carried out. This entailed that it was important for newly graduated and active working teachers to pay attention to these factors as the school moves towards an increasingly digitized everyday life.

Läsförståelse är ett komplext begrepp som innefattar flera olika processer. Det är av stor vikt att elever utvecklar en god läsförståelse för att nå framgång i skolan, men även för att fungera i dagens samhälle. Lärare har en betydande roll, eftersom de val lärare gör i sin undervisning är avgörande för hur elevers läsförståelse utvecklas. Studien syftar till att öka kunskapen om lärares läsförståelseutvecklande arbete i praktiken. Syftet har uppfyllts genom att följande frågeställningar har besvarats: Hur beskriver lärare att de arbetar för att främja elevers läsförståelse? Vad anser lärare vara viktigt i undervisningen för att bidra till elevers utveckling av läsförståelse? Studien utgår från den sociokulturella teorin där det sociala samspelet anses ha en betydande roll för lärande och utveckling. Materialet till studien har samlats in med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem verksamma lärare i årskurs 3. Materialet analyserades utifrån en tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att det finns både likheter och skillnader i lärarnas beskrivning av läsförståelseundervisningen. Lärarna upplever svårigheter i valet av litteratur till eleverna, och understryker att texterna behöver vara intressanta för dem. Resultatet visar även att lärarna i studien anser att det är av stor vikt att eleverna får mycket tid till läsning i skolan. Det framhålls även att eleverna behöver få samtala mycket om de texter de läser och att de på så sätt kan lära av varandra. Lärarna i studien framhåller tyst läsning som positivt trots att flera av dem uppmärksammat en problematik kopplat till dessa tillfällen. Elever som skulle behöva stöttning i sin läsning lämnas ofta ensamma i den. / Reading comprehension is a complex concept that includes several different processes. It is important that students develop a good reading comprehension to achieve success in school, but also to function in today's society. Teachers play a significant role, since the choices teachers make in their teaching are decisive for how students' reading comprehension will develop. The study aims to increase the knowledge about teachers' reading comprehension development work in practice. The purpose has been answered by the questions: How do teachers describe that they work to promote students' reading comprehension? What do teachers consider important in teaching to contribute to students' development of reading comprehension? The study is based on the sociocultural theory whereat social interaction is considered to have a significant role for learning and development. The material for the study has been collected using semi-structured interviews with five active teachers in grade 3. The material was analysed based on a thematic analysis. The results show that there are both similarities and differences in the teachers' description of reading comprehension teaching. The teachers experience difficulties in choosing literature for the students and emphasize that the texts need to be interesting for them. The results also show that the teachers in the study believe that it is of great importance that the students get a lot of time for reading at school. It is also emphasized that the students should have lots of opportunities to talk about the texts they are reading, to be able to learn from each other. The teachers in the study highlight silent reading as positive, even though several of them drew attention to a problem linked to these occasions. Students who would need support in their reading are often left alone in the activity.