Reading Goals Research Articles

The Effect of Summary Writing as a Critical Reading Strategy on Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners

Critical pedagogical approach entails the application of higher order thinking skills; such an approach can also be justified in more specific terms for second or foreign language pedagogy. That is, critical reading, as a branch of critical approach, is not only of value in itself, but also facilitates language acquisition in a foreign language setting (Wallace, 2003). On the other hand, reading has been the skill most emphasized in traditional FL teaching, and even today it is the mainstay of EFL instruction in many countries. Nowadays, in the field of ESL/EFL, the ultimate goal of teaching reading is reading critically, to be able to evaluate an author's argument and to relate that argument to other texts, and to their own experience. Reading critically assumes having effective strategies which help reading comprehension. The present study investigated the impact of writing summary as a critical reading strategy on reading comprehension ability of Iranian EFL learners. In order to carry on the study, 60 participants at intermediate level of language proficiency were randomly assigned to two groups as the experimental and control group. The participants in the experimental group learned and practiced writing summary, whereas the members of the control group practiced reading texts in the traditional way and both groups answered comprehension questions. The results of the comparison between the means of the two groups through t-test proved that writing summary as a critical reading strategy has a significant effect on improvement of reading comprehension of the experimental group.

How Nonexperts Understand Conflicting Information on Social Science Issues

When people read Web-based science-related journalistic articles, they usually read more than one text. As a consequence, they face the task of constructing a coherent mental model of the issue on the basis of conflicting information. We assume that recipients handle this task by evaluating the plausibility of information against their current understanding and prior knowledge (epistemic validation). On the one hand, information judged as implausible is often not processed further, yielding a bias toward plausible information in the mental model (plausibility bias). On the other hand, recipients can also engage in elaborative processing when they are motivated to develop a justified point of view (epistemic reading goal), which should lead to a rich mental model in contrast to the goal of memorizing facts (receptive reading goal). The present study investigated the relationships of perceived plausibility and comprehension of multiple articles related to a social science topic (the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] study) and effects of a recipient’s reading goal, using multilevel models (items nested within recipients) on a trial-by-trial basis. As predicted, information judged as plausible was more likely to be integrated into the recipient’s mental model. This plausibility bias was independent of the recipient’s reading goal. However, an epistemic reading goal led to an overall stronger mental model than did a receptive reading goal. Moreover, we found a positive relationship between perceived plausibility and memory for text. The present results demonstrate that recipients make sense of science communication about controversial issues by actively monitoring the plausibility of information and regulating comprehension processes according to their reading goals.

Introduction to the research topic meaning in mind: semantic richness effects in language processing

The ultimate goal of reading is to extract meaning from printed words. However, the mechanisms that mediate orthography and semantics are not well-understood, and have rarely been implemented in computational models. To address this puzzle, one of the strategies cognitive scientists have begun to use is to examine semantic richness effects. Semantic richness effects refer to the finding that words associated with relatively more semantic information are recognized faster and more accurately, due to their possessing richer, better-specified semantic representations. Importantly, semantic richness is not a unitary concept. Instead, it draws on various theoretical perspectives and can vary along multiple dimensions. Thus, by examining which dimensions of semantic richness influence visual word recognition behavior, we gain insight about which theoretical perspectives seem to be promising descriptions of the process by which meaning is extracted from print. Our goal for this Frontiers Research Topic was to highlight the latest findings regarding semantic richness and theoretical developments on the issue of semantic processing. Our hope was to provide a forum for state-of-the-art research in this field, and to foster new theoretical advances. The 17 contributions that comprise the Research Topic certainly represent the state of the art; methodologies include ERP, fMRI, TMS, and behavioral approaches, and involve both intact and patient populations. Together, these contributions give rise to a number of inferences about semantic richness effects and implications of those effects for our understanding of semantic processing effects in visual word recognition.

أنماط التراکیب النحویــــة ومستویاتهـــا فی کتابی القراءة للصف الثالث والرابع من المرحلة الابتدائیة فی المملکة العربیة السعودیة Patterns of grammatical structures and their levels in the reading books of the third and fourth grades of the primary stage in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia .

هدفت الدراسة إلى التعرف على أنماط التراکيب النحوية في کتابي القراءة للصفين الثالث والرابع من المرحلة الابتدائية في المملکة العربية السعودية،وذلک بتحليل التراکيب النحوية ، والتعرف على أنماطها ،و مدى شيوعها،ودرجة صعوبتها وسهولتها و تحديد مدى الزيادة الکمية و النوعية لها في الکتابين السابقين . وتوصلت الدراسة إلى أن النسب المئوية لجميع أنماط التراکيب المستهدفة في التحليل متقاربة في الکتابين ، وبرز الاختلاف والتفاوت الکبير على المستوى الکمي لتکرارات تلک الأنماط، وهذا يعني أن الزيادة الکمية تلک ليست مدروسة، ولم تأت وفق أسس تعليمية لغوية واضحة ، وأما النتائج المتعلقة بمعيار الشيوع فکانت معيارية إلى حد ما ،وظهر اتفاق في النتائج حول تحديد مدى شيوع هذه الأنماط من التراکيب ، وهذا يحقق أکبر قدر ممکن من النتائج الايجابية المتعلقة بتحقيق أهداف تعليم القراءة ووظائفها. وأوصت الدراسة بضرورة تقديم تراکيب نحوية في کتب القراءة وفق أسس مدروسة وذلک من خلال الاعتماد على أسس لغوية ونفسية واضحة ،وإجراء دراسات مقارنة للکتب المدرسية في جميع المراحل الدراسية مستهدفة بنى صرفية وأساليب لغوية أخرى،و إجراء بحوث ودراسات تستهدف شيوع التراکيب النحوية في کتب دراسية لصفوف أخرى، والإفادة منها في بناء وتصميم الکتاب المدرسي واختيار نصوصه القرائية. The study aimed at identifying patterns of grammatical structures in the reading books of third and fourth grades of the primary stage in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia that includes both third and fourth grades by analyzing the grammatical structures and identifying its types, publicity and the degree of complexity or simplicity in addition to identifying the quantitative increase as well as the qualitative increase in both the previously mentioned books.The study concluded that the percentage for all targeted structures in the analysis were close to each other in both textbooks.The big difference was at the quantitative level of the frequency of these types. This means that the quantitative increase was not planned, and did not happen on clear linguistic teaching basis. As for the findings related to publicity standard, it was standard to some extent. There was an agreement on the findings about identifying range of publicity for these types of structures. This achieves great amount of positive findings related to achieving reading goals and functions.The study suggested the importance of introducing grammatical structures in the reading books in accordance to planned basis via dependence on clear psycholinguistic basis, and carrying our comparative studies on the school textbooks in all stages targeting other teaching values, doing research and studies that tackle the publicity of grammatical structures in textbooks of other classes to avail from them in building and designing the textbooks as well as selecting the reading texts.

Questioning and reading goals: Information‐seeking questions asked on scientific texts read under different task conditions

A number of studies report that few questions are asked in classrooms and that many of them are shallow questions. This study investigates the way in which reading goals determine questioning on scientific texts. Reading goals were manipulated through two different tasks: reading for understanding versus reading to solve a problem. A total of 183 university students. In the first and third questioning experiments, the participants read two short texts. Students in one condition were instructed to understand the texts, whereas in the alternative condition they had to read texts to solve a problem. Students were instructed to write down any questions they might have about the texts. The questions were categorized according to the type of underlying obstacle: associative, explanatory, or predictive. The second experiment used a think-aloud methodology to identify the mental representations generated by the students. The two questioning experiments show that the questions asked depend on the reading goals. Significantly more explanation questions were asked in the understanding condition than in the problem-solving condition. Also, the two conditions were found to have a different influence on the generation of association and explanation questions. Very few prediction questions were asked in either condition. The think-aloud experiment revealed that the mental representations attempted by readers under the two conditions were indeed different. In conclusion, the experiments showed that, given a certain textual input, readers' questions depend on the reading goals associated with tasks.

Second language sentence processing in reading for comprehension and translation

A self-paced reading and translation task was used with learners of English as a second language (L2) to explore what sorts of information L2 learners use during online comprehension compared to native speakers, and how task (reading for comprehension vs. translation) and proficiency affect L2 comprehension. Thirty-six Korean native speakers of English and 32 native English speakers read plausible and implausible subject relative clauses and object relative clauses. Reading times, comprehension accuracy, and translations were analyzed. Results showed that L2 learners were able to use syntactic information similarly to native speakers during comprehension, and that online L2 processing and offline comprehension were modulated by reading goals and proficiency. Results are interpreted as showing that L2 processing is quantitatively rather than qualitatively different from first language processing, i.e. strategically “good enough”.

The Art and Discipline of Formative Reading: Revisiting Holy Scripture with Humble Receptivity

This article will show that lectio divina or the formative reading of Holy Scripture goes beyond exegetical-critical methods and fosters in the heart of every reader a more personal-reflective approach. This approach serves as a directive source guiding our faith and formation journey. Formative readers by definition desire to grow in spiritual self-knowledge and to allow the communications they receive to touch and transform their lives, if God so wills. Two requirements for formative reading will be explained herein: its meditative or contemplative components and its applicative dimensions. Both facets of this discipline lead to a dynamic encounter with sacred words. We are to read the Bible and the literature of spirituality in such a way that the texts we imbibe will help us to tune into the inner life form or direction meant for us by God from eternity. Essential to this article is also a description of the difference between informational and formational reading. While there is a time and place for both, one way should not be substituted or forgotten in favor of the other. In short, the integration of head and heart, of inspiration and incarnation, is the hidden goal of formative reading.

Effects of Reading Goals on Narrative Theme Comprehension

Effects of Reading Goals on Narrative Theme Comprehension

Readers’ use of source information in text comprehension

In two experiments, we examined the role of discrepancy on readers' text processing of and memory for the sources of brief news reports. Each story included two assertions that were attributed to different sources. We manipulated whether the second assertion was either discrepant or consistent with the first assertion. On the basis of the discrepancy-induced source comprehension (D-ISC) assumption, we predicted that discrepant stories would promote deeper processing and better memory for the sources conveying the messages, as compared to consistent stories. As predicted, readers mentioned more sources in summaries of discrepant stories, recalled more sources, made more fixations, and displayed longer gaze times in source areas when reading discrepant than when reading consistent stories. In Experiment 2, we found enhanced memory for source-content links for discrepant stories even when intersentential connectors were absent, and regardless of the reading goals. Discussion was focused on discrepancies as one mechanism by which readers are prompted to encode source-content links more deeply, as a method of integrating disparate pieces of information into a coherent mental representation of a text.

The Effect of Setting Reading Goals on the Vocabulary Retention of Iranian EFL Learners

This study investigates the effects of setting reading goals on the vocabulary retention of Iranian EFL readers. The aim is to find out which type of goals can be more influential on vocabulary retention. The population includes 120 students, 16 to 18 years old, and all female at Iranian junior high schools. Out of them 60 homogenized students were selected through administering one Nelson Proficiency Test (2001). They were divided to four groups of 15 students, three groups with different reading goals and a control group. After the treatment, a vocabulary post test was administered for all groups after two weeks. Then an ANOVA used to analyze the results of the tests. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the groups with different goals and the control group. The findings suggested that setting reading goals has a positive effect on vocabulary retention of teaching and pleasure groups and negative effect on taking test group.

A Story About a Stupid Person Can Make You Act Stupid (or Smart): Behavioral Assimilation (and Contrast) as Narrative Impact

Media priming refers to the residual, often unintended consequences of media use on subsequent perceptions, judgments, and behavior. Previous research showed that the media can prime behavior that is in line with the primed traits or concepts (assimilation). However, assimilation is expected to be less likely and priming may even yield reverse effects (contrast) when recipients have a dissimilarity testing mindset. Based on previous research on narrative comprehension and experience as well as research on media priming, a short-term influence of stories on cognitive performance is predicted. In an experimental study, participants (N = 81) read a story about a stupid soccer hooligan. As expected, participants who read the story without a special processing instruction performed worse in a knowledge test than a control group who read an unrelated text. Participants with a reading goal instruction to find dissimilarities between the self and the main protagonist performed better than participants who read the story without this instruction. The effects of reported self-activation and story length were further considered. Future inquiries with narratives as primes and contrast effects in media effects research are discussed.

Augmenting paper-based reading activity with direct access to digital materials and scaffolded questioning

Comprehension is the goal of reading. However, students often encounter reading difficulties due to the lack of background knowledge and proper reading strategy. Unfortunately, print text provides very limited assistance to one's reading comprehension through its static knowledge representations such as symbols, charts, and graphs. Integrating digital materials and reading strategy into paper-based reading activities may bring opportunities for learners to make meaning of the print material. In this study, QR codes were adopted in association with mobile technology to deliver supplementary materials and questions to support students' reading. QR codes were printed on paper prints to provide direct access to digital materials and scaffolded questions. Smartphones were used to scan the printed QR codes to fetch pre-designed digital resources and scaffolded questions over the Internet. A quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of direct access to the digital materials prepared by the instructor using QR codes and that of scaffolded questioning in improving students' reading comprehension. The results suggested that direct access to digital resources using QR codes does not significantly influence students' reading comprehension; however, the reading strategy of scaffolded questioning significantly improves students' understanding about the text. The survey showed that most students agreed that the integrated print-and-digital-material- based learning system benefits English reading comprehension but may not be as efficient as expected. The implications of the findings shed light on future improvement of the system.

How generalization inferences are constructed in expository text comprehension

Three questions regarding adult readers’ processing of generalization inferences (conceptually broad statements that subsume several specific statements) are investigated. College students ( N = 193) read expository texts containing target statements that were consistent, inconsistent, or off-topic in relation to a generalization implied by one paragraph. Reading times were faster for consistent than inconsistent statements and faster for inconsistent than off-topic statements, indicating adult readers construct generalization inferences online during initial reading of a text and that the inference they construct is relatively narrow in scope. This pattern of faster reading time for consistent sentences occurred under different reading goals, suggesting generalization inferences are a pervasive component of expository text comprehension.

Reading competence, interest, and reading goals in three gifted young adolescent readers

The complex intersection of interest, reading goals, and competence was investigated through qualitative analysis of the cross‐domain reading of three middle‐school highly gifted readers. Students completed knowledge pretests and domain interest assessments, thought aloud while reading college‐level reading and history passages, and completed open‐ended questions assessing recall, understanding, and evaluation of the author’s argument. Think‐alouds were coded for reading behaviors, including expressions of interest, and re‐coded for inferred reading goals. Individual reading profiles incorporated students’ assessed knowledge and interest, observed interactions with the texts, levels of goals, and outcome performance. This set of reading profiles informed an elaborated characterization of reading competence. The role of such reading competence in development of competence or proficiency in other academic domains was discussed.

A contribuição da psicologia cognitiva para o design de instruções de procedimentos cognitivos, recomendações do design, instruções de procedimentos, trabalhos técnicos

Este trabalho objetiva demonstrar como a psicologia cognitiva pode ajudar escritores de assuntos tcnicos a melhorar o design das instrues de procedimentos. Para tanto, a primeira parte do trabalho compara as caractersticas destas instrues a outros tipos de texto. Tais caractersticas referem-se a seu objetivo pragmtico, complexidade de uso (com o mecanismo de interao do usurio - documento) e restries quanto eficincia. A segunda parte apresenta as consideraes tericas e os resultados da pesquisa no que se referem aos processos cognitivos humanos implicados no processamento deste tipo especfico de informao, tais como propsitos de leitura, compreenso, programa de ao, inferncias. Com base nestas caractersticas, a terceira parte deste trabalho prope solues de design que possam vir a melhorar a qualidade das instrues de procedimentos, tais como a introduo de fotos no texto, para auxiliar a elaborao de modelos mentais, obedincia a um princpio de uso-pedido, para melhorar o programa de ao, uso de lista de instrues numeradas, para facilitar a troca de atividades e reduzir a carga cognitiva e uso de cabealhos ou fotos, para ajudar na execuo de atividades controladas. E, por fim, a concluso, onde se considera a necessidade de um teste de usurio na complementao destas recomendaes a fim de se obter uma documentao de qualidade.[ Download ]

Manuscript Commonplace Books, Literature, and Reading in Early Modern England

This essay considers three manuscript commonplace books with extracts from literary works in the vernacular: one by a member of the Sidney circle; one by an anonymous university student or tutor; and one by a country gentleman, Edward Pudsey. With their different types of readers and reading matter, reading methods, and goals of reading, these manuscripts complicate the paradigms of the �??pragmatic�? and �??recreational�? reader and highlight the need to move toward a model of reading that takes account of the multiple material, social, and intellectual contexts that shaped the reception of literature in early modern England.

Using Texts in Science Education: Cognitive Processes and Knowledge Representation

Texts form a powerful tool in teaching concepts and principles in science. How do readers extract information from a text, and what are the limitations in this process? Central to comprehension of and learning from a text is the construction of a coherent mental representation that integrates the textual information and relevant background knowledge. This representation engenders learning if it expands the reader's existing knowledge base or if it corrects misconceptions in this knowledge base. The Landscape Model captures the reading process and the influences of reader characteristics (such as working-memory capacity, reading goal, prior knowledge, and inferential skills) and text characteristics (such as content/structure of presented information, processing demands, and textual cues). The model suggests factors that can optimize--or jeopardize--learning science from text.

Effects of reading goals on reading comprehension, reading rate, and allocation of working memory in children and adolescents with spina bifida meningomyelocele

Spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with intact word decoding and deficient text and discourse comprehension. This study investigated the ability to adjust reading in accordance with specified reading goals in 79 children and adolescents with SBM (9-19 years of age) and 39 controls (8-17 years of age). Both groups demonstrated slower reading times and enhanced comprehension when reading to study or to come up with a title than when reading for specific information or for entertainment. For both groups, verbal working memory contributed to comprehension performance in those reading conditions hypothesized to require more cognitive effort. Despite their sensitivity to the goals of reading, the group with SBM answered fewer comprehension questions correctly across all reading goal conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesized cognitive underpinnings of comprehension deficits in SBM and to current models of text comprehension.

Exploring how relevance instructions affect personal reading intentions, reading goals and text processing: A mixed methods study

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate how relevance instructions influence readers’ personal reading intentions, reading goals, text processing, and memory for text. Undergraduates ( n = 52) were randomly assigned to one of three pre-reading relevance instruction conditions that asked them to read from a perspective or to read for understanding. Experimental results showed that information was read slower and remembered better when it was relevant. However, some readers spent more time reading irrelevant information, whereas others spent less time reading this information. Post-reading interviews were analyzed to explain these reading time differences. The interview data indicated that relevance instructions influenced readers’ goals and the strategies they used to meet those goals. The data sets were complementary: the quantitative data indicated differences in reading time and recall, and the qualitative data allowed us to explain why these differences occurred. These data revealed three distinct reader profiles within and across conditions, and demonstrate how relevance instructions affect reader goals, processing, and comprehension.

Reading Fluency: More Than Automaticity? More Than a Concern for the Primary Grades?

Reading fluency has traditionally been viewed as a goal of reading that is taught and mastered in the elementary grades. In this article we challenge that notion by exploring the role of reading fluency as a contributor to reading proficiency and difficulty among intermediate and middle grade students. We assessed reading fluency development among a large number of third-, fifth-, and seventh-grade students, using prosody (expressiveness in oral reading) rather than reading rate (word recognition automaticity) as a measure of reading fluency. We found moderately strong correlations between fluency and silent reading comprehension as measured by a standardized achievement test at all three grade levels. Our findings suggest that reading fluency appears to be a significant variable in upper elementary and middle grade students' reading. Moreover, the findings add to mounting evidence that prosody is an important component in the full manifestation of reading fluency. Both components of fluency, automaticity and prosody, should be considered in measures of reading fluency and in instructional methodologies for improving reading fluency. We suggest that more research is called for into the role of reading fluency among adolescent students, especially those students experiencing difficulty in achieving high levels of literacy. We also call for continued research into the role of prosody in students' reading achievement.