The modern computerised era in which we live means that all areas of society are subjected to information technology. Children are increasingly exposed to and have access to computers, which necessarily have an influence on their education and development. Seeing that children are the most receptive group when it comes to exposure to new technology, this may have enriching effects on computer literacy, which is often considered part of general literacy. With regards to literacy, reading is one of the skills which pose a high challenge. It is also a key skill that opens the world of information, as most information is received through reading. Any reading stimulation via electronic or printed media that encourages learners to read is considered to improve reading ability, reading speed, reading comprehension and phonetic awareness. The aim of this study was to determine whether there was a correlation between early computer exposure and experience (both computer access and use) and reading ability of grade 1 learners. In this study a one shot cross-sectional survey design was used. Schools with grade 1 learners in the Umvoti district of Kwa Zulu Natal were selected to participate in the study - stratified sampling was used. The grade 1 classes were selected on the basis of random sampling. The selected classes (N=4; 85 learners) participated 'intact' in the study. The data was analysed using descriptive as well as inferential statistics (e.g. MANCOVA). / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

I denna studie undersöktes avkodningsförmåga, läshastighet, motivationsgrad och läsvanor hos 40 vuxna personer, som grupperades utifrån kön, ålder och utbildningsnivå. För att testa avkodningsförmåga användes LäsKedjor-2 (Jacobsson, Läskedjor-2, 2014), för att testa läshastighet användes DLS Läshastighet (Järpsten, DLS läshastighet, 2002) och för att skatta motivationsgrad och läsvanor skapades Självrapport av uppsatsförfattaren själv. Testresultaten omräknades till staninevärden. Ingen signifikant skillnad uppmättes beträffande kön eller ålder på något av testerna. Signifikans beträffande utbildningsnivå uppmättes på alla test utom på det första deltestet i LäsKedjor-2, Bokstavskedjor, samt på läsvanor i Självrapport. Det befanns vara stark korrelation (r=0,62) mellan höga resultat på läshastighet och hög motivationsgrad relaterad till läsning. / In this study decoding skill and reading speed was tested together with level of reading motivation and reading habits in 40 adults, grouped by gender, age and educational level. To test decoding skill LäsKedjor-2 (Jacobsson, Läskedjor-2, 2014) was used, to test reading speed DLS Läshastighet (Järpsten, DLS läshastighet, 2002) was used, and to test level of reading motivation and reading habits the self-assessment questionnaire Självrapport was constructed by the author. The results were transformed into a staninescale. No significant difference was observed regarding gender or age in any of the tests. Significance regarding educational level was observed in all tests except the first part of LäsKedjor-2, Bokstavskedjor, and in reading habits in Självrapport. A strong correlation (r=0,62) was evident in high results in reading speed and high level of reading motivation.

(in English): This thesis is conceived as a metareview of research on differences in perception, understanding and retention of text on various display media. It summarizes the results of the most interesting and most relevant research on this topic conducted since the 80s to the present. Even though it is difficult to summarize the results of individual studies, mainly because of differences in research methodology and differently chosen tested samples, we can say that the main finding of this metareview is that display technologies that are available these days have no negative effect on eye fatigue, reading speed, perception, understanding or retention of text. Theoretical part of this thesis is followed by practical part that consists of three short experiments performed on a small sample of participants. First of those experiments studies differences in reading comprehension and retention among high school students, second experiment focuses on differences in reading speed on different media and subjective evaluation of eye fatigue, and the third experiment is an online form about subjective preferences of study materials among learners.

This experimental study investigated the relationship between the independent measures of font selection, type size, and type rendering technology and the dependent measures of legibility, as measured by the Chapman-Cook speed of reading test, as well as comprehension, as measured by a series of questions from the verbal comprehension section of the Graduate Record Exam. An electronic instrument presented test items in 12 different typographic styles. The study tested 117 college students at a university in southwestern Virginia. Each participant encountered anti-alias type rendering style and the orthochromatic type rendering style while participants were randomly assigned to either Helvetica or Palatino (font selection) and 8, 10 or 12 point type size. Results indicated that the 12 point type size was read more quickly than either 8 point type or 10 point type. There was also an interaction between font selection and type rendering technology for speed of reading: Helvetica without an anti-alias was read more quickly than Helvetica with an anti-alias and more quickly than Palatino without an anti-alias. These findings contradict an earlier, similar study. There were no significant results with regard to comprehension. <i>[Vita removed Oct. 13, 2010. GMc]</i> / Ph. D.

v anglickém jazyce Title: How the students of the 9th grades of elementary schools understand the digital versions of texts comparing to the printed ones. Goal: The dissertation aims at drawing the comparaison between the digital and the printed versions of the identical materials. The research was held in a number of selected schools. The materials were presented via personal computers, tablet personal computers and in printed versions. Our goal is to determine the differences among all the three kinds of media in terms of understanding the presented texts. Procedure: The essay is primarily based on the historical and the present days research of comprehensive reading. It also follows the bachelor essay written in 2014. Output: The theoretical processing of basic terms and the review of both the previous and the latest outcomes of the scientific literature. The most important part of the essay were focus on the research and the subsequent assessment of the findings. The research itself was preceded by a pre - research. The essay included the qualitative research which was reached through one of the comprehension test methods. The students were provided with the questionnaire comprising questions. The text was distributed both in the digital and in the printed versions.

La dyslexie est un trouble neurodéveloppemental nuisant au développement normal de la fluidité en lecture. Certains processus de base à la lecture pourraient être atteints chez les dyslexiques et entraîner des répercussions touchant les représentations de haut niveau des mots en découlant : orthographique, phonologique et sémantique. Un de ces processus de base est le déploiement spatio-temporel de l’attention sur des séquences de stimuli multiples alignés à l’horizontale. L’efficacité de ce déploiement pourrait être étroitement liée à l’expertise en lecture chez les normo-lecteurs, et des irrégularités dans celui-ci pourraient être observées chez des dyslexiques. Malheureusement, la caractérisation de ce déploiement en contexte de reconnaissance de mots écrits, son implication dans la vitesse de lecture et (potentiellement) même dans certaines habiletés langagières demeurent largement sous-spécifiées. Le premier article de cette thèse vise à révéler les divergences du déploiement de l’attention dans le temps et dans l’espace pendant la reconnaissance d’un mot familier chez un groupe d’adultes dyslexiques par rapport à un groupe de normo-lecteurs. Les groupes sont appariés en termes d’âge et de fonctionnement intellectuel. Cet objectif est poursuivi avec la technique de sonde attentionnelle. Les résultats révèlent que les dyslexiques dirigent moins de ressources attentionnelles vers la première lettre d’un mot, ce qui est sous-optimal considérant que la première lettre d’un mot est particulièrement informative sur son identité. Le deuxième article de cette thèse vise à déterminer si les habiletés en lecture de texte et de traitement phonologique chez les dyslexiques peuvent bénéficier d’un entraînement attentionnel court. Un protocole utilisant un entraînement visuo-attentionnel (NeuroTracker) et un entraînement placebo chez une vingtaine d’adultes dyslexiques met en évidence des gains systématiques immédiatement après l’entraînement actif. L’ordre des entraînements (actif puis placebo, ou placebo puis actif) était contrebalancé entre deux groupes. Ces gains s’observent en vitesse de lecture, et même au niveau de la conscience phonologique. Le troisième article de cette thèse apporte finalement une contribution additionnelle significative pour l’évaluation de la vitesse de la lecture chez les adultes universitaires franco-québécois. L’utilisation des phrases-tests d’un outil existant (MNRead) a été intégrée à un protocole de présentation visuelle sérielle rapide pour l’évaluation de la vitesse de lecture. En plus de cet ensemble de phrases-test, quatre autres ensembles de phrases-test ont été normés. L’outil développé permet d’obtenir une mesure de la vitesse de lecture fiable chez un même individu à différentes reprises (Exp. 1) et il satisfait différents standards psychométriques (Exps. 1 et 2), en étant notamment sensible à la présence des difficultés en lecture retrouvées chez les dyslexiques (Exp. 2). En somme, il appert que certains processus visuo-attentionnels sous-tendent l’expertise en lecture et que ceux-ci pourraient présenter des irrégularités chez les dyslexiques. La caractérisation d’un déploiement attentionnel sous-optimal en reconnaissance de mots familiers tout comme les bénéfices obtenus en lecture et en traitement phonologique subséquents à un entraînement attentionnels mettent en lumière l’importance de ces processus de base en lecture. / Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects the normal development of reading fluency. Deficits affecting basic reading processes may affect dyslexics and would thus alter high-level word representations: orthographic, phonological, and semantic. One of these basic processes is the attentional mechanism that is involved in the visual processing of horizontal multi-element strings such as words. The effectiveness of this mechanism could be closely related to reading expertise in normal readers and anomalies thereof could be observed in dyslexics. Unfortunately, it remains unclear how attention is deployed during visual word recognition and how it may impact on reading speed and potentially on certain language skills. The first article of this thesis aims to shed light on divergences in the deployment of attention through time and space during the recognition of familiar words in a group of adults with dyslexia in comparison to normal readers. These groups were matched in terms of age and intellectual functioning. This objective is pursued with the attentional probe technique. Results reveal that less attentional resources are directed to the first letter of a word in dyslexics, which is suboptimal considering that the first letter of a word has a higher diagnostic value than any other letter position. The goal of the second article is to determine if reading fluency and phonological awareness in dyslexics may benefit from a short attentional training. The effects of an active training using the NeuroTracker program and a placebo training in adults with dyslexia shows systematic gains immediately after active training. The order of the training (active then placebo, or placebo then active) was counter-balanced across two groups. These gains are observed on reading speed as well as on phonological awareness. The third article of this thesis finally brings a significant additional contribution to the evaluation of reading speed among Quebec university students. The use of test sentences from an existing tool (MNRead) has been incorporated into a rapid visual serial presentation protocol to assess reading speed. In addition to this set of test sentences, four other sets of test sentences have been standardized. The tool is reliable, as reading speed measurements are similar in the same individual at different times (Exp 1). Moreover, it meets different psychometric standards (Exps 1 and 2) while being particularly sensitive to the presence of the reading difficulties found in dyslexics (Exp.2). In sum, it appears that particular visual-attention processes underlie reading expertise and that these show anomalies in dyslexics. The characterization of a suboptimal attention deployment in visual word recognition as well as the benefits obtained in reading and phonological awareness subsequent to an attentional training highlight the importance of these basic processes in reading.

Research into the effects of extensive reading (ER) in second language acquisition has surged over the past few decades. Many studies report several benefits that come from engaging in ER, including reading rate gains. However, these studies almost exclusively focus on English language learners and tend to be limited by their lack of control over how the ER treatment is conducted. Furthermore, experimental and quantitative studies that investigate the possible effects of ER on the reading skills of learners of Japanese have yet to be fully explored. The goal of this study was to investigate the possible effects of ER on the reading rate development of learners of Japanese as a foreign language. This study also aimed to examine the level of comprehension learners were able to maintain as their reading rates increased as well as the feasibility of a 12,000 character (7,200 standard word) per week reading goal. Finally, this study also surveyed learner perceptions of ER.<br><br>Using a quantitative single-case experiment design, eight intermediate-level learners of Japanese were monitored engaging in ER following strict adherence to ER principles over two and a half to four months. Longitudinal reading rate data as well as reading comprehension, ER, and survey data were collected over the course of the study. Results showed that participants’ reading rates increased significantly following the ER treatment. Furthermore, participants’ comprehension abilities were not hampered by an increase in their reading rates. Results also indicate that a weekly reading goal of 12,000 characters is likely feasible for intermediate-level learners. Finally, it was found that participants had overwhelmingly positive attitudes towards ER. This study provides evidence that ER has the potential to provide a highly enjoyable activity while substantially increasing learner reading rates without hindering comprehension.<p></p>

本研究以Stroop中文叫色作業，測驗兒童和成人在Stroop作業之練習和刺激向度分離等情形下，其干擾效果的變化情形。共執行兩個實驗，實驗一中的受試者先接受中性刺激和不和諧刺激的測驗，然後對兩類作業練習8日，其後再測驗一次，探討受試者在練習前、後之干擾效果的變化情形。另一組受試接受實驗二中，中性刺激、整合性不和諧刺激和分離性不和諧刺激等作業的測驗，藉以比較整合性干擾和分離性干擾的差異。兩組受試者皆接受文字閱讀的速度測驗。 結果發現，小學二年級兒童的Stroop干擾效果最大，六年級兒童次之，成人最小，這與之前文獻上所載的研究一致，同時也證實，練習確能降低干擾效果，但仍不能使其完全消失，且練習後，三組受試間的干擾效果已無顯著差異。在實驗二的結果顯著，刺激向度分離的干擾效果仍然存在，但比整合性干擾效果小，且受試者間的分離性干擾也沒有顯著差異。而所有受試的閱讀速度均快於叫色速度。 / The study was used the Stroop Chinese task to examine the course of the Stroop interference among second, sixth grade children and adults. Two experiments were conducted. In experiment I, participants were tested with neutral and incongruent tasks and practiced with the same tasks for the following 8 days. They were tested neutral and incongruent tasks again. Then examined the course of the Stroop interference among children of second, sixth grade children and adults, they were test with neutral and incongruent tasks again. Then examine the course of the Stroop interference in between children and adult during before and after practice. The other group of participants took part in experiment II. They were presented with three tasks consist of neutral, integrated and separated incongruent tasks. Then examine the difference of the interference among children of second, sixth grade and adult during integrated and separated incongruent tasks. Two groups of participants were presented word reading speed of task. The finding of the study was Stroop interference increased from the adults through the sixth grade children and finally to the second grade children is in line with previous finding. We have confirmed that although interference decreases with practice, it is very resistant to eradication. After practice, the interference between children and adults is not significant difference. In the experiment II, it was that separated Stroop stimulus showed interference, and the amount was relatively small. The interference of separated Stroop task among children of second, sixth grade and adults were not significant difference. All participants took longer to name color than to read words.