Developmental Reading Courses Research Articles

Teaching Textual Conversations: Intertextuality in the College Reading Classroom

In this article, a model of intertextuality is introduced as an instructional approach for postsecondary developmental reading courses. This model involves a scaffolded, schema-building approach to teaching college reading that aims to link core material (a text, a concept, or specific academic content) with supplementary texts that focus on specific topics associated with that core material. The purpose is to facilitate the building of a knowledge base on topics associated with the core material in order for students to engage on a deeper level with that core material. Two exemplar course designs are described: one at a community college and another in an alternative-admissions program in a university setting. Implications for practice and future research possibilities are included.

The Impact of Using Blogs on College Students' Reading Comprehension and Learning Motivation

Research studies on college reading have been emphasizing the effectiveness of instruction and the correlation of reading performance to college success. Little research has been conducted regarding college developmental readers' preferences for using digital texts to communicate. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether students' reading level will improve if the students have the opportunity to use digital texts with a blogging tool. The researchers worked with 149 college students and 2 instructors to integrate blogs into developmental reading courses. The researchers collected and analyzed both quantitative data and qualitative data. The results indicate that using blogs correlated positively with higher retention rate. The article also describes challenges encountered in this project, and suggests integration strategies for college reading instruction.

What Can Standardized Reading Tests Tell Us? Question-answer Relationships and Students' Performance

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsDanhua WangDanhua Wang is an Assistant Professor of Reading at St. Louis Community College in Missouri, where she teaches different levels of a developmental reading course and a freshman English composition course. The author wants to express her appreciation to Dr. John Cosgrove for the institutional support. She received her Ph. D. in reading and language arts from Oakland University in Michigan.

Refugees from Reading: Students' perceptions of “remedial” literacy pedagogy

The central theme of this paper is that developmental reading courses in college settings need to be revised in ways that will not perpetuate cycles of remediation that students have experienced in previous educational settings. Developmental reading courses are filled with students who possess poor concepts about themselves as readers. These concepts arise partly from previous histories of remedial educational endeavors. This study suggests that through “critical” metacognition these negative concepts can be addressed in ways that assist developmental readers with renaming their literacy experiences and allowing them to progress.

Using Racialized Text in a College Developmental Reading Course: An Interview Study

The following article brings attention to the limited curriculum theorizing of college developmental readings courses. The author embraces the concept of curriculum as racialized text and integrates this with explicit strategy instruction. The effects of this integration on the students reading ability and “personhood” are surmised during an interview study. This article suggests that they are viable alternatives for teaching developmental reading courses other than an approach based on a time-honored tradition of curriculum.

Case Studies in Support of Multiple Criteria for Developmental Reading Placement

Three incoming first-year community college students were advised into developmental reading courses because of low scores on the Nelson Denny Reading Test. While the developmental reading course was beneficial for two of the students, it was found to be an unnecessary course for the third student.

DEVELOPMENTAL COURSE WORK AND EARLY PLACEMENT: SUCCESS STRATEGIES FOR UNDERPREPARED COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to determine if selected input and environmental variables had an effect on the successful outcome of degree-seeking, underprepared students entering a comprehensive, public, 2‐year community college, ASSET test scores were used to identify underprepared students and placement in developmental English, math, and reading course work. Successful underprepared students differed significantly from unsuccessful underprepared students on the measured input, environmental, and output variables. Results of the study showed that completion of a developmental reading and English course was a significant variable in separating the 2 groups of underprepared students. In addition, those who completed developmental course work early in their college career fared better academically than those who did not. Findings support recommendations of mandatory placement and successful completion of developmental reading and English courses prior to or concurrent with enrollment in other college courses. The study also suggests a need to reexamine other institutional policies and practices that may be related to the overall academic achievement of underprepared, degree-seeking students.

The effect of topic interest and prior knowledge on the predicted test questions of developmental college readers

Abstract The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of topic interest and prior knowledge on predicted test questions of developmental college readers. A secondary purpose was to determine if overall differences in the quality of student generated predictions existed in multiple‐choice and essay questions. Seventy‐seven students enrolled in a university developmental reading course read passages in each of four conditions: high interest, high prior knowledge; high interest, low prior knowledge; low interest, high prior knowledge; and low interest, low prior knowledge. Students then were asked to predict multiple‐choice and essay questions that might appear on a college exam based on each passage. Student‐generated questions were evaluated in terms of accuracy of prediction, salience, clarity, and number of higher order questions. Results suggest that under certain conditions topic interest and prior knowledge can influence student‐generated questions, and that differential patterns of qu...

Beyond Comprehension Exercises in the ESL Academic Reading Class

Recent research in L1 reading and education has focused on cognitive and metacognitive strategies that can increase students' comprehension and learning of academic subject matter from written text. However, the insights from this work have had limited impact on academic purposes ESL curricula. ESL developmental reading courses continue to rely on such standard activities as comprehension and skill-building exercises. Study strategies may receive little attention or be taught generically. This article urges English for academic purposes (EAP) programs to devise more holistic, task- and text-specific, strategy-oriented approaches for reading instruction. Recommendations are given for selecting reading materials, defining criterion tasks, and providing strategy instruction to prepare intermediate- and advanced-level ESL students to meet the demands of reading assignments in secondary and postsecondary content classes.

The Effect of Computer-Administered Testing on Test Anxiety and Performance

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a computer-administered test on test anxiety and performance. The sample comprised twenty-six male and fourteen female college students enrolled in a developmental reading course at a private university. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a computerized or to a pencil-and-paper testing situation. Both groups were administered a revised version of the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS-R) and a sample of items from the California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity (CMM). Mean differences between groups on the TAS-R and the CMM were tested for significance using t-tests. The results indicated significant differences in anxiety level, t(38) = −1.87, p < .05, and test performance, t(38) = 2.68, p < .01. It was concluded that computer-administered testing can potentially increase test anxiety and depress test performance for examinees who are relatively unfamiliar with computers.

Content analysis of 47 college learning skills textbooks

Abstract This article describes criteria used for selecting learning/study skills textbooks for college freshmen in a required developmental reading course. It identifies, in current textbooks, five instructional orientations: reading skills texts, learning skills texts, combined reading and study skills texts, specialty texts, and resource or supplementary texts. An accompanying checklist analyzes the content of 47 major textbooks in relation to these orientations. All except one of the texts .were published since 1981, and changing trends in content coverage since 1981 are noted. The article characterizes the students of this college learning skills course and briefly details the qualifications of the designers.

A survey of college reading/study skills texts

Abstract This article reviews the results of a survey of reading/study skills texts for college developmental reading courses. Textual and content factors chosen for inclusion are described and relevant research cited. Seventeen college survival skills, reading instruction, and reading practice texts currently on the market were randomly chosen for the survey. Survey based recommendations are made which can be used by instructors for selection of texts. Additionally, the survey format can be used by instructors to evaluate texts not included in the survey.

Students' Self-Questioning and Summarizing as Reading Study Strategies

The effects of student-generated prequestions and summaries were compared as reading study strategies for college-age subjects. Eighty-seven freshmen and sophomores from several sections of a developmental reading course were trained to use one of two study approaches: (a) phrasing and answering higher level questions while reading or (b) constructing and checking summary statements while reading. An additional number of students from the same population served as members of a control group. The results of three post-treatment tests–free recall, an objective test, and an essay test–were used as dependent measures. The results indicated that training in summary generation as an adjunct study activity significantly increased college students' free recall as well as performance on the objective test and, especially, on the essay test. Training in the interspersed prequestioning significantly facilitated students' performance on the objective test recall but not on free recall or the essay test. It was concluded that college students benefited from engaging in encoding strategies during reading and that specific strategies may be strongly related to posttest measures.

Yet Another Look at College Developmental Reading Courses

Yet Another Look at College Developmental Reading Courses

Effects of Short‐ and Long‐Term Developmental Reading Courses Upon S.A.T. Verbal Scores

Effects of Short‐ and Long‐Term Developmental Reading Courses Upon S.A.T. Verbal Scores