Reading Comprehension Research Research Articles

Reading Comprehension and Constructive Learning: Policy Considerations in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Although reading in the digital age looks different than in the past (e.g., on a screen, shorter texts spread across multiple sources), reading continues to be a central part of everyday life. Research in reading comprehension shows that this type of modern reading requires more complex knowledge building inference processes that are difficult for many adolescents and adults. Constructive and personalized learning activities can support readers’ knowledge building. Researchers have been using artificial intelligence (AI) to make these types of activities more effective and accessible. Emerging directions and considerations also result from the introduction of generative AI. Increased collaboration across researchers, developers, educators, and policymakers would afford empirically supported research, development, and implementation that can keep pace with the quickly evolving technological landscape.

Unveiling the Role of Explicit Metadiscourse Instruction, Language Proficiency, and Content Familiarity in EFL Reading Comprehension: A Comprehensive Review

This review comprehensively explores the integral role of explicit metadiscourse instruction and language proficiency and content familiarity in the context of reading comprehension among learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Drawing upon a wide-ranging analysis of empirical studies spanning two decades (2003-2023), the review illuminates the intricate dynamics between these key components. It underscores how metadiscourse markers, as vital linguistic devices, significantly impact the learners' processing, comprehension, and retention of information. The importance of language proficiency emerges as a decisive factor, shaping the degree to which EFL learners can effectively utilize metadiscourse markers to enhance their reading comprehension skills. Moreover, the review accentuates the critical synergistic relationship between content familiarity and the efficacy of metadiscourse instruction, shedding light on how prior knowledge can optimize learning outcomes. It identifies significant gaps in existing research, emphasizing the need for a more integrated approach that simultaneously considers metadiscourse instruction, language proficiency, and content familiarity. The review concludes by advocating for greater emphasis on explicit metadiscourse instruction in EFL pedagogy, positioning this work as a synthesis of current knowledge and a guidepost for future research and instructional innovation in EFL reading comprehension.

Neuroeducation, Classroom Interventions and Reading Comprehension: A Systematic Review of the 2010-2022 Literature

Reading comprehension is the cornerstone of human development, and consequently a fundamental and indispensable tool for communication and social interaction. In recent years, the field of reading comprehension research has been tightly connected with educational neuroscience, which has produced a growing number of interventions aimed at turning theoretical ideas of neuroeducation into practical efforts applicable to the classroom. The aim of the present systematic review was to analyze the state of neuroeducational research, to identify the main characteristics of the interventions developed, and to propose suggestions on the main findings that contribute to neuroeducation research on reading comprehension. Based on the guidelines of the PRISMA method, an exhaustive search was carried out in high impact databases. The selection process yielded 13 eligible studies and they were analyzed in terms of, for instance, theoretical focus, context and participants, and main findings. Results show that these studies most frequently addressed the emotional principle of self-regulation, the importance of the social principle of neuroeducation and its impact on the development of reading comprehension skills through activity breaks, holistic environment and physical exercise, and sensory cognitive development of attention and memory skills. Despite the homogeneity of the interventions presented in these studies, they showed significant effects on reading development, displaying higher research development concerning emotional and social aspects. The present study discusses the contributions of neuroeducational classroom interventions towards the development of reading comprehension skills, offering practical recommendations for teachers.

INSTRUÇÃO EM COMPREENSÃO DE LEITURA NA SALA DE AULA: O QUE PODEMOS APRENDER COM METANÁLISES?

ABSTRACT: The theory and research in reading comprehension (RC) make it clear that this ability fails to result automatically from the capacity of decoding a text because it involves linguistic and cognitive components which need to operate together with decoding fluency. Therefore, we must face the ability to understand as an object of teaching which and must be pursued by school instruction must pursue. Intervention studies - and meta-analyses on them - indicate effective interventions to foster this ability. However, the application of scientific evidence to teachers’ practice in classrooms is neither simple nor immediate, requiring new elaboration. This integrative review examines a group of meta-analyses on RC-intervention studies to verify the types of instruction analyzed, their effectiveness, and the main aspects which impacted this effect. Highlights among the findings include: teaching strategies favors all student profiles (with or without difficulties or at risk); some strategies are more recommended than others, such as setting reading goals (which facilitates the monitoring), asking questions about the text (during reading by teachers and students), and using written activities about the text. Furthermore, we found an important moderator effect related to who applies the instruction: its effectiveness diminishes if teachers are its applicators. The complexity of applying and preparing these instructions indicate that training teachers to implement is as important as developing RC programs.

A SCOPING REVIEW OF INFERENTIAL READING COMPREHENSION RESEARCH IN THE PRESENT DECADE

Inferential comprehension has had a notable role in reading comprehension research, with many studies investigating the process in different contexts. Several researchers have proposed models of reading comprehension where inference generation has great prominence (GAGNÉ; YEKOVICH; YEKOVICH, 1993; KINTSCH; VAN DIJK, 1978; VAN DEN BROEK et al., 1999). That said, the objective of this study was to conduct a scoping review that proposed to discover the focus of studies about inferential reading comprehension in the present decade through the Periódicos da Capes platform. This study consisted of bibliographical research (GIL, 2017), comprising a sample of twelve studies. To analyze the articles, we explored the following aspects: inference types, offline and online methods of measuring comprehension, narrative and expository text types, individual differences, and L1 and L2 research. We presented a summary and critical appraisal of each one according to the topics outlined. The results showed that English was the prevalent language investigated considering L1 and L2, most studies used offline methods to measure comprehension, and narrative texts were the most popular in inferential reading research. It was out of the scope of this study to include research with cognitively impaired participants, studies conducted in graduate courses not published in peer-reviewed journals, and articles available only on other platforms, such as Web of Science, ResearchGate, and others. Despite the limitations, this study offered insight regarding future research in inferential reading comprehension. We suggest future studies employ online and offline measures, distinguish differences in inferential processes between text types, and explore individual differences in inference generation.

Integrate Candidate Answer Extraction with Re-Ranking for Chinese Machine Reading Comprehension.

Machine Reading Comprehension (MRC) research concerns how to endow machines with the ability to understand given passages and answer questions, which is a challenging problem in the field of natural language processing. To solve the Chinese MRC task efficiently, this paper proposes an Improved Extraction-based Reading Comprehension method with Answer Re-ranking (IERC-AR), consisting of a candidate answer extraction module and a re-ranking module. The candidate answer extraction module uses an improved pre-training language model, RoBERTa-WWM, to generate precise word representations, which can solve the problem of polysemy and is good for capturing Chinese word-level features. The re-ranking module re-evaluates candidate answers based on a self-attention mechanism, which can improve the accuracy of predicting answers. Traditional machine-reading methods generally integrate different modules into a pipeline system, which leads to re-encoding problems and inconsistent data distribution between the training and testing phases; therefore, this paper proposes an end-to-end model architecture for IERC-AR to reasonably integrate the candidate answer extraction and re-ranking modules. The experimental results on the Les MMRC dataset show that IERC-AR outperforms state-of-the-art MRC approaches.

Do readers adjust their lower‐ and higher‐level language skills according to text structures? Evidence from eye movements in Chinese text reading

BackgroundReading researchers have generally considered that reading is an interactive combination of top‐down (higher‐level language skill) and bottom‐up (lower‐level language skill) processes. Nevertheless, the mechanisms through which readers apply these skills for online text comprehension are unclear.MethodsThe present study thus used eight classical Chinese (CC) texts and their corresponding vernacular translation (VT) texts for controlling the text structure and meaning to explore such mechanisms in high school students.ResultsWith partial‐out to the influences of (a) students' language achievement scores, (b) word frequency and (c) word length, we observed no significant difference in comprehension accuracy between the CC and VT texts, and the CC texts involved a significantly lower reading speed than did the VT texts. Moreover, the first fixation duration, gaze duration, rereading time and total reading time for the CC texts were longer than those for the VT texts. For all events, CC text reading required a longer fixation duration and significantly longer rereading time and total reading time than did VT text reading. Further observations show that students comprehended CC texts by adjusting their lower‐ and higher‐level language skills.ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that even if CC texts contain a relatively high number of low‐frequency words, as readers get more and more contextual information from the text, they can gradually apply higher‐level reading skills to understand the meaning of the text, which can ease the dependence on word decoding.HighlightsWhat is already known about this topic Lower‐ and higher‐level language skills—which reflect lexical access and higher order text integration, respectively—affect reading comprehension. Theory and research in reading comprehension have emphasised the interactive process of both language skills to lead to successfully understanding text. What this paper adds By using classical Chinese texts and their corresponding vernacular translations to control the meaning of texts, text event structures and the corresponding word sequence, we determined that high school students comprehended classical Chinese texts by adjusting their lower‐ and higher‐level language skills. This study also revealed students' dynamical adjustment of lower‐ and higher‐level language skills within construction and integration phases according to various events. Implications for theory, policy or practice This study demonstrated that word‐based eye‐movement measures can reflect the processing of lower‐ and higher‐level components in online reading and can reveal the even construction and integration processes of construction–integration model theory. By thoroughly examining reading strategies for texts structured according to events, this study revealed how high school students can achieve a certain degree of comprehension of classical Chinese texts through the use of higher‐level language skills.

Reading Comprehension Research: Implications for Practice and Policy

Reading comprehension is one of the most complex cognitive activities in which humans engage, making it difficult to teach, measure, and research. Despite decades of research in reading comprehension, international and national reading scores indicate stagnant growth for U.S. adolescents. In this article, we review the theoretical and empirical research in reading comprehension. We first explore different theoretical models for comprehension and then focus on components shown to be important across models that represent potential targets for instruction. In the last part of the article, we consider solutions for translating research to practice and policies for improving instruction. Improving reading scores will require a concerted and collaborative effort by researchers, educators, and policy makers with a focus on long-term solutions. An early and sustained focus on developing background knowledge, vocabulary, inference, and comprehension monitoring skills across development will be necessary to improve comprehension.

Reading Comprehension and Phonics Research: Review of Correlational Analyses with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students.

This manuscript reviews 28 studies of reading research on deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students published since 2000 that used correlational analyses. The examination focused on assessment issues affecting measurement and analysis of relationships between early phonological or orthographic skills and reading comprehension. Mixed outcomes complicate efforts to determine evidence-based practices, and to develop an accurate model of reading. Across the 28 studies, DHH participants represented a wide age range with potential floor and ceiling effects that reduce score variability for valid correlations. Many studies assessed readers beyond the optimal ages during which early skills develop and are most useful for reading. Reading skills also were assessed using a diverse array of measures and skill definitions. Particularly for reading comprehension, word-level and text-level abilities appear to be different constructs. Suggestions include more consistent skill definitions and differential timing for early- versus later-developing skill assessments to ensure more robust correlational relationships.

Reading for understanding: Methodist youths’ shared Scripture- reading practices

Informed by reading comprehension and comprehension strategies research, this study explores the Scripture-reading practices of four Methodist youths. Several rounds of inductive thematic analyses of Scripture-reading protocols revealed a set of five strategic reading practices youths used to understand Scripture. They drew inferences about the Bible’s possible meanings, made connections between the Bible and other texts, made personal comments, recognized when they were confused, and applied prior knowledge. Identifying and naming these five strategic practices can deepen our understanding of the nature of Methodist youths’ Scripture-reading practices and raise important questions about the relationships among youth, religion, and literacy.

Reading Comprehension is Embodied: Theoretical and Practical Considerations

In this review, I advance the embodied cognition movement in cognitive psychology as both a challenge and an invitation for the study of reading comprehension. Embodied cognition challenges theories which assume that mental operations are based in a common, abstract, amodal code of propositions and schemata. Based on growing research in behavioral and neuroscience, embodied cognition proposes that all cognitive activity is based in sensorimotor activity, opening exciting new vistas for research and practice. Exemplary embodied theories are summarized and compared including those of Glenberg, Barsalou, Lakoff and Johnson, Paivio, and others. Exemplary embodied educational applications to reading comprehension are reviewed. I propose that much reading comprehension research that cites an abstract theoretical basis is actually more consistent with the embodied perspective.

Interpreting Reading Comprehension Test Results: Quantile Regression Shows that Explanatory Factors Can Vary with Performance Level

ABSTRACTOne of the most important findings to emerge from recent reading comprehension research is that there are large differences between tests in what they assess—specifically, the extent to which performance depends on word recognition versus listening comprehension skills. Because this research used ordinary least squares regression, it is not clear that the findings apply similarly to poor and good readers. The current study uses quantile regression to assess whether there might be differences within tests in the relative contributions of component skills as a function of performance level. There were 834 individuals (ages 8–18) who took 5 reading comprehension tests. Quantile regression showed that, for 3 of 5 tests, the contributions of word recognition and listening comprehension vary as a function of reading comprehension skill. These quantile differences hold across both younger and older readers. Our findings show that what skills a test assesses vary not only with the specific test used but also with how well the person performs.

Relationships between Eye Movements during Sentence Reading Comprehension, Word Spelling and Reading, and DTI and fmri Connectivity In Students with and without Dysgraphia or Dyslexia.

While eye movements were recorded and brains scanned, 29 children with and without specific learning disabilities (SLDs) decided if sentences they read (half with only correctly spelled words and half with homonym foils) were meaningful. Significant main effects were found for diagnostic groups (non-SLD control, dysgraphia control, and dyslexia) in total fixation (dwell) time, total number of fixations, and total regressions in during saccades; the dyslexia group had longer and more fixations and made more regressions in during saccades than either control group. The dyslexia group also differed from both control groups in (a) fractional anisotropy in left optic radiation and (b) silent word reading fluency on a task in which surrounding letters can be distracting, consistent with Rayner's selective attention dyslexia model. Different profiles for non-SLD control, dysgraphia, and dyslexia groups were identified in correlations between total fixation time, total number of fixations, regressions in during saccades, magnitude of gray matter connectivity during the fMRI sentence reading comprehension from left occipital temporal cortex seed with right BA44 and from left inferior frontal gyrus with right inferior frontoccipital fasciculus, and normed word-specific spelling and silent word reading fluency measures. The dysgraphia group was more likely than the non-SLD control or dyslexia groups to show negative correlations between eye movement outcomes and sentences containing incorrect homonym foils. Findings are discussed in reference to a systems approach in future sentence reading comprehension research that integrates eye movement, brain, and literacy measures.

Gender differences in mental simulation during sentence and word processing

Text comprehension requires readers to mentally simulate the described situation by reactivating previously acquired sensory and motor information from (episodic) memory. Drawing upon research demonstrating gender differences, favouring girls, in tasks involving episodic memory retrieval, the present study explores whether gender differences exist in mental simulation in children (Grades 4 to 6). In Experiment 1, 99 children performed a sentence–picture verification task measuring mental simulation at sentence level. In Experiment 2, 97 children completed a lexical decision task in which imageability of words was manipulated to measure mental simulation at word level. Only for girls we found faster reaction times for matching versus mismatching sentence–picture pairs (Experiment 1) and high‐imageability versus low‐imageability words (Experiment 2). The results suggest that girls construct more coherent and vivid mental simulations than boys and rely more heavily on these representations. The results emphasize the importance of including gender into reading comprehension research. [Correction added on 13 June 2016, after first online publication: The affiliation of author “Björn B. de Koning” was previously wrong and has been corrected in this current version.]

He did it! She did it! No, she did not! Multiple causal explanations and the continued influence of misinformation

Two types of misinformation effects are discussed in the literature—the post-event misinformation effect and the continued influence effect. The former refers to the distorting memorial effects of misleading information that is presented after valid event encoding; the latter refers to information that is initially presented as true but subsequently turns out to be false and continues to affect memory and reasoning despite the correction. In two experiments, using a paradigm that merges elements from both traditions, we investigated the role of presentation order and recency when two competing causal explanations for an event are presented and one is subsequently retracted. Theoretical accounts of misinformation effects make diverging predictions regarding the roles of presentation order and recency. A recency account—derived from time-based models of memory and reading comprehension research suggesting efficient situation model updating—predicts that the more recently presented cause should have a stronger influence on memory and reasoning. By contrast, a primacy account—derived from primacy effects in impression formation and story recall as well as findings of inadequate memory updating—predicts that the initially presented cause should be dominant irrespective of temporal factors. Results indicated that (1) a cause’s recency, rather than its position (i.e., whether it was presented first or last) determined the emphasis that people place on it in their later reasoning, with more recent explanations being preferred; and (2) a retraction was equally effective whether it invalidated the first or the second cause, as long as the cause’s recency was held constant. This provides evidence against the primacy account and supports time-based models of memory such as temporal distinctiveness theory.

ConfChem Conference on Flipped Classroom: Time-Saving Resources Aligned with Cognitive Science To Help Instructors

Studies in cognitive science have verified that working memory (where the brain solves problems) can manipulate nearly all elements of knowledge that can be recalled automatically from long-term memory, but only a few elements that have not previously been well memorized. Research in reading comprehension has found that “lecture notes with clicker questions” can move a portion of lecture content to homework. By applying these findings to the design of homework-tutorials for students, under the right conditions, we found that time for active learning during lecture increased and student achievement measurably improved. Factors that have affected the outcome of our experiments are discussed. This communication summarizes one of the invited papers to the ConfChem online conference Flipped Classroom, held from May 9 to June 12, 2014 and hosted by the ACS DivCHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE).

Reading Perspective: Can It Improve Middle School Students’ Comprehension of Informational Text?

ABSTRACTIn 2 experiments the authors investigated whether assigning a perspective to middle school students prior to reading a long informational text would improve their reading comprehension. Pretest–posttest control group designs were employed in both experiments, in Experiment 1 (n = 146 fifth- and sixth-grade students) and in Experiment 2 (n = 83 eighth-grade students), where a delayed measure of comprehension was also included. Findings indicated statistically significant learning gains from pre- to posttest regardless of perspective but no differential benefit for perspective assignment on overall comprehension or comprehension of perspective-relevant content. Previous research has demonstrated comprehension benefit for adults assigned a perspective before reading short narrative texts in experimental settings. This work extends reading comprehension research by testing the efficacy of perspective instantiation in 2 samples of middle school learners reading an informational text in a school setting. Findings suggest more research is necessary prior to advocating the use of perspective instantiation in classrooms.

Current Directions in Reading Comprehension Research

Current Directions in Reading Comprehension Research

Applying Research in Reading Comprehension to Social Studies Instruction for Middle and High School Students

Secondary-level content area teachers face unique challenges in helping their students successfully read, understand, and learn content from complex texts in their discipline. In this article, a set of research-based practices designed to provide effective and feasible instruction to improve students’ reading and comprehension of text and content is provided. Specific examples of each practice within a social studies unit are used to illustrate how to promote text reading and understanding that is integrated with the content.

Reading comprehension research and linguistic pragmatics: Mapping out some unrecognized interdisciplinary common ground

On the whole, research into the various aspects of natural language and language use is characterized by a lack of unity and coherence (see e.g. Verschueren, 1987; Castelfranchi & Poggi, 1987; Nuyts, 1987; Nuyts, 1992). Nuyts (1992:3-4) describes the current situation in language research in rather negative terms: