Enriched Reading Research Articles

The Effects of Movie-Enriched Extensive Reading on TOEFL IBT Vocabulary Expansion and TOEFL IBT Speaking Section Score

A wealth of research has been conducted to compare extensive and intensive reading thanks to their increasing popularity in educational settings globally. However, only a limited number of studies have been conducted to measure the effects of movie-enriched extensive reading activities. To this aim, the present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of movie enriched extensive reading on freshman students` TOEFL IBT vocabulary expansion and TOEFL IBT speaking section scores. In this regard, 40 students studying at an international private university in Erbil, Iraq was divided into two groups using a stratified random sampling method. Control group students (N=20) read and analyzed six graded readers by employing intensive reading, whereas experimental group students (N=20) actively participated in reading prominent novels and watching movie versions of them. A mixed methods design was employed to gather qualitative and quantitative data, respectively, so they were utilized to make better interpretations. Quantitative data were collected through 2 vocabulary and speaking exams related to TOEFL IBT as pre-test and post-test. Additionally, qualitative data were collected through interviews. Results of the independent samples t-test revealed that experimental group students` speaking and vocabulary scores increased significantly, whereas they were not significant enough in the control group. Moreover, students` attitudes towards reading novels and watching movies changed positively based on the interview transcripts. In light of the findings, this study may have some implications for researchers, educators, and authorities seeking opportunities to integrate extensive reading into the curriculum.

Automatic Comic Generation with Stylistic Multi-page Layouts and Emotion-driven Text Balloon Generation

In this article, we propose a fully automatic system for generating comic books from videos without any human intervention. Given an input video along with its subtitles, our approach first extracts informative keyframes by analyzing the subtitles and stylizes keyframes into comic-style images. Then, we propose a novel automatic multi-page layout framework that can allocate the images across multiple pages and synthesize visually interesting layouts based on the rich semantics of the images (e.g., importance and inter-image relation). Finally, as opposed to using the same type of balloon as in previous works, we propose an emotion-aware balloon generation method to create different types of word balloons by analyzing the emotion of subtitles and audio. Our method is able to vary balloon shapes and word sizes in balloons in response to different emotions, leading to more enriched reading experience. Once the balloons are generated, they are placed adjacent to their corresponding speakers via speaker detection. Our results show that our method, without requiring any user inputs, can generate high-quality comic pages with visually rich layouts and balloons. Our user studies also demonstrate that users prefer our generated results over those by state-of-the-art comic generation systems.

Differentiated Instruction for Basic Reading Comprehension in Philippine Settings

Differentiated instruction has been a buzz word in Philippine education for many years. Educators utilize differentiated approach in teaching to maximize and meet the expected learning outcomes. Previous study pointed out that students vary in terms of learning style and understanding the concept. This study aims to identify the role of differentiated instruction in teaching reading and promoting comprehension in basic education. This paper looked at four differentiated instructional strategies for teaching guided reading: Noting details, sequencing events, getting the main idea and predicting outcomes. Moreover, it seeks to determine the multiple intelligence profile and the performance in reading comprehension of the students. It also determines whether a significant correlation exists between the profile and the performance of the students. Data were generated using adapted multiple intelligences inventory instruments and written passages, prescribed curriculum by the Department of Education. The data obtained were analyzed using weighted mean, standard deviation, and chi-square. The findings revealed that students learned from all aspects of intelligence they have, no matter what the situation is. This was so intriguing because it was known that every individual has different learning intelligence. Pedagogically, the findings recommended that educators need to innovate to help meet the needs of diverse learners, enriched reading activities, and differentiated instructions must be integrated to strengthen learner competence in basic reading comprehension. The surprising finding is that, though students learn differently, there are also some learning contexts, which students shared with the same entity. Therefore, teachers must recognize that students have different versions of learning.

Specificity of working with gifted primary school students in China

In China, a Key National Strategy has been developed. According to the Strategy, education is refocused on high quality, the development of a holistic approach to the harmonious development of pupils' personalities, which should be imbued with the spirit of innovation, business skills and develop moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic aspects. The Ministry of Education of China also supported the position of an individual approach to each pupil and considering his physical and psychological development. The reform aims to create a favorable educational environment for the development of each pupil, active research training, increasing the flexibility and diversity of courses. Among all the subjects of the educational program, literacy is defined as the most fundamental for the successful assimilation of other educational areas and the holistic development of children's personalities, an indispensable strategy for preserving cultural heritage, national unity, and creativity. The program defined the principles of training. They are: to involve all pupils in the educational process and develop their intellectual abilities, to understand the peculiarities of language and literature education, to promote independent learning, joint learning, and learning based on pupils' requests, to take into account their differences and learning needs, to create curricula based on openness and viability. Such positive changes in pedagogical practice create a favorable educational environment that adapts to different rates of pupil learning. The program aims to develop a wide range of pupils' skills, such as literary literacy, financial literacy, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy. The program provides an inclusive educational environment that can engage gifted pupils in terms of pedagogical strategies (e.g., individualized learning, research learning, and independent learning), enriched reading materials, and dynamic, multiple assessments). The main problems of implementing the new literacy program are: insufficient teacher competence, the difficulty of transforming deep traditions from the pedagogy of transmission and collectivism to the pedagogy of constructivism, the large class size in China leads to overload of teachers.

Effects of language dominance on home reading practices of bilingual families

Aims and objectives: Many children grow up in bilingual families; however, little is known about how these families use their two languages in their home reading practices. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of language proficiency on the shared storybook reading practices of bilingual families. Methodology: We gathered questionnaire data about home reading activities in French–English bilingual families with 5-year-old children ( n = 66) who had different proficiency levels in each language. Data and analyses: We compared home reading environment, parent reading practices, and child learning and interest in books across the families’ dominant and non-dominant languages using a series of 2-way mixed analyses of variance. Findings: Families gave more emphasis to reading practices in the family’s dominant language: they owned more books, read more often, spent more time, and started reading to the child at an earlier age in the dominant than in the non-dominant language. Dominance also affected parent reading behaviors: parents reported more often translating words and switching from their non-dominant to their dominant language. Parents reported that children enjoyed being read to and readily learned new words in both languages, but ratings were higher for the dominant language. Effects of dominance were strongest in families with less balanced language dominance. Originality: This study compares bilingual families’ home reading practices in both of their languages, providing a clearer picture of how families navigate early dual-language literacy in a bilingual community where both languages are spoken in everyday life and have similar sociolinguistic status. Significance: Results suggest that even in bilingual communities, family home reading practices may exacerbate uneven development across children’s two languages. These findings highlight the importance of identifying strategies to support enriched home reading practices in bilingual families’ non-dominant language.

Voice of responsibility: Dahlia Ravikovitch's ‘Egla ‘Arufa (Felled Heifer)

In a cycle of poems, Sugeyot beyahadut bat zemanenu, “Issues in Contemporary Judaism,” Dahlia Ravikovitch protests against human suffering and fatalities that occur during war and conflicts of attrition involving Israel's indigenous peoples and contiguous populations. Among the poetry, ‘Egla ‘arufa, with its cryptic title and densely encoded contents, requires textual “demystification” for its central message to be heard. First, this article identifies the most crucial pair of Hebrew sources underlying this poem and discusses their intertextual influence and the transition between them for an enriched reading. Second, through textual analysis this study applies a postmodern literary poetic – a “hermeneutic lag” – to a unique dynamic in the dimensions of the writing. In general, I relate to selected poems by Dahlia Ravikovitch as self-portraits, and regard “Felled Heifer” as an abstract figuration of the voice of the speaker: the voice of responsibility.

Composición, variación y funciones del leitmotiv en el universo Indiana Jones

La banda sonora de las películas asume un papel esencial en la experiencia del espectador. La música aporta a la imagen una serie de efectos, sensaciones y significados que dotan de una nueva dimensión a la narración audiovisual. El empleo de determinadas composiciones como los leitmotivs ha permitido establecer unos códigos audiovisivos con los espectadores, para una lectura enriquecida del relato cinematográfico. La integración de estos motivos recurrentes permite diversas posibilidades narrativas y expresivas por lo que su empleo ha sido bastante frecuente en la música fílmica. Autores como John Williams han hecho de los leitmotivs su sello personal, llegando a desarrollar un código propio para su composición y uso. En este sentido, el presente trabajo ha tenido por objeto efectuar un análisis del uso de los leitmotivs en la saga de Indiana Jones. Un análisis que se abordó desde una perspectiva narrativa del discurso musical.

AR BOOK AS IMMERSIVE READING TOOL FOR ALLOWING THE READER TO BE PART OF THE STORY

Reading is one of the most important skills children develop for acquiring new knowledge and enhancing thinking and memory. Current technologic advances are changing how people interact with books, the availability of computing devices in the form of laptops, smartphones and tablets allow enriched reading experiences through transmedia interactive content. Traditionally, book immersion was accomplished using figures and the reader’s imagination, and their interactivity came with popup books that attracted attention by offering movable 3D objects. Currently, electronic books offer more immersive and interactive form of reading through multimedia content. In terms of immersion augmented reality offers spatial navigation of contents similar to real life environments. The importance of 3D as a tool for offering more information about a specific scenario has been taken place in reading documents, such as interactive PDFs, Apple iBooks, and augmented reality booklets used in training, maintenance, education and games. The goal of this project is to develop an augmented reality book that allows a young reader to navigate the story and shape its development through choices represented by augmented virtual animation over a booklet containing fragments of the story.

Forging People: Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality in Hispanic American and Latino/a Thought

Forging People: Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality in Hispanic American and Latino/a Thought

The Effects of Differentiated Instruction and Enrichment Pedagogy on Reading Achievement in Five Elementary Schools

This experimental study examined the effect of a differentiated, enriched reading program on students’ oral reading fluency and comprehension using the schoolwide enrichment model–reading (SEM-R). Treatment and control conditions were randomly assigned to 63 teachers and 1,192 second through fifth grade students across five elementary schools. Using multilevel modeling, significant differences favoring the SEM-R were found in reading fluency in two schools (Cohen’s d effect sizes of .33 and .10) and in reading comprehension in the high-poverty urban school (Cohen’s d = .27), with no achievement differences in the remaining schools. These results demonstrate that an enrichment reading approach, with differentiated instruction and less whole group instruction, was as effective as or more effective than a traditional whole group basal approach.

How Academically Gifted Elementary, Urban Students Respond to Challenge in an Enriched, Differentiated Reading Program

This mixed-methods study combined the use of qualitative, comparative case study methods with other data analysis procedures to investigate an afterschool enriched reading program for academically gifted students who had also been identified as talented readers. The Schoolwide Enrichment Model-Reading Framework (SEM-R) was used to provide challenging reading experiences for 2 days each week in a 6-week afterschool program. Although their reading fluency scores improved, each academically gifted student initially encountered frustration when asked to read content that was either at or slightly above his or her current independent reading level. With encouragement, these academically gifted students began to be able to read texts that were slightly above their current instructional level for short periods of time. Without encountering more challenging content, as these students become older, they may become frustrated with more advanced material in honors or advanced classes in subsequent years, despite their identification as gifted.

Using Planned Enrichment Strategies with Direct Instruction to Improve Reading Fluency, Comprehension, and Attitude toward Reading: An Evidence‐Based Study

In this study, we used a randomized design to investigate the effects of an enriched reading program on 226 urban elementary students’ (third through sixth grade) reading comprehension, oral reading fluency, and attitude toward reading in 2 elementary schools. The Schoolwide Enrichment Model in Reading Framework (SEM‐R) provides enriched reading experiences by exposing students to books in their areas of interest, daily supported independent reading of challenging self‐selected books using differentiated reading instruction, and interest‐based choice opportunities in reading. Prior to the study, a daily 1‐hour afternoon remedial literacy program was mandated by the district using workbooks and test‐preparation instruction in an attempt to increase reading scores. In the study, 14 teachers were randomly assigned to teach the treatment or a control group during this afternoon literacy block, and students were randomly assigned either to participate in the SEM‐R treatment group or to a control group that continued to receive remedial reading instruction and test preparation for 12 weeks. In addition, all students participated in the direct instructional approach, Success for All, for 90 minutes each morning. Results on oral reading fluency tests and attitudes toward reading scales indicated that students in the SEM‐R treatment group scored statistically significantly higher than control students in both oral reading fluency and attitude toward reading.

Why Is French Equilibrium Unemployment So High? an Estimation of the Ws-Ps Model

Unemployment in France rose steadily from the early-seventies to the mid-eighties. Since the mid-eighties it has continued to experience fluctuations around a very high average level. Equilibrium unemployment theories are a useful framework within which to account for these developments. A multivariate estimation of the WS-PS model on macroeconomic quarterly data, which includes a larger number of potential unemployment determinants than earlier work, allows an enriched reading of the rise in French unemployment and of its persistence at a high level. We estimated it using a conditional VAR-ECM model, which is based upon the weak exogeneity properties of variables over the 1970–1/1996–4 period. The rise in equilibrium unemployment by 10 points in 25 years can essentially be explained by the rise in tax and social wedge, the slowdown in labour productivity and the deterioration of job security. Terms of exchange and skill mismatch account for only a slim part of the rise in equilibrium unemployment.

Romanticism Repays Gothicism: E.T.A. Hoffmann's "Councilor Krespel" as a Recovery of Matthew G. Lewis' The Monk

The presence of many aspects of Matthew G. Lewis' novel, The Monk (1796), in E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Devil's Elixirs (1815/16; Die Elixiere des Teufels), as in many Romantic writings, has long been acknowledged. Until recently, however, Hoffmann's Gothic novel has been held in fairly low esteem in his own canon, and Lewis' influence on even such a dismissed work has been sniffed at as local or superficial.1 The chances appear good, however, that the The Monk's influence extends far beyond The Devil's Elixirs to Hoffmann's more internationally esteemed fiction, especially "Councilor Krespel" ("Rat Krespel"), the originally titled story that helps begin The Serapions-Brethren (Die Serapions-Brüder) and that inspired both Thomas Carlyle and Jacques Offenbach.2 Moreover, Hoffmann's translational use of The Monk seems highly meditated, to the point where Hoffmann seems to be less a creative writer than a literary critic finely attuned to one line of concerns in Lewis' novel. Perhaps Hoffmann can repay his debt to Lewis by leading us to an enriched reading of The Monk, which itself has suffered a rather neglectful response history.3 The part of The Monk that particularly influences "Councilor Krespel" is the relation of Ambrosio to Antonia and its connection to Krespel and [End Page 311] his daughter, also named Antonia. Ambrosio is the title figure of The Monk, who after being seduced by Mathilda de Villanegas is consumed by desire for the young Antonia. After raping and killing her, he is tortured by the Inquisition. He escapes with the aid of the Devil, who reveals that Antonia was Abrosio's sister and throws the sinner into an abyss. The exact similarity of the women's names seems more than coincidental given Hoffmann's interest, unusual for his time, in names that repeat one another precisely.4 The shared name, "Antonia," itself is striking because it is mysterious on at least two grounds. First, its "etymology is unknown" and was disputed even by the Roman families who had the name "Antonius."5 Second, the origin of the woman's form, "Antonia," which had quite a vogue in France and Italy, is unclear. It may be a feminine formation from St. Antony the Great, or be directly derived from St. Antonia of third-century Byzantium.6 Hoffmann was known for playing with the names of early Christian saints,7 and of course the literary possibilities involved in having a female "St. Antony" are immense. One more immediate reason Hoffmann could easily be sensitive to the name in Lewis' text is the identity of one of its most famous recent bearers, German "Maria Antonia," French "Marie Antoinette." 8 Both in Lewis and in Hoffmann, Antonia is saintly, tempted, and martyred, and even if the writers had come to the name by independent routes, the routes themselves must have been very similar.

John Gardner's "Grendel": Sources and Analogues

To study a prolific contemporary novelist who concurrently modernizes medieval poetry and publishes substantial, significant criticism on Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature invites certain questions about medieval and modem artistry. Whether they deal with the universality of a literary type or the enriched reading that sources and analogues can contribute to a particular text, such questions are especially appropriate for John Gardner's Grendel, an intriguing work very deliberately and overtly relying on earlier literary traditions. A gloss on Grendel might well begin with the liberties Gardner takes with his most obvious source. The plot of Grendel is based on that of the Old English poem Beowulf, though not in an especially straightforward way. The main action of Beowulf breaks into four parts: the Grendel episode, about 1,250 lines including the celebration and entertainment following the mortal wounding of the monster; the subsequent battle with Grendel's mother, about 625 lines including the departure of the victorious Beowulf; the return voyage, about 300 lines; and the dragon fight, about 1,000 lines including Beowulf's funeral. In the original, each major conflict concludes before the next begins, and a fifty-year successful reign by Beowulf separates his fight with the dragon from his conquest of Grendel and his mother. Gardner's novel opens with Grendel ravaging Hrothgar's meadhall and men, and ends immediately after the fight with Beowulf, Grendel's death being imminent: this episode represents only about one-fourth of the Anglo-Saxon poem. Both Grendel's mother and the dragon appear, but Gardner assigns them new functions, as well as departing from the chronology of the original. Gardner's restructuring of the Anglo-Saxon original, which strikingly alters the epic material, points to further literary sources, but the advice of a medieval author, Hugh of St. Victor, should be taken: Do not strike into a lot of by-ways until you know the main

The high school science library for 1939–40

Again the publishers have let me look at their books, and sort them as to subjects and price groups for this list-the sixteenth annual publication of High School Science Library. These titles will satisfy almost every desire for a type of enriched reading in science. Herein is practicality-much that will help in the intensive courses of mechanics, aviation, and other practical arts. Herein is drama; the adventure books this season are particularly thrilling. Herein is the poetry of nature, especially in gardens; herein is an unusual amount of fun in sports and games. As in the previous lists' the price groups represent our own suggestions for the order of purchase if diversified additions are desired for the library shelves. The asterisk (*) implies a recommendation for earlier purchase if special needs-such as large classes in a subject, or particular interests that are developing-are more important than a balance between the various large areas of science. Big biology classes, for example, will need books from the higher price groups; an active photography club may deservedly rob some lagging field of its share. Our own unstarred judgments lead to general balance, but our stars acknowledge the special interests. The price groups are cumulative. Titles in the $10 list add to that amount; fifteen dollars more complete the $25 list; twenty-five dollars more the $50 list, and so on. Textbooks are placed in a separate list, not included in the price groups which evaluate the supplementary reading. College-level titles are rather numerous, and are included in the higher price groups with the recognition of their value for reference, both by the teacher and the better students. We have keen appreciation of the discrimination and interest of the staffs of publishers, who have made the first selections.

A transitional period in reading development

The purpose of this article is to point out the critical period in reading development which occurs when children transfer from beginning reading into the more advanced stage of reading where it is used as a tool for other subjects. The article further emphasizes the necessity of careful planning in order that this transition may be made with the least possible difficulty. A detailed description of the suitability of the social studies class and the independent reading class for solving this particular reading problem has been made. Teachers for some time have recognized the fact that there are various stages of progress in the development of reading. Briefly, they have been termed the period of preparation for reading; the initial period of reading in grade one and the first part of grade two; the period of rapid progress which comes in the latter part of grade two and in grade three; the period of enriched reading in grades four, five, and six; and the period of refined or specialized reading in the high school grades.' The problem of reading in the elementary grades could be epitomized as follows: the first three school years are spent in learning to read and the remainder of the years are spent in reading to learn.2 Professor Thorndike characterizes the former as a period wherein the pupils learn to read in the sense of getting by vision what they can get by hearing. The latter period is one wherein the pupils extend this ability and add new abilities, in respect to (1) vocabulary, (2) constructions, and (3) the organization of large units of thought.' A child must of necessity make a transition from the first type of reading to that of the second type. In the first three grades the major concern of the teacher is that the child learn to read. In the remainder of the elementary grades the teachers concentrate more on the content studies. However, a child cannot be expected to make