Early Reading Research Articles

"Grand Words for a Common Thing": Precursors to Grammar of Assent in Newman's Early Classical Readings (1809–1826)

"Grand Words for a Common Thing": Precursors to Grammar of Assent in Newman's Early Classical Readings (1809–1826)

English Teachers’ Perceptions of the Importance of Essential Components and Early Grade Reading Instruction

This study examines English teachers’ perceptions of the importance of essential components and early grade reading instruction: Ethiopian context. To this end, the researchers chose a descriptive research design of quantitative-qualitative approaches. Twenty (20) randomly selected primary schools were the sources of data; 125 primary school English teachers of Hawassa City Administration filled in a questionnaire. Among the twenty schools, two were selected randomly and interviews were conducted with six English teachers of grades one to three (1-3). The quantitative data analysis was done by using software for data analysis (SPSS Version 25.0), descriptive statistics. The data gathered through semi-structured interview were analyzed descriptively in words. The results have shown that participant teachers were not practicing the strategies appropriate for literacy instruction although they have positive perceptions of importance of the critical components of early grade reading instruction. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that teacher preparation programs should reconsider the level of emphasis placed on early grade reading instruction, and practice focused trainings should be given to Ethiopian lower grades English teachers on early grade reading instruction and assessment.

Fostering Inference-Making Through Video-Based Technology in Young Children With Early Reading Difficulties

Successful comprehension is only possible when children draw inferences about ideas implicit or missing in discourse. Supporting inference-making with explicit instruction must start early given its importance in comprehension and knowledge development. However, students who experience difficulties with early reading skills often do not receive adequate instructional support for inference-making because oftentimes inference-making is taught in the context of written texts. In this article, we describe the potential of using video-based technology in teaching inference-making in young students who experience difficulties in early reading skills. First, we discuss why inference-making is crucial for comprehension and elaborate on a theoretical framework that addresses how video-based technology can support inference-making independent of basic reading skills. Next, we share our experiences designing web-based software featuring interactive videos. Finally, we describe how teachers can design their own inference instruction using video-based technology to support young students with difficulties in comprehension and basic reading skills.

Meningkatkan kemampuan pengenalan keaksaraan dan percaya diri Pada Anak Kelompok A Melalui Pengembangan Media Buku Aktif POP UP berbasis flipchart di TK. NEGERI BUNG KARNO

This study aims to get a solution to the problem of difficulty in improving language skills in terms of early reading in early childhood in group A1 in di Negeri Bung Karno surabaya. The research method used in this study, is a research and development method or often referred to as Research and Development (R & D), The subject of this study is students of group A1 of di Negeri Bung Karno surabaya Kindergarten for the 2023-2024 academic year with a total of 12 students with an average age of 4-5 years, consisting of 4 female students and 9 male students.The results of the study conveyed data on the difference between the use of Flipchart-based Pop Up learning media with an increase in initial reading skills in the A1 group of di Negeri Bung Karno Kindergarten Surabaya. From the table above, the result tcalculate = - with a significance level of 0.000. Because the significance level is less than 0.05, Ha is accepted, and Ho is rejected.Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that "There is an effect of the use of Pop Up learning media on improving initial reading skills in group A1 children of di Negeri Bung Karno Kindergarten Surabaya"

Exploring Performance Skills in the Occupation of Learning to Read

ABSTRACT Only one-third of U.S. fourth-grade public school students score at or above reading proficiency on national standardized tests. Current language-based reading instruction methods do not appear to meet many students’ needs. This study explores the role of visual perception in word recognition skills amongst typically developing first graders. It is hypothesized that visual perception is a crucial component of word recognition. This quantitative correlational study explored the relationship between visual perception and word recognition skills in first grade students participating in general education. The findings revealed that several statistically significant relationships exist between visual perceptual functions and skills recruited for word recognition. Phonological processing is strongly associated with spatial relations (r = .35) and sequential memory (r = .38). These correlations are significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Form constancy (r = .28) p < .05 is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). These relationships suggest that visual perceptual skills and phonological processing are concurrently developed in these participants and that these skills are likely recruited simultaneously when engaging in occupations, such as learning to read. This study highlights the role of visual perception in early reading development. Educators may consider consulting with school-based occupational therapists to explore the potential impact of visual perception when supporting students who struggle with reading.

Linguistic and Auditory Assessment: An Effort to Improve the Beginning Reading Ability of Dyslexic Children in Grade IV at Elementary School Level

This study describes the implementation of linguistic and auditory awareness assessment in improving dyslexic children's early reading skills. The factors studied include linguistic (phoneme, morphology, orthography) and auditory (phoneme, morpheme, semantic, syntax) awareness, which are important in the early reading process. The research method was descriptive qualitative, with one 10-year-old student subject from grade 4. The assessment phase involved classical identification with learning instruments from grade 4 to grade 1, as well as a pre-early reading assessment focusing on linguistic and auditory awareness. Results showed significant linguistic awareness (33.59%) and auditory awareness (60%) influence reading ability. Phoneme and morphology aspects affect reading ability in terms of linguistics, while morphemes and syntax are significant in auditoris.

Longitudinal relations between literacy instruction and early reading achievement: findings from classroom observations in Grades 1–3

Longitudinal relations between literacy instruction and early reading achievement: findings from classroom observations in Grades 1–3

THE LIFE SKILLS OF OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT READERS: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY

The purpose of this multiple case study was to describe the five different cases of outstanding independent readers in the public secondary schools in Davao del Norte in terms of their life skills. The unique cases revolved around a campus journalist, a volleyball athlete, a student leader, a consistent honor student, and a student with autism spectrum. The cases were identified using maximum variation sampling, and in-depth interviews were employed to explore and gather data in this research. Salient findings were noted as to the experiences of outstanding independent readers which include early reading opportunities and support, sharing of reading abilities to other students, allocation of time for reading, and utilization of gadgets for reading. More so, their coping strategies were summarized in the following themes: enrichment of vocabulary, adoption of reading tactics, development of set of values for reading, and application of leadership skills. In the cross-case analysis of research data, all cases were generally similar. Notably, the only difference is that the student with autism preferred reading by himself unlike the other cases of students who viewed reading as a collaborative experience. It was realized that while cognitive capacities are essential in learning reading, socio-emotional aspects of outstanding readers such as their life skills must also be considered in schools. KEYWORDS: independent reading, life skills, public secondary schools, multiple case study, Philippines

Promoting reading, mathematics and science learning: the role of reading achievement and reading interest / Fomento del aprendizaje lector, matemático y científico: el papel del rendimiento lector y del interés por la lectura

Reading, mathematics and science are important subjects in the compulsory educational stage. Promoting students’ learning in these subjects has become a focus. Early reading achievement and reading interest may play a critical role. Using two waves of data collected from 2,722 Chinese students in Grade 4 and Grade 6, the study investigated the longitudinal within-domain relationship between reading achievement and reading interest, as well as their cross-domain effects on mathematics and science. The results of the structural equation model showed that reading achievement and reading interest were mutually reinforced over time. Except for the path from reading achievement to science interest, the two reading-related constructs in Grade 4 positively predicted achievement and interest in mathematics and science in Grade 6. The findings underline the significance for primary schools to cultivate proficient reading skills and positive reading attitudes in promoting students’ long-term learning in reading, mathematics and science.

Challenges of teaching isiZulu reading in the early grades

The present study was conducted at a time when South African educational researchers and practitioners have become increasingly concerned about the state of the reading competence of the country’s primary school learners. Another concern that also drove this study was the teaching practices of foundation phase teachers, specifically regarding the current ‘science of reading’ (SoR). In a cross-sectional study of Grades 1–3 learners and their teachers in a primary school in Soweto, Johannesburg, the aim was to capture not only the reading competence of the learners, but also the teachers’ pedagogy and their reflections about their work. To this end, 263 learners were randomly selected from a population of 2 001, along with 24 teachers. Classroom practice was observed and recorded, and interviews with teachers were conducted over a period of six weeks during the third school term in 2019, while the selected learners completed the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). The outcome of the qualitative data from the classroom observations and the interviews with teachers captured their struggle with instructional methods. The assessment results show young learners’ worryingly low scores, leaving teachers with the urgent pedagogical challenge of teaching reading that could lead to learners’ improved performance.

A Psychometric Review of Universal Reading Screeners Approved by the State Board of Education

In 2023, the Georgia Legislature passed the Georgia Early Literacy Act (HB 538), representing a sweeping reform effort to improve the quality of early reading instruction in the state. HB 538 requires schools to screen children in kindergarten through third grade three times yearly. Related to this requirement, HB 538 requires that the State Board of Education approve a list of 16 universal reading screeners that can: 1) provide relevant information to target instruction, 2) measure foundational literacy skills, 3) identify students who are struggling to acquire reading skills, and 4) be used to monitor progress. The purpose of this review is to provide a supplement to the SBOE’s approved list so that Local Education Agencies (LEAs) can assess the relative psychometric strength of each screener as they select the most appropriate screener for the students they serve. We compiled information regarding each screener's reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity to create an exposition of their strengths and weaknesses. We found that GaDOE's approved list contains numerous tools with acceptable psychometric properties; however, large variability in the amount of psychometric data available for each screener is problematic. LEAs are recommended to consider psychometric strength as a critical factor when selecting an early literacy screener.

Learning to Read in an Intermediate Depth Orthography: The Longitudinal Role of Grapheme Sounding on Different Types of Reading Fluency.

Phonological processing skills, such as phonological awareness, are known predictors of reading acquisition in alphabetic languages with varying degrees of orthographic complexity. However, the role of multi-letter-sound knowledge, an important foundation for early reading development, in supporting reading fluency development remains to be determined. This study examined whether two core foundational skills, phonemic awareness and grapheme sounding, have a predictive role in reading fluency development in an intermediate-depth orthography. The participants were 62 children learning to read in European Portuguese, and they were longitudinally assessed on phonemic awareness, complex grapheme sounding, and reading fluency (decoding, word, and text) from Grade 2 to Grade 3. The results showed that grapheme sounding predicted reading fluency development controlled for nonverbal intelligence and vocabulary, short-term verbal memory, and phonemic awareness. Grapheme sounding plays a prominent role in predicting reading fluency outcomes, whereas phonemic awareness (both accuracy and time per correct item) did not contribute to any of the three types of reading fluency. The fact that grapheme-sounding predicted reading fluency is likely due to complex grapheme-phoneme correspondences being required to achieve proficient reading. These findings provide insights into the cognitive processes underlying reading development in intermediate-depth orthographies and have implications for early literacy instruction.

Ethiopian Early Grade English Teachers’ Preparedness to Teach Basic Reading Skills

Ethiopian children in early grades were found to be significantly nonreaders after 2–3 years of schooling regardless of linguistic variation. This is mainly attributed to the way children are taught basic literacy skills, which is attributed to teacher preparation and training. This research aimed to examine Ethiopian early grade teachers’ preparedness to teach basic reading skills. Five schools were randomly selected out of 44 public primary schools in the research site. Among 40 teachers of English in the selected schools, 32 teachers were willing to take knowledge assessment test and fill in the questionnaire. Two of knowledge test papers and two pieces of questionnaire were rejected because the responses were incomplete. The data were gathered from (n = 30) randomly selected primary schools English teachers by using a questionnaire and knowledge assessment test. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 25.0). Descriptive statistics were calculated for the responses to knowledge test and questionnaire. Pearson’s correlation was calculated for the relationship among teacher preparation coursework emphasis, practicum attention, and teachers’ felt preparedness to teach basic reading after categorical data were transformed into scale. The results have shown that primary school English teacher preparation designated only certain lecture sessions of coursework and few of activities of practicum to teaching early reading. The average knowledge assessment test score of teachers was 43.4%; 21 (70%) of the teachers achieved below 50% while 9 (30%) of them achieved 50% and above. There is a statistically significant relationship among teacher preparation coursework emphasis, practicum attention, and teachers’ felt preparedness to help Ethiopian children learn to read. It can be concluded from the results that teacher preparation both in its courses and practicum activities did not place due emphasis on teaching teachers to teach basic reading skills. Participant English teachers also had knowledge gap about early reading instruction. Thus, participant English teachers were not adequately prepared to teach early grade reading. Teacher preparation coursework emphasis, practicum attention, and teachers’ felt preparedness to teach early grade reading have a strong positive relationship.

The Effectiveness of Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Method on Elementary Students’ Reading Fluency

Along with the evolution of time, individuals were required to learn quickly, especially in mastering new things. Therefore, it became the main reason reading is considered a fundamental skill that should be mastered from a young age. Several methods have been created to enhance reading fluency, including the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). This research aims to determine the EGRA method's effectiveness on students' reading fluency. A quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental method and a nonrandomized pretest-posttest control group design was employed. Thirty-seven fourth-grade elementary school students at SDN X Cikarang Regency participated. Eight (8) elements of EGRA were used as treatment materials, namely: (a) letter identification; (b) distinguishing initial sound; (c) nonword reading; (d) read aloud/oral reading; (e) reading comprehension; (f) listening comprehension; (g) Indonesian vocabulary; and (h) dictation. As for analyzing the data, the researcher employed Mann-Whitney U to compare the pretest and posttest scores of the control and experimental groups. The results showed that The EGRA method significantly improved reading fluency in fourth-grade elementary school students (p &lt; 0.05). Thus, the EGRA method can help educators teach elementary school students to read more fluently.

Design and Validation of Structural Causal Model: A focus on SENSE-EGRA Datasets

Designing and validation of causal model correctness from a dataset whose background knowledge is gotten from a research process is not a common phenomenon. In fact, studies have shown that in many critical areas such as healthcare and education, researchers develop models from direct acyclic graphs without testing them. This phenomenon is worrisome and is bound to cast a dark shadow on the inference estimates that many arise from such models. In this study, we have design a novel application-based SCM for the first time using the background knowledge gotten from the American university of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, on the letter identification subtask of Early Grade reading Assessment (EGRA) program on Strengthen Education in Northeast Nigeria (SENSE-EGRA) project dataset, which was sponsored by the USAID. We employed the conditional independence test (CIT) criteria for the model’s correctness validation testing, and the results shows a near perfect SCM.

Structural Analytic Synthetic Learning Method for Early Reading Ability

The Structural Analytic Synthetic (SAS) method is a learning method that begins with the introduction of complete sentence structures that build meaningful concepts in children. This research aimed to determine the effect of the SAS method on children's early reading abilities. This research uses a quantitative method with an experimental approach, using a pre-experimental one-group pretest and posttest design. Participants in this research were all early childhood children aged 6-7 years, totaling 32 children. Collection techniques include observation, interviews, and tests. The use of the SAS method in classroom learning has a positive influence, children's initial reading Ability when applying the SAS method in learning has a very big influence. The SAS method is an initial reading learning method that begins with presenting complete sentences which are then broken down into words into independent syllables and letters and combined again starting from letters into syllables, and words into complete sentences. Keywords: children aged 6-7 years, early reading ability, structural analytic-synthetic method

‘Angry fish’ and ‘dying fish’ matter in the Zhuangzi Too: Political analogies in the ‘happy fish’ dialogue

ABSTRACT The ‘happy fish’ dialogue is one of the best-known and heatedly debated passages of the Zhuangzi. Scholars have constructed different interpretations of the dialogue. Some argue that this dialogue expresses the idea of living at ease and enjoying life as it is; some refer to the idea of anti-anthropocentrism, while others reconstruct the dialogue as certain epistemological debates. This paper examines the connotations of ‘fish’, ‘water’, and ‘river’ in early Chinese political discourses and reads the political connotations in the dialogue between Zhuangzi and Huizi. This can lead to an alternative interpretation, which is that, at its core, this passage is a dialogue between these two men on politics and their political careers.

On the Dynamics of Inferential Behavior while Reading Expository and Narrative Texts.

Inference plays a key role in reading comprehension. This study examines changes in inferential behavior while reading different genres. The inferential behavior of 28 students with reading disabilities (RDs) and 44 students without RDs was quantified while they read expository and narrative texts. First, the average rates of inference attempts and correct inferences were measured during reading. Then, the same rates were measured separately during early and late reading to see if there was a change in inferential behavior. The results show that the change in inferential behavior depends on the genre. While reading the expository text, both groups showed no significant change in their inference making. In contrast, while reading the narrative text, both groups showed higher rates of inference attempts, and only the students without RD showed a significant increase in correct inferences. The implications of these findings for the design of more engaging and effective reading programs are discussed.

Using Empirical Information to Prioritize Early Literacy Assessment and Instruction in Preschool and Kindergarten

Early literacy skill development predicts later reading success, and development of skills in specific domains during the preschool years has been established as both a prerequisite and precursory for reading. Early literacy assessments typically include measures of separate skills across domains, and results can assist with determining where instructions may be most needed. When multiple areas of need are identified, understanding which skills to prioritize can be a challenge. Therefore, empirically identifying the relative contribution of each skill measured in preschool to subsequent reading success can promote more efficient systems of assessment. This study, conducted in the United States, examined the predictive validity of early literacy skills measured in preschool compared to skills measured in kindergarten, with a specific practical focus on identifying the most efficient predictive model for understanding reading readiness. Participants were 119 preschoolers (mean age = 66 months) who mostly spoke English as their primary language (79%). Results indicated early literacy and language skills in preschool are highly predictive of early reading in kindergarten, accounting for 59% of the variance in a reading composite score. The most parsimonious model indicated that first sounds, letter sounds, early comprehension, and expressive vocabulary measures adequately explained 52% of the variance in children’s kindergarten reading performance.

Bilingual parafoveal processing: Children and adults preprocess orthographic information of the upcoming word during sentence reading in their first and second language.

Readers of different ages and across different languages routinely process information of upcoming words in a sentence, before their eyes move to fixate them directly (parafoveal processing). However, there is inconsistent evidence of similar parafoveal processing in a reader's second language (L2). In this eye movement study, the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975a) was used to test whether parafoveal processing of orthographic information is an integral part of both beginning and proficient L2 reading. The eye movements of beginning L2-learners (n = 53, aged 11-14 years) and highly proficient L2-users (n = 56, aged 19-65 years) were recorded while they read sentences in their first language (L1) German and L2 English. Sentences each contained a cognate target word (e.g., English: tunnel, German: Tunnel). The parafoveal preview of the targets either (a) preserved the spelling and meaning of the target (identity condition), (b) preserved letter identities but transposed the position of two adjacent letters (transposed-letter [TL] condition, e.g., tunenl/Tunenl), or substituted the identity of two adjacent letters (substituted-letter condition, e.g., tunocl/Tunocl). TL previews elicited longer early first-pass reading times than identity previews in both L1 and L2 reading in children and adults, suggesting that letter position was processed parafoveally. Substituted-letter previews resulted in longer reading times than TL previews in children and adults in L1 and L2, suggesting that letter identity information was processed independently of position information. These results suggest that letter position and identity information are extracted from the parafovea during L1 and L2 reading, facilitating word recognition in children and adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).