Reading Comprehension Performance Research Articles

Speech connectedness predicts reading performance three months in advance: a longitudinal experiment

Aiming to verify the predictive value of oral narrative structure on reading acquisition, we followed 253 children (first and second graders) during an entire school year, assessing oral narratives and reading performances in five sessions. Transcriptions of oral narratives were represented as word-recurrence graphs to measure connectedness attributes. Connectedness predicted performance in phonological awareness, reading comprehension, and word reading accuracy 3–4 months in advance.

Reading comprehension and students’ academic performance in English

Aims: The main goal is to identify, examine, and recommend techniques for enhancing academic performance and reading comprehension abilities. The ultimate goal is to significantly aid students' overall achievement in their academic endeavors. Study design: The design used in this study is descriptive research. Place and duration of study: Nicolas L. Galvez memorial national high school Methodology: Grade 7 students of Nicolas L. Galvez memorial national high school consisting two hundred eighty nine (289) students were the chosen respondents of the researchers. Results: There is a significant difference between the students’ reading comprehension proficiency and academic performance, as the results showed that most of the respondents’ struggled comprehending the text affected the academic performance. In addition to that, reading comprehension is essential as it helps them to understand any instruction resulting in independent readers. Conclusion: There is a significant difference between the students' reading comprehension and academic performance.

Reading comprehension differences between children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and low cognitive abilities and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and intact cognitive skills: the roles of decoding, fluency and morphosyntax.

Reading comprehension is one of the most important skills learned in school and it has an important contribution to the academic success of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Though previous studies have investigated reading comprehension difficulties in ASD and highlighted factors that contribute to these difficulties, this evidence has mainly stemmed from children with ASD and intact cognitive skills. Also, much emphasis has been placed on the relation between reading comprehension and word recognition skills, while the role of other skills, including fluency and morphosyntax, remains underexplored. This study addresses these gaps by investigating reading comprehension in two groups of school-aged children with ASD, one with intact and one with low cognitive abilities, also exploring the roles of word decoding, fluency and morphosyntax in each group's reading comprehension performance. The study recruited 16 children with ASD and low cognitive abilities, and 22 age-matched children with ASD and intact cognitive skills. The children were assessed on four reading subdomains, namely, decoding, fluency, morphosyntax, and reading comprehension. The children with ASD and low cognitive abilities scored significantly lower than their peers with intact cognitive abilities in all reading subdomains, except for decoding, verb production and compound word formation. Regression analyses showed that reading comprehension in the group with ASD and intact cognitive abilities was independently driven by their decoding and fluency skills, and to a lesser extent, by morphosyntax. On the other hand, the children with ASD and low cognitive abilities mainly drew on their decoding, and to a lesser extent, their morphosyntactic skills to perform in reading comprehension. The results suggest that reading comprehension was more strongly affected in the children with ASD and low cognitive abilities as compared to those with intact cognitive skills. About half of the children with ASD and intact cognitive skills also exhibited mild-to-moderate reading comprehension difficulties, further implying that ASD may influence reading comprehension regardless of cognitive functioning. Finally, strengths in decoding seemed to predominantly drive cognitively-impaired children's reading performance, while the group with ASD and intact cognitive skills mainly recruited fluency and metalinguistic lexical skills to cope with reading comprehension demands, further suggesting that metalinguistic awareness may be a viable way to enhance reading comprehension in ASD.

Impact of background music on reading comprehension: influence of lyrics language and study habits.

Numerous studies have explored the effects of background music on reading comprehension, however, little is known about how native language (L1) lyrics and second language (L2) lyrics in background music influence reading comprehension performance for college students. The present study used a mixed experimental design to examine the effects of listening habits (between-participants variable: non-listeners or listeners), music type (between-participants variable: L1 (Mandarin) pop music, L2 (English) pop music or no music) and text language (within-participants variable: L1 or L2) on reading comprehension of college students in East China. A total of 90 participants (50 females) were screened into non- listeners (n = 45) and listeners (n = 45), and then were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Mandarin pop music group (n = 30), English pop music group (n = 30) and no music group (n = 30). The results showed that reading comprehension performance was negatively affected by music with lyrics compared to the no music condition. Furthermore, Chinese/English reading comprehension was reduced more by pop music in the same language as the written texts. As expected, non-listeners were more negatively affected by music with lyrics than listeners. For both listeners and non-listeners, average reading comprehension accuracy rates were the lowest in the condition of music with native language lyrics. Overall, our research findings indicate that listening to pop music with lyrics reduces reading comprehension performance. However, listening to background music cause much less distraction if the students commonly listen to music while reading. The current study supports the duplex-mechanism account of auditory distraction.

The Effect of Understand-Answer Strategy Instruction on Reading Comprehension of Students with Ld

The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of the Understand-Answer Strategy on the reading comprehension skills of students with learning disabilities. The research was carried out on students with a diagnosis of learning disability studying in secondary schools in Pendik, Istanbul, affiliated with the Ministry of National Education. The selected students are between the ages of 12 and 13, with two girls and one boy. The research was carried out with a single-subject design, a "Multiple probe design between subjects". The dependent variable of the study is the number of correct answers given to the reading comprehension questions in a written reading comprehension text. The independent variable of the research is the Understand-Answer Strategy. The experimental process consisted of the stages of determining the starting level, teaching the Understand-Answer Strategy, end-of-teaching evaluation, monitoring, and generalization. At the end of the study, the opinions of the students and their families were also considered. The Understand-Answer Strategy consist of activating prior knowledge, discussing the strategy, being a model, guiding practices and independent practices. At the end of the research, the opinions of students and their families were examined as social validity data. In all evaluation conditions, students were asked to read a narrative text and then answer eight reading comprehension questions. The scoring of the data was determined by the correct answers given by the students to the questions. The research findings have shown that the Understand-Answer Strategy is effective in improving the reading comprehension skills of students with learning difficulties. Furthermore, students who learned this strategy were able to provide correct answers to reading comprehension questions 1, 3, and 5 weeks after the end of the application, and it was observed that students who learned the strategy with different participants generalized their reading comprehension performance. According to the social validity findings, students and their families expressed positive views about the Understand-Answer Strategy.

Information Visualization on the Reading Comprehension for Elementary School Students in Malaysia

Visualization strategies are strategies that utilize images to help strengthen the students' understanding of reading comprehension. Through this strategy, students will describe the meaning obtained from the text in the form of rough sketches. The use of these images allows the students to be more focused on the continuation of reading because they understand the meaning more clearly. This study aims to investigate the impact of information visualization techniques on reading comprehension performance among elementary school students in Malaysia. The study adapted quantitative study through a quasi-experimental design and survey questionnaire. 300 students from Standard 4 to Standard 6 (10 to 12 years old) were chosen as the participants of the study. They were divided into Experimental Group (n=150) and the control Group (n=150). The experiment has been done in 2 classes per week, in a total of 6 weeks. The participants in the Experimental Group were taught reading comprehension using visualization technique, while the students in the Control Group were taught using conventional method. The reading comprehension score for all the students were recorded both in pre-test and post-test. After the experiment, the students in Experimental Group were asked to answer a set of questionnaires. The finding shows that the student in the Experimental Group has higher increment in terms of their reading comprehension score compared to the students in the Control Group after the experiment. Statistical analysis of Pearson correlation found a very weak significant positive correlation between visualization technique and reading comprehension score (r=0.188, p<0.005). The analysis of Multiple Linear regression also shows that visualization technique has a small effect only on the reading comprehension score (R2=.275, R2Adj=.233, p<0.001). It was also found that there is a significant difference on the information visualization technique on the reading comprehension score based on gender. The study concludes that there are other factors that affect the students’ level of reading comprehension such as the students’ cognitive ability, and the environment of study, in which visualization technique is only a fraction in improving the reading comprehension.

Teaching Strategies and Their Effects on Reading Comprehension Performance of Junior High School Students in Inclusive Classroom Setting

Comprehension is the basic condition for meaningful reading. The current quantitative study conducted in the English language context explored the effect of teaching reading strategies on the reading comprehension of junior high school students with a sample size of 30 in an inclusive classroom setting. The findings revealed that majority of the students were at the ages 14 to 17 years old, females, parents’ income ranging from ₱9,520 - ₱19,040 with an educational background at the high school level. The Effective Instructional Methods were more highly utilized than the cooperative learning strategies. Both reading comprehension levels during the pre-test and post-test belonged to the proficient level. There is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores (t = 7.417; p>0.05) of the reading comprehension performance of the respondents. On the other hand, there is no significant relationship (r = 0.158; p>0.05) between the post-intervention and the extent of varying teaching strategies. Findings indicate that teaching reading strategies have a positive impact on the reading comprehension of students at the junior high secondary level. The study has important implications for teachers, students, curriculum planners, policymakers in the field of education, and school heads.

Dissociating reading and auditory comprehension in persons with aphasia.

Language comprehension is often affected in individuals with post-stroke aphasia. However, deficits in auditory comprehension are not fully correlated with deficits in reading comprehension and the mechanisms underlying this dissociation remain unclear. This distinction is important for understanding language mechanisms, predicting long-term impairments and future development of treatment interventions. Using comprehensive auditory and reading measures from a large cohort of individuals with aphasia, we evaluated the relationship between aphasia type and reading comprehension impairments, the relationship between auditory versus reading comprehension deficits and the crucial neuroanatomy supporting the dissociation between post-stroke reading and auditory deficits. Scores from the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised from 70 participants with aphasia after a left-hemisphere stroke were utilized to evaluate both reading and auditory comprehension of linguistically equivalent stimuli. Repeated-measures and univariate ANOVA were used to assess the relationship between auditory comprehension and aphasia types and correlations were employed to test the relationship between reading and auditory comprehension deficits. Lesion-symptom mapping was used to determine the dissociation of crucial brain structures supporting reading comprehension deficits controlling for auditory deficits and vice versa. Participants with Broca's or global aphasia had the worst performance on reading comprehension. Auditory comprehension explained 26% of the variance in reading comprehension for sentence completion and 44% for following sequential commands. Controlling for auditory comprehension, worse reading comprehension performance was independently associated with damage to the inferior temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, posterior inferior temporal gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, lingual gyrus and posterior thalamic radiation. Auditory and reading comprehension are only partly correlated in aphasia. Reading is an integral part of daily life and directly associated with quality of life and functional outcomes. This study demonstrated that reading performance is directly related to lesioned areas in the boundaries between visual association regions and ventral stream language areas. This behavioural and neuroanatomical dissociation provides information about the neurobiology of language and mechanisms for potential future treatment interventions.

Effects of working memory and visual search skill on Chinese reading comprehension: examining the simple view of reading

AbstractTo investigate the longitudinal effects of two domain-general cognitive abilities, namely verbal working memory and visual search skill, on Chinese reading comprehension. To evaluate whether decoding and linguistic comprehension mediate such effects. A total of 202 first-grade Chinese-speaking children from mainland China (Mage = 86 months, SD = 4.9 months; 126 boys) completed tasks that measured verbal working memory, visual search, expressive vocabulary, morphological awareness, Chinese character recognition, and word reading fluency. One year later, they completed a passage comprehension task and a nonverbal intelligence test. Structural equation modeling was conducted with decoding and linguistic comprehension being included as latent variables and mediating factors explaining the effects of working memory and visual search. The children with better verbal working memory and visual search skill exhibited better reading comprehension performance. The effect of working memory on reading comprehension was fully mediated by linguistic comprehension (captured by vocabulary and morphological awareness) but not decoding (measured by word reading accuracy and fluency). However, decoding fully mediated the impact of visual search skill. Our findings suggest that the reading comprehension ability of beginning Chinese readers is associated with verbal working memory and visual search ability. These general cognitive abilities influence reading comprehension through distinct pathways. In line with the simple view of reading theory, decoding and linguistic comprehension skills explain such impacts. This research underlines the value of simultaneously examining general cognitive abilities and exploring their interconnectedness with linguistic skills in the context of reading comprehension.

Vocabulary Competency and Reading Comprehension of Grade 12 English as Second Language Users: A Systematic Review

This paper has three main objectives: (1) establish the relationship between performance in vocabulary with performance in reading comprehension and writing; (2) determine whether good performance in reading comprehension automatically translates into corresponding good performance in vocabulary and writing or not; (3) establish the correlation between gender and performance in vocabulary, reading comprehension and writing attainment among Grade 12 students. Numerous first language studies show a high correlation between good readers and writers, assuming reading and writing mutually reinforce each other. Some explore the link between vocabulary size and depth and their correlation with reading and writing. Fewer studies examined the connection of (1) vocabulary and reading comprehension and (2) vocabulary knowledge and writing in a second language environment. These studies have reported that second language inputs (reading and writing) play a pivotal role in developing literacy skills amongst learners in second language contexts, i.e., reading input affects the development of writing and reading abilities and or vice versa (meaning, writing input could have the same effect). We recommend that education standards officers, school administrators, and teachers should design strategies to develop in students the habit of independent reading.

Domain‐general and reading‐specific cognitive flexibility and its relation with other executive functions: Contributions to science text reading comprehension

BackgroundCognitive and linguistic factors have been incorporated into models to explain reading comprehension beyond classical models of reading. This study explores the contribution of executive functions, mainly domain‐general and reading‐specific cognitive flexibility, in reading comprehension of science texts in monolingual Spanish speaking upper elementary students.MethodsA total of 275 Chilean students from fourth to sixth grade participated in this study. They were evaluated in working memory, inhibition, reading fluency, domain‐general and reading‐specific cognitive flexibility, academic vocabulary and science reading comprehension.ResultsThe results show that cognitive flexibility is a variable that explains performance in science reading comprehension across elementary grades. Furthermore, reading domain‐specific cognitive flexibility was found to be the variable that explains additional performance in science reading comprehension above inhibition, reading fluency, academic vocabulary and domain‐general cognitive flexibility in Grade 4 and Grade 5, but not in Grade 6.ConclusionsThese results suggest the contribution of cognitive variables such as cognitive flexibility in explaining performance in reading comprehension of science texts. The need to develop cognitive tests specific to reading domain is also discussed.

The impact of morphological density on reading comprehension in Arabic: A comparison between typically developing and children with reading disabilities.

This study examined the influence of morphological density on reading comprehension in Arabic and whether this influence differs between typical and children with reading disabilities. Morphological density in Arabic is a text feature that refers to using bound morphemes, creating dense words with more morphemes. The participants were 182 fifth-graders, both typical and children with reading disabilities. Children were assessed in reading comprehension by reading texts with low- or high-morphological density. Findings revealed that overall morphological density impacted reading comprehension performance. That is, scores were found to be higher while reading low-density text than high-density text. Moreover, an interaction of morphological density condition by reading proficiency showed no density text effect among typical developing readers. However, a difference was obtained in the children with reading disabilities whereas low-morphological density text score was higher than the score of high-morphological density text. The study highlights the importance of morphological awareness in reading comprehension in Arabic, extending that morphological density plays an important role in this process. The results are discussed in light of the lexical quality hypothesis and simple view of reading model. The findings imply the need of explicit morphological instruction for dense morphological forms.

The Effect of Lean Methodology on EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Performance

As the demands of English language learners should be satisfied, the question of various teaching techniques has become contentious in classrooms. Lean, a cutting-edge approach, provides a successful way to learn a language. Teachers must employ efficient teaching strategies to accomplish their goals and excite learners. The current study looked into how teaching English as a second language affected students' ability to read comprehension. A control group and an experimental group were utilized in a pre-post-test quasi-experimental design. Following the pre-test, the experimental group received the treatment whereas the control group did not. For the analysis, 40 language learners from a language school in Erbil, Iraq, were taken into consideration. Lean was also disseminated to the participants to help them determine their aims before being applied as a teaching approach to the students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the statistical analysis (i.e., Independent samples t-test). In terms of how the two groups performed on the pre- and post-tests. It was discovered that the scores were different in a significant manner. This brand-new Lean education strategy has been demonstrated in this research conducted in the context of Iraq to improve learning outcomes (in this case, reading comprehension skills), complete the curriculum on schedule, and eliminate any specific waste.

Using the Strategy Instructions Approach (SIA) in Teaching Reading Comprehension: A Case Study Schools in the Amathole East District South in Africa

This study sought to explore the effectiveness of using the Strategy Instructions Approach (SIA) to teach South African children reading comprehension. The majority of language teachers, especially those who teach English as a first or second language, were found to be lacking in the skills needed to impart reading comprehension effectively to their learners. Grade 8 learners were taught reading comprehension using SIA which was basically from the curriculum and assessment policy statement (CAPS) materials. A control group of 60 learners and an experimental group of 60 learners (sampled from three schools in Amathole East District in South Africa) were used to determine the effectiveness of SIA when compared to the traditional teaching approaches used by teachers to teach reading comprehension. The outcomes demonstrated that SIA enhanced performance in reading comprehension. The study recommends that schools especially, those in rural areas should have more reading resources and activities, longer hours on the school timetable for teaching reading comprehension, and higher institutions should train teachers to use SIA. Keywords: Strategy Instructions Approach (SIA), Reading Comprehension, Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), Control Group, Experimental Group

Enhancing English Reading Comprehension of ESL Underachievers by Fostering Metacognitive Strategies

This study investigates the efficacy of implementing metacognitive reading strategies in English classes to enhance the reading comprehension of underachieving Arab second-language learners. The research included a specifically developed lesson in three sixth-grade classes at a Saudi girls' school and a control group of three additional classrooms. Information was gathered through pre-and post-tests, interviews, and observations. The results reveal that students taught metacognitive skills caught up to their more successful classmates regarding reading comprehension. The implications of these methods for English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction are examined. These findings provide valuable insights into the capacity of metacognitive reading strategies to close the comprehension gap among underachieving ESL learners in the Arab context. Based on the findings, the research recommends incorporating these methods into English classes as an effective way to improve student's reading comprehension and overall performance in the classroom.

The Effects of Graphic Organiser-based Reading Instruction on Reading Comprehension among Malaysian ESL Learners

This study investigated the impact of two graphic organizer (GO) instruction methods on reading comprehension in Malaysian ESL learners. The experiment involved180 Malaysian ESL students from three international schools, with one group received GO 1 instruction, another group received GO 2 instruction, and a control group received traditional instruction (NGO). Three instruments were used: a reading ability test, five practice sessions with five expository passages, and a reading comprehension test. The results of the 2-way ANOVA analysis indicated a significant interaction between GOinstruction, reading ability, and reading comprehension performance. The study found that GO instructions, specifically the concept mapping(GO 1)and KWL strategies(GO 2), were effective in enhancing reading comprehension, particularly among good readers. The KWL strategy also demonstrated benefits for improving reading comprehension,promoting active participation and critical thinking compared to the concept mapping group.This research contributes to the advancement of knowledge in ESL education by comparing the effects of the Concept Mapping strategy and the KWL strategy on reading comprehension among Malaysian ESL learners, thereby enriching the existing understanding of instructional methodologies in the field. Additionally, it diversifies generative learning strategies research by focusing on specific strategies, namely Concept Mapping and KWL, in a comparative analysis against the traditional NGO method, providing valuable insights for ESL educators to make informed decisions about instructional approaches. The study's findings have important pedagogical implications for ESL instruction.

The Preschools in Marawi City: Status, Problems and Prospects

This study, conducted during the 2010-2011 school year, explores the status, issues, and potential improvements of preschools in Marawi City. Employing a descriptive survey method, the research addresses several key aspects, including teacher, parent, and pupil profiles; preschool facilities; teacher practices; parenting approaches; encountered problems; and reading comprehension performance.The study encompasses twenty-nine preschools in MSU and Marawi City, with a sample size consisting of ninety-seven teachers, one hundred parents, and two hundred eighty-four pupils. A survey questionnaire, structured by the researcher, covers diverse categories such as teacher and parent profiles, preschool status, classroom practices, upbringing methods, encountered problems, reading comprehension performance, and prospects.Statistical tools like frequency distribution, percentage distribution, weighted mean, and the 5-point Likert scale were used for data analysis. Key findings include: a majority of teachers are female, aged 26-30, with a college degree and training in Early Childhood Education; parents are predominantly government-employed, aged 25-30, with 1-3 children; pupils are mostly 6-7 years old, Muslim, and in their senior level; preschool facilities are generally adequate, with classrooms rated moderately adequate; effective teacher practices contrast with moderately effective parenting approaches; serious problems are reported by teachers; and reading comprehension performance varies, with a need for enhanced social learning.Recommendations arising from the study include a preference for preschool teachers with a degree in Early Childhood Education, supplemented by ongoing training; emphasis on English and Filipino as instructional mediums; improved parent-teacher conferences; expanded preschool resources; careful planning and implementation of teacher practices; focus on developing reading skills; fostering rich social learning; and suggesting follow-up studies addressing specific concerns from teachers, pupils, and parents. In conclusion, this research provides valuable insights into the current state of preschool education in Marawi City and offers practical recommendations to enhance the overall quality of early childhood education in the locality.

Students’ Perceptions of the Influence of Teacher’s Questions on Their Reading Comprehension

This study aims to investigate the influence of teacher’s questions on students’ reading comprehension and the latter’s perceptions of the impact of these questions on their reading performance. This mixed method study was conducted with 14 grade 9 teachers and 569 students under these teachers to examine the influence of questions on reading comprehension. On the other hand, 14 students, one representative from the class of each teacher, were selected to participate in the retrospective discussion to explore their perceptions of the influence of the questions on their reading comprehension performance. The instruments used were an observation checklist, multiple-choice question (MCQ) test, and a discussion guide to capture the teacher’s questions, reading comprehension performance, and perceptions of students, respectively. The results for the quantitative part indicated that an increase in the number of teacher’s questions was positively correlated with an improvement in students’ reading comprehension performance. However, it was observed that teachers predominantly focused on lower-order thinking (LOT) questions resulting in students’ better performance on tests that assessed LOT skills but struggling on tests that required higher-order thinking (HOT) skills. Considering the perceptions of students on the teacher’s questions and their influence on their comprehension, they recognized the importance of relevant questions in maintaining engagement. They also expressed a preference for open-ended questions that encourage discussion and promote critical thinking. The connection between the findings from both quantitative and qualitative aspects suggests that by incorporating more (HOT) questions into their teaching practices, teachers can enhance students’ reading comprehension abilities.

Predicting reading comprehension performance based on student characteristics and item properties

Although learner characteristics and item properties are known to affect students’ reading comprehension performance, little research has focused on the interactions between these two types of features. This study investigated the effects of learner factors (i.e., gender, the main language spoken at home, multilingualism, and instruction on reading strategies) and item factors (i.e., item format and cognitive process), as well as their interactions, on Canadian students’ performance (n = 16,688) in the reading test of PISA 2018. The results indicated that all learner and item factors significantly predicted reading comprehension. Open-response items were more difficult for male students compared to their female peers. Receiving instruction on reading strategies was most helpful in answering the understanding type of items. Students who mainly spoke the test language at home were specifically better at answering items focused on locating information, while multilingualism appeared to compensate for not speaking the test language at home.

Determining the Reading Comprehension Levels of Students Who are Braille-Readers on Informative Texts

The purpose of this study was to determine the reading comprehension levels of middle school students who are braille readers in informational texts and to examine whether they differ in terms of certain variables. 23 of the participants were male and 16 were female; 11 of them were attending 6th grade, 18 were attending 7th grade, 10 were attending 8th grade. The data of the study were collected through the 'Reading Comprehension Achievement Test', which was prepared by the researchers and included 24 open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics analysis and one-way analysis of variance test. The significance level of p0.05 was taken into consideration in the interpretation of the results obtained from the statistical tests conducted in the study. As a result of the study, middle school students who are braille readers needed to improve their reading comprehension performance in informative texts. The study also found that using braille abbreviations had a great effect on reading comprehension. Findings showed that the reading comprehension levels of male and female students who read braille were similar to each other and the reading comprehension levels of students who read braille were similar to each other regardless of their grade level.