Reading Development Research Articles

The Impact of Parents' Reading Beliefs on Children's Reading Interests: Possible Influential Factors and Suggestions for Promoting Early Reading Development

The Impact of Parents' Reading Beliefs on Children's Reading Interests: Possible Influential Factors and Suggestions for Promoting Early Reading Development

The impact of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic on reading fluency among second grade students: socioeconomic and gender perspectives.

The acquisition of reading skills is a crucial milestone in early education, with formal instruction and practice playing pivotal roles. The outbreak of COVID-19 led to widespread school closures and a shift to remote learning. This study aimed to investigate the effects of school closures on reading acquisition and fluency among a large sample of second-grade children, considering socioeconomic status (SES) and gender differences. In 2019, a cohort of 2228 second-grade students from 34 schools was assessed for word reading fluency and comprehension. In 2020, during the pandemic, 765 students from a subsample of 20 original schools were re-evaluated using the same measures. The study also collected school-related data. The findings from the entire sample indicated no significant differences in fluency and comprehension scores between children in the second grade in 2019 and 2020. However, a significant interaction emerged when analyzing low SES versus high SES children. Children from low SES backgrounds exhibited notably lower reading scores after a year of remote learning due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, the disparity in reading scores between low SES and high SES children nearly doubled in 2020. Gender differences were also detected. These results underscore the impact of remote learning during the COVID-19 crisis on exacerbating gaps in reading fluency and comprehension between children from high and low SES backgrounds. The implications of these findings highlight the critical role of in-person schooling and targeted support for disadvantaged students, especially during pivotal stages of reading development.

English Teaching Methods in Chinese and Pakistani Educational Institutes: A Comparative Review

English, a language that symbolizes opportunities and advancement, has become an essential asset for both China and Pakistan as they strive to expedite their progress in the contemporary world. This article presents a comprehensive review of English language teaching approaches in China and Pakistan, emphasizing their substantial contributions to progress and prosperity in these regions. The primary objectives are to identify the pedagogical approaches, teacher training, challenges, and innovations in each country's English language education. It delves into the evolving landscape of English language instruction, emphasizing its influence on these nations and investigating their historical, linguistic, and cultural influences on English language education. China prioritizes the development of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills to drive economic growth and international influence. Meanwhile, Pakistan seeks socio-economic mobility and sustainable prosperity, shaped by its colonial heritage and global connections. The integration of digital tools offers immersive experiences, enhancing language proficiency and communication skills. In conclusion, this comprehensive research examines English language teaching in China and Pakistan, stressing the significance of tackling common challenges and harnessing technology. These insights empower educators to create dynamic English learning environments that foster individual development and contribute to overall progress in both nations.

Literacy instruction and lexicon size determine bilingual reading development of Russian-German children

Research question: How does Russian and German reading comprehension develop during the first 3 years of primary school in Russian heritage speakers and which factors predict performance in each language? Methodology: 40 Russian-German children were tested annually from first to third grade (age in grade 1 M = 7; 1 years). Reading was assessed with comparable Russian and German word and sentence reading comprehension tests. The Russian test was available in Cyrillic and Latin script (the latter for children who could not read Cyrillic letters). Potential predictors included lexicon size in Russian and German and rapid automatized naming (RAN) of numbers (both assessed in primary school). Other factors were assessed in kindergarten, that is, nonverbal reasoning and, derived from a parents’ questionnaire, their socioeconomic status and language input in the family. Data and analysis: Linear regressions were used to compare the development of Russian and German. Stepwise regression analyses identified predictors for reading comprehension in each language. Findings: German reading ability improved faster than that of Russian, likely due to the increasing amount of German input outside the family, literacy instruction in German at school, and the large variance in Russian literacy abilities. Children who could read Cyrillic script, who likely received some form of Russian literacy instruction, and who had a larger Russian lexicon size exhibited better reading performance. These results are discussed regarding the divergent attainment trajectories. Decisive factors for German were German lexicon size and RAN. Originality: This longitudinal study tracked Russian and German reading development over 3 years in primary school, assessed Russian reading in Cyrillic and Latin scripts, and identified predictors for bilingual reading development in both languages. Implications: To become proficient readers in their heritage language, children need to have a substantial lexicon size and receive literacy instruction.

The Cook Sorcerer: a game to assist in the treatment of symbolic behavior, favoring generalized recombinative reading in autistic children

This article presents a game developed as an Educational Product resulting from the research of a Professional Master's Degree in Professional and Technological Education with the aim of assisting professionals in the field of Education and Health in teaching symbolic behavior, specifically the development of reading through discrimination and the recombination of syllabic units of words with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental delays. The game was developed from collaborative work with students from the IT Technical High School at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Maranhão (IFMA) Campus Codó, and is divided into tasks involving learning arrangements of two-syllable and three-syllable words, and positive reinforcement for teaching discrimination and recombination of syllables essential for literacy. Bibliographical research was carried out as a research methodology, using Applied Behavior as theoretical contributions. Analysis (ABA–Applied Behavior Analysis) and applied field research with students with ASD attended in the first literacy cycle in the Multifunctional Resource Room of the Emanuel Aroso Basic Education Unit. As results, we obtained an understanding of the way in which the teaching of relationships between stimuli and expansion for teaching reading and writing procedures in ASD is organized, such as: CRMTS (Constructed Response Matching to Sample – Matching to the model by constructed response) through the game. It is noteworthy that the aforementioned project covers the Priority Area of Technologies for Quality of Life, in the Health and Assistive Technologies sectors, established by ORDINANCE No. 1,122, OF MARCH 19, 2020, of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC).

Մանկապաանեկան ընթերցանության խթանման գործում միջազգային համագործակցության դերակատարությունը

Library services to children and youth are essential in the development and maintenance of democratic society, offering them wide ac-cess and diversity of knowledge and self-education. However, it should be noted that one of the main problems of modern society is the development of reading and literacy of children and adolescents, and the mission of children's libraries is to contribute to the promotion of reading among children and adolescents using all available resources: exchange of international experience, cooperation with international organizations of the library sector and foreign specialists. Because it is necessary to form the habit of reading from the early age of the child. Library events are very important, which should be aimed at the promotion of children's book loving and reading, popularization of books and literature. Effective and professional management of children's libraries requires trained and committed librarians who will design, organize, implement library programs and services for the provision of extracurricular education and multifaceted development of children. We can state that Khnko Aper National Children's Library regularly participated and participates in international children's book fairs, conferences, seminars and other programs in order to develop children's and youth reading and exchange experience, cooperating with international partners to the maximum and designing programs that contribute to the promotion of children's and youth reading.

Morphological awareness predicts reading comprehension in first grade students

Research examining a role for morphological awareness in first grade students’ reading comprehension is scarce, although it is a well-established predictor for students in mid-to-late elementary school. One question that remains is whether morphological awareness explains unique variance in these young readers’ comprehension after accounting for other oral language skills. In this longitudinal study, we assessed Grade 1 students’ inflectional morphological awareness as a predictor of their concurrent (n = 58) and Grade 2 (n = 55) reading comprehension. When controlling for decoding and vocabulary, Grade 1 morphological awareness explained unique variance in concurrent and subsequent reading comprehension (4% and 5%, respectively). In novel analyses that controlled for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness, morphological awareness explained unique variance in Grade 2 reading comprehension (5%), but not in concurrent reading comprehension. This unique contribution only in second grade may be because decoding skills accounted for less of the overall variance in second than in first grade comprehension or due to the expectation that polymorphemic words are more frequent in second grade texts. Overall, morphological awareness emerged as the strongest oral language predictor in all models. These results support morphological awareness’ relevance to reading comprehension from early in children’s reading development and highlight the need for research to further explore the effects of targeting English morphological awareness with young students.

An Investigation of the Differences in Phonological Awareness Performance Based on Cognitive Style

Purpose: Research in cognitive style has shown its relevance in predicting reading ability. However, its effect on phonological awareness, which plays a central role in reading acquisition, remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in phonological awareness based on cognitive style. Method: Twenty-nine monolingual English speaking African American and Caucasian 6-year-old 1st grade students from the Washington DC metropolitan area participated in the study. Participants were distributed as follows: 11 females, 18 males, 21 African Americans, and 8 Caucasians. Participants were of middle-class socioeconomic background with no evidence of cognitive, language, phonological, articulation or hearing deficits. Testing occurred over two sessions scheduled on different days. During the first session, participants were individually administered the Cognitive Style Assessment Protocol (CSAP) to measure cognitive style and assigned to either the wholistic or analytic cognitive style group. In the second session, the Phonological Awareness Assessment Protocol (PAAP) was administered to measure the main components of phonological awareness. Raw data consisted of participant scores on the CSAP and PAAP. Data were analyzed using two-tailed t-tests to determine if there were significant group differences between the analytic and wholistic groups in phonological awareness and its components. Results: Results showed that students with an analytic cognitive style performed better than those with a wholistic cognitive style on overall phonological awareness and on the following phonological awareness components: syllable segmentation, phoneme substitution, and phoneme blending. No significant group differences were found on rhyming, phoneme isolation, phoneme deletion, and phoneme segmentation tasks. Conclusion: Findings showed some differences in phonological awareness between analytic and wholistic students with analytic students performing better than wholistic students. These differences in aspects of phonological awareness seem to implicate cognitive style in reading acquisition given the central role that phonological awareness pays in reading development and suggest that wholistic students may experience reading difficulties that stem from their cognitive orientation.

Perfectivity and predicate-centered focus in narrative: Functions of “strong” forms in Koyraboro Senni

Koyraboro Senni (KS), a Malian language of Songhay family, has a system of TAM markers that distinguish two aspectual categories – the perfective and the imperfective and three series – the “weak” series used in neutral declarative clauses and clauses with a non-subject focus, the subject-focus series, and the “strong” series, which is used for predicate-centered focus. The paper studies the use of the strong in-focus forms in a corpus of narrative texts and shows that the strong perfectives in most cases are used to describe real events, while strong imperfectives are irrealis-oriented. Contrary to implications of our current knowledge of polyfunctionality of in-focus forms the strong imperfective is not used for present progressive and is relatively frequent in narrative texts. I also argue that while the perfective part of the system is better understood as the result of development of typical intrinsically-focused reading – the perfect, its imperfective part is better explained in line with Tatevosov’s (2005) proposal of direct development of the habitual to the prospective.

Will you read how I will read? Naturalistic fMRI predictors of emergent reading

Despite reading being an essential and almost universal skill in the developed world, reading proficiency varies substantially from person to person. To study why, the fMRI field is beginning to turn from single-word or nonword reading tasks to naturalistic stimuli like connected text and listening to stories. To study reading development in children just beginning to read, listening to stories is an appropriate paradigm because speech perception and phonological processing are important for, and are predictors of, reading proficiency. Our study examined the relationship between behavioral reading-related skills and the neural response to listening to stories in the fMRI environment. Functional MRI were gathered in a 3T TIM-Trio scanner. During the fMRI scan, children aged approximately 7 years listened to professionally narrated common short stories and answered comprehension questions following the narration. Analyses of the data used inter-subject correlation (ISC), and representational similarity analysis (RSA). Our primary finding is that ISC reveals areas of increased synchrony in both high- and low-performing emergent readers previously implicated in reading ability/disability. Of particular interest are that several previously identified brain regions (medial temporal gyrus (MTG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), inferior temporal gyrus (ITG)) were found to “synchronize” across higher reading ability participants, while lower reading ability participants had idiosyncratic activation patterns in these regions. Additionally, two regions (superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and another portion of ITG) were recruited by all participants, but their specific timecourse of activation depended on reading performance. These analyses support the idea that different brain regions involved in reading follow different developmental trajectories that correlate with reading proficiency on a spectrum rather than the usual dichotomy of poor readers versus strong readers.

Effectiveness of CIRC to Enhance Chinese Reading and Writing Skills for Grad 3 Primary Students in Liuzhou City, China

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of implementing the Collaborative Strategic Reading (CIRC) approach in reading instruction on the development of reading and writing abilities among third-grade children in primary schools. Utilizing a unified pre-test and post-test experimental design. The study’s sample consists of 43 students that are enrolled in Class 1 of Grade 3. The study involved the implementation of Collaborative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) methodology in Chinese reading instruction. Additionally, self-designed assessments were administered to measure the students’ reading and writing proficiency levels. These assessments were conducted both before to and after the experimental intervention, allowing for the examination of any variations in the students’ scores. The data underwent analysis utilizing the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), which involved calculating the mean, standard deviation, and conducting a T-test. The findings of the study suggest that the use of CIRC (Cognitive Instructional Reading Comprehension) in Chinese reading instruction yields a substantial enhancement in the reading and writing proficiencies of elementary school children. Moreover, there is a notable increase in the scores across several dimensions of reading and writing skills. Based on the findings of this study, the researchers propose the implementation of CIRC technology in Chinese reading instruction across several grade levels as a means to augment students’ proficiency in reading and writing.

Digital Literacy: Enhancing English Reading Comprehension Among Foreign Language Students

Digital literacy has become an essential tool for authentic communication, information accessibility, and reading development. To enhance reading comprehension among English as a foreign language (EFL) students, an effective reading instruction that integrated technology into language teaching should incorporate digital literacy. This mixed-method study aimed to examine how digital literacy enhanced EFL students' reading comprehension and what focus areas of the digital literacy they employed within and beyond the classroom. Thirty Thai high school students participated in this digital literacy instruction for ten weeks. Findings from the Wilcoxon signed-rank test on the reading comprehension test revealed that the digital literacy enhanced EFL students' reading comprehension, particularly reading and evaluating information from texts. They reported from the questionnaire and semi-structured interviews that they tended to access and process information through the focus area of communicating and information in digital literacy for better comprehension beyond the classroom.

Developing Reading Skill among Iraqi ENGLISH AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE learners

The main thrust of the present study was to improve Iraqi English as foreign language learners’ speaking. To this end, 30 ENGLISH AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE learners were selected as the participants of the study. All participants took the pretest followed by 25 ninety-minute sessions in which the learners presented their lectures (totally 9 lectures) followed by the challenging questions that they had to answer and the correction feedback in terms of vocabulary, structure, collocation, etc. Moreover, every three lectures followed by taking a progressive test, the posttest and the delayed posttest. Having followed the repeated measure ANOVA, the researcher put the data into SPSS 22 and analyzed it in terms of both descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that teaching Reading through the tenets of sociocultural theory is influential and equally effective for all participants irrespective to their level or age. The results of the study indicated that presenting lecture improves the learners’ Reading development, consciousness-raring regarding learning processes and learning linguistic items, collaboration, autonomy and motivation. It was also pointed out that learning is not a straightforward transmission of knowledge provided by the teacher but a transformative and complex process for which learner’s agency, engagement and their co-construction of knowledge are crucial.

Reading to Young Children: Higher Home Frequency Associated with Higher Educational Achievement in PIRLS and PISA

The benefits of reading aloud to young children for their reading development are well documented, and international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) offer an opportunity to explore its unique contribution to literacy achievement at both the primary and secondary levels. Using Portuguese data from ILSAs, this study shows the relationship between reading to young children in the home context and their later reading performance. Specifically, we use the Program for International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011, which tests fourth-grade students, and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, which is used for the assessment of 15-year-olds. Data sources from these surveys include the mean reading performance of similar cohorts of students and home/parental questionnaires that include questions about the frequency of home book-reading, as well as other background variables. Linear regression analyses show a positive and significant relationship, both at the fourth-grade level and in secondary school, between students’ performance and having been read to at home during early childhood. These findings indicate that the advantages associated with book reading in the early years are maintained throughout students’ schooling. In addition, the analysis shows that, in both surveys, girls score higher than boys in reading, and that there is a positive association between parental education and reading achievement. Implications about how children’s early literacy development sets the foundation for future educational achievement are discussed, namely in the context of country-specific reading initiatives and reading practices.

Empowering first graders with computer-based training to master pre-reading skills and bridge the learning gap

AbstractThe ability to read is fundamental in determining an individual’s academic success and social integration, and it is also known to have an impact on other cognitive abilities. A lack of foundational pre-reading skills can accumulate later, causing reading and learning problems. Early diagnosis and development of these skills are therefore essential. Although the importance of early reading development has always been stressed, recent years have drawn increasing attention to the need for targeted improvement. We have addressed this need by developing a computer-based training program in pre-reading skills for first graders; the present paper presents the results of an intervention using this program. Participants in the quasi-experimental study were 336 first graders. To increase the validity of the results, propensity score matching was utilized to analyze the impact of the pre-reading skills program. As a result of the program, students’ development in the intervention group significantly accelerated (Cohen’s d = .59). An immense effect of the intervention was indicated among students in the lower third skill group (Cohen’s d = 2.83).Latent-change analyses supported the relevance and importance of the development of phonological awareness at the ages of 6–8 and the generalizability of the results (χ2 = 14.9; df = 10; p < .05; CFI = .991; TLI = .989; RMSEA = .58 (CI: .000, .114). This research demonstrates that an effective computer-based program can effectively bridge the learning gap in pre-reading skills during early stages of education, even in challenging times without the direct involvement of a teacher.

Early reading at first grade predicts adult reading at age 42 in typical and dyslexic readers

Research indicates that the achievement gap in reading between typical and dyslexic readers is already evident in first grade and persists through adolescence. However, it is not known whether this reading gap persists into adult life. In this report we use an epidemiologic sample of 312 children (typical readers = 246; dyslexic readers = 66), followed longitudinally from age 5 through adulthood and examine two fundamental questions: 1) Is reading level in 1st grade predictive of reading proficiency in adulthood in typical and dyslexic readers? and 2) Are the trajectories of reading development from 1st through 5th grade predictive of reading proficiency in adulthood in typical and dyslexic readers? Our findings indicate that early reading levels in 1st grade as well as the trajectory of reading development through the first five years of school were associated with reading scores in adulthood. This association was stronger for dyslexic than for typical readers, especially the latter factor. These findings indicate that the achievement gap between typical and dyslexic readers persists far beyond adolescence, in fact, into adult life.

Eye Movement Evidence for Simultaneous Cognitive Processing in Reading.

Measuring simultaneous processing, a reliable predictor of reading development and reading difficulties (RDs), has traditionally involved cognitive tasks that test reaction or response time, which only capture the efficiency at the output processing stage and neglect the internal stages of information processing. However, with eye-tracking methodology, we can reveal the underlying temporal and spatial processes involved in simultaneous processing and investigate whether these processes are equivalent across chronological or reading age groups. This study used eye-tracking to investigate the simultaneous processing abilities of 15 Grade 6 and 15 Grade 3 children with RDs and their chronological-age controls (15 in each Grade). The Grade 3 typical readers were used as reading-level (RL) controls for the Grade 6 RD group. Participants were required to listen to a question and then point to a picture among four competing illustrations demonstrating the spatial relationship raised in the question. Two eye movements (fixations and saccades) were recorded using the EyeLink 1000 Plus eye-tracking system. The results showed that the Grade 3 RD group produced more and longer fixations than their CA controls, indicating that the pattern of eye movements of young children with RD is typically deficient compared to that of their typically developing counterparts when processing verbal and spatial stimuli simultaneously. However, no differences were observed between the Grade 6 groups in eye movement measures. Notably, the Grade 6 RD group outperformed the RL-matched Grade 3 group, yielding significantly fewer and shorter fixations. The discussion centers on the role of the eye-tracking method as a reliable means of deciphering the simultaneous cognitive processing involved in learning.

Developmental leisure reading profiles and their association with reading skills across Grades 1–9

This study examined the developmental profiles of different leisure reading habits and their association with reading fluency and comprehension in 2525 Finnish students from Grade 1 to 9. Four profiles were identified based on the reading frequency of different materials: Comics readers, Online readers, Book readers and Non-readers. Profile differences in leisure reading emerged early, although leisure reading levels changed. Boys were over-represented in the Comics readers and Non-readers, while girls were over-represented in the Online readers and Book readers. Book readers showed the highest level of reading skills, though Comics readers were also above-average readers. Among Online readers, girls had above average skills in reading while boys had below-average skills. Non-readers, especially boys, had the poorest reading skills. The study highlights the emergence of early onset individual differences in leisure reading habits and an association between different kinds of active leisure reading and reading development across grades. The educational relevance and implications statementLeisure reading is important as it can contribute to the evolution of a positive or negative cycle of reading development. Our study aimed to identify different leisure reading habits and their development and how these habits connect to reading skills. Our study revealed that there are different leisure reading profiles and that differences in these profiles emerge early. Our results indicate that although active book reading is associated with the best reading skills, other kinds of active reading also connect to above-average reading skills. Passivity in leisure reading is related to the poorest skills in reading.On the basis of these results, besides book reading, the reading of lighter materials like magazines, newspapers and comics, deserves to be encouraged. This kind of reading is connected to above-average skills and is popular especially among boys, who are at higher risk of ending up as passive leisure readers. Additionally, it might be important to target the reading motivation actions of children before they reach primary school age in the home and kindergarten settings to enhance the adoption of beneficial leisure reading habits before these are established.

Between the Lines: Integrating the Science of Reading and the Science of Behavior to Improve Reading Outcomes for Australian Children

Many Australian students fail to meet an acceptable standard of reading proficiency. This can negatively impact their academic progress, social, and emotional well-being, and increase their risk of developing challenging behaviors. These risks and challenges have been found to compound over the lifetime of the learner. Unfortunately, the proportion of Australian students who fail to meet reading proficiency standards increases as they move through their years of schooling, and reading difficulties disproportionately affect historically marginalized groups. This has raised concerns about the effectiveness of instructional approaches used within the Australian education system, particularly in reading, and prompted discussions of reform. The purpose of this review paper was to examine the contributions of the science of reading and science of behavior to our collective knowledge regarding reading development and effective reading instruction, and how this knowledge is currently being used in the Australian context. We provide a discussion on the current state of reading instruction and achievement in Australia by considering national trends, inequities, and systemic challenges. Implications and recommendations to address inequities in reading outcomes, using both the science of reading and science of behavior, are discussed.

Brain changes with Chinese reading development in typical and atypical readers

Brain changes with Chinese reading development in typical and atypical readers