Understanding Student Attitudes toward Bible Reading: A Philippine Experience

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Baring, Rito V.

2008-01-01

Reflecting from the Philippine experience, this article explores an emerging picture that characterizes contemporary Bible reading attitudes of college students. Six new attitude factor definitions are developed following the development of the Bible Reading (BR) attitude scale for college students constructed by this author in a separate study.…

Musical experience, auditory perception and reading-related skills in children.

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Banai, Karen; Ahissar, Merav

2013-01-01

The relationships between auditory processing and reading-related skills remain poorly understood despite intensive research. Here we focus on the potential role of musical experience as a confounding factor. Specifically we ask whether the pattern of correlations between auditory and reading related skills differ between children with different amounts of musical experience. Third grade children with various degrees of musical experience were tested on a battery of auditory processing and reading related tasks. Very poor auditory thresholds and poor memory skills were abundant only among children with no musical education. In this population, indices of auditory processing (frequency and interval discrimination thresholds) were significantly correlated with and accounted for up to 13% of the variance in reading related skills. Among children with more than one year of musical training, auditory processing indices were better, yet reading related skills were not correlated with them. A potential interpretation for the reduction in the correlations might be that auditory and reading-related skills improve at different rates as a function of musical training. Participants' previous musical training, which is typically ignored in studies assessing the relations between auditory and reading related skills, should be considered. Very poor auditory and memory skills are rare among children with even a short period of musical training, suggesting musical training could have an impact on both. The lack of correlation in the musically trained population suggests that a short period of musical training does not enhance reading related skills of individuals with within-normal auditory processing skills. Further studies are required to determine whether the associations between musical training, auditory processing and memory are indeed causal or whether children with poor auditory and memory skills are less likely to study music and if so, why this is the case.

Musical experience, auditory perception and reading-related skills in children.

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Karen Banai

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The relationships between auditory processing and reading-related skills remain poorly understood despite intensive research. Here we focus on the potential role of musical experience as a confounding factor. Specifically we ask whether the pattern of correlations between auditory and reading related skills differ between children with different amounts of musical experience. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Third grade children with various degrees of musical experience were tested on a battery of auditory processing and reading related tasks. Very poor auditory thresholds and poor memory skills were abundant only among children with no musical education. In this population, indices of auditory processing (frequency and interval discrimination thresholds were significantly correlated with and accounted for up to 13% of the variance in reading related skills. Among children with more than one year of musical training, auditory processing indices were better, yet reading related skills were not correlated with them. A potential interpretation for the reduction in the correlations might be that auditory and reading-related skills improve at different rates as a function of musical training. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Participants' previous musical training, which is typically ignored in studies assessing the relations between auditory and reading related skills, should be considered. Very poor auditory and memory skills are rare among children with even a short period of musical training, suggesting musical training could have an impact on both. The lack of correlation in the musically trained population suggests that a short period of musical training does not enhance reading related skills of individuals with within-normal auditory processing skills. Further studies are required to determine whether the associations between musical training, auditory processing and memory are indeed causal or whether children with poor auditory and

Characterizing preservice Teacherʼs responses to literacy: Read alouds a way to experience the joy for reading

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Judith Castellanos

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This article reports on a small-scale project which central purpose was to incorporate read-alouds in a pre-intermediate English as a foreign language class of preservice teachers during three weeks. Students responded orally and in a written way on their journals to these readings showing understanding of the texts, relating their personal experiences and / or making connections to them. The project involved students of the undergraduate program in English teaching at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá. In all, 19 students were involved in the project. Data collection sources for this project include studentsʼ journals, after the fact notes on studentsʼ oral interactions and a group interview. Among the findings observed in this inquiry project include the intertextual connections (Short, 1993 students make across the texts read in class with their personal experiences. Most studentsʼ oral responses were characterized by code-switching; in general most students code switched depending on the difficulty of the answer. Students benefited from the reading-alouds in terms of opportunities to interact among themselves, practice their oral and written skills, and enjoy the pleasures of reading, thus building ground to a positive experience that may be emulated in their future teaching exercise. Finally, I discuss some implications of read-alouds with preservice teachers and teacher education programs in Colombia.

Reading in a Digital Age

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Baron, Naomi S.

2017-01-01

The many advantages of reading digitally also bring with them implications for how we learn differently when we read differently. The author suggests that new contemporary technologies are changing the very notion of what it means to read. Even millennials acknowledge that their attention is more focused when they read print rather than online.…

Black deaf individuals' reading skills: influence of ASL, culture, family characteristics, reading experience, and education.

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Myers, Candace; Clark, M Diane; Musyoka, Millicent M; Anderson, Melissa L; Gilbert, Gizelle L; Agyen, Selina; Hauser, Peter C

2010-01-01

Previous research on the reading abilities of Deaf individuals from various cultural groups suggests that Black Deaf and Hispanic Deaf individuals lag behind their White Deaf peers. The present study compared the reading skills of Black Deaf and White Deaf individuals, investigating the influence of American Sign Language (ASL), culture, family characteristics, reading experience, and education. (The descriptor Black is used throughout the present article, as Black Deaf individuals prefer this term to African American. For purposes of parallel construction, the term White is used instead of European American.) It was found that Black Deaf study participants scored lower on measures of both reading and ASL. These findings provide implications for possible interventions at the primary, secondary, and college levels of education.

Effect of Piracetam on Dyslexic's Reading Ability.

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Wilsher, C.; And Others

1985-01-01

Forty-six dyslexic boys (aged eight to 13) were administered Piracetam or placebo in a double-blind, parallel experiment. Although, overall, there were no significant group effects, the within-subject design revealed improvements in reading speed and accuracy in Piracetam Ss. Dyslexics with higher reading ages improved significantly compared to…

Effects of nitrogen application rate and leaf age on the distribution pattern of leaf SPAD readings in the rice canopy.

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Hu Yang

Full Text Available A Soil-Plant Analysis Development (SPAD chlorophyll meter can be used as a simple tool for evaluating N concentration of the leaf and investigating the combined effects of nitrogen rate and leaf age on N distribution. We conducted experiments in a paddy field over two consecutive years (2008-2009 using rice plants treated with six different N application levels. N distribution pattern was determined by SPAD readings based on the temporal dynamics of N concentrations in individual leaves. At 62 days after transplantation (DAT in 2008 and DAT 60 in 2009, leaf SPAD readings increased from the upper to lower in the rice canopy that received N levels of 150 to 375 kg ha(-1The differences in SPAD readings between the upper and lower leaf were larger under higher N application rates. However, as plants grew, this atypical distribution of SPAD readings in canopy leaf quickly reversed to the general order. In addition, temporal dynamics of the leaf SPAD readings (N concentrations were fitted to a piecewise function. In our model, changes in leaf SPAD readings were divided into three stages: growth, functioning, and senescence periods. The leaf growth period lasted approximately 6 days, and cumulative growing days were not affected by N application rates. The leaf functioning period was represented with a relatively stable SPAD reading related to N application rate, and cumulative growing days were extended with increasing N application rates. A quadratic equation was utilized to describe the relationship between SPAD readings and leaf age during the leaf senescence period. The rate of decrease in SPAD readings increased with the age of leaves, but the rate was slowed by N application. As leaves in the lower canopy were physiologically older than leaves in the upper canopy, the rate of decrease in SPAD readings was faster in the lower leaves.

Leitura de acolhimento: uma experiência de devir consciente Receptive reading: an experience of becoming aware

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Maria do Carmo Carvalho Cabral

2009-01-01

Full Text Available O trabalho discute os efeitos de uma experiência de leitura silenciosa e solitária, de textos literários, sobre o leitor. Parte da noção de cognição ampliada, conforme comparece na abordagem da enação de Varela, e do conceito de cognição inventiva de Kastrup, e propõe a leitura como uma experiência de devir consciente. Recorre ainda às idéias de Chartier, sobre as práticas de leitura e de Larrosa quanto ao caráter transformador da leitura. Desenvolve a noção de que a leitura de literatura propicia um encontro consigo e com a alteridade, podendo propiciar uma abertura para o desconhecido e para a invenção de si.This work discusses the experience of reading literature in silence and solitude, focusing its effects on the reader. The starting point is the enlargement of cognition as presented in Varela's enactive approach and the concept of inventive cognition as formulated by Kastrup. Then, it proposes the reading as an experience of becoming aware. The work is also based on Chartier's ideas about reading practices and uses the theory of Larrosa regarding the transformative aspect of reading as well. The idea that reading literature provides a meeting with otherness is developed. It may constitute an opening for the unknown and an opportunity of inventing oneself.

Long-Term Experience with Chinese Language Shapes the Fusiform Asymmetry of English Reading

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Mei, Leilei; Xue, Gui; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Chen, Chuansheng; Wei, Miao; He, Qinghua; Dong, Qi

2015-01-01

Previous studies have suggested differential engagement of the bilateral fusiform gyrus in the processing of Chinese and English. The present study tested the possibility that long-term experience with Chinese language affects the fusiform laterality of English reading by comparing three samples: Chinese speakers, English speakers with Chinese experience, and English speakers without Chinese experience. We found that, when reading words in their respective native language, Chinese and English speakers without Chinese experience differed in functional laterality of the posterior fusiform region (right laterality for Chinese speakers, but left laterality for English speakers). More importantly, compared with English speakers without Chinese experience, English speakers with Chinese experience showed more recruitment of the right posterior fusiform cortex for English words and pseudowords, which is similar to how Chinese speakers processed Chinese. These results suggest that long-term experience with Chinese shapes the fusiform laterality of English reading and have important implications for our understanding of the cross-language influences in terms of neural organization and of the functions of different fusiform subregions in reading. PMID:25598049

The Role of Visual-Spatial Abilities in Dyslexia: Age Differences in Children's Reading?

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Giovagnoli, Giulia; Vicari, Stefano; Tomassetti, Serena; Menghini, Deny

2016-01-01

Reading is a highly complex process in which integrative neurocognitive functions are required. Visual-spatial abilities play a pivotal role because of the multi-faceted visual sensory processing involved in reading. Several studies show that children with developmental dyslexia (DD) fail to develop effective visual strategies and that some reading difficulties are linked to visual-spatial deficits. However, the relationship between visual-spatial skills and reading abilities is still a controversial issue. Crucially, the role that age plays has not been investigated in depth in this population, and it is still not clear if visual-spatial abilities differ across educational stages in DD. The aim of the present study was to investigate visual-spatial abilities in children with DD and in age-matched normal readers (NR) according to different educational stages: in children attending primary school and in children and adolescents attending secondary school. Moreover, in order to verify whether visual-spatial measures could predict reading performance, a regression analysis has been performed in younger and older children. The results showed that younger children with DD performed significantly worse than NR in a mental rotation task, a more-local visual-spatial task, a more-global visual-perceptual task and a visual-motor integration task. However, older children with DD showed deficits in the more-global visual-perceptual task, in a mental rotation task and in a visual attention task. In younger children, the regression analysis documented that reading abilities are predicted by the visual-motor integration task, while in older children only the more-global visual-perceptual task predicted reading performances. Present findings showed that visual-spatial deficits in children with DD were age-dependent and that visual-spatial abilities engaged in reading varied across different educational stages. In order to better understand their potential role in affecting reading

Learners with Dyslexia: Exploring Their Experiences with Different Online Reading Affordances

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Chen, Chwen Jen; Keong, Melissa Wei Yin; Teh, Chee Siong; Chuah, Kee Man

2015-01-01

To date, empirically derived guidelines for designing accessible online learning environments for learners with dyslexia are still scarce. This study aims to explore the learning experience of learners with dyslexia when reading passages using different online reading affordances to derive some guidelines for dyslexia-friendly online text. The…

Exploring the Relationship between Adolescent's Reading Skills, Reading Motivation and Reading Habits

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McGeown, Sarah P.; Duncan, Lynne G.; Griffiths, Yvonne M.; Stothard, Sue E.

2015-01-01

The present study examines the extent to which adolescents' reading affect (reading motivation) and behaviour (reading habits) predict different components of reading (word reading, comprehension, summarisation and text reading speed) and also adds to the limited research examining group differences (gender, age, ability) in adolescents' reading…

Reading in the Digital Age: Using Electronic Books as a Teaching Tool for Beginning Readers

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Ciampa, Katia

2012-01-01

Beginning readers' motivation to read and the texts they choose to read impact on their literacy achievement and willingness to engage with reading activities in the primary years of schooling. This study investigated the eBook reading experiences of eight grade 1 students. Eight students were given ten 25-minute sessions with the software…

Technology tools to support reading in the digital age.

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Biancarosa, Gina; Griffiths, Gina G

2012-01-01

Advances in digital technologies are dramatically altering the texts and tools available to teachers and students. These technological advances have created excitement among many for their potential to be used as instructional tools for literacy education. Yet with the promise of these advances come issues that can exacerbate the literacy challenges identified in the other articles in this issue. In this article Gina Biancarosa and Gina Griffiths characterize how literacy demands have changed in the digital age and how challenges identified in other articles in the issue intersect with these new demands. Rather than seeing technology as something to be fit into an already crowded education agenda, Biancarosa and Griffiths argue that technology can be conceptualized as affording tools that teachers can deploy in their quest to create young readers who possess the higher levels of literacy skills and background knowledge demanded by today's information-based society. Biancarosa and Griffiths draw on research to highlight some of the ways technology has been used to build the skills and knowledge needed both by children who are learning to read and by those who have progressed to reading to learn. In their review of the research, Biancarosa and Griffiths focus on the hardware and software used to display and interface with digital text, or what they term e-reading technology. Drawing on studies of e-reading technology and computer technology more broadly, they also reflect on the very real, practical challenges to optimal use of e-reading technology. The authors conclude by presenting four recommendations to help schools and school systems meet some of the challenges that come with investing in e-reading technology: use only technologies that support Universal Design for Learning; choose evidence-based tools; provide technology users with systemic supports; and capitalize on the data capacities and volume of information that technology provides.

Foetal growth restriction is associated with poor reading and spelling skills at eight years to 10 years of age.

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Partanen, Lea; Korkalainen, Noora; Mäkikallio, Kaarin; Olsén, Päivi; Laukkanen-Nevala, Päivi; Yliherva, Anneli

2018-01-01

Foetal growth restriction (FGR) is associated with communication problems, which might lead to poor literacy skills. The reading and spelling skills of eight- to 10-year-old FGR children born at 24-40 gestational weeks were compared with those of their gestational age-matched, appropriately grown (AGA) peers. A prospectively collected cohort of 37 FGR and 31 AGA children was recruited prenatally at a Finnish tertiary care centre during 1998-2001. The children's reading and spelling skills were assessed using standardised tests for Finnish-speaking second and third graders. Significantly more children performed below the 10th percentile normal values for reading and spelling skills in the FGR group than in the AGA group. At nine years of age, the FGR children had significantly poorer performance in word reading skills and reading fluency, reading accuracy and reading comprehension than the AGA controls. No between-group differences were detected at eight years of age. FGR is associated with poor performance in reading and spelling skills. A third of the FGR children performed below the 10th percentile normal values at nine years of age. These results indicate a need to continuously evaluate linguistic and literacy skills as FGR children age to ensure optimal support. ©2017 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effect of Reading Ability and Internet Experience on Keyword-Based Image Search

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Lei, Pei-Lan; Lin, Sunny S. J.; Sun, Chuen-Tsai

2013-01-01

Image searches are now crucial for obtaining information, constructing knowledge, and building successful educational outcomes. We investigated how reading ability and Internet experience influence keyword-based image search behaviors and performance. We categorized 58 junior-high-school students into four groups of high/low reading ability and…

"I Don't Know What It Is to Be Able to Read": How Students with Dyslexia Experience Their Reading Impairment

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Wennas Brante, Eva

2013-01-01

Better understanding of the diverse reading abilities of people with dyslexia is necessary for the design of more effective learning situations, which are vital both to students with dyslexia and to their teachers. Seven individuals with dyslexia currently or formerly in higher education were interviewed about their reading experiences to learn…

Reading comprehension of ambiguous sentences by school-age children with autism spectrum disorder.

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Davidson, Meghan M; Ellis Weismer, Susan

2017-12-01

Weak central coherence (processing details over gist), poor oral language abilities, poor suppression, semantic interference, and poor comprehension monitoring have all been implicated to affect reading comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study viewed the contributions of different supporting skills as a collective set of skills necessary for context integration-a multi-component view-to examine individual differences in reading comprehension in school-age children (8-14 years) with ASD (n = 23) and typically developing control peers (n = 23). Participants completed a written ambiguous sentence comprehension task in which participants had to integrate context to determine the correct homonym meaning via picture selection. Both comprehension products (i.e., offline representations after reading) and processes (i.e., online processing during reading) were evaluated. Results indicated that children with ASD, similar to their TD peers, integrated the context to access the correct homonym meanings while reading. However, after reading the sentences, when participants were asked to select the meanings, both groups experienced semantic interference between the two meanings. This semantic interference hindered the children with ASD's sentence representation to a greater degree than their peers. Individual differences in age/development, word recognition, vocabulary breadth (i.e., number of words in the lexicon), and vocabulary depth (i.e., knowledge of the homonym meanings) contributed to sentence comprehension in both children with ASD and their peers. Together, this evidence supports a multi-component view, and that helping children with ASD develop vocabulary depth may have cascading effects on their reading comprehension. Autism Res 2017, 10: 2002-2022. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Like their peers, children with ASD were able to integrate context, or link words while reading

Contextual knowledge reduces demands on working memory during reading.

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Miller, Lisa M Soederberg; Cohen, Jason A; Wingfield, Arthur

2006-09-01

An experiment is reported in which young, middle-aged, and older adults read and recalled ambiguous texts either with or without the topic title that supplied contextual knowledge. Within each of the age groups, the participants were divided into those with high or low working memory (WM) spans, with available WM capacity further manipulated by the presence or absence of an auditory target detection task concurrent with the reading task. Differences in reading efficiency (reading time per proposition recalled) between low WM span and high WM span groups were greater among readers who had access to contextual knowledge relative to those who did not, suggesting that contextual knowledge reduces demands on WM capacity. This position was further supported by the finding that increased age and attentional demands, two factors associated with reduced WM capacity, exaggerated the benefits of contextual knowledge on reading efficiency. The relative strengths of additional potential predictors of reading efficiency (e.g., interest, effort, and memory beliefs), along with knowledge, WM span, and age, are reported. Findings showed that contextual knowledge was the strongest predictor of reading efficiency even after controlling for the effects of all of the other predictors.

The effects of context on processing words during sentence reading among adults varying in age and literacy skill.

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Steen-Baker, Allison A; Ng, Shukhan; Payne, Brennan R; Anderson, Carolyn J; Federmeier, Kara D; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2017-08-01

The facilitation of word processing by sentence context reflects the interaction between the build-up of message-level semantics and lexical processing. Yet, little is known about how this effect varies through adulthood as a function of reading skill. In this study, Participants 18-64 years old with a range of literacy competence read simple sentences as their eye movements were monitored. We manipulated the predictability of a sentence-final target word, operationalized as cloze probability. First fixation durations showed an interaction between age and literacy skill, decreasing with age among more skilled readers but increasing among less skilled readers. This pattern suggests that age-related slowing may impact reading when not buffered by skill, but with continued practice, automatization of reading can continue to develop in adulthood. In absolute terms, readers were sensitive to predictability, regardless of age or literacy, in both early and later measures. Older readers showed differential contextual sensitivity in regression patterns, effects not moderated by literacy skill. Finally, comprehension performance increased with age and literacy skill, but performance among less skilled readers was especially reduced when predictability was low, suggesting that low-literacy adults (regardless of age) struggle when creating mental representations under weaker semantic constraints. Collectively, these findings suggest that aging readers (regardless of reading skill) are more sensitive to context for meaning-integration processes; that less skilled adult readers (regardless of age) depend more on a constrained semantic representation for comprehension; and that the capacity for literacy engagement enables continued development of efficient lexical processing in adult reading development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Intelligence test at preschool-age predicts reading difficulty among school-aged very low birth weight infants in Japan.

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Takeuchi, Akihito; Ogino, Tatsuya; Koeda, Tatsuya; Oka, Makio; Yorifuji, Takashi; Takayanagi, Toshimitsu; Sato, Kazuo; Sugino, Noriko; Bonno, Motoki; Nakamura, Makoto; Kageyama, Misao

2018-05-21

To elucidate whether the results of an intelligence test at preschool age are predictive of reading difficulty (RD) at school age among very low birth weight infants (VLBWI). Subjects were 48 Japanese children whose birth weight was Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) during the last grade of kindergarten, and four reading tasks during the second to fourth grade of elementary school. All participants had a full-scale intelligence quotient score of 85 or higher. Subjects with a standard deviation reading time score greater than 2.0 in two or more tasks were considered to have RD. We evaluated the associations between each WISC-III score and RD using logistic regression analyses. Furthermore, we performed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to determine a cutoff WISC-III score predictive of RD. In the mutually-adjusted model, the adjusted odds ratio per 1 score increase of freedom from distractibility (FD) was 0.832 (95% confidence interval: 0.720-0.962). In the ROC analysis, an FD score of memory and attention, is a risk factor for RD at school age among Japanese VLBWI. Further investigation is desired to clarify the cognitive deficits underlying RD in Japanese-speaking preterm children, and to establish appropriate interventions for these children. Copyright © 2018 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Ventral Visual Stream Reading Center Independent of Sensory Modality and Visual Experience

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Lior Reich

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The Visual Word Form Area (VWFA is a ventral-temporal-visual area that develops expertise for visual reading. It encodes letter-strings irrespective of case, font, or location in the visual-field, with striking anatomical reproducibility across individuals. In the blind, reading can be achieved using Braille, with a comparable level-of-expertise to that of sighted readers. We investigated which area plays the role of the VWFA in the blind. One would expect it to be at either parietal or bilateral occipital cortex, reflecting the tactile nature of the task and crossmodal plasticity, respectively. However, according to the notion that brain areas are task specific rather than sensory-modality specific, we predicted recruitment of the left-hemispheric VWFA, identically to the sighted and independent of visual experience. Using fMRI we showed that activation during Braille reading in congenitally blind individuals peaked in the VWFA, with striking anatomical consistency within and between blind and sighted. The VWFA was reading-selective when contrasted to high-level language and low-level sensory controls. Further preliminary results show that the VWFA is selectively activated also when people learn to read in a new language or using a different modality. Thus, the VWFA is a mutlisensory area specialized for reading regardless of visual experience.

Open Oncology Notes: A Qualitative Study of Oncology Patients' Experiences Reading Their Cancer Care Notes.

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Kayastha, Neha; Pollak, Kathryn I; LeBlanc, Thomas W

2018-04-01

Electronic medical records increasingly allow patients access to clinician notes. Although most believe that open notes benefits patients, some suggest negative consequences. Little is known about the experiences of patients with cancer reading their medical notes; thus we aimed to describe this qualitatively. We interviewed 20 adults with metastatic or incurable cancer receiving cancer treatment. The semistructured qualitative interviews included four segments: assessing their overall experience reading notes, discussing how notes affected their cancer care experiences, reading a real note with the interviewer, and making suggestions for improvement. We used a constant comparison approach to analyze these qualitative data. We found four themes. Patients reported that notes resulted in the following: (1) increased comprehension; (2) ameliorated uncertainty, relieved anxiety, and facilitated control; (3) increased trust; and (4) for a subset of patients, increased anxiety. Patients described increased comprehension because notes refreshed their memory and clarified their understanding of visits. This helped mitigate the unfamiliarity of cancer, addressing uncertainty and relieving anxiety. Notes facilitated control, empowering patients to ask clinicians more questions. The transparency of notes also increased trust in clinicians. For a subset of patients, however, notes were emotionally difficult to read and raised concerns. Patients identified medical jargon and repetition in notes as areas for improvement. Most patients thought that reading notes improved their care experiences. A small subset of patients experienced increased distress. As reading notes becomes a routine part of the patient experience, physicians might want to elicit and address concerns that arise from notes, thereby further engaging patients in their care.

Does a single session of reading literary fiction prime enhanced mentalising performance? Four replication experiments of Kidd and Castano (2013).

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Samur, Dalya; Tops, Mattie; Koole, Sander L

2018-02-01

Prior experiments indicated that reading literary fiction improves mentalising performance relative to reading popular fiction, non-fiction, or not reading. However, the experiments had relatively small sample sizes and hence low statistical power. To address this limitation, the present authors conducted four high-powered replication experiments (combined N = 1006) testing the causal impact of reading literary fiction on mentalising. Relative to the original research, the present experiments used the same literary texts in the reading manipulation; the same mentalising task; and the same kind of participant samples. Moreover, one experiment was pre-registered as a direct replication. In none of the experiments did reading literary fiction have any effect on mentalising relative to control conditions. The results replicate earlier findings that familiarity with fiction is positively correlated with mentalising. Taken together, the present findings call into question whether a single session of reading fiction leads to immediate improvements in mentalising.

Early literacy experiences constrain L1 and L2 reading procedures

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Adeetee eBhide

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Computational models of reading posit that there are two pathways to word recognition, using sublexical phonology or morphological/orthographic information. They further theorize that everyone uses both pathways to some extent, but the division of labor between the pathways can vary. This review argues that the first language one was taught to read, and the instructional method by which one was taught, can have profound and long-lasting effects on how one reads, not only in one’s first language, but also in one’s second language. Readers who first learn a transparent orthography rely more heavily on the sublexical phonology pathway, and this seems relatively impervious to instruction. Readers who first learn a more opaque orthography rely more on morphological/orthographic information, but the degree to which they do so can be modulated by instructional method. Finally, readers who first learned to read a highly opaque morphosyllabic orthography use less sublexical phonology while reading in their second language than do other second language learners and this effect may be heightened if they were not also exposed to an orthography that codes for phonological units during early literacy acquisition. These effects of early literacy experiences on reading procedure are persistent despite increases in reading ability.

Augmented Reality Game-Based Learning: Enriching Students' Experience during Reading Comprehension Activities

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Tobar-Muñoz, Hendrys; Baldiris, Silvia; Fabregat, Ramon

2017-01-01

Program for International Student Assessment results indicate that while reading comprehension needs to be promoted, teachers are struggling to find ways to motivate students to do reading comprehension activities and although technology-enhanced learning approaches are entering the classroom, researchers are still experimenting with them to…

Growth curve analyses of the relationship between early maternal age and children's mathematics and reading performance.

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Torres, D Diego

2015-03-01

Regarding the methods used to examine the early maternal age-child academic outcomes relationship, the extant literature has tended to examine change using statistical analyses that fail to appreciate that individuals vary in their rates of growth. Of the one study I have been able to find that employs a true growth model to estimate this relationship, the authors only controlled for characteristics of the maternal household after family formation; confounding background factors of mothers that might select them into early childbearing, a possible source of bias, were ignored. The authors' findings nonetheless suggested an inverse relationship between early maternal age, i.e., a first birth between the ages of 13 and 17, and Canadian adolescents' mean math performance at age 10. Early maternal age was not related to the linear slope of age. To elucidate whether the early maternal age-child academic outcomes association, treated in a growth context, is consistent with this finding, the present study built on it using US data and explored children's mathematics and reading trajectories from age 5 on. Its unique contribution is that it further explicitly controlled for maternal background factors and employed a three-level growth model with repeated measures of children nested within their mothers. Though the strength of the relationship varied between mean initial academic performance and mean academic growth, results confirmed that early maternal age was negatively related to children's mathematics and reading achievement, net of post-teen first birth child-specific and maternal household factors. Once maternal background factors were included, there was no statistically significant relationship between early maternal age and either children's mean initial mathematics and reading scores or their mean mathematics and reading growth. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Working Memory Components at 6 Years of Age as Predictors of Reading Achievements a Year Later

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Nevo, Einat; Breznitz, Zvia

2011-01-01

The ability of working memory skills (measured by tasks assessing all four working memory components), IQ, language, phonological awareness, literacy, rapid naming, and speed of processing at 6 years of age, before reading was taught, to predict reading abilities (decoding, reading comprehension, and reading time) a year later was examined in 97…

Eye movements and the perceptual span during first- and second-language sentence reading in bilingual older adults.

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Whitford, Veronica; Titone, Debra

2016-02-01

This study addressed a central yet previously unexplored issue in the psychological science of aging, namely, whether the advantages of healthy aging (e.g., greater lifelong experience with language) or disadvantages (e.g., decreases in cognitive and sensory processing) drive L1 and L2 reading performance in bilingual older adults. To this end, we used a gaze-contingent moving window paradigm to examine both global aspects of reading fluency (e.g., reading rates, number of regressions) and the perceptual span (i.e., allocation of visual attention into the parafovea) in bilingual older adults during L1 and L2 sentence reading, as a function of individual differences in current L2 experience. Across the L1 and L2, older adults exhibited reduced reading fluency (e.g., slower reading rates, more regressions), but a similar perceptual span compared with matched younger adults. Also similar to matched younger adults, older adults' reading fluency was lower for L2 reading than for L1 reading as a function of current L2 experience. Specifically, greater current L2 experience increased L2 reading fluency, but decreased L1 reading fluency (for global reading measures only). Taken together, the dissociation between intact perceptual span and impaired global reading measures suggests that older adults may prioritize parafoveal processing despite age-related encoding difficulties. Consistent with this interpretation, post hoc analyses revealed that older adults with higher versus lower executive control were more likely to adopt this strategy. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Reading with filtered fixations: adult age differences in the effectiveness of low-level properties of text within central vision.

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Jordan, Timothy R; McGowan, Victoria A; Paterson, Kevin B

2014-06-01

When reading, low-level visual properties of text are acquired from central vision during brief fixational pauses, but the effectiveness of these properties may differ in older age. To investigate, a filtering technique displayed the low, medium, or high spatial frequencies of text falling within central vision as young (18-28 years) and older (65+ years) adults read. Reading times for normal text did not differ across age groups, but striking differences in the effectiveness of spatial frequencies were observed. Consequently, even when young and older adults read equally well, the effectiveness of spatial frequencies in central vision differs markedly in older age. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The Relation of Age and Reading Ability to Memory Processing.

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Marrach, Alexa; Fireman, Gary

This study examined the relation of reading ability, age, and familiarity to iconic and short-term memory processing and how the familiarity of the stimuli affects recall. A total of 10 children in grades 2 through 6 and 10 adults were shown novel abstract forms, words, and non-words varying in order of approximation to English, for 50 msec., 500…

Eye Movements Reveal Readers' Lexical Quality and Reading Experience

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Taylor, Jessica Nelson; Perfetti, Charles A.

2016-01-01

Two experiments demonstrate that individual differences among normal adult readers, including lexical quality, are expressed in silent reading at the word level. In the first of two studies we identified major dimensions of variability among college readers and among words using factor analysis. We then examined the effects of these dimensions of…

Language, reading, and math learning profiles in an epidemiological sample of school age children.

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Archibald, Lisa M D; Oram Cardy, Janis; Joanisse, Marc F; Ansari, Daniel

2013-01-01

Dyscalculia, dyslexia, and specific language impairment (SLI) are relatively specific developmental learning disabilities in math, reading, and oral language, respectively, that occur in the context of average intellectual capacity and adequate environmental opportunities. Past research has been dominated by studies focused on single impairments despite the widespread recognition that overlapping and comorbid deficits are common. The present study took an epidemiological approach to study the learning profiles of a large school age sample in language, reading, and math. Both general learning profiles reflecting good or poor performance across measures and specific learning profiles involving either weak language, weak reading, weak math, or weak math and reading were observed. These latter four profiles characterized 70% of children with some evidence of a learning disability. Low scores in phonological short-term memory characterized clusters with a language-based weakness whereas low or variable phonological awareness was associated with the reading (but not language-based) weaknesses. The low math only group did not show these phonological deficits. These findings may suggest different etiologies for language-based deficits in language, reading, and math, reading-related impairments in reading and math, and isolated math disabilities.

Language, reading, and math learning profiles in an epidemiological sample of school age children.

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Lisa M D Archibald

Full Text Available Dyscalculia, dyslexia, and specific language impairment (SLI are relatively specific developmental learning disabilities in math, reading, and oral language, respectively, that occur in the context of average intellectual capacity and adequate environmental opportunities. Past research has been dominated by studies focused on single impairments despite the widespread recognition that overlapping and comorbid deficits are common. The present study took an epidemiological approach to study the learning profiles of a large school age sample in language, reading, and math. Both general learning profiles reflecting good or poor performance across measures and specific learning profiles involving either weak language, weak reading, weak math, or weak math and reading were observed. These latter four profiles characterized 70% of children with some evidence of a learning disability. Low scores in phonological short-term memory characterized clusters with a language-based weakness whereas low or variable phonological awareness was associated with the reading (but not language-based weaknesses. The low math only group did not show these phonological deficits. These findings may suggest different etiologies for language-based deficits in language, reading, and math, reading-related impairments in reading and math, and isolated math disabilities.

The Optimum Font Size and Type for Students Aged 9-12 Reading Arabic Characters on Screen: A Case Study

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Abubaker, A. A.; Lu, J.

2012-05-01

More and more, interest in the way data is displayed on screen has increased, especially with the increase in the number of people using e-text for learning purposes. So, this requires more focus on factors that affect screen legibility. Text display factors, such as font size, line length and font type, have an impact on reading online. Two font types [Arabic Traditional and Simplified Arabic] in four different sizes [10, 14, 16 and 18] are measured using Arabic text. On-line processes were measured using reading-aloud technique. Accuracy of reading was also measured by the average of errors that students made when reading the text, while reading speed was tested by the time it took students to read the text. However, results indicated that Arabic text in font size 10 is not readable to students aged 10 to 12. On the other hand, font sizes sixteen and eighteen are more readable than any smaller-sized font, the averages of error size 18 improve in all font types, while age has a significant impact on reading speed. Simplified Arabic font is reported as readable to students aged 10-12, especially in sizes 14 and 18.

Reading comprehension in Parkinson's disease.

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Murray, Laura L; Rutledge, Stefanie

2014-05-01

Although individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) self-report reading problems and experience difficulties in cognitive-linguistic functions that support discourse-level reading, prior research has primarily focused on sentence-level processing and auditory comprehension. Accordingly, the authors investigated the presence and nature of reading comprehension in PD, hypothesizing that (a) individuals with PD would display impaired accuracy and/or speed on reading comprehension tests and (b) reading performances would be correlated with cognitive test results. Eleven adults with PD and 9 age- and education-matched control participants completed tests that evaluated reading comprehension; general language and cognitive abilities; and aspects of attention, memory, and executive functioning. The PD group obtained significantly lower scores on several, but not all, reading comprehension, language, and cognitive measures. Memory, language, and disease severity were significantly correlated with reading comprehension for the PD group. Individuals in the early stages of PD without dementia or broad cognitive deficits can display reading comprehension difficulties, particularly for high- versus basic-level reading tasks. These reading difficulties are most closely related to memory, high-level language, and PD symptom severity status. The findings warrant additional research to delineate further the types and nature of reading comprehension impairments experienced by individuals with PD.

Reading for 11-13-Year-Old Students in the Digital Age: New Zealand Case Studies

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Fletcher, Jo; Nicholas, Karen

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT In New Zealand schools, the focus continues to be on improving the reading achievement of all students situated across a range of socio-economic groups. This is particularly so for our young adolescent students, where research investigations have indicated some concerning trends which influence reading development for this age group. This…

The effects of age on processing and storage in working memory span tasks and reading comprehension.

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Schroeder, Paul J

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Declines in verbal working memory span task performance have been associated with deficits in the language processing abilities of healthy older adults, but it is unclear how storage and processing contribute to this relationship. Moreover, recent studies of the psychometric properties of span measures in the general cognitive literature highlight the need for a critical reassessment of age-related differences in working memory task performance. Forty-two young (Mage = 19.45 years) and 42 older participants (Mage = 73.00 years) completed a series of neuropsychological screening measures, four memory span tasks (one-syllable word span, three-syllable word span, reading span, and sentence span), and a measure of reading comprehension. Each span measure was completed under self-paced and timed encoding conditions. A 2 (age) × 2 (task type) × 2 (encoding conditions) mixed-model design was used. (1) Age effects were reliable for both simple and complex span task performance; (2) limiting the available encoding time yielded lower recall scores across tasks and exacerbated age differences in simple span performance; and (3) both encoding condition and age affected the relationship between each of the span measures and the relationship between span and reading comprehension. Declines in both storage and processing abilities contributed to age differences in span task performance and the relationship between span and reading comprehension. Although older people appear to benefit from task administration protocols that promote successful memory encoding, researchers should be aware of the potential risks to validity posed by such accommodations.

"One Glove Does Not Fit All" in Bilingual Reading Acquisition: Using the Age of First Bilingual Language Exposure to Understand Optimal Contexts for Reading Success

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Kovelman, Ioulia; Salah-Ud-Din, Maha; Berens, Melody S.; Petitto, Laura-Ann

2015-01-01

In teaching reading, educators strive to find the balance between a code-emphasis approach and a meaning-oriented literacy approach. However, little is known about how different approaches to literacy can benefit bilingual children's early reading acquisition. To investigate the novel hypothesis that children's age of first bilingual exposure can…

E-Books and Audiobooks: Extending the Digital Reading Experience

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Larson, Lotta C.

2015-01-01

This article examines how sixth-grade students navigated and perceived a combined e-book and audiobook reading experience using Kindle Fires. While audiobooks and e-books are not new, little is known about students' use and perceptions of the combination of these two media, as the ability to synchronize audio contents with digital texts is rather…

[Language and behavioral difficulties at age 3 and half and reading delay in grade 2].

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Watier, L; Dellatolas, G; Chevrie-Muller, C

2006-09-01

Early detection of specific language impairment and dyslexia in children is an important public health problem. Longitudinal studies are needed for the distinction of real impairments from simple transitory delays. Teachers filled a 29-item questionnaire on language and behavior for 695 children aged 3.5 years. Four years later (at second grade of primary school) the same children were evaluated for reading and writing. Statistical analysis focused on the relationships between teacher's early observations and reading delay 4 years later. Associated factors were age, sex, educational level and bilinguism of the parents, and area of the school. The delay in written language acquisition (8.5% of the children) was significantly associated with low educational level (but not bilinguism) of the parents and to the area of the school. In univariate analysis, most of the teacher's early negative assessments were significantly related to reading/writing delay, with the exception of some behavioral problems. However, when the effect of associated factors was taken into account only a few items, mainly concerning language expression, remained significantly associated with later reading/writing delay. These data show a major role of associated factors (educational level of the parents, area of the school) in reading delay, and help to select specific teacher's observations for an early prediction of this delay.

A research on comprehension differences between print and screen reading

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Szu-Yuan Sun

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Since the 1980s, extensive research has been conducted comparing reading comprehension from printed text and computer screens. The conclusions, however, are not very consistent. As reading from computer screens requires a certain degree of individual technical skill, such variables should be objectively taken into consideration when conducting an experiment regarding the comparison between print and screen reading. This study analyses the difference in the level of understanding of the two presentational formats (text on printed pages and hypertext on computer screens for people between 45-54 years of age (i.e. “middleaged” adults. In our experimental findings there were no significant differences between the levels of comprehension for print and screen presentations. With regard to individual differences in gender, age group and educational level, the findings are as follows: gender and education effects on print reading comprehension performance were significant, while those on screen reading comprehension performance were not. For middle-aged computer learners, the main effect of age group on both print and screen reading comprehension performance was insignificant. In contrast, linear texts of traditional paper-based material are better for middle-aged readers’ literal text comprehension, while hypertext is beneficial to their inferential text comprehension. It is also suggested that hypermedia could be used as a cognitive tool for improving middle-aged adults’ inferential abilities on reading comprehension, provided that they were trained adequately to use available computers.

Exploring EFL Students’ Reading Comprehension Process through Their Life Experiences and the Sight Word Strategy

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Jennifer Camargo

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Due to the role language and literature play in the construction of social, economic and cultural systems, reading comprehension has become a growing challenge. This study examined how the relationship between English as a foreign language reading comprehension and life experiences while using the Sight Word Strategy could prove significant. Fifth graders at a public school in Bogotá participated in this study. Data were collected using tape recordings, field notes, archival data and students’ reflections. Analysis indicated that comprehension and construction of meaning were generated by sharing life experiences and through the interaction produced in each one of the Sight Word Strategy stages. The study suggested further research into a more encompassing definition of reading comprehension and life experiences correlation as an appropriate goal for English as a foreign language.

Using Informal Articles in Extensive Reading (ER Program: A Personal Experience

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Chothibul Umam

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this digital age, informal articles which contain some valuable informations and extensive input to develop the learners’ language proficiency are easily found on internet or other reading sources. Unfortunately most literature shows that informal articles are not widely used in extensive reading (henceforth ER program. For this reason, the paper introduces steps procedure in using informal articles as authentic material in one semester ER program for Indonesian EFL college learners. The procedure is developed on the basis of my great interest in creating innovative way in teaching ER at one of the State Institute for Islamic Studies in Indonesia. The proposed steps are expected to be an alternative pathway in teaching ER for English teachers particularly at a college-university level. Keywords: Extensive Reading, informal article.Copyright © 2015 by Al-Ta'lim All right reserved

Representations of the Racialized Experiences of African Americans in Developmental Reading Textbooks

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Williams, Jeanine L.

2013-01-01

Race plays a major role in the lived experiences of African Americans. Consequently, race significantly impacts the identities and educational experiences of African American college students--many of whom require developmental reading courses. These courses, which are gateway courses in higher education, should address race along with reading…

Slowing in reading and picture naming: the effects of aging and developmental dyslexia.

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De Luca, Maria; Marinelli, Chiara Valeria; Spinelli, Donatella; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi

2017-10-01

We examined the slowing in vocal reaction times shown by dyslexic (compared to control) children with that of older (compared to younger) adults using an approach focusing on the detection of global, non-task-specific components. To address this aim, data were analyzed with reference to the difference engine (DEM) and rate and amount (RAM) models. In Experiment 1, typically developing children, children with dyslexia (both attending sixth grade), younger adults and older adults read words and non-words and named pictures. In Experiment 2, word and picture conditions were presented to dyslexic and control children attending eighth grade. In both experiments, dyslexic children were delayed in reading conditions, while they were unimpaired in naming pictures (a finding which indicates spared access to the phonological lexicon). The reading difficulty was well accounted for by a single multiplicative factor while only the residual effect of length (but not frequency and lexicality) was present after controlling for over-additivity using a linear mixed effects model with random slopes on critical variables. Older adults were slower than younger adults across reading and naming conditions. This deficit was well described by a single multiplicative factor. Thus, while slowing of information processing is limited to orthographic stimuli in dyslexic children, it cuts across verbal tasks in older adults. Overall, speed differences in groups such as dyslexic children and older adults can be effectively described with reference to deficits in domains encompassing a variety of experimental conditions rather than deficits in single specific task/conditions. The DEM and RAM prove effective in teasing out global vs. specific components of performance.

Do reading additions improve reading in pre-presbyopes with low vision?

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Alabdulkader, Balsam; Leat, Susan

2012-09-01

This study compared three different methods of determining a reading addition and the possible improvement on reading performance in children and young adults with low vision. Twenty-eight participants with low vision, aged 8 to 32 years, took part in the study. Reading additions were determined with (a) a modified Nott dynamic retinoscopy, (b) a subjective method, and (c) an age-based formula. Reading performance was assessed with MNREAD-style reading charts at 12.5 cm, with and without each reading addition in random order. Outcome measures were reading speed, critical print size, MNREAD threshold, and the area under the reading speed curve. For the whole group, there was no significant improvement in reading performance with any of the additions. When participants with normal accommodation at 12.5 cm were excluded, the area under the reading speed curve was significantly greater with all reading additions compared with no addition (p = 0.031, 0.028, and 0.028, respectively). Also, the reading acuity threshold was significantly better with all reading additions compared with no addition (p = 0.014, 0.030, and 0.036, respectively). Distance and near visual acuity, age, and contrast sensitivity did not predict improvement with a reading addition. All, but one, of the participants who showed a significant improvement in reading with an addition had reduced accommodation. A reading addition may improve reading performance for young people with low vision and should be considered as part of a low vision assessment, particularly when accommodation is reduced.

Age of Bilingual Exposure Is Related to the Contribution of Phonological and Semantic Knowledge to Successful Reading Development

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Jasinska, Kaja K.; Petitto, Laura-Ann

2018-01-01

Bilingual children's reading as a function of age of first bilingual language exposure (AoE) was examined. Bilingual (varied AoE) and monolingual children (N = 421) were compared in their English language and reading abilities (6-10 years) using phonological awareness, semantic knowledge, and reading tasks. Structural equation modeling was applied…

Influence of reading habits on cerebral plasticity for discourse comprehension in aging

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Charles-Olivier Martin

2012-12-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2012n63p101   The goal of this study was to evaluate the influence of reading habits on cerebral plasticity in the performance of a discourse comprehension task in aging. The main hypothesis was that participants with higher frequency and quality of reading habits should exhibit reduced brain activity because the task should be easier for them. two groups of native French speakers, 16 young adults and 16 elderly adults, participated in a task using the nirS (near-infrared spectroscopy technique. They read short stories and answered true or false probes after each one. They also completed a questionnaire about their previous reading habits. The results show that the more experienced readers had higher activation in the superior left region of the prefrontal cortex while they were reading the stories but lower activation in the same region when they were retrieving the information to answer the probe. Thus, more effort is required to acquire and maintain the information needed to answer, and this effort makes it easier to give the answer. These results reinforce the hypothesis that brain plasticity is promoted by cognitive activities throughout the lifespan.

Resting state functional connectivity of the anterior striatum and prefrontal cortex predicts reading performance in school-age children.

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Alcauter, Sarael; García-Mondragón, Liliana; Gracia-Tabuenca, Zeus; Moreno, Martha B; Ortiz, Juan J; Barrios, Fernando A

2017-11-01

The current study investigated the neural basis of reading performance in 60 school-age Spanish-speaking children, aged 6 to 9years. By using a data-driven approach and an automated matching procedure, we identified a left-lateralized resting state network that included typical language regions (Wernicke's and Broca's regions), prefrontal cortex, pre- and post-central gyri, superior and middle temporal gyri, cerebellum, and subcortical regions, and explored its relevance for reading performance (accuracy, comprehension and speed). Functional connectivity of the left frontal and temporal cortices and subcortical regions predicted reading speed. These results extend previous findings on the relationship between functional connectivity and reading competence in children, providing new evidence about such relationships in previously unexplored regions in the resting brain, including the left caudate, putamen and thalamus. This work highlights the relevance of a broad network, functionally synchronized in the resting state, for the acquisition and perfecting of reading abilities in young children. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the Apple iPad as a low-vision reading aid.

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Morrice, E; Johnson, A P; Marinier, J-A; Wittich, W

2017-06-01

PurposeLow-vision clients frequently report having problems with reading. Using magnification, reading performance (as measured by reading speed) can be improved by up to 200%. Current magnification aids can be expensive or bulky; therefore, we explored if the Apple iPad offers comparable performance in improving reading speeds, in comparison with a closed-circuit television (CCTV) video magnifier, or other magnification devices.MethodsWe recruited 100 participants between the ages of 24-97 years, with low vision who were literate and cognitively capable, of whom 57 had age-related macular degeneration. To assess reading, participants read standardized iReST texts and were tested for comprehension. We compared reading speed on the Apple iPad (10 inch) with that of the CCTV, home magnification devices, and baseline measures.ResultsAll assistive devices improved reading rates in comparison to baseline (P1), however, there was no difference in improvement across devices (P>0.05, Hedge's gread, on average, 30 words per minute faster than first time iPad users, whereas CCTV experience did not influence reading speed.ConclusionsIn our sample, the Apple iPad was as effective as currently used technologies for improving reading rates. Moreover, exposure to, and experience with the Apple iPad might increase reading speed with that device. A larger sample size, however, is needed to do subgroup analysis on who would optimally benefit from each type of magnification device.

Drifting through Basic Subprocesses of Reading: A Hierarchical Diffusion Model Analysis of Age Effects on Visual Word Recognition.

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Froehlich, Eva; Liebig, Johanna; Ziegler, Johannes C; Braun, Mario; Lindenberger, Ulman; Heekeren, Hauke R; Jacobs, Arthur M

2016-01-01

Reading is one of the most popular leisure activities and it is routinely performed by most individuals even in old age. Successful reading enables older people to master and actively participate in everyday life and maintain functional independence. Yet, reading comprises a multitude of subprocesses and it is undoubtedly one of the most complex accomplishments of the human brain. Not surprisingly, findings of age-related effects on word recognition and reading have been partly contradictory and are often confined to only one of four central reading subprocesses, i.e., sublexical, orthographic, phonological and lexico-semantic processing. The aim of the present study was therefore to systematically investigate the impact of age on each of these subprocesses. A total of 1,807 participants (young, N = 384; old, N = 1,423) performed four decision tasks specifically designed to tap one of the subprocesses. To account for the behavioral heterogeneity in older adults, this subsample was split into high and low performing readers. Data were analyzed using a hierarchical diffusion modeling approach, which provides more information than standard response time/accuracy analyses. Taking into account incorrect and correct response times, their distributions and accuracy data, hierarchical diffusion modeling allowed us to differentiate between age-related changes in decision threshold, non-decision time and the speed of information uptake. We observed longer non-decision times for older adults and a more conservative decision threshold. More importantly, high-performing older readers outperformed younger adults at the speed of information uptake in orthographic and lexico-semantic processing, whereas a general age-disadvantage was observed at the sublexical and phonological levels. Low-performing older readers were slowest in information uptake in all four subprocesses. Discussing these results in terms of computational models of word recognition, we propose age

Role-play experience facilitates reading the mind of individuals with different perception.

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Fumikazu Furumi

Full Text Available The present study examined effects of role-play experience on reading the mind of people with different perception. It is normally difficult but very important in daily life to understand people with different characteristics, including those with restricted color vision. We explored the mechanisms of reading the mind of people with different perception. Forty university students were introduced to a communication task in which the use of mindreading was essential. During each trial, participants viewed a shelf, presented on a laptop computer, which contained several familiar objects, and they were instructed to touch an object on the shelf following an instruction issued by a partner who stood at the opposite side of the shelf. There were two partners: one was a monkey with normal color vision and the other was a dog with restricted color vision. The monkey could see all the objects in the same colors as the participants, whereas the dog saw some objects in different colors (e.g., he saw as yellow objects that the participants saw as red. Participants were required to respond according to the partner's instruction. In the restricted color vision condition, the dog saw the colors of objects differently; thus, participants had to work out his intentions (i.e., mind read, according to his different perspective. In the normal color vision condition, all objects were in the same colors as those seen by the monkey. Before the test phase, the role-play group had a role-play experience in which participants assumed the role of people with restricted color vision. No-role-play participants made significantly more errors in the restricted color vision condition than in the normal color vision condition, whereas among role-play participants, there was no difference between conditions. These results suggest that role-play experience facilitates reading the mind of people with perceptual experiences different from our own.

The Relationship of Korean Students' Age and Years of English-as-a-Foreign-Language Exposure with English-Reading Ability: A Cross-Age Study

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Fitzgerald, Jill; Stenner, A. Jackson; Sanford-Moore, Eleanor E.; Koons, Heather; Bowen, Kimberly; Kim, Kee Hyung

2015-01-01

The purpose of the present cross-age study with South Korean students was to investigate the relationship of age and years of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) exposure with English-reading ability. The main research question was, "Do individuals' age and number of years of English exposure interact in relation to English-reading…

The struggling reader: Identifying and addressing reading problems successfully at an early stage

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Le Cordeur, Michael

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The standard of reading of learners in the intermediate phase is cause for considerable concern. In this article, the intermediate phase refers to grades 4, 5 and 6 (roughly ages 10 – 12. According to the 2008 Evaluation Assessment Tests for Reading, only 15% of learners in Grade 6 achieved the required literacy level. Clearly, reading achievement is a problem in South Africa. Although approximately 4% of any given population experience neurological reading problems, the focus of this article is on the significant number of learners in the intermediate phase who experience reading problems and the generic causes of reading problems for learners in general. The intent is to alert teachers and parents to the characteristics of a struggling reader so that the problem can be identified and addressed early. Firstly, ways in which learning problems are manifested are described. Secondly, a discussion of various types of reading problems, of which four, namely poor reading comprehension, inadequate reading fluency, a lack of vocabulary and a negative attitude towards reading, are discussed in depth. Strategies for struggling readers are presented and recommendations are made. The conclusion is that learners who experience reading problems can learn to read successfully when given the necessary support.

Cognitive-Linguistic Functioning and Learning to Read in Preschoolers

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Goldstein, David M.

1976-01-01

The major results partially confirm the hypothesis of a reciprocal relationship between the experience of learning to read and the cognitive-linguistic skills which undergo development between the ages of five and seven. (RC)

Orthographic Structure and Reading Experience Affect the Transfer from Iconic to Short Term Memory

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Lefton, Lester A.; Spragins, Anne B.

1974-01-01

The basic hypothesis of these experiments was that the processing strategy for the transfer of alphabetic material from iconic storage to short-term memory involves a sequential left-to-right factor that develops with increases in experience with reading. (Author)

Assessment of working memory components at 6years of age as predictors of reading achievements a year later.

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Nevo, Einat; Breznitz, Zvia

2011-05-01

The ability of working memory skills (measured by tasks assessing all four working memory components), IQ, language, phonological awareness, literacy, rapid naming, and speed of processing at 6years of age, before reading was taught, to predict reading abilities (decoding, reading comprehension, and reading time) a year later was examined in 97 children. Among all working memory components, phonological complex memory contributed most to predicting all three reading abilities. A capacity measure of phonological complex memory, based on passing a minimum threshold in those tasks, contributed to the explained variance of decoding and reading comprehension. Findings suggest that a minimal ability of phonological complex memory is necessary for children to attain a normal reading level. Adding assessment of phonological complex memory, before formal teaching of reading begins, to more common measures might better estimate children's likelihood of future academic success. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reading, writing, and phonological processing skills of adolescents with 10 or more years of cochlear implant experience.

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Geers, Ann E; Hayes, Heather

2011-02-01

This study had three goals: (1) to document the literacy skills of deaf adolescents who received cochlear implants (CIs) as preschoolers; (2) to examine reading growth from elementary grades to high school; (3) to assess the contribution of early literacy levels and phonological processing skills, among other factors, to literacy levels in high school. A battery of reading, spelling, expository writing, and phonological processing assessments were administered to 112 high school (CI-HS) students, ages 15.5 to 18.5 yrs, who had participated in a reading assessment battery in early elementary grades (CI-E), ages 8.0 to 9.9 yrs. The CI-HS students' performance was compared with either a control group of hearing peers (N = 46) or hearing norms provided by the assessment developer. Many of the CI-HS students (47 to 66%) performed within or above the average range for hearing peers on reading tests. When compared with their CI-E performance, good early readers were also good readers in high school. Importantly, the majority of CI-HS students maintained their reading levels over time compared with hearing peers, indicating that the gap in performance was, at the very least, not widening for most students. Written expression and phonological processing tasks posed a great deal of difficulty for the CI-HS students. They were poorer spellers, poorer expository writers, and displayed poorer phonological knowledge than hearing age-mates. Phonological processing skills were a critical predictor of high school literacy skills (reading, spelling, and expository writing), accounting for 39% of variance remaining after controlling for child, family, and implant characteristics. Many children who receive CIs as preschoolers achieve age-appropriate literacy levels as adolescents. However, significant delays in spelling and written expression are evident compared with hearing peers. For children with CIs, the development of phonological processing skills is not just important for

Working memory, short-term memory and reading proficiency in school-age children with cochlear implants.

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Bharadwaj, Sneha V; Maricle, Denise; Green, Laura; Allman, Tamby

2015-10-01

The objective of the study was to examine short-term memory and working memory through both visual and auditory tasks in school-age children with cochlear implants. The relationship between the performance on these cognitive skills and reading as well as language outcomes were examined in these children. Ten children between the ages of 7 and 11 years with early-onset bilateral severe-profound hearing loss participated in the study. Auditory and visual short-term memory, auditory and visual working memory subtests and verbal knowledge measures were assessed using the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV Integrated and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children II. Reading outcomes were assessed using the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test III. Performance on visual short-term memory and visual working memory measures in children with cochlear implants was within the average range when compared to the normative mean. However, auditory short-term memory and auditory working memory measures were below average when compared to the normative mean. Performance was also below average on all verbal knowledge measures. Regarding reading outcomes, children with cochlear implants scored below average for listening and passage comprehension tasks and these measures were positively correlated to visual short-term memory, visual working memory and auditory short-term memory. Performance on auditory working memory subtests was not related to reading or language outcomes. The children with cochlear implants in this study demonstrated better performance in visual (spatial) working memory and short-term memory skills than in auditory working memory and auditory short-term memory skills. Significant positive relationships were found between visual working memory and reading outcomes. The results of the study provide support for the idea that WM capacity is modality specific in children with hearing loss. Based on these

Drifting through basic subprocesses of reading: A hierarchical diffusion model analysis of age effects on visual word recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Froehlich

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Reading is one of the most popular leisure activities and it is routinely performed by most individuals even in old age. Successful reading enables older people to master and actively participate in everyday life and maintain functional independence. Yet, reading comprises a multitude of subprocesses and it is undoubtedly one of the most complex accomplishments of the human brain. Not surprisingly, findings of age-related effects on word recognition and reading have been partly contradictory and are often confined to only one of four central reading subprocesses, i.e., sublexical, orthographic, phonological and lexico-semantic processing. The aim of the present study was therefore to systematically investigate the impact of age on each of these subprocesses. A total of 1,807 participants (young, N = 384; old, N = 1,423 performed four decision tasks specifically designed to tap one of the subprocesses. To account for the behavioral heterogeneity in older adults, this subsample was split into high and low performing readers. Data were analyzed using a hierarchical diffusion modelling approach which provides more information than standard response times/accuracy analyses. Taking into account incorrect and correct response times, their distributions and accuracy data, hierarchical diffusion modelling allowed us to differentiate between age-related changes in decision threshold, non-decision time and the speed of information uptake. We observed longer non-decision times for older adults and a more conservative decision threshold. More importantly, high-performing older readers outperformed younger adults at the speed of information uptake in orthographic and lexico-semantic processing whereas a general age-disadvantage was observed at the sublexical and phonological levels. Low-performing older readers were slowest in information uptake in all four subprocesses. Discussing these results in terms of computational models of word recognition, we propose

Iowa City Reads! The Reading Event Worth Shouting About.

Science.gov (United States)

Donham van Deusen, Jean; Langhorne, Mary Jo

1997-01-01

Describes the Community Reading Month (CRM) initiative in Iowa City, Iowa; its goals are to promote the value of reading and to build a sense of community. Topics include the development of CRM, increased reading scores of Iowa City's elementary school students, activities for people of all ages, and planning and evaluation. (AEF)

Sensing the News: User Experiences when Reading Locative News

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Kjetil Vaage Øie

2012-02-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on user experiences on reading location-aware news on the mobile platform and aims to explore what experiences this kind of locative journalism generates and how such experiences change the users’ social interaction with news. We produced a specially designed mobile application and tailored news stories specific to this project called LocaNews in order to explore participants’ relation to the content in this journalistic format. The result is generated through a field study and a questionnaire of 32 people to find out how they experience the news presented in this format. The user participants’ responses are analyzed based on their news experiences, contextualizing places and their social interaction with the news within this form of journalism. Results showed that the local, semi-local and non-local user approaches the locative news in a different manner, but that the average user found this kind of news more interesting and more informative than ordinary news. The participants also have a problem identifying this as journalism, rather than an information service.

Reading up on sex: Learning to read. Why sex matters, and whether physical fitness and activity are relevant in reading acquisition

OpenAIRE

Tunstad, Hege Jørgensen

2013-01-01

When you read this thesis, you rely on a skill you acquired as a child. Most children start at the age of 5-6 years to learn single letters, write their name, and gradually develop the functional skill of decoding strings of letters; in other words, reading. By the age of 10 they are expected to read texts with concentration, endurance, fluency and coherence. The success rate varies, and Norwegian children score slightly above average when reading skills are measured globally, and are better ...

Book reading styles in dual-parent and single-mother families.

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Blake, Joanna; Macdonald, Silvana; Bayrami, Lisa; Agosta, Vanessa; Milian, Andrea

2006-09-01

Whereas many studies have investigated quantitative aspects of book reading (frequency), few have examined qualitative aspects, especially in very young children and through direct observations of shared reading. The purpose of this study was to determine possible differences in book-reading styles between mothers and fathers and between mothers from single- and dual-parent families. It also related types of parental verbalizations during book reading to children's reported language measures. Dual-parent (29) and single-parent (24) families were observed in shared book reading with their toddlers (15-month-olds) or young preschoolers (27-month-olds). Parent-child dyads were videotaped while book reading. The initiator of each book-reading episode was coded. Parents' verbalizations were exhaustively coded into 10 categories. Mothers completed the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory, and the children were given the Bayley scales. All parents differentiated their verbalizations according to the age rather than the gender of the child, but single mothers imitated female children more than males. Few differences in verbalizations were found between mothers and fathers or between mothers from single- and dual-parent families. Fathers allowed younger children to initiate book-reading episodes more than mothers. For both age groups of children, combined across families, verbalizations that related the book to the child's experience were correlated with reported language measures. Questions and imitations were related to language measures for the older age group. The important types of parental verbalizations during shared book reading for children's language acquisition are relating, questions and imitations.

Preparing beginning reading teachers: An experimental comparison of initial early literacy field experiences.

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Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Lake, Vickie E; Greulich, Luana; Folsom, Jessica S; Guidry, Lisa

2012-01-01

This randomized-control trial examined the learning of preservice teachers taking an initial Early Literacy course in an early childhood education program and of the kindergarten or first grade students they tutored in their field experience. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to one of two tutoring programs: Book Buddies and Tutor Assisted Intensive Learning Strategies (TAILS), which provided identical meaning-focused instruction (shared book reading), but differed in the presentation of code-focused skills. TAILS used explicit, scripted lessons, and the Book Buddies required that code-focused instruction take place during shared book reading. Our research goal was to understand which tutoring program would be most effective in improving knowledge about reading, lead to broad and deep language and preparedness of the novice preservice teachers, and yield the most successful student reading outcomes. Findings indicate that all pre-service teachers demonstrated similar gains in knowledge, but preservice teachers in the TAILS program demonstrated broader and deeper application of knowledge and higher self-ratings of preparedness to teach reading. Students in both conditions made similar comprehension gains, but students tutored with TAILS showed significantly stronger decoding gains.

The AP Calculus Exam Reading Experience: Implications for Teacher Classroom Practice and Student Comprehension

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Corcoran, Mimi

2017-01-01

This dissertation explores the views and experiences of high school calculus teachers and college mathematics professors on the professional development which occurs at the annual national AP Calculus exam grading. This professional development experience comes in several forms: the exam briefing sessions, the actual reading of the exams, the…

How old are you—Evaluation of age reading methods for the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus, Pallas 1814)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Florin, Ann-Britt; Hüssy, Karin; Blass, M.

2018-01-01

for an increasing knowledge of their basic stock structures such as growth rates, longevity and mortality, which all rely on accurate estimates of age. Former studies on the round goby have used several different age reading techniques. In this study, we compared three standard otolith preparation methods...... agreement was lowest when reading the whole otoliths while the best performance was achieved with sectioned and stained preparation method. Depending on method used the growth estimates also differed. The results question comparability between previous studies and highlight the importance of harmonised...

ELL High School Students' Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Use and Reading Proficiency

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Hong-Nam, Kay

2014-01-01

This study investigated the metacognitive awareness and reading strategies use of high school-­aged English language learners (ELLs) and the relationship between ELL reading strategy use and reading proficiency as measured by a standardized reading test and self-­rated reading proficiency. Results reveal that participants reported moderate use of…

Age Differences in Mystical Experience.

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Levin, Jeffrey S.

1993-01-01

Examined age differences in mystical experiences. According to 1988 General Social Survey (n=1,481) mystical experiences were somewhat more common in 1988 than in 1973, and deja vu, clairvoyance, and composite mysticism scores had increased with successively younger age cohorts. Private and subjective religiosity were positively related to overall…

Reading-Related Causal Attributions for Success and Failure: Dynamic Links With Reading Skill.

Science.gov (United States)

Frijters, Jan C; Tsujimoto, Kimberley C; Boada, Richard; Gottwald, Stephanie; Hill, Dina; Jacobson, Lisa A; Lovett, Maureen W; Mahone, E Mark; Willcutt, Erik G; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R

2018-01-01

The present study investigated the relation among reading skills and attributions, naming speed, and phonological awareness across a wide range of reading skill. Participants were 1,105 school-age children and youths from two understudied populations: African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Individual assessments of children ranging in age from 8 to 15 years were conducted for reading outcomes, cognitive and linguistic predictors of reading, and attributions for success and failure in reading situations. Quantile regressions were formulated to estimate these relations across the full skill span of each outcome. Reading-related attributions predicted contextual word recognition, sight word and decoding fluency, and comprehension skills. Attributions to ability in success situations were positively related to each outcome across the full span. On three reading outcomes, this relation strengthened at higher skill levels. Attributions to effort in success situations were consistently and negatively related to all reading outcomes. The results provide evidence that the strength of the relation between reading and attributions varies according to reading skill levels, with the strongest evidence for ability-based attributions in situations of reading success.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension.

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Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)-how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text reading fluency; (3) unique emergent literacy predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, letter name knowledge, vocabulary) of text reading fluency vs. word reading fluency; and (4) unique language and cognitive predictors (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, theory of mind) of text reading fluency vs. reading comprehension. These questions were addressed using longitudinal data (two timepoints; Mean age = 5;24 & 6;08) from Korean-speaking children ( N = 143). Results showed that listening comprehension was related to text reading fluency at time 2, but not at time 1. At both times text reading fluency was related to reading comprehension, and reading comprehension was related to text reading fluency over and above word reading fluency and listening comprehension. Orthographic awareness was related to text reading fluency over and above other emergent literacy skills and word reading fluency. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge were independently related to text reading fluency and reading comprehension whereas theory of mind was related to reading comprehension, but not text reading fluency. These results reveal developmental nature of relations and mechanism of text reading fluency in reading development.

Processing changes across reading encounters.

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Levy, B A; Newell, S; Snyder, J; Timmins, K

1986-10-01

Five experiments examined changes in the processing of a text across reading encounters. Experiment 1 showed that reading speed increased systematically across encounters, with no loss in the extensiveness of analyses of the printed text, as indicated by the ability to detect nonword errors embedded within that passage. Experiment 2 replicated this improved reading fluency with experience and showed that it occurred even with typescript changes across trials, thus indicating that a primed visual operations explanation cannot account for the effect. The third and fourth experiments then extended the study of the familiarity effect to higher level processing, as indicated by the detection of word errors. Familiarity facilitated the detection of these violations at the syntactic-semantic levels. Finally, Experiment 5 showed that these higher level violations continued to be well detected over a series of reading encounters with the same text. The results indicate that prior experience improves reading speed, with no attenuation of analysis of the printed words or of the passage's message.

A survey of visual function in an Austrian population of school-age children with reading and writing difficulties

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McClelland Julie F

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To describe and compare visual function measures of two groups of school age children (6-14 years of age attending a specialist eyecare practice in Austria; one group referred to the practice from educational assessment centres diagnosed with reading and writing difficulties and the other, a clinical age-matched control group. Methods Retrospective clinical data from one group of subjects with reading difficulties (n = 825 and a clinical control group of subjects (n = 328 were examined. Statistical analysis was performed to determine whether any differences existed between visual function measures from each group (refractive error, visual acuity, binocular status, accommodative function and reading speed and accuracy. Results Statistical analysis using one way ANOVA demonstrated no differences between the two groups in terms of refractive error and the size or direction of heterophoria at distance (p > 0.05. Using predominately one way ANOVA and chi-square analyses, those subjects in the referred group were statistically more likely to have poorer distance visual acuity, an exophoric deviation at near, a lower amplitude of accommodation, reduced accommodative facility, reduced vergence facility, a reduced near point of convergence, a lower AC/A ratio and a slower reading speed than those in the clinical control group (p Conclusions This study highlights the high proportions of visual function anomalies in a group of children with reading difficulties in an Austrian population. It confirms the importance of a full assessment of binocular visual status in order to detect and remedy these deficits in order to prevent the visual problems continuing to impact upon educational development.

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

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ENGLISH, LIANNE; BARNES, MARCIA A.; FLETCHER, JACK M.; DENNIS, MAUREEN; RAGHUBAR, KIMBERLY P.

2011-01-01

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. PMID:20338082

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

Science.gov (United States)

English, Lianne; Barnes, Marcia A; Fletcher, Jack M; Dennis, Maureen; Raghubar, Kimberly P

2010-05-01

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.

Rearing a reading habit

OpenAIRE

Sridhar, M. S.

2009-01-01

Discusses the importance and ways of inculcating reading habit in children at the right age, describes the five reading phases in children along with interest and the material to satiate the need, explains how four deterministic factors affect the reading habit of children, enlists motivations that are behind the reading process with tips to improve reading habit of children.

Adaptation of the Wilson Reading System for Braille Readers

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Rowley, Roz; McCarthy, Mary; Rines, Justine Carlone

2014-01-01

Teachers at Perkins School for the Blind have been teaching braille to students of all ages for many years. As part of this experience, the teachers at Perkins have seen many capable students of different ages struggle to learn to read and write braille. In particular, they observed students who were unable to sound out or decode words because of…

Productive Extension of Semantic Memory in School-Aged Children: Relations with Reading Comprehension and Deployment of Cognitive Resources

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Bauer, Patricia J.; Blue, Shala N.; Xu, Aoxiang; Esposito, Alena G.

2016-01-01

We investigated 7- to 10-year-old children's productive extension of semantic memory through self-generation of new factual knowledge derived through integration of separate yet related facts learned through instruction or through reading. In Experiment 1, an experimenter read the to-be-integrated facts. Children successfully learned and…

The Effect of Four Different Approaches to Parent-Child Reading on Young Chinese Children's Reading

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Yang, Feng

2016-01-01

Forty families with four- to five-year-old Chinese children were chosen as experiment participants and equally divided into four groups for an eight-week parent-child reading experiment in different reading modes. (1) Groups A, B, and C read one of three kinds of Chinese-English audio bilingual picture books respectively: touch reading books,…

Masked Speech Recognition and Reading Ability in School-Age Children: Is There a Relationship?

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Miller, Gabrielle; Lewis, Barbara; Benchek, Penelope; Buss, Emily; Calandruccio, Lauren

2018-01-01

Purpose: The relationship between reading (decoding) skills, phonological processing abilities, and masked speech recognition in typically developing children was explored. This experiment was designed to evaluate the relationship between phonological processing and decoding abilities and 2 aspects of masked speech recognition in typically…

Assistive technology as reading interventions for children with reading impairments with a one-year follow-up.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindeblad, Emma; Nilsson, Staffan; Gustafson, Stefan; Svensson, Idor

2017-10-01

This pilot study investigated the possible transfer effect on reading ability in children with reading difficulties after a systematic intervention to train and compensate for reading deficiencies by using applications in smartphones and tablets. The effects of using assistive technology (AT) one year after the interventions were completely studied. School related motivation, independent learning and family relations were also considered. 35 pupils aged 10-12 years participated. They were assessed five times with reading tests. The participants, their parents and teachers were surveyed with questionnaires regarding their experience of using AT. The data from the assessments were analyzed with paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed using content analysis. The paper shows that using AT can create transfer effects on reading ability one year after the interventions were finished. This means that reading impaired children may develop at the same rate as non-impaired readers. Also, increased school motivation and an increase in independent learning and family effects have been shown. This paper provides implications in how to facilitate reading impaired pupils' learning process and realizes the need to challenge the concept of reading to change to fit modern means of gaining information. Implications for rehabilitation Children with reading impairment could benefit from assistive technology in regards of their reading development process and increase their chances of not falling behind peers. Assistive technology as applications in smartphones and tablets may aid children with reading impairment to have an equal platform for learning in school as their peers without reading difficulties. Assistive technology could facilitate the information gaining process and subsequently increase motivation to learn and increase interest in reading activities. Assistive technology had wider effects on its users: stigmatizing

Mind Wandering and Reading Comprehension: Examining the Roles of Working Memory Capacity, Interest, Motivation, and Topic Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Unsworth, Nash; McMillan, Brittany D.

2013-01-01

Individual differences in mind wandering and reading comprehension were examined in the current study. In particular, individual differences in mind wandering, working memory capacity, interest in the current topic, motivation to do well on the task, and topic experience and their relations with reading comprehension were examined in the current…

Children’s E-books are Born: How E-books for Children are Leading E-book Development and Redefining the Reading Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathleen Schreurs

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Children’s e-books waited to emerge until technology could support their advanced requirements. Recent technologies such as colour e-readers and tablets like Apple’s iPad provide support for heavy visual content and opportunities for interactivity. E-books for children have grown in availability and popularity and now include puzzles, games, music, video, and audio features that boost narratives and create a unique reading experience that is further from print than ever before. This article positions e-books for children as leaders in e-book development. It reviews concepts, practices, and scholarship in the area of e-books for children and highlights issues with definitions and research caused by the rapid growth of enhanced and interactive e-books. There is little argument among scholars and practitioners that the reading experience is changing, and the new generation of readers may have different opinions, assumptions, and preferences for the meanings of ‘book’ and ‘reading’. Managing these shifts in the reading experience, which is still strongly tied to notions from print culture, is an important role for LIS scholars, librarians, educators, and parents. Recent research on e-books for children focuses largely on literacy and education. Little attention has been paid to if and why children enjoy the e-reading experience. Additionally, the majority of current research examines children’s e-reading from an adult perspective with most surveys and interviews consulting parent participants and not children. An examination of relevant research as well as literature on the history and conceptualization of e-books and reading as an evolving experience reveals that, from new technologies to new experiences and new definitions, e-books for children are pushing toward the future of reading.

L2 Reading in Thailand: Vocational College Students' Application of Reading Strategies to Their Reading of English Texts

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Kasemsap, Bharani; Lee, Hugo Yu-Hsiu

2015-01-01

This study aims to explore the application of reading strategies to the reading of English texts by Thai vocational college students. Data were collected via questionnaire surveys, think-aloud experiments and semi-structured interviews. The research results reveal different typologies of reading strategies adopted by lower and higher level English…

Reading for Pleasure in Paradise: Paired Reading in Antigua and Barbuda

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Warrington, Molly J.; George, Patricia

2014-01-01

Reading for pleasure is essential in the development of literacy. This paper reports on findings from a paired reading strategy introduced into primary schools in Antigua and Barbuda in order to foster children's pleasure in reading. This programme of cross-age peer tutoring intervention began with the training of teachers in a small group of…

Understanding Children's Reading Activities: Reading Motivation, Skill and Child Characteristics as Predictors

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McGeown, Sarah P.; Osborne, Cara; Warhurst, Amy; Norgate, Roger; Duncan, Lynne G.

2016-01-01

This study examined the extent to which a range of child characteristics (sex, age, socioeconomic status, reading skill and intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation) predicted engagement (i.e., time spent) in different reading activities (fiction books, factual books, school textbooks, comics, magazines and digital texts). In total, 791 children…

Reading Disabilities and PASS Reading Enhancement Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Mahapatra, Shamita

2016-01-01

Children experience difficulties in reading either because they fail to decode the words and thus are unable to comprehend the text or simply fail to comprehend the text even if they are able to decode the words and read them out. Failure in word decoding results from a failure in phonological coding of written information, whereas reading…

The Role of Online Reader Experience in Explaining Students' Performance in Digital Reading

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Gil-Flores, Javier; Torres-Gordillo, Juan-Jesus; Perera-Rodriguez, Victor-Hugo

2012-01-01

This study explores the relationship between students' extracurricular experiences online and their performance on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), focusing specifically on students' competence in digital reading. The study uses a descriptive, correlational, ex post facto design. The data are taken from Spanish students'…

Change of the reading paradigm in the age of e-book

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Vita Mozuraite

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Since the very end of the 20th century one can notice the rapid change of the reading paradigm. What meaning can one find in the question “do you read?” This change was influenced by development of ICT, information flood in the electronic space, growing popularity of WWW and possibility to receive information in different ways at the same time. The first mentioned factor affected even the physiology of reading, and children today read in slightly different way in comparison to adults who were introduced to computers in their adulthood. Availability of texts published on the internet raises a question, what kind of relation is between process of reading on the internet and browsing the internet. Could we say that reading a vook is the same thing as reading a book? The third factor – offering information in a few different ways – changes the speed of reading and perception of information. How all those factors can affect not only publishing and reading of books, but also the change of reading paradigm in the nearest future? This paper discusses some of these questions.

Teaching a Student to Read through a Screen: Using SKYPE to Facilitate a Field Experience

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Gunther, Jeanne

2016-01-01

The Distance Clinical Connecting Candidates and Children (DC4) is an innovative new model for providing a clinical experience in a reading methods course. Pre-service teachers used this model to implement assessments and lessons via SKYPE with local elementary students. I designed this model to provide a clinical experience when faced with…

Reminiscence spike in reading recall between the ages of 8–11: The influence of early memories on attitudes and actions

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Margaret Freestone

2016-12-01

Full Text Available An investigation into the recalled reading of 31 environmental educators has uncovered a potential link between early reading and pro-environmental attitudes. The recalled books are not only from the recognised “reminiscence bump” of adolescence and early adulthood, but there also appears to be a spike in recall of books within the 8–11-year reading age group. This 8–11-year age group, also known as middle childhood is recognised within other disciplines as being an influential or significant time for learning. The discovery of these earlier memories from stories and their ongoing influence highlights the potential of incidental learning and pre-adolescent attitude formation.

Operating experience insights supporting ageing assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nitoi, M.

2013-01-01

Be effective in ageing management means looking at the right aspects, with the right techniques, and one of the most effective tool which could be used for that purpose is the analysis of operating experience. The paper has as objective to perform a review of available operating experience, with the aim to provide a better picture about the impact of ageing effects. The IAEA International Reporting System and NRC Licensee Event Reports were chosen as reference databases, both databases being internationally recognized as important sources of information about events occurrences in the nuclear power plants. The ageing related events identified in the selected time window were analyzed in detail, and the contributions of each major degradation mechanisms that have induced the ageing related events (specific to each defined group of components) was represented and discussed. The paper demonstrates the possibility to use operating experience insights in highlighting the ageing effects. (authors)

Reading in the dark: neural correlates and cross-modal plasticity for learning to read entire words without visual experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Sigalov, Nadine; Maidenbaum, Shachar; Amedi, Amir

2016-03-01

Cognitive neuroscience has long attempted to determine the ways in which cortical selectivity develops, and the impact of nature vs. nurture on it. Congenital blindness (CB) offers a unique opportunity to test this question as the brains of blind individuals develop without visual experience. Here we approach this question through the reading network. Several areas in the visual cortex have been implicated as part of the reading network, and one of the main ones among them is the VWFA, which is selective to the form of letters and words. But what happens in the CB brain? On the one hand, it has been shown that cross-modal plasticity leads to the recruitment of occipital areas, including the VWFA, for linguistic tasks. On the other hand, we have recently demonstrated VWFA activity for letters in contrast to other visual categories when the information is provided via other senses such as touch or audition. Which of these tasks is more dominant? By which mechanism does the CB brain process reading? Using fMRI and visual-to-auditory sensory substitution which transfers the topographical features of the letters we compare reading with semantic and scrambled conditions in a group of CB. We found activation in early auditory and visual cortices during the early processing phase (letter), while the later phase (word) showed VWFA and bilateral dorsal-intraparietal activations for words. This further supports the notion that many visual regions in general, even early visual areas, also maintain a predilection for task processing even when the modality is variable and in spite of putative lifelong linguistic cross-modal plasticity. Furthermore, we find that the VWFA is recruited preferentially for letter and word form, while it was not recruited, and even exhibited deactivation, for an immediately subsequent semantic task suggesting that despite only short sensory substitution experience orthographic task processing can dominate semantic processing in the VWFA. On a wider

Reading-Related Causal Attributions for Success and Failure: Dynamic Links with Reading Skill

Science.gov (United States)

Frijters, Jan C.; Tsujimoto, Kimberley C.; Boada, Richard; Gottwald, Stephanie; Hill, Dina; Jacobson, Lisa A.; Lovett, Maureen W.; Mahone, E. Mark; Willcutt, Erik G.; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R.

2018-01-01

The present study investigated the relation among reading skills and attributions, naming speed, and phonological awareness across a wide range of reading skill. Participants were 1,105 school-age children and youths from two understudied populations: African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Individual assessments of children ranging in age from…

Motivational reading on education, meaningful reading realisation

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Adriana Qafa

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this study I will present some ideas on today’s educational practice for motivation, the realization of the meaningful reading. There is a special place for the methodical ranking of the reading process, starting in school. Main requests of this reading, consist of the deep meaning of the subject, exploration of the idea, and other elements of the subject, implementation of the technique’s rules of the expressive reading, such as breathing, voice, diction, intonation, spelling, stoppages, logical emphasizes, emotional expressions, temper, timber, gesticulations, and mimic. There is also highlighted the fact that the used method comes from the pupils’ results and depends on the capability and level of the teacher, from the programming’s scale, the tools that are put into disposition, the age and the level of the pupils, and from the environment that the teacher creates during courses. At the end there are some practical guidelines for the realization of the expressive reading in the literature subject.

Automatic and creative skills in reading Automatic and creative skills in reading

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Leonor Scliar Cabral

2008-04-01

Full Text Available In this article I will discuss the automatic and creative skills in reading, focusing on the differences between 1 processes involved while learning how to read and processes employed by the proficient reader and 2 knowledge for using language and metalinguistic awareness. The arguments will derive mainly from the definition of reading as a process where the receivers combine the information extracted from the written material with their specialized knowledge activated during this process (i.e. linguistic systems and correspondent rules and enciclopedic knowledge in order to comprehend, interpret and internalize structured new information and/or to experience aesthetic pleasure. Evidence to illustrate the arguments comes from experiments (1 with pre-school children and beginning readers on narrativity and on the dichotic paradigm, and with illiterate and literate adults with diferent levels of proficiency of reading in a task of erasing an initial syllable and an initial consonant. In this article I will discuss the automatic and creative skills in reading, focusing on the differences between 1 processes involved while learning how to read and processes employed by the proficient reader and 2 knowledge for using language and metalinguistic awareness. The arguments will derive mainly from the definition of reading as a process where the receivers combine the information extracted from the written material with their specialized knowledge activated during this process (i.e. linguistic systems and correspondent rules and enciclopedic knowledge in order to comprehend, interpret and internalize structured new information and/or to experience aesthetic pleasure. Evidence to illustrate the arguments comes from experiments (1 with pre-school children and beginning readers on narrativity and on the dichotic paradigm, and with illiterate and literate adults with diferent levels of proficiency of reading in a task of erasing an initial syllable

Trajectories of Reading Development: A Follow-up from Birth to School Age of Children with and without Risk for Dyslexia

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Lyytinen, Heikki; Erskine, Jane; Tolvanen, Asko; Torppa, Minna; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Lyytinen, Paula

2006-01-01

In order to understand why some children are vulnerable to difficulties in their language development and their acquisition of reading skill, the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia followed 200 Finnish children from birth to school age. Half of these children had a family history of reading problems and were considered at risk for dyslexia;…

Unsettling Theology: Sunday school children reading the text of the Bible in the age of recolonisation

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Nico Botha

2016-12-01

Full Text Available During Women’s month in South Africa (August, a group of Sunday school children from the rural congregation of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA, Middelburg- Nasaret, got together to read the narratives of the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus and the healing of the woman suffering from a blood disease. The exercise which appears to be quite innocent is in a sense subversive in its hidden script. In the Reformed tradition, the pulpit as a centre of reading and preaching the Word has become the ‘holy of holiest’ which nobody, leave alone children, except the ordained minister could occupy. This is of course contrary to the intention of the Reformation to return the Bible to the people and have the people return to the Bible. The reading exercise of this article goes beyond all exegetical and theological presuppositions, unsettling conventional interpretations of Scripture. The children allow their real life experiences in the township of having witnessed, among others, child and women abuse to inform their reading of Mark 5:21–43. In the process they avoid a linear reading of the Bible which is based on the explication-application scheme of matters. Put differently, instead of doing a deductive reading of the portion, i.e. trying to explain or exegete the text clinically and then applying it to their context, they read it inductively, resulting in a hope sharing and hope giving understanding of the rising from the dead of the 12-year-old girl and the healing of the woman with a blood disease. A major spin-off of such reading of the Bible by children is the unlocking of refreshingly new avenues of reading the Bible and interpreting the text.

ICANREAD: The Effects of an Online Reading Program on Grade 1 Students' Engagement and Comprehension Strategy Use

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Ciampa, Katia

2012-01-01

This pilot study explores the impact of online electronic storybooks (e-books) on the reading motivation and listening comprehension of six grade 1 students (aged 7 years) from Ontario, Canada. The researcher measured participants' perceived enjoyment of the online e-book reading experience using standardized listening comprehension tests,…

A Phonologically Based Intervention for School-Age Children with Language Impairment: Implications for Reading Achievement

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Ritter, Michaela J.; Park, Jungjun; Saxon, Terrill F.; Colson, Karen A.

2013-01-01

This study was conducted utilizing a quasi-experimental pre- and postgroup design to examine the effects of a phonologically based intervention aimed to improve phonological awareness (PA) and reading abilities in school-age children with language impairment (LI) in Grades 1 through 3. The intervention included instruction in PA and sound-symbol…

Vision Problems and Reduced Reading Outcomes in Queensland Schoolchildren.

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Hopkins, Shelley; Sampson, Geoff P; Hendicott, Peter L; Wood, Joanne M

2017-03-01

To assess the relationship between vision and reading outcomes in Indigenous and non-Indigenous schoolchildren to determine whether vision problems are associated with lower reading outcomes in these populations. Vision testing and reading assessments were performed on 508 Indigenous and non-Indigenous schoolchildren in Queensland, Australia divided into two age groups: Grades 1 and 2 (6-7 years of age) and Grades 6 and 7 (12-13 years of age). Vision parameters measured included cycloplegic refraction, near point of convergence, heterophoria, fusional vergence range, rapid automatized naming, and visual motor integration. The following vision conditions were then classified based on the vision findings: uncorrected hyperopia, convergence insufficiency, reduced rapid automatized naming, and delayed visual motor integration. Reading accuracy and reading comprehension were measured with the Neale reading test. The effect of uncorrected hyperopia, convergence insufficiency, reduced rapid automatized naming, and delayed visual motor integration on reading accuracy and reading comprehension were investigated with ANCOVAs. The ANCOVAs explained a significant proportion of variance in both reading accuracy and reading comprehension scores in both age groups, with 40% of the variation in reading accuracy and 33% of the variation in reading comprehension explained in the younger age group, and 27% and 10% of the variation in reading accuracy and reading comprehension, respectively, in the older age group. The vision parameters of visual motor integration and rapid automatized naming were significant predictors in all ANCOVAs (P reading results were explained by reduced visual motor integration and rapid automatized naming results. Both reduced rapid automatized naming and visual motor integration were associated with poorer reading outcomes in Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. This is an important finding given the recent emphasis placed on Indigenous children

Authentic learning for teaching reading: Foundation phase pre-service student teachers’ learning experiences of creating and using digital stories in real classrooms

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Trevor Moodley

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Teaching and learning, an evolving endeavour, is associated with many factors, with advancements in technology, playing an ever-growing role in the classroom. It is therefore important to include the use of interactive communication technologies (ICTs in university curricula of teacher education programmes. Universities ought to be creative in advancing autonomous learning among their students by providing opportunities for integrated and rich learning experiences. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to intentionally integrate ICTs in the planning and delivery of foundation phase reading lessons. This was achieved by providing authentic learning opportunities to final year foundation phase student teachers through the provision of training in the creation of digital stories (DS, collaborating within communities of practice (COP (peers and other relevant parties, and then using their creations in ‘real-world’ classroom contexts. The aims of this study were to explore student teachers’ perceptions and experiences of developing DS in groups with minimal formal initial input and their use of DS during foundation phase (FP reading lessons in real-class settings during teaching practice. Data were collected via focus group interviews and participants’ reflection essays. The study’s findings indicate that the creation of their own DS provided rich, rewarding multidimensional learning experiences to student teachers. Participants reported that they found the ‘assignment’ to be of real value, since it was directly linked to classroom practice, and despite the cognitive demands of the assignment; the nature of the task nurtured, an agentic disposition towards their own learning. Participants further reported that the DS provided enthusiasm among young learners during the delivery of lessons and were of pedagogical value, despite experiencing some challenges in using DS during reading lessons. Participants were of the view that the use

The 1-min Screening Test for Reading Problems in College Students: Psychometric Properties of the 1-min TIL.

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Fernandes, Tânia; Araújo, Susana; Sucena, Ana; Reis, Alexandra; Castro, São Luís

2017-02-01

Reading is a central cognitive domain, but little research has been devoted to standardized tests for adults. We, thus, examined the psychometric properties of the 1-min version of Teste de Idade de Leitura (Reading Age Test; 1-min TIL), the Portuguese version of Lobrot L3 test, in three experiments with college students: typical readers in Experiment 1A and B, dyslexic readers and chronological age controls in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1A, test-retest reliability and convergent validity were evaluated in 185 students. Reliability was >.70, and phonological decoding underpinned 1-min TIL. In Experiment 1B, internal consistency was assessed by presenting two 45-s versions of the test to 19 students, and performance in these versions was significantly associated (r = .78). In Experiment 2, construct validity, criterion validity and clinical utility of 1-min TIL were investigated. A multiple regression analysis corroborated construct validity; both phonological decoding and listening comprehension were reliable predictors of 1-min TIL scores. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristics analyses revealed the high accuracy of this test in distinguishing dyslexic from typical readers. Therefore, the 1-min TIL, which assesses reading comprehension and potential reading difficulties in college students, has the necessary psychometric properties to become a useful screening instrument in neuropsychological assessment and research. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Beyond revenue metering -- a new age for automatic meter reading

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chebra, R. J. [RJC Consulting L.L.C., PQ (Canada)

2002-10-01

Advanced metering, data management, and communications possibilities of automated meter reading are explored. Applications in the area of demand side management, including load reduction, peak shaving and load shifting, new tariff structures based on the 'time of use incentive/penalty' approach, and information grade metering are emphasized. Based on trends and expectations, it is predicted that AMR will continue to experience rapid growth and deployment as new services are made available to the mass market. For example, technological advances will enable the industry to make 'time of use metering ' more attractive and beneficial to residential consumers, and embedded intelligence will make it possible to achieve more holistic energy environments.

Brief Report: Investigating Relations Between Self-Concept and Performance in Reading and Math for School-Aged Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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McCauley, James B; Zajic, Matthew C; Oswald, Tasha M; Swain-Lerro, Lindsey E; McIntyre, Nancy C; Harris, Michelle A; Trzesniewski, Kali; Mundy, Peter C; Solomon, Marjorie

2018-05-01

A typically developing student's perceptions of his or her own capabilities (academic self-concept), is predictive of later academic achievement. However, little is known about academic self-concept in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To understand whether students math self-concept and reading self-concept predicted their performance, 44 school-aged children and adolescents with ASD and 36 age-matched individuals with typical development (TYP) rated their perceived math and reading abilities and were administered standardized achievement measures. Results showed self-concept was predictive of performance in math and reading in the TYP group. For youth with ASD, there was agreement between self-concept and performance only in math. These findings suggest that educators should be cautious when interpreting the self-assessments of reading ability in students with ASD.

Reading for Writing: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Reading Interventions on Writing

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Graham, Steve; Liu, Xinghua; Bartlett, Brendan; Ng, Clarence; Harris, Karen R.; Aitken, Angelique; Barkel, Ashley; Kavanaugh, Colin; Talukdar, Joy

2018-01-01

This meta-analysis examined if students' writing performance is improved by reading interventions in studies (k = 54 experiments; 5,018 students) where students were taught how to read and studies (k = 36 investigations; 3,060 students) where students' interaction with words or text was increased through reading or observing others read. Studies…

Psycholinguistic measures for German verb pairs: Semantic transparency, semantic relatedness, verb family size, and age of reading acquisition.

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Smolka, Eva; Eulitz, Carsten

2018-06-18

A central issue in visual and spoken word recognition is the lexical representation of complex words-in particular, whether the lexical representation of complex words depends on semantic transparency: Is a complex verb like understand lexically represented as a whole word or via its base stand, given that its meaning is not transparent from the meanings of its parts? To study this issue, a number of stimulus characteristics are of interest that are not yet available in public databases of German. This article provides semantic association ratings, lexical paraphrases, and vector-based similarity measures for German verbs, measuring (a) the semantic transparency between 1,259 complex verbs and their bases, (b) the semantic relatedness between 1,109 verb pairs with 432 different bases, and (c) the vector-based similarity measures of 846 verb pairs. Additionally, we include the verb regularity of all verbs and two counts of verb family size for 184 base verbs, as well as estimates of age of acquisition and age of reading for 200 verbs. Together with lemma and type frequencies from public lexical databases, all measures can be downloaded along with this article. Statistical analyses indicate that verb family size, morphological complexity, frequency, and verb regularity affect the semantic transparency and relatedness ratings as well as the age of acquisition estimates, indicating that these are relevant variables in psycholinguistic experiments. Although lexical paraphrases, vector-based similarity measures, and semantic association ratings may deliver complementary information, the interrater reliability of the semantic association ratings for each verb pair provides valuable information when selecting stimuli for psycholinguistic experiments.

Aging and experience in the recognition of musical transpositions.

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Halpern, A R; Bartlett, J C; Dowling, W J

1995-09-01

The authors examined the effects of age, musical experience, and characteristics of musical stimuli on a melodic short-term memory task in which participants had to recognize whether a tune was an exact transposition of another tune recently presented. Participants were musicians and nonmusicians between ages 18 and 30 or 60 and 80. In 4 experiments, the authors found that age and experience affected different aspects of the task, with experience becoming more influential when interference was provided during the task. Age and experience interacted only weakly, and neither age nor experience influenced the superiority of tonal over atonal materials. Recognition memory for the sequences did not reflect the same pattern of results as the transposition task. The implications of these results for theories of aging, experience, and music cognition are discussed.

Predicting reading ability in teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing: A longitudinal analysis of language and reading.

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Worsfold, Sarah; Mahon, Merle; Pimperton, Hannah; Stevenson, Jim; Kennedy, Colin

2018-04-13

Deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) children and young people are known to show group-level deficits in spoken language and reading abilities relative to their hearing peers. However, there is little evidence on the longitudinal predictive relationships between language and reading in this population. To determine the extent to which differences in spoken language ability in childhood predict reading ability in D/HH adolescents. and procedures: Participants were drawn from a population-based cohort study and comprised 53 D/HH teenagers, who used spoken language, and a comparison group of 38 normally hearing teenagers. All had completed standardised measures of spoken language (expression and comprehension) and reading (accuracy and comprehension) at 6-10 and 13-19 years of age. and results: Forced entry stepwise regression showed that, after taking reading ability at age 8 years into account, language scores at age 8 years did not add significantly to the prediction of Reading Accuracy z-scores at age 17 years (change in R 2  = 0.01, p = .459) but did make a significant contribution to the prediction of Reading Comprehension z-scores at age 17 years (change in R 2  = 0.17, p skills in middle childhood predict reading comprehension ability in adolescence. Continued intervention to support language development beyond primary school has the potential to benefit reading comprehension and hence educational access for D/HH adolescents. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Comparison of reading speed with 3 different log-scaled reading charts.

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Buari, Noor Halilah; Chen, Ai-Hong; Musa, Nuraini

2014-01-01

A reading chart that resembles real reading conditions is important to evaluate the quality of life in terms of reading performance. The purpose of this study was to compare the reading speed of UiTM Malay related words (UiTM-Mrw) reading chart with MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart. Fifty subjects with normal sight were randomly recruited through randomized sampling in this study (mean age=22.98±1.65 years). Subjects were asked to read three different near charts aloud and as quickly as possible at random sequence. The charts were the UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart, MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart, respectively. The time taken to read each chart was recorded and any errors while reading were noted. Reading performance was quantified in terms of reading speed as words per minute (wpm). The mean reading speed for UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart, MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart was 200±30wpm, 196±28wpm and 194±31wpm, respectively. Comparison of reading speed between UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart and MNread Acuity Chart showed no significant difference (t=-0.73, p=0.72). The same happened with the reading speed between UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart (t=-0.97, p=0.55). Bland and Altman plot showed good agreement between reading speed of UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart with MNread Acuity Chart with the Colenbrander Reading Chart. UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart in Malay language is highly comparable with standardized charts and can be used for evaluating reading speed. Copyright © 2013 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey Scores for Reading Versus Other Near Visual Activities in School-Age Children.

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Clark, Tiana Y; Clark, Robert A

2015-11-01

To measure the difference in Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey scores for reading vs favorite near visual activities. Comparative validity analysis of diagnostic tools. At a single clinical private practice, 100 children aged 9-18 with normal binocular vision were recruited to receive either the original survey emphasizing reading or a modified survey replacing "reading" with their favorite near activity. Average survey scores and subscores for questions emphasizing fatigue, discomfort, impaired vision, and cognitive performance were compared using t tests, while responses to individual questions were compared using Mann-Whitney U tests. The average reading survey score was significantly greater than the favorite near activity survey score (14.1 ± 11.5 vs 6.7 ± 5.8, P = .0001). The largest difference resulted from questions emphasizing cognitive performance (subscore 5.8 ± 4.3 vs 2.0 ± 2.1, P = .0000002), although significant differences were also found for fatigue (5.4 ± 3.8 vs 3.0 ± 2.7, P = .0003), discomfort (3.9 ± 4.6 vs 1.8 ± 2.2, P = .004), and impaired vision (3.2 ± 3.9 vs 1.8 ± 2.2, P = .02). Significant differences were found for 7 survey questions, with higher symptom scores for the reading survey in every case. Using survey scores ≥16 to diagnose convergence insufficiency, significantly more children taking the reading survey would have been diagnosed with convergence insufficiency than children taking the favorite near activity survey (19 of 50 [38%] vs 5 of 50 [10%], P = .001). By emphasizing reading, the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey score significantly overestimates near visual symptoms in children with normal binocular vision compared with symptoms caused by preferred near activities that require similar amplitudes of accommodation and convergence. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Baby Books on Mothers’ Reading Beliefs and Reading Practices

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Auger, Anamarie; Reich, Stephanie M.; Penner, Emily K.

2014-01-01

The impact of a baby book intervention on promoting positive reading beliefs and increasing reading frequency for low-income, new mothers (n = 167) was examined. The Baby Books Project randomly assigned low-income, first-time mothers to one of three study conditions, receiving educational books, non-educational books, or no books, during pregnancy and over the first year of parenthood. Home-based data collection occurred through pregnancy until 18 months post-partum. Mothers who received free baby books had higher beliefs about the importance of reading, the value of having resources to support reading, and the importance of verbal participation during reading. The results showed that providing any type of baby books to mothers positively influenced maternal reading beliefs, but did not increase infant-mother reading practices. Maternal reading beliefs across all three groups were significantly associated with self-reported reading frequency when children were at least 12 months of age. PMID:25264394

How Comics Made Me Love Reading

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Silberkleit, Nancy

2014-01-01

The co-CEO of Archie Comics, a former elementary school art teacher, knows from personal experience that comics should be a tool in a teacher's toolbox. Comics can hook students on the love of reading. The author shares her experience of not enjoying to read, and even struggling with reading, to becoming the co-CEO of Archie Comics, which has…

Working memory and inhibitory control across the life span: Intrusion errors in the Reading Span Test.

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Robert, Christelle; Borella, Erika; Fagot, Delphine; Lecerf, Thierry; de Ribaupierre, Anik

2009-04-01

The aim of this study was to examine to what extent inhibitory control and working memory capacity are related across the life span. Intrusion errors committed by children and younger and older adults were investigated in two versions of the Reading Span Test. In Experiment 1, a mixed Reading Span Test with items of various list lengths was administered. Older adults and children recalled fewer correct words and produced more intrusions than did young adults. Also, age-related differences were found in the type of intrusions committed. In Experiment 2, an adaptive Reading Span Test was administered, in which the list length of items was adapted to each individual's working memory capacity. Age groups differed neither on correct recall nor on the rate of intrusions, but they differed on the type of intrusions. Altogether, these findings indicate that the availability of attentional resources influences the efficiency of inhibition across the life span.

The Effects of Low-Vision Rehabilitation on Reading Speed and Depression in Age Related Macular Degeneration: A Meta-Analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noura Hamade

Full Text Available Age related macular degeneration (AMD is a progressive eye disease that, as of 2015, has affected 11 million people in the U.S. and 1.5 million in Canada causing central vision blindness. By 2050, this number is expected to double to 22 million. Eccentric vision is the target of low-vision rehabilitation aids and programs for patients with AMD, which are thought to improve functional performance by improving reading speed and depression.This study evaluates the effect of various low-vision rehabilitation strategies on reading speed and depression in patients 55 and older with AMD.Computer databases including MEDLINE (OVID, EMBASE (OVID, BIOSIS Previews (Thomson-Reuters, CINAHL (EBSCO, Health Economic Evaluations Database (HEED, ISI Web of Science (Thomson-Reuters and the Cochrane Library (Wiley were searched from the year 2000 to January 2015.Included papers were research studies with a sample size of 20 eyes or greater focused on AMD in adults aged 55 or older with low vision (20/60 or lower.Two independent reviewers screened and extracted relevant data from the included articles. Standardized mean difference (SMD was chosen as an effect size to perform meta-analysis using STATA. Fixed- and random-effect models were developed based on heterogeneity.Reading Speed and Depression Scores.A total of 9 studies (885 subjects were included. Overall, a significant improvement in reading speed was found with a SMD of 1.01 [95% CI: 0.05 to 1.97]. Low-vision rehabilitation strategies including micro-perimetric biofeedback, microscopes teaching program significantly improved reading speed. Eccentric viewing training showed the maximum improvement in reading speed. In addition, a non-significant improvement in depression scores was found with a SMD of -0.44 [95% CI: -0.96 to 0.09].A considerable amount of research is required in the area of low-vision rehabilitation strategies for patients with AMD. Based on current research, low-vision rehabilitation aids

Black Deaf Individuals' Reading Skills: Influence of ASL, Culture, Family Characteristics, Reading Experience, and Education

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Myers, Candace; Clark, M. Diane; Musyoka, Millicent M.; Anderson, Melissa L.; Gilbert, Gizelle L.; Agyen, Selina; Hauser, Peter C.

2010-01-01

Previous research on the reading abilities of Deaf individuals from various cultural groups suggests that Black Deaf and Hispanic Deaf individuals lag behind their White Deaf peers. The present study compared the reading skills of Black Deaf and White Deaf individuals, investigating the influence of American Sign Language (ASL), culture, family…

Reading Intervention Using Interactive Metronome in Children with Language and Reading Impairment: A Preliminary Investigation

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Ritter, Michaela; Colson, Karen A.; Park, Jungjun

2013-01-01

This exploratory study examined the effects of Interactive Metronome (IM) when integrated with a traditional language and reading intervention on reading achievement. Forty-nine school-age children with language and reading impairments were assigned randomly to either an experimental group who received the IM treatment or to a control group who…

Photomultiplier pulse Read Out system for the preshower detector of the LHCb experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ajaltouni, Z.; Bohner, G.; Cornat, R.; Deschamps, O.; Lecoq, J.; Monteil, S.; Perret, P.

2003-01-01

The second generation experiment for CP violation studies in B decays, LHCb, is a 20-m-long single-arm spectrometer to be installed on the future Large Hadron Collider at CERN. For its precision measurement purpose, it combines precise vertex location and particle identification, in addition to a performance trigger system able to cope with high flux. The first level of trigger is mainly based on the fast response of the calorimetric subsystem. Of major importance is the 6000 channels preshower detector that aims to validate the electromagnetic nature of calorimetric showers. It consists of two-radiation-length lead sheet in front of a scintillator plane. Scintillator signals are extracted from plastic cells using wavelength-shifting fibres coupled to multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. The preshower Read Out system has to cope with fluctuating photomultiplier pulses caused by small amounts of photoelectrons, in addition to strong constraints imposed by the 40 MHz LHC bunch-crossing frequency. A special Read Out electronics including perfect 40 MHz integrators able to shape fluctuating photomultiplier pulses has been designed, and successfully realized. The temporal shape of photomultiplier pulse and the upstream Read Out system for preshower are described in this document

Agreement processing and attraction errors in aging: evidence from subject-verb agreement in German.

Science.gov (United States)

Reifegerste, Jana; Hauer, Franziska; Felser, Claudia

2017-11-01

Effects of aging on lexical processing are well attested, but the picture is less clear for grammatical processing. Where age differences emerge, these are usually ascribed to working-memory (WM) decline. Previous studies on the influence of WM on agreement computation have yielded inconclusive results, and work on aging and subject-verb agreement processing is lacking. In two experiments (Experiment 1: timed grammaticality judgment, Experiment 2: self-paced reading + WM test), we investigated older (OA) and younger (YA) adults' susceptibility to agreement attraction errors. We found longer reading latencies and judgment reaction times (RTs) for OAs. Further, OAs, particularly those with low WM scores, were more accepting of sentences with attraction errors than YAs. OAs showed longer reading latencies for ungrammatical sentences, again modulated by WM, than YAs. Our results indicate that OAs have greater difficulty blocking intervening nouns from interfering with the computation of agreement dependencies. WM can modulate this effect.

Preparing beginning reading teachers: An experimental comparison of initial early literacy field experiences

OpenAIRE

Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Lake, Vickie E.; Greulich, Luana; Folsom, Jessica S.; Guidry, Lisa

2012-01-01

This randomized-control trial examined the learning of preservice teachers taking an initial Early Literacy course in an early childhood education program and of the kindergarten or first grade students they tutored in their field experience. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to one of two tutoring programs: Book Buddies and Tutor Assisted Intensive Learning Strategies (TAILS), which provided identical meaning-focused instruction (shared book reading), but differed ...

Work Experience, Age, and Gender Discrimination.

Science.gov (United States)

Angle, John; Wissmann, David A.

1983-01-01

Age is a determinant of the gap between U.S. men's and women's work wages; young men are paid more as they age because of age; young women are not. Data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of the Labor Market Experience were analyzed for 5,225 men and 5,159 women. (KC)

READING: The Nature and Difficulty Levels of Materials Read by Beginning Office Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Salzman, Gerald R.

1980-01-01

A high percentage of young people (16-24 years of age) lack essential skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic needed to become workers and citizens. The teaching of reading should be of importance to all educators, not just language arts teachers. (JOW)

Teaching of reading to school beginners : a study of reading programmes in primary one in Uganda

OpenAIRE

Kemizano, Rosert

2007-01-01

Abstract The study examines reading programmes with the reference to the teaching/learning of reading to school beginners. The teaching of reading at the early stages is important because it is the quality of the experiences that children get that affect or lay the foundation for reading development (Chall, 1996).Therefore, the phenomenon, “teaching of reading to school beginners” studied is of great importance. The theoretical background used includes reading and its importance, Languag...

Overlapping neural circuitry for narrative comprehension and proficient reading in children and adolescents.

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Horowitz-Kraus, Tzipi; Vannest, Jennifer J; Holland, Scott K

2013-11-01

Narrative comprehension is a perinatal linguistic ability which is more intuitive than reading activity. Whether there are specific shared brain regions for narrative comprehension and reading that are tuned to reading proficiency, even before reading is acquired, is the question of the current study. We acquired fMRI data during a narrative comprehension task at two age points, when children are age 5-7 (K-2nd grade) and later when the same children were age 11 (5th-7th grade). We then examined correlations between this fMRI data and reading and reading comprehension scores from the same children at age 11. We found that greater frontal and supramarginal gyrus (BA 40) activation in narrative comprehension at the age of 5-7 years old was associated with better word reading and reading comprehension scores at the age of 11. A shift towards temporal and occipital activation was found when correlating their narrative comprehension functional data at age 11, with reading scores at the same age point. We suggest that increased reliance on executive functions and auditory-visual networks when listening to stories before reading is acquired, facilitates reading proficiency in older age and may be a biomarker for future reading ability. Children, who rely on use of imagination/visualization as well as auditory processing for narrative comprehension when they reach age 11, also show greater reading abilities. Understanding concordant neural pathways supporting auditory narrative and reading comprehension might be guide for development of effective tools for reading intervention programs. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Working memory, strategy knowledge, and strategy instruction in children with reading disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, H Lee; Kehler, Pam; Jerman, Olga

2010-01-01

Two experiments investigated the effects of strategy knowledge and strategy training on the working memory (WM) performance in children (ages 10-11) with and without reading disabilities (RD). Experiment 1 examined the relationship between strategy knowledge (stability of strategy choices) and WM performance as a function of initial, gain (cued), and maintenance conditions. WM performance was significantly improved for both groups under cued conditions; however, the performances of children with RD were inferior to those of children without RD across all memory conditions. Measures of WM capacity rather than strategy stability or processing efficiency best predicted reading comprehension performance. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of strategy training on WM performance by randomly assigning children to strategy instruction or control conditions. Significant improvements in WM performance occurred as a function of training conditions, but the residual WM differences between the reading groups remained. Although the results showed that stable strategy choices, cued performance, and strategy instruction significantly bolstered WM performance in children with RD, their overall WM performance, however, was constrained by capacity limitations.

Initial Reading through Computer Animation.

Science.gov (United States)

Geoffrion, Leo D.; Bergeron, R. Daniel

The Computer Animated Reading Instruction System (CARIS) was developed to introduce reading to children with varied sensory, cognitive, and physical handicaps. CARIS employs an exploratory learning approach which encourages children to experiment with the reading and writing of words and sentences. Brief computer-animated cartoons provide the…

The Influence of Age of Acquisition in Word Reading and Other Tasks: A Never Ending Story?

Science.gov (United States)

Bonin, Patrick; Barry, Christopher; Meot, Alain; Chalard, Marylene

2004-01-01

This paper concerns the influence of age of acquisition (AoA) in word reading and other tasks, and attempts to develop a number of issues raised by Zevin and Seidenberg (2002). Analyses performed on both rated and objective measures of AoA show that the frequency trajectory of words is a reliable predictor of their order of acquisition, which…

Follow-up study on reading comprehension in Down's syndrome: the role of reading skills and listening comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Roch, Maja; Florit, Elena; Levorato, Chiara

2011-01-01

According to the 'Simple View of Reading', reading comprehension requires some abilities such as reading skill and listening comprehension. Individuals with Down's syndrome show relative strengths in reading skills, mainly in word recognition, where they attain a reading age of about 7-8 years. Compared with word recognition, their reading comprehension is usually delayed by at least 6 months. Poor reading comprehension is paralleled by weak listening comprehension. It is claimed that poor listening comprehension might constrain the development of reading comprehension and, therefore, be a cause for the asynchrony between reading skills and reading comprehension. A follow-up study was carried out in order to analyse the improvements in reading skills, listening and reading text comprehension, and to support the hypothesis of a causal relationship between listening and reading comprehension. Ten children and adolescents with Down's syndrome, aged between 11 years 3 months and 19 years 10 months, were assessed twice over a one-year period as to their reading skills, listening and reading text comprehension. Three main findings emerged: (1) reading skills, on the one hand, and comprehension (both listening and reading), on the other hand, are independent; (2) reading comprehension development is determined mainly by listening comprehension, which in the present study proved to be very poor; and (3) an improvement after a one-year period, even though limited, occurred for all examined abilities except for listening comprehension. The results are discussed in the light of the theoretical framework of the 'Simple View of Reading' and of their relevance for practical and educational issues. © 2011 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.

Critical reading and critical thinking Critical reading and critical thinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loni Kreis Taglieber

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to provide, for L1 and L2 reading and writing teachers, a brief overview of the literature about critical reading and higher level thinking skills. The teaching of these skills is still neglected in some language classes in Brazil, be it in L1 or in L2 classes. Thus, this paper may also serve as a resource guide for L1 and/or L2 reading and writing teachers who want to incorporate critical reading and thinking into their classes. In modern society, even in everyday life people frequently need to deal with complicated public and political issues, make decisions, and solve problems. In order to do this efficiently and effectively, citizens must be able to evaluate critically what they see, hear, and read. Also, with the huge amount of printed material available in all areas in this age of “information explosion” it is easy to feel overwhelmed. But often the information piled up on people’s desks and in their minds is of no use due to the enormous amount of it. The purpose of this paper is to provide, for L1 and L2 reading and writing teachers, a brief overview of the literature about critical reading and higher level thinking skills. The teaching of these skills is still neglected in some language classes in Brazil, be it in L1 or in L2 classes. Thus, this paper may also serve as a resource guide for L1 and/or L2 reading and writing teachers who want to incorporate critical reading and thinking into their classes. In modern society, even in everyday life people frequently need to deal with complicated public and political issues, make decisions, and solve problems. In order to do this efficiently and effectively, citizens must be able to evaluate critically what they see, hear, and read. Also, with the huge amount of printed material available in all areas in this age of “information explosion” it is easy to feel overwhelmed. But often the information piled up on people’s desks and in their minds is of

Simple View of Reading in Down's syndrome: the role of listening comprehension and reading skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Roch, Maja; Levorato, M Chiara

2009-01-01

According to the 'Simple View of Reading' (Hoover and Gough 1990), individual differences in reading comprehension are accounted for by decoding skills and listening comprehension, each of which makes a unique and specific contribution. The current research was aimed at testing the Simple View of Reading in individuals with Down's syndrome and comparing their profiles with typically developing first graders. Listening comprehension and the ability to read both words and non-words was compared in two groups with the same level of reading comprehension: 23 individuals with Down's syndrome aged between 11 years 3 months and 18 years 2 months and 23 first-grade typically developing children aged between 6 years 2 months and 7 years 4 months. The results indicate that at the same level of reading comprehension, individuals with Down's syndrome have less developed listening comprehension and more advanced word recognition than typically developing first graders. A comparison of the profiles of the two groups revealed that reading comprehension level was predicted by listening comprehension in both groups of participants and by word-reading skills only in typically developing children. The Simple View of Reading model is confirmed for individuals with Down's syndrome, although they do not show the reading profile of typically developing first graders; rather, they show an atypical profile similar to that of 'poor comprehenders' (Cain and Oakhill 2006). The crucial role of listening comprehension in Down's syndrome is also discussed with reference to the educational implications.

Kids & Family Reading Report™. 5th Edition

Science.gov (United States)

Scholastic Inc., 2015

2015-01-01

This report presents the 5th Edition of Scholastic's biannual study of children's and parents' attitudes and behaviors about reading. The latest research touches on reading aloud to children of all ages, the impact of reading independently for fun at school and at home, the importance of frequent reading, and the books children want most to read.…

[Developmental changes in reading ability of Japanese elementary school children--analysis of 4 kana reading tasks].

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Tomoka; Inagaki, Masumi; Gunji, Atsuko; Yatabe, Kiyomi; Kaga, Makiko; Goto, Takaaki; Koike, Toshihide; Wakamiya, Eiji; Koeda, Tatsuya

2010-01-01

Five hundred and twenty-eight Japanese elementary school children aged from 6 (Grade 1) to 12 (Grade 6) were tested for their abilities to read Hiragana characters, words, and short sentences. They were typically developing children whom the classroom teachers judged to have no problems with reading and writing in Japanese. Each child was asked to read four tasks which were written in Hiragana script: single mora reading task, four syllable non-word reading task, four syllable word reading task, and short sentence reading task. The total articulation time for reading and performance in terms of accuracy were measured for each task. Developmental changes in these variables were evaluated. The articulation time was significantly longer for the first graders, and it gradually shortened as they moved through to the upper grades in all tasks. The articulation time reached a plateau in the 4th grade for the four syllable word and short sentence reading tasks, while it did so for the single mora and four syllable non-word reading tasks in the 5th grade. The articulation times for the four syllable word and short sentence reading tasks correlated strongly. There were very few clear errors for all tasks, and the number of such errors significantly changed between the school grades only for the single mora and four syllable word reading tasks. It was noted that more than half of the children read the beginning portion of the word or phrase twice or more, in order to read it accurately, and developmental changes were also seen in this pattern of reading. This study revealed that the combination of these reading tasks may function as a screening test for reading disorders such as developmental dyslexia in children below the age of ten or eleven years old.

Storytelling as an age-dependent skill: oral recall of orally presented stories.

Science.gov (United States)

Mergler, N L; Faust, M; Goldstein, M D

During experiment 1, three taped prose passages read by college student, middle-aged, or old tellers were orally recalled by college students in an incidental memory paradigm. More story units were remembered as the age of the teller increased (r = +.642, p less than .05). Comparison of these results, with prior research using written, as opposed to oral, presentation and recall of these stories, showed no differences in specific story units remembered. Teller age predicted recall on the two "storied" passages. These passages elicited more favorable comments from listeners when read by older tellers. The third, descriptive passage was less favorably regarded by listeners hearing older tellers. During experiment 2, taped storied passages read by middle-aged tellers were falsely attributed to young, middle-aged, or old persons before the college students listened. Incidental recall did not show an age of teller effect in this case, but the listener's evaluation of the speaker exhibited age-dependent stereotypes. It was concluded that 1) physical qualities of older voices lead to more effective oral transmission; 2) that one expects to receive certain types of oral information from older persons; and 3) that a mismatch between physical vocal quality and age attribution effects evaluation of the speaker, not recall of the information.

The Non-Fiction Reading Habits of Young Successful Boy Readers: Forming Connections between Masculinity and Reading

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Smith, Susannah

2004-01-01

The reading experiences of six young successful boy readers were studied over a two-year period. In this article, their non-fiction reading is analysed and ways in which the boys make positive connections between masculinity and reading are identified. The boys' non-fiction reading centres on typical boy interest areas and hobbies (for example,…

Experience-based attenuation of age-related differences in music cognition tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Meinz, E J

2000-06-01

Pianists of a wide experience and age range were tested on measures of musical memory and musical perceptual speed to better understand the effects of experience on age-cognition relations. Experience-related attenuation might be in the form of an Age x Experience interaction or in the form of a "confounding" of age and experience such that positive age-experience relations offset negative age-cognition relations. It was predicted that the former, considered evidence for disuse interpretations of aging, would be likely to emerge in tasks with strong experience effects and strong age-related declines among inexperienced individuals. However, in no case were the interactions of age and experience on the memory or perceptual speed variables significant. There was, however, evidence that high levels of experience in the older participants partially attenuated the negative effects of age on the memory and perceptual speed tasks.

Beginning Reading: Are We Doing Only Half the Job?

Science.gov (United States)

Willems, Arnold L.

1979-01-01

Current theories about teaching children to read overemphasize use of the left brain hemisphere. Children with a right-hemisphere dominance are likely to experience difficulties unless reading experiences are planned which capitalize on right-brain characteristics: divergent thinking and creative activities, hands-on experiences, and free reading.…

Effect of phonological and morphological awareness on reading comprehension in Hebrew-speaking adolescents with reading disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiff, Rachel; Schwartz-Nahshon, Sarit; Nagar, Revital

2011-06-01

This research explored phonological and morphological awareness among Hebrew-speaking adolescents with reading disabilities (RD) and its effect on reading comprehension beyond phonological and word-reading abilities. Participants included 39 seventh graders with RD and two matched control groups of normal readers: 40 seventh graders matched for chronological age (CA) and 38 third graders matched for reading age (RA). We assessed phonological awareness, word reading, morphological awareness, and reading comprehension. Findings indicated that the RD group performed similarly to the RA group on phonological awareness but lower on phonological decoding. On the decontextualized morphological task, RD functioned on par with RA, whereas in a contextualized task RD performed above RA but lower than CA. In reading comprehension, RD performed as well as RA. Finally, results indicated that for normal readers contextual morphological awareness uniquely contributed to reading comprehension beyond phonological and word-reading abilities, whereas no such unique contribution emerged for the RD group. The absence of an effect of morphological awareness in predicting reading comprehension was suggested to be related to a different recognition process employed by RD readers which hinder the ability of these readers to use morphosemantic structures. The lexical quality hypothesis was proposed as further support to the findings, suggesting that a low quality of lexical representation in RD students leads to ineffective reading skills and comprehension. Lexical representation is thus critical for both lexical as well as comprehension abilities.

The Argon Geochronology Experiment (AGE)

Science.gov (United States)

Swindle, T. D.; Bode, R.; Fennema, A.; Chutjian, A.; MacAskill, J. A.; Darrach, M. R.; Clegg, S. M.; Wiens, R. C.; Cremers, D.

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the Argon Geochronology Experiment (AGE). Potassium-Argon dating is shown along with cosmic ray dating exposure. The contents include a flow diagram of the Argon Geochronology Experiment, and schematic diagrams of the mass spectrometer vacuum system, sample manipulation mechanism, mineral heater oven, and the quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Operation with elemental abundances is also described.

Openness to Experience and Night-Sky Watching Interest as Predictors of Reading for Pleasure: Path Analysis of a Mediation Model

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Kelly, William E.

2010-01-01

The relation between reading for pleasure, night-sky watching interest, and openness to experience were examined in a sample of 129 college students. Results of a path analysis examining a mediation model indicated that the influence of night-sky interest on reading for pleasure was not mediated by the broad personality domain openness to…

Enhancing Reading Comprehension of Iranian Advanced EFL Learners through Task-based Reading Activities

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Vahid Fallah Golchin

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Language learning has experienced a shift of focus from a form-focused to a meaning-focused approach, and the necessity of using task-based learning, a relatively recent approach, has emerged. The vital role of task-based materials makes it obligatory not to exclude them from the language learning syllabi.  The current study aims at investigating whether task-based reading can contribute significantly to the development of reading comprehension of Iranian advanced EFL learners of English. An experimental study was carried out in order to scrutinize the applicability of task-based language teaching. To this end, 60 female advanced EFL learners, selected from among a pool of 100 learners, were assigned equally and randomly into two groups of thirty, consisting of an experimental and a control group. The selection of the participants was based on the results of a standard and piloted version of Paper-based TOEFL. The participant’s mean age was about 23, ranging from 20 to 27 years of age. Both groups received a pretest and a post-test of reading. During the treatment period the experimental group received task-based reading activities while the control group received reading instructions through traditional methods. The impact of the treatment upon the reading comprehension ability of the participants was analyzed through an independent-samples t-test, and comparisons between groups were made. The results clearly indicated the development of reading comprehension ability of the participants in the first group (the experimental group through the application of task-based reading activities.

Docosahexaenoic acid for reading, cognition and behavior in children aged 7-9 years: a randomized, controlled trial (the DOLAB Study.

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Alexandra J Richardson

Full Text Available Omega-3 fatty acids are dietary essentials, and the current low intakes in most modern developed countries are believed to contribute to a wide variety of physical and mental health problems. Evidence from clinical trials indicates that dietary supplementation with long-chain omega-3 may improve child behavior and learning, although most previous trials have involved children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or developmental coordination disorder (DCD. Here we investigated whether such benefits might extend to the general child population.To determine the effects of dietary supplementation with the long-chain omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA on the reading, working memory, and behavior of healthy schoolchildren.Parallel group, fixed-dose, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (RCT.Mainstream primary schools in Oxfordshire, UK (n = 74.Healthy children aged 7-9 years initially underperforming in reading (≤ 33(rd centile. 1376 invited, 362 met study criteria.600 mg/day DHA (from algal oil, or taste/color matched corn/soybean oil placebo.Age-standardized measures of reading, working memory, and parent- and teacher-rated behavior.ITT analyses showed no effect of DHA on reading in the full sample, but significant effects in the pre-planned subgroup of 224 children whose initial reading performance was ≤ 20(th centile (the target population in our original study design. Parent-rated behavior problems (ADHD-type symptoms were significantly reduced by active treatment, but little or no effects were seen for either teacher-rated behaviour or working memory.DHA supplementation appears to offer a safe and effective way to improve reading and behavior in healthy but underperforming children from mainstream schools. Replication studies are clearly warranted, as such children are known to be at risk of low educational and occupational outcomes in later life.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01066182

Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind.

Science.gov (United States)

Kidd, David Comer; Castano, Emanuele

2013-10-18

Understanding others' mental states is a crucial skill that enables the complex social relationships that characterize human societies. Yet little research has investigated what fosters this skill, which is known as Theory of Mind (ToM), in adults. We present five experiments showing that reading literary fiction led to better performance on tests of affective ToM (experiments 1 to 5) and cognitive ToM (experiments 4 and 5) compared with reading nonfiction (experiments 1), popular fiction (experiments 2 to 5), or nothing at all (experiments 2 and 5). Specifically, these results show that reading literary fiction temporarily enhances ToM. More broadly, they suggest that ToM may be influenced by engagement with works of art.

Reading in developmental prosopagnosia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Starrfelt, Randi; Klargaard, Solja K; Petersen, Anders

2018-01-01

exposure durations (targeting the word superiority effect), and d) text reading. RESULTS: Participants with developmental prosopagnosia performed strikingly similar to controls across the four reading tasks. Formal analysis revealed a significant dissociation between word and face recognition......, that is, impaired reading in developmental prosopagnosia. METHOD: We tested 10 adults with developmental prosopagnosia and 20 matched controls. All participants completed the Cambridge Face Memory Test, the Cambridge Face Perception test and a Face recognition questionnaire used to quantify everyday face...... recognition experience. Reading was measured in four experimental tasks, testing different levels of letter, word, and text reading: (a) single word reading with words of varying length,(b) vocal response times in single letter and short word naming, (c) recognition of single letters and short words at brief...

Subjective Impressions Do Not Mirror Online Reading Effort: Concurrent EEG-Eyetracking Evidence from the Reading of Books and Digital Media

Science.gov (United States)

Kretzschmar, Franziska; Pleimling, Dominique; Hosemann, Jana; Füssel, Stephan; Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina; Schlesewsky, Matthias

2013-01-01

In the rapidly changing circumstances of our increasingly digital world, reading is also becoming an increasingly digital experience: electronic books (e-books) are now outselling print books in the United States and the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, many readers still view e-books as less readable than print books. The present study thus used combined EEG and eyetracking measures in order to test whether reading from digital media requires higher cognitive effort than reading conventional books. Young and elderly adults read short texts on three different reading devices: a paper page, an e-reader and a tablet computer and answered comprehension questions about them while their eye movements and EEG were recorded. The results of a debriefing questionnaire replicated previous findings in that participants overwhelmingly chose the paper page over the two electronic devices as their preferred reading medium. Online measures, by contrast, showed shorter mean fixation durations and lower EEG theta band voltage density – known to covary with memory encoding and retrieval – for the older adults when reading from a tablet computer in comparison to the other two devices. Young adults showed comparable fixation durations and theta activity for all three devices. Comprehension accuracy did not differ across the three media for either group. We argue that these results can be explained in terms of the better text discriminability (higher contrast) produced by the backlit display of the tablet computer. Contrast sensitivity decreases with age and degraded contrast conditions lead to longer reading times, thus supporting the conclusion that older readers may benefit particularly from the enhanced contrast of the tablet. Our findings thus indicate that people's subjective evaluation of digital reading media must be dissociated from the cognitive and neural effort expended in online information processing while reading from such devices. PMID:23405265

Subjective impressions do not mirror online reading effort: concurrent EEG-eyetracking evidence from the reading of books and digital media.

Science.gov (United States)

Kretzschmar, Franziska; Pleimling, Dominique; Hosemann, Jana; Füssel, Stephan; Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina; Schlesewsky, Matthias

2013-01-01

In the rapidly changing circumstances of our increasingly digital world, reading is also becoming an increasingly digital experience: electronic books (e-books) are now outselling print books in the United States and the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, many readers still view e-books as less readable than print books. The present study thus used combined EEG and eyetracking measures in order to test whether reading from digital media requires higher cognitive effort than reading conventional books. Young and elderly adults read short texts on three different reading devices: a paper page, an e-reader and a tablet computer and answered comprehension questions about them while their eye movements and EEG were recorded. The results of a debriefing questionnaire replicated previous findings in that participants overwhelmingly chose the paper page over the two electronic devices as their preferred reading medium. Online measures, by contrast, showed shorter mean fixation durations and lower EEG theta band voltage density--known to covary with memory encoding and retrieval--for the older adults when reading from a tablet computer in comparison to the other two devices. Young adults showed comparable fixation durations and theta activity for all three devices. Comprehension accuracy did not differ across the three media for either group. We argue that these results can be explained in terms of the better text discriminability (higher contrast) produced by the backlit display of the tablet computer. Contrast sensitivity decreases with age and degraded contrast conditions lead to longer reading times, thus supporting the conclusion that older readers may benefit particularly from the enhanced contrast of the tablet. Our findings thus indicate that people's subjective evaluation of digital reading media must be dissociated from the cognitive and neural effort expended in online information processing while reading from such devices.

Subjective impressions do not mirror online reading effort: concurrent EEG-eyetracking evidence from the reading of books and digital media.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska Kretzschmar

Full Text Available In the rapidly changing circumstances of our increasingly digital world, reading is also becoming an increasingly digital experience: electronic books (e-books are now outselling print books in the United States and the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, many readers still view e-books as less readable than print books. The present study thus used combined EEG and eyetracking measures in order to test whether reading from digital media requires higher cognitive effort than reading conventional books. Young and elderly adults read short texts on three different reading devices: a paper page, an e-reader and a tablet computer and answered comprehension questions about them while their eye movements and EEG were recorded. The results of a debriefing questionnaire replicated previous findings in that participants overwhelmingly chose the paper page over the two electronic devices as their preferred reading medium. Online measures, by contrast, showed shorter mean fixation durations and lower EEG theta band voltage density--known to covary with memory encoding and retrieval--for the older adults when reading from a tablet computer in comparison to the other two devices. Young adults showed comparable fixation durations and theta activity for all three devices. Comprehension accuracy did not differ across the three media for either group. We argue that these results can be explained in terms of the better text discriminability (higher contrast produced by the backlit display of the tablet computer. Contrast sensitivity decreases with age and degraded contrast conditions lead to longer reading times, thus supporting the conclusion that older readers may benefit particularly from the enhanced contrast of the tablet. Our findings thus indicate that people's subjective evaluation of digital reading media must be dissociated from the cognitive and neural effort expended in online information processing while reading from such devices.

Reading to young children : A head-start in life?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kalb, G.; van Ours, J.C.

This paper investigates the importance of parents reading to their young children. Using Australian data we find that parental reading to children at age 4–5 has positive and significant effects on reading skills and cognitive skills (including numeracy skills) of these children at least up to age

Reading and visual search: a developmental study in normal children.

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Magali Seassau

Full Text Available Studies dealing with developmental aspects of binocular eye movement behaviour during reading are scarce. In this study we have explored binocular strategies during reading and during visual search tasks in a large population of normal young readers. Binocular eye movements were recorded using an infrared video-oculography system in sixty-nine children (aged 6 to 15 and in a group of 10 adults (aged 24 to 39. The main findings are (i in both tasks the number of progressive saccades (to the right and regressive saccades (to the left decreases with age; (ii the amplitude of progressive saccades increases with age in the reading task only; (iii in both tasks, the duration of fixations as well as the total duration of the task decreases with age; (iv in both tasks, the amplitude of disconjugacy recorded during and after the saccades decreases with age; (v children are significantly more accurate in reading than in visual search after 10 years of age. Data reported here confirms and expands previous studies on children's reading. The new finding is that younger children show poorer coordination than adults, both while reading and while performing a visual search task. Both reading skills and binocular saccades coordination improve with age and children reach a similar level to adults after the age of 10. This finding is most likely related to the fact that learning mechanisms responsible for saccade yoking develop during childhood until adolescence.

Phonological Processing and Word Reading in Typically Developing and Reading Disabled Children : Severity Matters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Groot, Barry; van den Bos, Kornelis; Minnaert, Alexander; van der Meulen, Bieuwe

2015-01-01

This chapter concerns the word reading predictive values and the dynamics of alphanumeric rapid automatized naming (RAN) and phonemic awareness (PA) in the general population of Dutch elementary school–aged children (grades 3 through 6). A composite index of word reading based on standardized tests

University Students with Poor Reading Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Georgiou, George K.; Das, J. P.

2015-01-01

The present study aimed to examine the nature of the working memory and general cognitive ability deficits experienced by university students with a specific reading comprehension deficit. A total of 32 university students with poor reading comprehension but average word-reading skills and 60 age-word-matched controls with no comprehension…

Reading to Young Children : A Head-Start in Life?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kalb, G.; van Ours, J.C.

2013-01-01

Abstract: This paper investigates the importance of parents reading to their young children. Using Australian data we find that parental reading to children at age 4 to 5 has positive and significant effects on reading skills and cognitive skills of these children at least up to age 10 or 11. Our

Overlapping genetic and child-specific nonshared environmental influences on listening comprehension, reading motivation, and reading comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Schenker, Victoria J; Petrill, Stephen A

2015-01-01

This study investigated the genetic and environmental influences on observed associations between listening comprehension, reading motivation, and reading comprehension. Univariate and multivariate quantitative genetic models were conducted in a sample of 284 pairs of twins at a mean age of 9.81 years. Genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for statistically significant variance in listening and reading comprehension, and nonshared environmental factors accounted for variance in reading motivation. Furthermore, listening comprehension demonstrated unique genetic and nonshared environmental influences but also had overlapping genetic influences with reading comprehension. Reading motivation and reading comprehension each had unique and overlapping nonshared environmental contributions. Therefore, listening comprehension appears to be related to reading primarily due to genetic factors whereas motivation appears to affect reading via child-specific, nonshared environmental effects. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Overlapping Genetic and Child-Specific Nonshared Environmental Influences on Listening Comprehension, Reading Motivation, and Reading Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Schenker, Victoria J.; Petrill, Stephen A.

2015-01-01

This study investigated the genetic and environmental influences on observed associations between listening comprehension, reading motivation, and reading comprehension. Univariate and multivariate quantitative genetic models were conducted in a sample of 284 pairs of twins at a mean age of 9.81 years. Genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for statistically significant variance in listening and reading comprehension, and nonshared environmental factors accounted for variance in reading motivation. Furthermore, listening comprehension demonstrated unique genetic and nonshared environmental influences but also had overlapping genetic influences with reading comprehension. Reading motivation and reading comprehension each had unique and overlapping nonshared environmental contributions. Therefore, listening comprehension appears to be related to reading primarily due to genetic factors whereas motivation appears to affect reading via child-specific, nonshared environmental effects. PMID:26321677

Learning from High School Students' Lived Experiences of Reading E-Books and Printed Books

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Ellen

2017-01-01

E-book sales are down nationwide, and younger readers are proving to be surprisingly persistent in their preference for printed books. Although 66% of schools nationwide offer e-books, adoption is growing at a slower than expected rate. This study takes a closer look at high school students' experiences as they read John Steinbeck's fictional…

The Effect of Background Music While Silent Reading on EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

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sakineh sahebdel

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This study attempted to determine the effect of background music while silent reading on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The participants were 57 Iranian EFL learners between the ages of 14 and 16 in two 3rd grade high schoolclasses at pre-intermediate proficiency level. Before treatment,both experimental and control groups took a reading comprehension pretest. In the experimental group, the researchers played Mozart sonatas as background music and asked them to read the passage silently and then answer the reading comprehension questions. In the control group, the procedure was the same, but no music was played while silent reading by the students. After ten sessions, the students of both groups were asked to answer another independent but parallel form of reading section of PET as their post-test. The independent samples t-testresultsindicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in reading comprehension posttest, and listening to background music while silent reading had a significantly positive effect on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The results of the present study have implications for EFL students, teachers, and teacher educators as well as syllabus designers and materials developers.

Consejos para los Padres Sobre la Lectura: Informacion e Ideas para Ayudar a los Ninos Desde la Infancia Hasta Octavo Grado a Tener Exito en la Lectura (Tips for Parents about Reading: Information and Ideas for Helping Children through Grade Eight Succeed with Reading).

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Deborah; Lewis, Jan Patricia

Noting that all parents want the best school experience for their children, this booklet, in Spanish, gives parents some ideas about what to expect at different ages and stages of reading development, suggestions for what parents can do at home, and a list of favorite books parents can find in most libraries for parents and children to read.…

Camp Wanna-Read: Program Guide for the Texas Reading Club 1991.

Science.gov (United States)

Switzer, Robin Works

Camp Wanna-Read is the theme for the 1991 program for the Texas Reading Club, which centers around the experiences and types of things that happen at summer camp. Each chapter is a type of camp a child might attend such as cooking camp, art camp, music camp, science camp, Indian camp, nature camp, and regular summer camp. The chapters are divided…

Photomultiplier pulse Read Out system for the preshower detector of the LHCb experiment

CERN Document Server

Ajaltouni, Ziad J; Cornat, R; Deschamps, O; Lecoq, J; Monteil, S; Perret, P

2003-01-01

The second generation experiment for CP violation studies in B decays, LHCb, is a 20-m-long single-arm spectrometer to be installed on the future Large Hadron Collider at CERN. For its precision measurement purpose, it combines precise vertex location and particle identification, in addition to a performance trigger system able to cope with high flux. The first level of trigger is mainly based on the fast response of the calorimetric subsystem. Of major importance is the 6000 channels preshower detector that aims to validate the electromagnetic nature of calorimetric showers. It consists of two- radiation-length lead sheet in front of a scintillator plane. Scintillator signals are extracted from plastic cells using wavelength-shifting fibres coupled to multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. The preshower Read Out system has to cope with fluctuating photomultiplier pulses caused by small amounts of photoelectrons, in addition to strong constraints imposed by the 40 MHz LHC bunch- crossing frequency. A special Read...

Facilitating text reading in posterior cortical atrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Yong, Keir X X; Rajdev, Kishan; Shakespeare, Timothy J; Leff, Alexander P; Crutch, Sebastian J

2015-07-28

We report (1) the quantitative investigation of text reading in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), and (2) the effects of 2 novel software-based reading aids that result in dramatic improvements in the reading ability of patients with PCA. Reading performance, eye movements, and fixations were assessed in patients with PCA and typical Alzheimer disease and in healthy controls (experiment 1). Two reading aids (single- and double-word) were evaluated based on the notion that reducing the spatial and oculomotor demands of text reading might support reading in PCA (experiment 2). Mean reading accuracy in patients with PCA was significantly worse (57%) compared with both patients with typical Alzheimer disease (98%) and healthy controls (99%); spatial aspects of passages were the primary determinants of text reading ability in PCA. Both aids led to considerable gains in reading accuracy (PCA mean reading accuracy: single-word reading aid = 96%; individual patient improvement range: 6%-270%) and self-rated measures of reading. Data suggest a greater efficiency of fixations and eye movements under the single-word reading aid in patients with PCA. These findings demonstrate how neurologic characterization of a neurodegenerative syndrome (PCA) and detailed cognitive analysis of an important everyday skill (reading) can combine to yield aids capable of supporting important everyday functional abilities. This study provides Class III evidence that for patients with PCA, 2 software-based reading aids (single-word and double-word) improve reading accuracy. © 2015 American Academy of Neurology.

Facilitating text reading in posterior cortical atrophy

Science.gov (United States)

Rajdev, Kishan; Shakespeare, Timothy J.; Leff, Alexander P.; Crutch, Sebastian J.

2015-01-01

Objective: We report (1) the quantitative investigation of text reading in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), and (2) the effects of 2 novel software-based reading aids that result in dramatic improvements in the reading ability of patients with PCA. Methods: Reading performance, eye movements, and fixations were assessed in patients with PCA and typical Alzheimer disease and in healthy controls (experiment 1). Two reading aids (single- and double-word) were evaluated based on the notion that reducing the spatial and oculomotor demands of text reading might support reading in PCA (experiment 2). Results: Mean reading accuracy in patients with PCA was significantly worse (57%) compared with both patients with typical Alzheimer disease (98%) and healthy controls (99%); spatial aspects of passages were the primary determinants of text reading ability in PCA. Both aids led to considerable gains in reading accuracy (PCA mean reading accuracy: single-word reading aid = 96%; individual patient improvement range: 6%–270%) and self-rated measures of reading. Data suggest a greater efficiency of fixations and eye movements under the single-word reading aid in patients with PCA. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate how neurologic characterization of a neurodegenerative syndrome (PCA) and detailed cognitive analysis of an important everyday skill (reading) can combine to yield aids capable of supporting important everyday functional abilities. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class III evidence that for patients with PCA, 2 software-based reading aids (single-word and double-word) improve reading accuracy. PMID:26138948

Listening to Students: Modification of a Reading Program Based on the Sources of Foreign Language Reading Anxiety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belgin Aydin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the modifications implemented in a second year foreign language (FL reading program with respect to the problems students experience while reading in FL. This research draws on the sources of FL reading anxiety identified in the first year reading program with a motivation to re-design the second year program to help the students perceive reading positively free from the anxiety. This paper reports on the responses of students to the modifications implemented in the second year reading program

Writing to Read: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Writing and Writing Instruction on Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Steve; Hebert, Michael

2011-01-01

Reading is critical to students' success in and out of school. One potential means for improving students' reading is writing. In this meta-analysis of true and quasi-experiments, Graham and Herbert present evidence that writing about material read improves students' comprehension of it; that teaching students how to write improves their reading…

Reading, Mathematics and Fine Motor Skills at 5 Years of Age in US Children who were Extremely Premature at Birth.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Miryoung; Pascoe, John M; McNicholas, Caroline I

2017-01-01

Objectives The prevalence of extreme prematurity at birth has increased, but little research has examined its impact on developmental outcomes in large representative samples within the United States. This study examined the association of extreme prematurity with kindergarteners' reading skills, mathematics skills and fine motor skills. Methods The early childhood longitudinal study-birth cohort, a representative sample of the US children born in 2001 was analyzed for this study. Early reading and mathematics skills and fine motor skills were compared among 200 extremely premature children (EPC) (gestational age motor performance of PC (failed to build a gate, 1.3[95 % CI 1.0-1.7]; failed to draw all four shapes, 1.1[95 % CI 0.8-1.6]) was not significantly different from TC. Mean early reading scale score (36.8[SE:1.3]) of EPC was 4.0 points lower than TC (p value motor delays at age 5 years. This suggests that based on a nationally representative sample of infants, the biological risk of extreme prematurity persists after adjusting for other factors related to development.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

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Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A

2016-01-01

Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Cao

Full Text Available Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

Effects of reading picture books on kindergartners’ mathematics performance

Science.gov (United States)

van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Marja; Elia, Iliada; Robitzsch, Alexander

2016-01-01

This article describes a field experiment with a pretest–posttest control group design which investigated the potential of reading picture books to children for supporting their mathematical understanding. The study involved 384 children from 18 kindergarten classes in 18 schools in the Netherlands. During three months, the children in the nine experimental classes were read picture books. Data analysis revealed that, when controlled for relevant covariates, the picture book reading programme had a positive effect (d = .13) on kindergartners’ mathematics performance as measured by a project test containing items on number, measurement and geometry. Compared to the increase from pretest to posttest in the control group, the increase in the experimental group was 22% larger. No significant differential intervention effects were found between subgroups based on kindergarten year, age, home language, socio-economic status and mathematics and language ability, but a significant intervention effect was found for girls and not for boys. PMID:26855457

Experiment list: SRX142537 [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available is data represents a control being compared to experiments using read length of 3... || age description=Immortal cells || control=Control_32bp || control description=This data represents a control being

Associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading in preschool aged children.

Science.gov (United States)

Degé, Franziska; Kubicek, Claudia; Schwarzer, Gudrun

2015-01-01

The association between music and language, in particular, the overlap in their processing results in the possibility to use one domain for the enhancement of the other. Especially in the preschool years music may be a valuable tool to train language abilities (e.g., precursors of reading). Therefore, detailed knowledge about associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading can be of great use for designing future music intervention studies that target language-related abilities. Hence, the present study investigated the association between music perception as well as music production and precursors of reading. Thereby, not only phonological awareness, the mostly studied precursor of reading, was investigated, but also other precursors were examined. We assessed musical abilities (production and perception) and precursors of reading (phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory) in 55 preschoolers (27 boys). Fluid intelligence was measured and controlled in the analyses. Results showed that phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory were related to music perception as well as to music production. Our data suggest that several precursors of reading were associated with music perception as well as music production.

Associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading in preschool aged children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska eDegé

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The association between music and language, in particular, the overlap in their processing results in the possibility to use one domain for the enhancement of the other. Especially in the preschool years music may be a valuable tool to train language abilities (e.g., precursors of reading. Therefore, detailed knowledge about associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading can be of great use for designing future music intervention studies that target language-related abilities. Hence, the present study investigated the association between music perception as well as music production and precursors of reading. Thereby, not only phonological awareness, the mostly studied precursor of reading, was investigated, but also other precursors were examined. We assessed musical abilities (production and perception and precursors of reading (phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory in 55 preschoolers (27 boys. Fluid intelligence was measured and controlled in the analyses. Results showed that phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory were related to music perception as well as to music production. Our data suggest that several precursors of reading were associated with music perception as well as music production.

[Life Experience following Suicide Attempt among Middle-aged Men].

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Chin, Eun Young; Kim, Hyun Kyung

2016-04-01

This study was performed to identify the meaning of life experience following suicide attempt among middle-aged men. A qualitative research design was adopted using van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach. The participants were six middle-aged men who had attempted suicide at least one time. Data were collected in 2013 through in-depth interviews. Individual interviews were recorded; and literary, art works and phenomenological literature were searched to identify the meaning of the experience. The five essential themes of the life experience of middle-aged men who attempted suicide were 'Bitter reality confronted again', 'Anger buried deep inside', 'Broken family, inescapable fetters', 'Blocked relationships, closed world' and 'A step towards a new life'. The meaning of lived experience found in this study provides deep insight into the experience following suicide attempt in middle-aged men and crucial information to give directions to appropriate support and nursing interventions.

Slower saccadic reading in Parkinson's disease.

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Jehangir, Naz; Yu, Caroline Yizhu; Song, Jeehey; Shariati, Mohammad Ali; Binder, Steven; Beyer, Jill; Santini, Veronica; Poston, Kathleen; Liao, Yaping Joyce

2018-01-01

Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (PD) is characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic and other neurons, leading to motor and non-motor deficits. Abnormal eye movements in PD, including fixations, saccades, and convergence, are well described. However, saccadic reading, which requires serial and alternating saccades and fixations, is not well studied, despite its obvious impact on the quality of life. In this study, we assessed saccadic reading using variations of the King-Devick (KD) test, a rapid single digit number naming test, as a way to assess the ability to make serial left-to-right ocular motor movements necessary for reading. We recruited 42 treated PD patients and 80 age-matched controls and compared their reading times with a variety of measures, including age, duration of disease, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the National Eye Institute 25-Item Visual Functioning Questionnaire 25 (VFQ-25), and Montreal Cognitive assessment (MoCA) test. The subjects performed 4 trials of reading 120 single digit numbers aloud as fast as possible without making errors. In each trial, they read 3 pages (KD1, KD2, and KD3), and each page contained 40 numbers per page in 8 lines with 5 numbers/line. We found that PD patients read about 20% slower than controls on all tests (KD1, 2, and 3 tests) (p < 0.02), and both groups read irregularly spaced numbers slower than regularly spaced numbers. Having lines between numbers to guide reading (KD1 tests) did not impact reading time in both PD and controls, but increased visual crowding as a result of decreased spacing between numbers (KD3 tests) was associated with significantly slower reading times in both PD and control groups. Our study revealed that saccadic reading is slower in PD, but controls and PD patients are both impacted by visuospatial planning challenges posed by increased visual crowding and irregularity of number spacing. Reading time did not correlate with UPDRS or MoCA scores in PD patients but

The Effect of Diagrams on Online Reading Processes and Memory

Science.gov (United States)

McCrudden, Matthew T.; Magliano, Joseph P.; Schraw, Gregory

2011-01-01

This work examined how adjunct displays influence college readers' moment-by-moment processing of text and the products of reading, using reading time (Experiments 1 & 2), and think-aloud methodologies (Experiment 3). Participants did or did not study a diagram before reading a text. Overall, the reading time data, think-aloud data, and recall…

Do interactions speak louder than words? Dialogic reading of an interactive tablet-based e-book with children between 16 months and three years of age

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knoche, Hendrik; Rasmussen, Niklas Ammitzbøl; Boldreel, Kasper

2014-01-01

the effect of interactive elements on speech production of 12 children between the ages of 16 and 33 months when engaged in individual dialogic reading sessions with a tablet-based e-book. Interaction with interactive elements did not reduce the children’s responses to dialogic reading prompts. Spontaneous...

The reading habits of parents of preschool children

OpenAIRE

Jalovec, Alenka

2011-01-01

The reading habits of parents of preschool children are very important for development of reading literacy. The role of parents in reading is very high. It is important that parents often read for themselves and for their children regardless of age, sex and education. With reading they are giving the children an example and attach great importance to reading. An important factor is the frequency of library visits and dealing with books. On the reading habits of parents have important influenc...

Reading disorders and dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulme, Charles; Snowling, Margaret J

2016-12-01

We review current knowledge about the nature of reading development and disorders, distinguishing between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading comprehension. Children with decoding difficulties/dyslexia experience deficits in phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming in the preschool years and beyond. These phonological/language difficulties appear to be proximal causes of the problems in learning to decode print in dyslexia. We review data from a prospective study of children at high risk of dyslexia to show that being at family risk of dyslexia is a primary risk factor for poor reading and children with persistent language difficulties at school entry are more likely to develop reading problems. Early oral language difficulties are strong predictors of later difficulties in reading comprehension. There are two distinct forms of reading disorder in children: dyslexia (a difficulty in learning to translate print into speech) and reading comprehension impairment. Both forms of reading problem appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. Implications for screening and for the delivery of robust interventions for language and reading are discussed.

Relations of Perceived Parent and Friend Support for Recreational Reading with Children's Reading Motivations

Science.gov (United States)

Klauda, Susan Lutz; Wigfield, Allan

2012-01-01

This study examined elementary school students' perceived support for recreational reading from their mothers, fathers, and friends. Participants, including 130 fourth graders and 172 fifth graders, completed the researcher-developed Reading Support Survey, which assesses how often children experience and how greatly they enjoy multiple types of…

Genome-Wide Polygenic Scores Predict Reading Performance Throughout the School Years.

Science.gov (United States)

Selzam, Saskia; Dale, Philip S; Wagner, Richard K; DeFries, John C; Cederlöf, Martin; O'Reilly, Paul F; Krapohl, Eva; Plomin, Robert

2017-07-04

It is now possible to create individual-specific genetic scores, called genome-wide polygenic scores (GPS). We used a GPS for years of education ( EduYears ) to predict reading performance assessed at UK National Curriculum Key Stages 1 (age 7), 2 (age 12) and 3 (age 14) and on reading tests administered at ages 7 and 12 in a UK sample of 5,825 unrelated individuals. EduYears GPS accounts for up to 5% of the variance in reading performance at age 14. GPS predictions remained significant after accounting for general cognitive ability and family socioeconomic status. Reading performance of children in the lowest and highest 12.5% of the EduYears GPS distribution differed by a mean growth in reading ability of approximately two school years. It seems certain that polygenic scores will be used to predict strengths and weaknesses in education.

Effects of reading-oriented tasks on students' reading comprehension of geometry proof

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Kai-Lin; Lin, Fou-Lai

2012-06-01

This study compared the effects of reading-oriented tasks and writing-oriented tasks on students' reading comprehension of geometry proof (RCGP). The reading-oriented tasks were designed with reading strategies and the idea of problem posing. The writing-oriented tasks were consistent with usual proof instruction for writing a proof and applying it. Twenty-two classes of ninth-grade students ( N = 683), aged 14 to 15 years, and 12 mathematics teachers participated in this quasi-experimental classroom study. While the experimental group was instructed to read and discuss the reading tasks in two 45-minute lessons, the control group was instructed to prove and apply the same propositions. Generalised estimating equation (GEE) method was used to compare the scores of the post-test and the delayed post-test with the pre-test scores as covariates. Results showed that the total scores of the delayed post-test of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Furthermore, the scores of the experimental group on all facets of reading comprehension except the application facet were significantly higher than those of the control group for both the post-test and delayed post-test.

Growth of reading skills in children with a history of specific language impairment: the role of autistic symptomatology and language-related abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

St Clair, Michelle C; Durkin, Kevin; Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Pickles, Andrew

2010-03-01

Individuals with a history of specific language impairment (SLI) often have subsequent problems with reading skills, but there have been some discrepant findings as to the developmental time course of these skills. This study investigates the developmental trajectories of reading skills over a 9-year time-span (from 7 to 16 years of age) in a large sample of individuals with a history of SLI. Relationships among reading skills, autistic symptomatology, and language-related abilities were also investigated. The results indicate that both reading accuracy and comprehension are deficient but that the development of these skills progresses in a consistently parallel fashion to what would be expected from a normative sample of same age peers. Language-related abilities were strongly associated with reading skills. Unlike individuals with SLI only, those with SLI and additional autistic symptomatology had adequate reading accuracy but did not differ from the individuals with SLI only in reading comprehension. They exhibited a significant gap between what they could read and what they could understand when reading. These findings provide strong evidence that individuals with SLI experience continued, long-term deficits in reading skills from childhood to adolescence.

Reading Very Well for Our Age: Hyperobject Metadata and Global Warming in Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven

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Martin Paul Eve

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the practices of symptomatic reading have been called into question by scholars such as Stephen Best, Sharon Marcus, Cathy N. Davidson, David Theo Goldberg, Rita Felski and Bruno Latour. It is claimed that such reading has become either formulaic or politically inefficacious. This article argues, against such thinking, that Emily St. John Mandel’s Arthur C. Clarke award–winning novel 'Station Eleven' (2014 presents several challenges for an age of so-called post-critical reading. Given that this novel is, in some ways, about how the future will ‘read’ our present, I use the metaphor of ‘metadata’ here to think through the series of ruined objects in 'Station Eleven' that project a hyperobject-like extent across two epistemic contexts. I argue that this is a comment on interpretative reading practices and an invitation for politicised symptomatic readings of the novel. Using this approach, I show that 'Station Eleven' is a novel that is deeply concerned with global warming and with colonial nationalist legacies, even while such concerns appear buried—or even absent—within the novel. If one takes the novel’s surface instruction to look for ‘another world just out sight’, these concerns of the early twenty-first century emerge as central to the forking futures of Mandel’s work.

Basic reading skills in Swedish children with late developing language and with or without autism spectrum disorder or ADHD.

Science.gov (United States)

Miniscalco, Carmela; Dahlgren Sandberg, Annika

2010-01-01

Reading skills at age 7-8 years were examined in a community-representative sample of 21 screened and clinically examined children with language delay (LD) followed prospectively from 2.5 years of age. The present study aimed to (1) determine whether these children with a history of LD had deficits in basic reading skills, i.e. decoding and comprehension, compared to the age norms of standardized tests, (2) analyze if there was a relationship between reading outcome and neuropsychiatric diagnosis by comparing three subgroups of children, LD pure, LD+ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and LD+ADHD, and, (3) determine what language measures at age 6 years were associated with the 7-8-year reading outcome. Both decoding and comprehension of single word reading were significantly below the norm for the whole LD group, where children with LD+ASD scored lowest, and children with LD highest. However, the differences between the three groups did not reach significance. Two reader groups were identified according to the results of word decoding and comprehension, respectively, resulting in the same 7 children. ANOVA revealed that the only differences on the 6-year language tests between the two groups were found on color naming and word memory. This study has shown that children with LD and subsequently identified neurodevelopmental problems such as ASD and ADHD experience continued deficits, demonstrated also in reading skills and that the picture of the reading problems seemed to resemble those of typically developing children. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experiments and Pilot Study Evaluating the Performance of Reading Miscue Detector and Automated Reading Tutor for Filipino: A Children's Speech Technology for Improving Literacy

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Ronald M. Pascual

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The latest advances in speech processing technology have allowed the development of automated reading tutors (ART for improving children's literacy. An ART is a computer-assisted learning system based on oral reading fluency (ORF instruction and automated speech recognition (ASR technology. However, the design of an ART system is language-specif ic, and thus, requires developing a system specif ically for the Filipino language. In a previous work, the authors have presented the development of the children's Filipino speech corpus (CFSC for the purpose of designing an ART in Filipino. In this paper, the authors present the evaluation of the ART in Filipino which integrates a reference verification (RV- and word duration analysis-based reading miscue detector (RMD, a user interface, and a feedback and instruction set. The authors also present the performance evaluation of the RMD in offline tests, and the effectiveness of the ART as shown by the results of the intervention program, a month-long pilot study that involved the use of the ART by a small group of students. Offline test results show that the RMD's performance (i.e., FA rate ≈ 3% and MDerr rate ≈ 5% is at par with those from state-of-the-art RMDs reported in the literature. The results of the ART intervention experiment showed that the students, on the average, have improved in their words correct per minute (WCPM rate by 4.66 times, in their ORF-16 scores by 6.0 times, and in their reading comprehension exam scores by 4.4 times, after using the ART.

Learning to Read and the Preschool Years

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Lorraine

2012-01-01

You have young preschool children. You think ahead to when they will begin school, and wonder what you might do to make it easy for your children to learn to read. This article offers some hints for parents and caregivers about learning to read: (1) Reading can begin at birth; (2) When reading aloud to an infant, make the experience a warm, loving…

Experiment list: SRX142517 [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available This data represents a control being compared to experiments using read length of 32 bp || treatment=None ||...ed || age description=Immortal cells || control=Control_32bp || control description=This data represents a control being

Experiment list: SRX142533 [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available escription=This data represents a control being compared to experiments using read length of 36 bp || treatm...=immortalized || age description=Immortal cells || control=Control_36bp || control description=This data represents a control being

Scanpath Based N-Gram Models for Predicting Reading Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mishra, Abhijit; Bhattacharyya, Pushpak; Carl, Michael

2013-01-01

Predicting reading behavior is a difficult task. Reading behavior depends on various linguistic factors (e.g. sentence length, structural complexity etc.) and other factors (e.g individual's reading style, age etc.). Ideally, a reading model should be similar to a language model where the model i...

Aging and individual differences in binding during sentence understanding: evidence from temporary and global syntactic attachment ambiguities.

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, Brennan R; Grison, Sarah; Gao, Xuefei; Christianson, Kiel; Morrow, Daniel G; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2014-02-01

We report an investigation of aging and individual differences in binding information during sentence understanding. An age-continuous sample of adults (N=91), ranging from 18 to 81 years of age, read sentences in which a relative clause could be attached high to a head noun NP1, attached low to its modifying prepositional phrase NP2 (e.g., The son of the princess who scratched himself/herself in public was humiliated), or in which the attachment site of the relative clause was ultimately indeterminate (e.g., The maid of the princess who scratched herself in public was humiliated). Word-by-word reading times and comprehension (e.g., who scratched?) were measured. A series of mixed-effects models were fit to the data, revealing: (1) that, on average, NP1-attached sentences were harder to process and comprehend than NP2-attached sentences; (2) that these average effects were independently moderated by verbal working memory capacity and reading experience, with effects that were most pronounced in the oldest participants and; (3) that readers on average did not allocate extra time to resolve global ambiguities, though older adults with higher working memory span did. Findings are discussed in relation to current models of lifespan cognitive development, working memory, language experience, and the role of prosodic segmentation strategies in reading. Collectively, these data suggest that aging brings differences in sentence understanding, and these differences may depend on independent influences of verbal working memory capacity and reading experience. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adolescent reading skill and engagement with digital and traditional literacies as predictors of reading comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Lynne G; McGeown, Sarah P; Griffiths, Yvonne M; Stothard, Susan E; Dobai, Anna

2016-05-01

This study investigates the concurrent predictors of adolescent reading comprehension (literal, inferential) for fiction and non-fiction texts. Predictors were examined from the cognitive (word identification, reading fluency), psychological (gender), and ecological (print exposure) domains. Print exposure to traditional and digital texts was surveyed using a diary method of reading habits. A cross-sectional sample of 312 students in early (11-13 years) or middle adolescence (14-15 years) participated from a range of SES backgrounds. Word identification emerged as a strong predictor of reading comprehension across adolescence and text genres. Gender effects favouring female students were evident for reading frequency but not for reading skill itself. Reading habits also differed, and comprehension advantages were observed among females for fiction and males for non-fiction. Age effects emerged for reading frequency, which was lower in middle adolescence. Although more time was spent on digital than on traditional texts, traditional extended text reading was the only reading habit to predict inference-making in comprehension and to distinguish skilled from less skilled comprehenders. The theoretical and educational implications of these results are discussed. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Relationship between oculomotor scanning determined by the DEM test and a contextual reading test in schoolchildren with reading difficulties.

Science.gov (United States)

Palomo-Alvarez, Catalina; Puell, María C

2009-09-01

The relationship between oculomotor scanning and reading in poor readers of primary school age is not well known. This study was designed to assess this relationship by determining mean Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test times and reading speeds in a Spanish non-clinical population of children with poor reading skills but without dyslexia. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 81 poor readers (8-11 years of age) in the third to fifth grades recruited from 11 elementary schools in Madrid, Spain. In each subject with best spectacle correction, oculomotor scanning was measured using the DEM test, and reading speed (words per minute) was assessed by a standardized Spanish contextual reading test. Mean horizontal DEM times were higher than normative values for children in the third, fourth and fifth grades, by 20 seconds, 12 seconds, and 3 seconds respectively. Mean reading speeds were 18 words per minute lower than the norm for the third and fourth grades respectively, and 30 words per minute lower than the norm for the fifth grade. Reading speeds were significantly related to horizontal DEM times (r = -0.53, p school children at an early stage.

Reading with a Purpose: Communicative Reading Tasks for the Foreign Language Classroom. ERIC Digest.

Science.gov (United States)

Knutson, Elizabeth M.

In describing reading proficiency--the relative difficulty or ease that an individual reader experiences reading a particular text--researchers have recognized the importance of both text- and reader-based factors. This digest focuses on the factor of purpose, as determined by the reader or the instructional context. Having a purpose means having…

Colors, colored overlays, and reading skills

OpenAIRE

Uccula, Arcangelo; Enna, Mauro; Mulatti, Claudio

2014-01-01

In this article, we are concerned with the role of colors in reading written texts. It has been argued that colored overlays applied above written texts positively influence both reading fluency and reading speed. These effects would be particularly evident for those individuals affected by the so called Meares-Irlen syndrome, i.e., who experience eyestrain and/or visual distortions – e.g., color, shape, or movement illusions – while reading. This condition would interest the 12–14% of the ge...

Reading to learn experimental practice: The role of text and firsthand experience in the acquisition of an abstract science principle

Science.gov (United States)

Richmond, Erica Kesin

2008-10-01

From the onset of schooling, texts are used as important educational tools. In the primary years, they are integral to learning how to decode and develop fluency. In the later elementary years, they are often essential to the acquisition of academic content. Unfortunately, many children experience difficulties with this process, which is due in large part to their unfamiliarity with the genre of academic texts. The articles presented in this dissertation share an underlying theme of how to develop children's ability to comprehend and learn from academic, and specifically, non-narrative texts. The first article reviews research on the development of non-narrative discourse to elucidate the linguistic precursors to non-narrative text comprehension. The second and third articles draw from an empirical study that investigated the best way to integrate text, manipulation, and first-hand experience for children's acquisition and application of an abstract scientific principle. The scientific principle introduced in the study was the Control of Variables Strategy (CVS), a fundamental idea underlying scientific reasoning and a strategy for designing unconfounded experiments. Eight grade 4 classes participated in the study (N = 129), in one of three conditions: (a) read procedural text and manipulate experimental materials, (b) listen to procedural text and manipulate experimental materials, or (c) read procedural text with no opportunity to manipulate experimental materials. Findings from the study indicate that children who had the opportunity to read and manipulate materials were most effective at applying the strategy to designing and justifying unconfounded experiments, and evaluating written and physical experimental designs; however, there was no effect of instructional condition on a written assessment of evaluating familiar and unfamiliar experimental designs one week after the intervention. These results suggest that the acquisition and application of an abstract

Reading in Healthy Aging: Selective Use of Information Structuring Cues

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Jessica M.; Sanford, Anthony J.

2018-01-01

Previous research has shown that information referring to a named character or to information in the main clause of a sentence is more accessible and facilitates the processing of anaphoric references. We investigated whether the use of such cues are maintained in healthy aging. We present two experiments investigating whether information…

How Reading Volume Affects both Reading Fluency and Reading Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard L. ALLINGTON

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Long overlooked, reading volume is actually central to the development of reading proficiencies, especially in the development of fluent reading proficiency. Generally no one in schools monitors the actual volume of reading that children engage in. We know that the commonly used commercial core reading programs provide only material that requires about 15 minutes of reading activity daily. The remaining 75 minute of reading lessons is filled with many other activities such as completing workbook pages or responding to low-level literal questions about what has been read. Studies designed to enhance the volume of reading that children do during their reading lessons demonstrate one way to enhance reading development. Repeated readings have been widely used in fostering reading fluency but wide reading options seem to work faster and more broadly in developing reading proficiencies, including oral reading fluency.

Verbal and visuospatial working memory as predictors of children's reading ability.

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Pham, Andy V; Hasson, Ramzi M

2014-08-01

Children with reading difficulties often demonstrate weaknesses in working memory (WM). This research study explored the relation between two WM systems (verbal and visuospatial WM) and reading ability in a sample of school-aged children with a wide range of reading skills. Children (N = 157), ages 9-12, were administered measures of short-term memory, verbal WM, visuospatial WM, and reading measures (e.g., reading fluency and comprehension). Although results indicated that verbal WM was a stronger predictor in reading fluency and comprehension, visuospatial WM also significantly predicted reading skills, but provided more unique variance in reading comprehension than reading fluency. These findings suggest that visuospatial WM may play a significant role in higher level reading processes, particularly in reading comprehension, than previously thought. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Curling up with a good e-book: Mother-child shared story reading on screen or paper affects embodied interaction and warmth

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Nicola Yuill

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study compared changes in cognitive, affective and postural aspects of interaction during shared mother and child book reading on screen and on paper. Readers commonly express strong preferences for reading on paper, but several studies have shown marginal, if any, effects of text medium on cognitive outcomes such as recall. Shared reading with a parent is an engaging, affective and embodied experience across time, as well as a cognitive task, so it is important to understand how paper vs. screen affects broader aspects of these shared experiences. Mid-childhood sees a steep rise in screen use alongside a shift from shared to independent reading. We assessed how the medium of paper or screen might alter children’s shared reading experiences at this transitional age. Twenty-four 7- to 9-year-old children and their mothers were videotaped sharing a story book for 8 minutes in each of 4 conditions: mother or child as reader, paper or tablet screen as medium. We rated videotapes for interaction warmth and child engagement by minute and analysed dyadic postural synchrony, mothers’ commentaries and quality of children’s recall, also interviewing participants about their experiences of reading and technology. We found no differences in recall quality but interaction warmth was lower for screen than for paper, and dropped over time, notably when children read on screen. Interactions also differed between mother-led and child-led reading. We propose that mother - child posture for paper reading supported more shared activity and argue that cultural affordances of screens, together with physical differences between devices, support different behaviours that affect shared engagement, with implications for the design and use of digital technology at home and at school. We advocate studying embodied and affective aspects of shared reading to understand the overall implications of screens in children’s transition to independent reading.

Curling Up With a Good E-Book: Mother-Child Shared Story Reading on Screen or Paper Affects Embodied Interaction and Warmth

Science.gov (United States)

Yuill, Nicola; Martin, Alex F.

2016-01-01

This study compared changes in cognitive, affective, and postural aspects of interaction during shared mother and child book reading on screen and on paper. Readers commonly express strong preferences for reading on paper, but several studies have shown marginal, if any, effects of text medium on cognitive outcomes such as recall. Shared reading with a parent is an engaging, affective and embodied experience across time, as well as a cognitive task, so it is important to understand how paper vs. screen affects broader aspects of these shared experiences. Mid-childhood sees a steep rise in screen use alongside a shift from shared to independent reading. We assessed how the medium of paper or screen might alter children’s shared reading experiences at this transitional age. Twenty-four 7- to 9-year-old children and their mothers were videotaped sharing a story book for 8 min in each of four conditions: mother or child as reader, paper, or tablet screen as medium. We rated videotapes for interaction warmth and child engagement by minute and analyzed dyadic postural synchrony, mothers’ commentaries and quality of children’s recall, also interviewing participants about their experiences of reading and technology. We found no differences in recall quality but interaction warmth was lower for screen than for paper, and dropped over time, notably when children read on screen. Interactions also differed between mother-led and child-led reading. We propose that mother - child posture for paper reading supported more shared activity and argue that cultural affordances of screens, together with physical differences between devices, support different behaviors that affect shared engagement, with implications for the design and use of digital technology at home and at school. We advocate studying embodied and affective aspects of shared reading to understand the overall implications of screens in children’s transition to independent reading. PMID:28018283

Curling Up With a Good E-Book: Mother-Child Shared Story Reading on Screen or Paper Affects Embodied Interaction and Warmth.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuill, Nicola; Martin, Alex F

2016-01-01

This study compared changes in cognitive, affective, and postural aspects of interaction during shared mother and child book reading on screen and on paper. Readers commonly express strong preferences for reading on paper, but several studies have shown marginal, if any, effects of text medium on cognitive outcomes such as recall. Shared reading with a parent is an engaging, affective and embodied experience across time, as well as a cognitive task, so it is important to understand how paper vs. screen affects broader aspects of these shared experiences. Mid-childhood sees a steep rise in screen use alongside a shift from shared to independent reading. We assessed how the medium of paper or screen might alter children's shared reading experiences at this transitional age. Twenty-four 7- to 9-year-old children and their mothers were videotaped sharing a story book for 8 min in each of four conditions: mother or child as reader, paper, or tablet screen as medium. We rated videotapes for interaction warmth and child engagement by minute and analyzed dyadic postural synchrony, mothers' commentaries and quality of children's recall, also interviewing participants about their experiences of reading and technology. We found no differences in recall quality but interaction warmth was lower for screen than for paper, and dropped over time, notably when children read on screen. Interactions also differed between mother-led and child-led reading. We propose that mother - child posture for paper reading supported more shared activity and argue that cultural affordances of screens, together with physical differences between devices, support different behaviors that affect shared engagement, with implications for the design and use of digital technology at home and at school. We advocate studying embodied and affective aspects of shared reading to understand the overall implications of screens in children's transition to independent reading.

Semantic Preview Benefit during Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Hohenstein, Sven; Kliegl, Reinhold

2014-01-01

Word features in parafoveal vision influence eye movements during reading. The question of whether readers extract semantic information from parafoveal words was studied in 3 experiments by using a gaze-contingent display change technique. Subjects read German sentences containing 1 of several preview words that were replaced by a target word…

How my brain stopped reading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beier, Sofie

2012-01-01

Due to a medical condition I temporarily lost the ability to read and write. As an academic researcher specialised in understanding the reading process, I can benefit from this terrible experience by explaining – on a scientific level – what happened to me, and hence draw the lines to existing re...

Experience of Applying the CORE-Econ in English Reading Course

OpenAIRE

新里, 泰孝

2018-01-01

An e-book of CORE-econ project was used in a course of English reading, in autumn term 2016, spring and autumn terms 2017. My aims of English class are 1. quick reading and 2. understanding Economics in English. Especially in my class, students take no translation in principle. In this paper I report how to use the e-book and its effectiveness.

READING FOR YOUTH INTEREST DURING CURRENT

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Aurelia-Camelia, MARIN

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Virtual reality and images conquer them permanently and irrevocably even children from the earliest age. For instance, I can say that as they grow departs books. So many young people arrive at teens refuse to read a book, even electronically. Children considered mandatory reading something imposed by adults and tries to escape, finding other concerns. They also have no motivation, the universe discovered through books hardly seems interesting, which is, in their opinion, obsolete. The environment in which I work led me to satisfy my curiosity namely that of finding out to what extent reading is among the priorities of young people today. This research considers the study of attitudes, behaviors, opinions and intentions of young people their interest in reading, be it physical or books in electronic format. Then I directed a questionnaire to students of the Faculty of Management Marketing in Economic Affairs Rm. Valcea. For example, we chose a target group of young people aged between 18 and 25 years.

Slower saccadic reading in Parkinson’s disease

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Jehangir, Naz; Yu, Caroline Yizhu; Song, Jeehey; Shariati, Mohammad Ali; Binder, Steven; Beyer, Jill; Santini, Veronica; Poston, Kathleen

2018-01-01

Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic and other neurons, leading to motor and non-motor deficits. Abnormal eye movements in PD, including fixations, saccades, and convergence, are well described. However, saccadic reading, which requires serial and alternating saccades and fixations, is not well studied, despite its obvious impact on the quality of life. In this study, we assessed saccadic reading using variations of the King-Devick (KD) test, a rapid single digit number naming test, as a way to assess the ability to make serial left-to-right ocular motor movements necessary for reading. We recruited 42 treated PD patients and 80 age-matched controls and compared their reading times with a variety of measures, including age, duration of disease, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the National Eye Institute 25-Item Visual Functioning Questionnaire 25 (VFQ-25), and Montreal Cognitive assessment (MoCA) test. The subjects performed 4 trials of reading 120 single digit numbers aloud as fast as possible without making errors. In each trial, they read 3 pages (KD1, KD2, and KD3), and each page contained 40 numbers per page in 8 lines with 5 numbers/line. We found that PD patients read about 20% slower than controls on all tests (KD1, 2, and 3 tests) (p read irregularly spaced numbers slower than regularly spaced numbers. Having lines between numbers to guide reading (KD1 tests) did not impact reading time in both PD and controls, but increased visual crowding as a result of decreased spacing between numbers (KD3 tests) was associated with significantly slower reading times in both PD and control groups. Our study revealed that saccadic reading is slower in PD, but controls and PD patients are both impacted by visuospatial planning challenges posed by increased visual crowding and irregularity of number spacing. Reading time did not correlate with UPDRS or MoCA scores in PD patients but significantly

Effects of RN Age and Experience on Transformational Leadership Practices.

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Herman, Susan; Gish, Mary; Rosenblum, Ruth; Herman, Michael

2017-06-01

This study reported the evolution of transformational leadership (TL) practices and behaviors across years of age, management experience, and professional nursing practice within a professional nursing leadership organization. Recent studies of CNO TL found valuations peak near age 60 years. This study reported on a wider range of management positions, correlating years of RN practice and management experience and age to TL metrics. This study used Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices Inventory-Self-Assessment (LPI-S) to survey a nursing leadership organization, the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL). Anonymous responses were analyzed to identify leadership trends in age and years of professional service. On average, LPI-S metrics of leadership skills advance through years of management, RN experience, and age. The TL scores are statistically higher in most LPI-S categories for those with more than 30 years of RN or management experience. Decade-averaged LPI-S TL metrics in the ACNL survey evolve linearly throughout age before peaking in the decade from age 60 to 69 years. A similar evolution of TL metrics is seen in decades of either years of management experience or years of RN experience. Transformational leadership increased with nursing maturity particularly for LPI-S categories of "inspire a shared vision," "challenge the process," and "enable others to act." In the ACNL population studied, decade-averaged leadership metrics advanced. Leadership evolution with age in the broader RN population peaked in age bracket 60 to 69 years. The LPI-S averages declined when older than 70 years, coinciding with a shift from full-time work toward retirement and part-time employment.

Why "How" Matters: Exploring How Preservice English Teachers Experience Reading "For Pleasure" and "With an Eye toward Teaching" and How They Conceptualize Teaching Literature

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Pet, Susan Ringler

2012-01-01

This qualitative study investigated preservice English teachers' experiences reading young adult literature and explored how they conceptualized the teaching of literature. The investigation took place in a graduate-level secondary English education methods course, wherein preservice English teachers read and studied methods of teaching young…

TEACHING READING USING MAGAZINE

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Henny Uswatun Hasanah

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Teaching is a process of communication. It has to be created through the way of teaching and exchanging the message or information by every teacher and student. The message can be knowledge, skills, ideas, experiences, and many others. Through the process of communication, the people can receive the message or information. To avoid misunderstanding in the process of communication, media are needed in the process of teaching. Magazine can be other alternative as reading material in the classroom. Magazine as reading material has appeal for the students. To make the students get information from magazine, the teacher can ask the students to observe table of content and giving the students training to use it. Like, what is done on text book. Distinguishing informative reading material with fictive reading, important to know students in reading magazine. Like analyzing advertisements to detect propaganda.

Social  reading - the reader on digital margins

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Ivona Despot

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Electronic books enrich the reading experience through a range of possibilities digital technology offers, such as commenting or adding content at the margin space, marking interesting chapters and sharing the content with other readers. The phenomenon of social reading emerges with the influence of technology in the sphere of reading books and creates interactions for readers with the content and other readers. The great potential of enriching the reading experience is visible in the digital platforms for social reading, where the interaction and the creation of new content encourages the development of new way of reading and creativity. These activities may contribute to better understanding of the text. This enhances the communication about the text thus revitalizing the content and moves the reading itself from private to public sphere. This paper will show how are the activities in the digital margins transformed into a good indicator of the reading behavior, as well as the importance and usefulness of such for publishers to create new publishing products and services.

Experiment list: SRX142524 [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available data represents a control being compared to experiments using read length of 50 bp || treatment=EqS_2.0pct_...ge=immortalized || age description=Immortal cells || control=Control_50bp || control description=This data represents a control being

Using American Coming-of-Age Stories in the ELT Classroom

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Elena Ortells Montón

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Reading constitutes solid grounds for the development of basic language and critical skills as well as for the improvement of Intercultural Communicative Competence. However, in a world dominated by visual media and technology, getting young people to read becomes a challenging experience, which turns out to be even more problematic in English language teaching. Young adult literature and multicultural coming-of-age stories can offer teachers the necessary materials to foster interest in reading and to raise intercultural awareness. In spite of its limited scope, the project reported in this article proved that a conscientious choice of extracts taken from Yang’s American Born Chinese, Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street and Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, among others, could contribute to improving language learners’ linguistic and sociocultural competence. The project employed an interactive methodology based on a combination of critical multicultural pedagogy and reader-response theory, centering on the students’ perspectives of their learning experience. While this experience did not answer the question whether the learners’ reading competence had in fact increased, the students themselves acknowledged a substantial increase in reading motivation and confidence as well as cultural awareness.

Lectura y Vida: Revista Latinoamericana de Lectura (Reading and Life: Latin American Reading Magazine). 1996.

Science.gov (United States)

Lectura y Vida: Revista Latinoamericana de Lectura, 1996

1996-01-01

The four 1996 issues of the journal, written entirely in Spanish and intended for reading teachers, include articles on these topics: design of the school and classroom environment for reading; a university experiment in cooperative learning and learning strategies; use of portfolios for evaluation of student work; evaluation of reading…

Evaluating a Brief Measure of Reading Comprehension for Narrative and Expository Text: The Convergent and Predictive Validity of the Reading Retell Rubric

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Lisa B.

2012-01-01

Reading comprehension is a critical aspect of the reading process. Children who experience significant problems in reading comprehension are at risk for long-term academic and social problems. High-quality measures are needed for early, efficient, and effective identification of children in need of remediation in reading comprehension. Substantial…

Robustness studies of the photomultipliers reading out TileCal, the central hadron calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment

CERN Document Server

Di Gregorio, Giulia; The ATLAS collaboration

2018-01-01

The ATLAS Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) is the central section of the hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment. This sampling calorimeter uses steel plates as absorber and scintillating tiles as active medium. The light produced by the passage of charged particles is transmitted by wavelength shifting fibres to photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs), located in the outer part of the calorimeter. The readout is segmented into about 5000 cells, each one being read out by two PMTs in parallel. The detector readout geometry will not be changed for the Phase II of the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) operation. A challenging goal is to understand whether the full sample of PMTs installed at the beginning of the ATLAS detector operation can be used until completion of the HL-LHC program or not. For this reason, a reliable study of the PMT robustness against ageing is required. Detailed studies modelling the PMT response variation as a function of the integrated anode charge were done. The PMT response evoluti...

Effect of aging, education, reading and writing, semantic processing and depression symptoms on verbal fluency

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André Luiz Moraes

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Verbal fluency tasks are widely used in (clinical neuropsychology to evaluate components of executive functioning and lexical-semantic processing (linguistic and semantic memory. Performance in those tasks may be affected by several variables, such as age, education and diseases. This study investigated whether aging, education, reading and writing frequency, performance in semantic judgment tasks and depression symptoms predict the performance in unconstrained, phonemic and semantic fluency tasks. This study sample comprised 260 healthy adults aged 19 to 75 years old. The Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression models were used for data analysis. The variables under analysis were associated in different ways and had different levels of contribution according to the type of verbal fluency task. Education had the greatest effect on verbal fluency tasks. There was a greater effect of age on semantic fluency than on phonemic tasks. The semantic judgment tasks predicted the verbal fluency performance alone or in combination with other variables. These findings corroborate the importance of education in cognition supporting the hypothesis of a cognitive reserve and confirming the contribution of lexical-semantic processing to verbal fluency.

Dyslexie font does not benefit reading in children with or without dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuster, Sanne M; van Weerdenburg, Marjolijn; Gompel, Marjolein; Bosman, Anna M T

2017-12-04

In two experiments, the claim was tested that the font "Dyslexie", specifically designed for people with dyslexia, eases reading performance of children with (and without) dyslexia. Three questions were investigated. (1) Does the Dyslexie font lead to faster and/or more accurate reading? (2) Do children have a preference for the Dyslexie font? And, (3) is font preference related to reading performance? In Experiment 1, children with dyslexia (n = 170) did not read text written in Dyslexie font faster or more accurately than in Arial font. The majority preferred reading in Arial and preference was not related to reading performance. In Experiment 2, children with (n = 102) and without dyslexia (n = 45) read word lists in three different font types (Dyslexie, Arial, Times New Roman). Words written in Dyslexie font were not read faster or more accurately. Moreover, participants showed a preference for the fonts Arial and Times New Roman rather than Dyslexie, and again, preference was not related to reading performance. These experiments clearly justify the conclusion that the Dyslexie font neither benefits nor impedes the reading process of children with and without dyslexia.

The ′reading man flap′ for pressure sore reconstruction

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Stamatis Sapountzis

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The treatment of pressure sores represents a significant challenge to health care professionals. Although, pressure wound management demands a multidisciplinary approach, soft tissue defects requiring reconstruction are often considered for surgical management. Myocutaneous and fasciocutaneous flaps can provide stable coverage of pressure sores. Purpose: Here, we describe our experience using a recent fasciocutaneous flap, which is named ′reading man′ flap, in sacral, ischial, and trochanteric pressure sores. Materials and Methods: During a period of 1 year the authors operated 16 patients, 11 men, and 5 women, using the reading man flap. The ages of the patients ranged from 24 to 78 years. The location of pressure sores was 8 sacral, 5 ischial, and 3 trochanteric pressure sores. The mean size of pressure sores was 8 cm × 9 cm. Results: All pressure sores covered bt the Reading Man flap healed asymptomatically. After follow-up of 2-8 months, no recurrences were encountered and no further surgical intervention was required. Conclusion: The reading man flap was found to be a useful technique for the closure of pressure sore in different anatomic locations. The advantage of tension-free closure and the minimal additional healthy skin excision made this flap a useful tool in pressure sore reconstructions.

Reading comprehension difficulties in children with rolandic epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, Nicola K; Lew, Adina R; Palmer, Tom M; Basu, Helen; De Goede, Christian; Iyer, Anand; Cain, Kate

2018-03-01

Difficulties in reading comprehension can arise from either word reading or listening comprehension difficulties, or a combination of the two. We sought to determine whether children with rolandic epilepsy had poor reading comprehension relative to typically developing comparison children, and whether such difficulties were associated with word reading and/or general language comprehension difficulties. In this cross-sectional study, children with rolandic epilepsy (n=25; 16 males, 9 females; mean age 9y 1mo, SD 1y 7mo) and a comparison group (n=39; 25 males, 14 females; mean age 9y 1mo, SD 1y 3mo) completed assessments of reading comprehension, listening comprehension, word/non-word reading, speech articulation, and Non-verbal IQ. Reading comprehension and word reading were worse in children with rolandic epilepsy (F 1,61 =6.89, p=0.011, ηp2=0.10 and F 1,61 =6.84, p=0.011, ηp2=0.10 respectively), with listening comprehension being marginal (F 1,61 =3.81, p=0.055, ηp2=0.06). Word reading and listening comprehension made large and independent contributions to reading comprehension, explaining 70% of the variance. Children with rolandic epilepsy may be at risk of reading comprehension difficulties. Thorough assessment of individual children is required to ascertain whether the difficulties lie with decoding text, or with general comprehension skills, or both. Children with rolandic epilepsy may be at risk of poor reading comprehension. This was related to poor word reading, poor listening comprehension, or both. Reading comprehension interventions should be tailored to the profile of difficulties. © 2017 Mac Keith Press.

A Study of Boys' Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Telford, Lesley

1999-01-01

Examined how reading attitudes of Year 6 boys in British primary schools were influenced by gender issues, peers, and peer group culture. Found that confidence and experience shown in private reading was at odds with boys' public attitudes in discussion with peers. Suggests that siblings and adults might provide more positive role models for…

Various Models for Reading Comprehension Process

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Parastoo Babashamsi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years reading can be viewed as a process, as a form of thinking, as a true experience, and as a tool subject. As a process, reading includes visual discrimination, independent recognition of word, rhythmic progression along a line of print, precision in the return sweep of the eyes, and adjustment of rate. In the same line, the present paper aims at considering the various models of reading process. Moreover, the paper will take a look at various factors such as schema and vocabulary knowledge which affect reading comprehension process.

The influence of working memory on reading growth in subgroups of children with reading disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, H Lee; Jerman, Olga

2007-04-01

This 3-year longitudinal study determined whether (a) subgroups of children with reading disabilities (RD) (children with RD only, children with both reading and arithmetic deficits, and low verbal IQ readers) and skilled readers varied in working memory (WM) and short-term memory (STM) growth and (b) whether growth in an executive system and/or a phonological storage system mediated growth in reading performance. A battery of memory and reading measures was administered to 84 children (11-17 years of age) across three testing waves spaced 1 year apart. The results showed that skilled readers yielded higher WM growth estimates than did the RD groups. No significant differentiation among subgroups of children with RD on growth measures emerged. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that WM (controlled attention), rather than STM (phonological loop), was related to growth in reading comprehension and reading fluency. The results support the notion that deficient growth in the executive component of WM underlies RD.

Reading the Tourist Guidebook

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Therkelsen, Anette; Sørensen, Anders

2005-01-01

of information sought, amount of information read and level of involvement displayed, indicating a three-pronged typology of guidebook readers. The guidebook reader typology thus constructed may be regarded as a first step in understanding the effect of guidebooks on tourists’ behaviour and their experience......This article investigates tourists’ ways of reading their guidebooks on the basis of qualitative interviews with tourists visiting Copenhagen, Denmark. Tourist guidebooks have only been dealt with sporadically by tourism scholars. The relatively few studies that focus on guidebooks either present...... a historical perspective on the guidebook or centre on content analyses of place representation, whereas virtually no research exists on the way in which tourists read and use their guidebooks. This study reveals that tourists read the same guidebooks in a number of different ways regarding types...

Reading comprehension skills of young adults with childhood diagnoses of dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ransby, Marilyn J; Swanson, H Lee

2003-01-01

This study explores the contribution of cognitive processes to comprehension skills in adults who suffered from childhood developmental dyslexia (CD). The performance of adults with CD (ages 17 to 23), chronological age-matched (CA) adults, and reading level-matched (RL) children was compared on measures of phonological processing, naming speed, working memory (WM), general knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension. The results showed that adults with CD scored lower on measures of phonological processing, naming speed, WM, general knowledge, and vocabulary when compared to CA readers but were comparable to RL children on the majority of process measures. Phonological processing, naming speed, vocabulary, general knowledge, and listening comprehension contributed independent variance to reading comprehension accuracy, whereas WM, intelligence, phonological processing, and listening comprehension contributed independent variance to comprehension fluency. Adults with CD scored lower than CA adults and higher than RL children on measures of lexical processing, WM, and listening comprehension when word recognition and intelligence were partialed from the analysis. In summary, constraints in phonological processing and naming speed mediate only some of the influence of high-order processes on reading comprehension. Furthermore, adults with CD experience difficulties in WM, listening comprehension, and vocabulary independently of their word recognition problems and intellectual ability.

Perceptions of Control Facilitate Reading Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Vieira, Edward T., Jr.; Grantham, Susan

2011-01-01

This study examined how global locus of control influences children's reading engagement or reading involvement and interest in stories. It is based on locus of control, interest, and dual information processing theories. One hundred and seventy students from schools in the northeastern United States, ages 9 to 12, participated. They completed a…

Teachers' Orientation to Kindergartners' Different Interactional Competences: Telling Personal Experiences during Shared Readings of Picture Books

Science.gov (United States)

Gosen, Myrte N.

2015-01-01

This paper is centered around 106 tellings of personal experiences during shared readings of picture books in kindergarten classrooms. It is shown that teachers orient to different interactional storytelling competences of their pupils. Teachers are found to contribute to pupils' tellings by inviting them, by showing recipiency, by asking…

Do gender differences in audio-visual benefit and visual influence in audio-visual speech perception emerge with age?

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Magnus eAlm

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Gender and age have been found to affect adults’ audio-visual (AV speech perception. However, research on adult aging focuses on adults over 60 years, who have an increasing likelihood for cognitive and sensory decline, which may confound positive effects of age-related AV-experience and its interaction with gender. Observed age and gender differences in AV speech perception may also depend on measurement sensitivity and AV task difficulty. Consequently both AV benefit and visual influence were used to measure visual contribution for gender-balanced groups of young (20-30 years and middle-aged adults (50-60 years with task difficulty varied using AV syllables from different talkers in alternative auditory backgrounds. Females had better speech-reading performance than males. Whereas no gender differences in AV benefit or visual influence were observed for young adults, visually influenced responses were significantly greater for middle-aged females than middle-aged males. That speech-reading performance did not influence AV benefit may be explained by visual speech extraction and AV integration constituting independent abilities. Contrastingly, the gender difference in visually influenced responses in middle adulthood may reflect an experience-related shift in females’ general AV perceptual strategy. Although young females’ speech-reading proficiency may not readily contribute to greater visual influence, between young and middle-adulthood recurrent confirmation of the contribution of visual cues induced by speech-reading proficiency may gradually shift females AV perceptual strategy towards more visually dominated responses.

A Comparison of the Metalinguistic Performance and Spelling Development of Children With Inconsistent Speech Sound Disorder and Their Age-Matched and Reading-Matched Peers.

Science.gov (United States)

McNeill, Brigid C; Wolter, Julie; Gillon, Gail T

2017-05-17

This study explored the specific nature of a spelling impairment in children with speech sound disorder (SSD) in relation to metalinguistic predictors of spelling development. The metalinguistic (phoneme, morphological, and orthographic awareness) and spelling development of 28 children ages 6-8 years with a history of inconsistent SSD were compared to those of their age-matched (n = 28) and reading-matched (n = 28) peers. Analysis of the literacy outcomes of children within the cohort with persistent (n = 18) versus resolved (n = 10) SSD was also conducted. The age-matched peers outperformed the SSD group on all measures. Children with SSD performed comparably to their reading-matched peers on metalinguistic measures but exhibited lower spelling scores. Children with persistent SSD generally had less favorable outcomes than children with resolved SSD; however, even children with resolved SSD performed poorly on normative spelling measures. Children with SSD have a specific difficulty with spelling that is not commensurate with their metalinguistic and reading ability. Although low metalinguistic awareness appears to inhibit these children's spelling development, other factors should be considered, such as nonverbal rehearsal during spelling attempts and motoric ability. Integration of speech-production and spelling-intervention goals is important to enhance literacy outcomes for this group.

Mental juggling: when does multitasking impair reading comprehension?

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Cho, Kit W; Altarriba, Jeanette; Popiel, Maximilian

2015-01-01

The present study investigated the conditions under which multitasking impairs reading comprehension. Participants read prose passages (the primary task), some of which required them to perform a secondary task. In Experiment 1, we compared two different types of secondary tasks (answering trivia questions and solving math problems). Reading comprehension was assessed using a multiple-choice test that measured both factual and conceptual knowledge. The results showed no observable detrimental effects associated with multitasking. In Experiment 2, the secondary task was a cognitive load task that required participants to remember a string of numbers while reading the passages. Performance on the reading comprehension test was lower in the cognitive load conditions relative to the no-load condition. The present study delineates the conditions under which multitasking can impair or have no effect on reading comprehension. These results further our understanding of our capacity to multitask and have practical implications in our technologically advanced society in which multitasking has become commonplace.

Improving reading achievements of struggling learners

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Houtveen, Thoni; van de Grift, Wim

In The Netherlands, the percentage of struggling readers in the 1st year of formal reading instruction is about 25%. This problem inspired us to develop the Reading Acceleration Programme. To evaluate the effectiveness of this programme, a quasi-experiment is carried out. The teachers in the

Provision and Dissemination of Easy-To-Read Materials: An experience

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Faezeh Amini

2018-06-01

Full Text Available -Patient education is one of the most important factors for the provision of patients and their families' rights at health centers. Some of the benefits of patient education include: Increasing the level of health literacy, developing self-care skills in chronic diseases, increasing knowledge about conditions, improving the quality of care and helping the patient to achieve more self-sufficiency and reducing health care costs. Medical Librarians can help health professionals and nurses to promote community health by identifying useful information as well as writing them in plain language. This paper reports an experience about creating a nongovernmental center for the provision and dissemination of easy-to-read materials. It is hoped that launching and supporting such centers, in addition to promoting community health, will guarantee the patients' rights to access high quality and authentic health educational resources. This can also provide a field for the participation of various health groups and the activities of graduates of the above fields.

Literary text reading and conversation: beyond ethnomethodology boundaries

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Viviana Suárez Galvis

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article leaves aside ethnomethodological approaches to conversation, and aims at opening the debate about the need of conceiving it under the light of pedagogical principles that position it as a propitious discursive gender to express the emotional, aesthetics, thoughtful, and intellectual meetings embodied while reading literary texts. Such interest arose from a research centered on finding the existing relationships between conversation and construction of aesthetical-literary experiences. The results show that students get a pleasant feeling when giving sense to what they read, and this encourages them to share with others their significant experiences when reading, allowing the internal process of meaning construction and the dialogic strengthening of the experiences to be connected.

Genome-Wide Polygenic Scores Predict Reading Performance throughout the School Years

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Selzam, Saskia; Dale, Philip S.; Wagner, Richard K.; DeFries, John C.; Cederlöf, Martin; O'Reilly, Paul F.; Krapohl, Eva; Plomin, Robert

2017-01-01

It is now possible to create individual-specific genetic scores, called genome-wide polygenic scores (GPS). We used a GPS for years of education ("EduYears") to predict reading performance assessed at UK National Curriculum Key Stages 1 (age 7), 2 (age 12) and 3 (age 14) and on reading tests administered at ages 7 and 12 in a UK sample…

Keeping Kids Reading: How To Raise Avid Readers in the Video Age.

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Leonhardt, Mary

This book aims to show parents how to instill the love of reading in their children and how to nurture that love throughout their lives, even in the face of television, video, and computer entertainment. The book is based on the concept of "reading pathways," developed after more than 20 years of classroom observation and interviews. It…

Reading apps for children: Readability from the design perspective

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Mohammed, Wasan Abdulwahab; Husni, Husniza

2017-10-01

Electronic reading for young children opens new avenues especially with the advance of modern reading devices. The readability of mobile learning applications has received extensive attention by the designers and developers. The reason for such concern is due to its importance in determining usability related issues especially in the design context for children. In many cases, children find it difficult to interact with mobile reading apps. This is because apps for reading and for entertainment require different features. As such, this study sets out three objectives: 1) to evaluate five reading apps for young children from design perspectives; 2) to examine the readability for current existing mobile apps for reading and 3) to propose and evaluate mobile apps UI guideline for readability. Readability indices, observation and interview were conducted on 6 - 8 years old students. The obtained result showed that certain reading apps provide better reading experience for children than others. Some of the reasons are mostly related to the design characteristics embedded within the app. In addition, the use of animation was found to stimulate children reading experience as it is believed to offer the interactivity elements to gain their interest and willingness to read. These findings are believed to provide the recommendations and insights for designers of reading apps for children.

Reading skills among students with intellectual disabilities.

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Ratz, Christoph; Lenhard, Wolfgang

2013-05-01

Students with intellectual disabilities (ID) display an extremely wide variety of skills in the field of literacy, and the ability to read and write are central learning aims in the education of students with ID. It is vital to gain detailed knowledge on the literacy skills of students with ID in order to plan instruction, create learning environments, implement educational policies or funding models and specify future fields of research. However, there has been little research into the prevalence and variation of their reading skills. The present study assessed the reading stages of 1629 school-aged students with ID regardless of aetiology (age 6-21) in Bavaria, one of the largest regions in Germany within a randomly chosen and representative sample. Teachers described the reading and writing stages of their students in a questionnaire following the developmental model of Frith. Results indicate that 29.3% do not read at all, 6.8% read at a logographic stage, 31.9% at an alphabetic and 32% at an orthographic level. Writing achievements are lower on average. We analyze and discuss the determinants of literacy in this sample with regard to the sociocultural background of students with ID and draw conclusions for teaching and school policies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection of target phonemes in spontaneous and read speech

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Mehta, G.; Cutler, A.

1988-01-01

Although spontaneous speech occurs more frequently in most listeners' experience than read speech, laboratory studies of human speech recognition typically use carefully controlled materials read from a script. The phonological and prosodic characteristics of spontaneous and read speech differ

Dyslexic Children and Their Difficulties in Reading Persian Orthography

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Nesari, Shahram Jamali; Kamari, Elahe

2014-01-01

This research investigated the word reading performance of Persian speaking dyslexic children through the use of a reading test. For this reason, 15 Persian elementary developmental dyslexic student with the mean age of 9.6, (SD= 1.5) and 15 Persian unimpaired elementary student with the mean age of 9.6 (SD= 1.4) were compared. The performance of…

Reading Speed of Contracted French Braille

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Laroche, Louise; Boule, Jacinthe; Wittich, Walter

2012-01-01

This study was designed to address three hypotheses: (1) The reading speed of both readers of French braille and readers of French print will be faster in the silent condition; however, this gain in speed will be larger for print readers; (2) Individuals who acquired braille before age 10 will display faster reading speeds at lower error rates…

Fiction feelings in Harry Potter: haemodynamic response in the mid-cingulate cortex correlates with immersive reading experience.

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Hsu, Chun-Ting; Conrad, Markus; Jacobs, Arthur M

2014-12-03

Immersion in reading, described as a feeling of 'getting lost in a book', is a ubiquitous phenomenon widely appreciated by readers. However, it has been largely ignored in cognitive neuroscience. According to the fiction feeling hypothesis, narratives with emotional contents invite readers more to be empathic with the protagonists and thus engage the affective empathy network of the brain, the anterior insula and mid-cingulate cortex, than do stories with neutral contents. To test the hypothesis, we presented participants with text passages from the Harry Potter series in a functional MRI experiment and collected post-hoc immersion ratings, comparing the neural correlates of passage mean immersion ratings when reading fear-inducing versus neutral contents. Results for the conjunction contrast of baseline brain activity of reading irrespective of emotional content against baseline were in line with previous studies on text comprehension. In line with the fiction feeling hypothesis, immersion ratings were significantly higher for fear-inducing than for neutral passages, and activity in the mid-cingulate cortex correlated more strongly with immersion ratings of fear-inducing than of neutral passages. Descriptions of protagonists' pain or personal distress featured in the fear-inducing passages apparently caused increasing involvement of the core structure of pain and affective empathy the more readers immersed in the text. The predominant locus of effects in the mid-cingulate cortex seems to reflect that the immersive experience was particularly facilitated by the motor component of affective empathy for our stimuli from the Harry Potter series featuring particularly vivid descriptions of the behavioural aspects of emotion.

What Are Reading Disorders?

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... and language-based learning disabilities are commonly called dyslexia . These disorders are present from a young age ... information about these problems. Types of Reading Disorders Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability ...

Understanding reading comprehension amongst Maltese speaking children.

OpenAIRE

Grech, Louisa.

2011-01-01

This thesis investigated reading comprehension levels amongst Maltese bilingual students. A total of 428 participants, aged between 8 and 13, from state schools across Malta, were tested and the results of five studies presented. The primary purpose underlying the research was to inform the development of assessment procedures that can be used in the identification of children who have specific difficulties in reading within the Maltese context. Initially, the suitability of reading comprehen...

Towards a new understanding of absorbing reading experiences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuijpers, Moniek; Hakemulder, Frank; Bálint, Katalin

2017-01-01

When reading literary narratives, we assume that readers can get absorbed in the story world and in the story’s artifice. Since most absorption research focuses primarily on popular media, virtually no attention has been paid to the possibility that literary devices such as deviation could elicit...

Word Reading Aloud Skills: Their Positive Redefinition through Ageing

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Chapleau, Marianne; Wilson, Maximiliano A.; Potvin, Karel; Harvey-Langton, Alexandra; Montembeault, Maxime; Brambati, Simona M.

2017-01-01

Background: Successful reading can be achieved by means of two different procedures: sub-word processes for the pronunciation of words without semantics or pseudowords (PW) and whole-word processes that recruit word-specific information regarding the pronunciation of words with atypical orthography-to-phonology mappings (exception words, EW).…

Predictors of Reading Comprehension for Struggling Readers: The Case of Spanish-speaking Language Minority Learners.

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Mancilla-Martinez, Jeannette; Lesaux, Nonie K

2010-08-01

This longitudinal study examined the process of English reading comprehension at age 11 for 173 low achieving Spanish-speaking children. The influence of growth rates, from early childhood (age 4.5) to pre-adolescence (age 11), in vocabulary and word reading skills on this complex process were evaluated using structural equation modeling. Standardized measures of word reading accuracy and productive vocabulary were administered annually, in English and Spanish, and English reading comprehension measures were administered at age 11. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that English skills accounted for all unique variance in English reading comprehension outcomes. Further, expected developmental shifts in the influence of word reading and vocabulary skills over time were not shown, likely on account of students' below grade level reading comprehension achievement. This work underscores the need for theoretical models of comprehension to account for students' skill profiles and abilities.

Pattern of breast cancer experience at lady reading hospital, Peshawar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naeem, M.; Khan, N.; Samad, A.

2008-01-01

Breast Cancer is the commonest malignancy of females all over the world and second leading cause of death due to cancer among females. The aim of this Descriptive study was to see the various features of breast cancer in order to know the pattern of disease in the recent time. The study was conducted from Jan. 2007 to Dec. 2007 in Surgical C Unit, Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan. Study included all patients presenting to and admitted in Surgical C Unit LRH, with carcinoma of breast during the above mentioned period. Name, age, sex, other relevant data, history and examination findings and results of histopathology and other investigations were recorded. Total of 46 patients was included in the study, out of which there were 46 female and 1 male patients. Most common age group was 40-49 years with 14 patients, followed by 50-59 years with 12 patients. Most common type of carcinoma was infiltrating ductal carcinoma with no specific features with 38 patients. Other types included 2 infiltrating ductal carcinomas of papillary type, 1 mucinous type and 1 medullary type; 3 invasive lobular carcinomas, and 1 mixed lobular and ductal carcinoma. The disease was left sided in 24 cases, right sided in 20 cases while it was bilateral in 2 cases. Upper outer quadrant of the breast was most commonly involved (n=26). There were 2 cases of stage I, 16 stage II, 20 stage III and 08 cases of stage IV disease. There were 2 cases of grade I, 16 grade II, and 28 cases of grade III. Carcinoma breast is still a common problem presenting at a young to middle age group with invasive ductal carcinoma being the commonest variant with a high grade and a late stage of presentation due to lack of screening and awareness programs. (author)

Using quality scores and longer reads improves accuracy of Solexa read mapping

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Xuan Zhenyu

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Second-generation sequencing has the potential to revolutionize genomics and impact all areas of biomedical science. New technologies will make re-sequencing widely available for such applications as identifying genome variations or interrogating the oligonucleotide content of a large sample (e.g. ChIP-sequencing. The increase in speed, sensitivity and availability of sequencing technology brings demand for advances in computational technology to perform associated analysis tasks. The Solexa/Illumina 1G sequencer can produce tens of millions of reads, ranging in length from ~25–50 nt, in a single experiment. Accurately mapping the reads back to a reference genome is a critical task in almost all applications. Two sources of information that are often ignored when mapping reads from the Solexa technology are the 3' ends of longer reads, which contain a much higher frequency of sequencing errors, and the base-call quality scores. Results To investigate whether these sources of information can be used to improve accuracy when mapping reads, we developed the RMAP tool, which can map reads having a wide range of lengths and allows base-call quality scores to determine which positions in each read are more important when mapping. We applied RMAP to analyze data re-sequenced from two human BAC regions for varying read lengths, and varying criteria for use of quality scores. RMAP is freely available for downloading at http://rulai.cshl.edu/rmap/. Conclusion Our results indicate that significant gains in Solexa read mapping performance can be achieved by considering the information in 3' ends of longer reads, and appropriately using the base-call quality scores. The RMAP tool we have developed will enable researchers to effectively exploit this information in targeted re-sequencing projects.

Reading through Films

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Madhavi Gayathri Raman

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper captures the design of a comprehensive curriculum incorporating the four skills based exclusively on the use of parallel audio-visual and written texts. We discuss the use of authentic materials to teach English to Indian undergraduates aged 18 to 20 years. Specifically, we talk about the use of parallel reading (screen-play and audio-visual texts (Shawshank Redemption, and Life is Beautiful, A Few Good Men and Lion King drawn from popular culture in the classroom as an effective teaching medium. Students were gradually introduced to films based on novels with extracts from the original texts (Schindler’s List, Beautiful Mind for extended reading and writing practice. We found that students began to pay more attention to aspects such as pronunciation, intonational variations, discourse markers and vocabulary items (phrasal verbs, synonyms, homophones, and puns. Keywords: Reading, films, popular culture, ESL classroom, language skills

Reading fiction during sick leave, a multidimensional occupation.

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Mårtensson, Lena; Andersson, Christina

2015-01-01

In bibliotherapy, the therapeutic gains of reading fiction are ascribed to the literature. Viewing reading fiction as an occupation may give other explanations of its therapeutic function. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of reading fiction among women during a period of sick leave. A qualitative approach was applied. Eight women who had been reading fiction during sick leave were interviewed. An overarching theme: Supporting one's active self, comprised five categories of experiences: a prospect of ordinary life, a place of refuge, a life together with others, a source of power, and as supporting an active life. Based on the categories, reading fiction is seen to comprise intentional, functional, mental, relational, and personal dimensions. A tentative model of supporting one's active self is proposed, which may be helpful in clarifying the mechanisms of the process of change. The health-related dimensions of reading fiction suggest that reading fiction should be regarded as a significant occupation comparable with other, more highlighted ones. Understood in this way, it is argued that the results add to the knowledge base in occupational therapy focusing on how meaningful occupations connect to occupational life trajectories.

Eye Movement during Silent and Oral Reading: How Can we Compensate the Loss of Multisensory Process during Silent Reading?

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Maiko Takahashi

2011-10-01

Full Text Available While reading texts orally, we process the multisensory language information. Accordingly, in the context of reading aloud, we process the visually presented text and produce the auditory information of the text through articulatory movement. These multisensory processing activities are assumed to facilitate the memory and comprehension of textual information. Conversely, while reading silently, we process only the visual information of the text. Although we cannot use the multisensory language information while reading silently, several researchers have found that there is little difference between the degree of comprehension based on silent and oral reading for adult readers. The purpose of this study is to explain how we compensate the loss of multisensory process during silent reading by comparing the visual processing process during silent and oral reading. By conducting two experiments, we measured and compared the eye movement during silent and oral reading. The results showed that silent reading took shorter time for comprehension than oral reading, and readers had more visual fixation points and read back frequently during reading silently than orally. These reading strategies during silent reading seemed to compensate the loss of multisensory process and support the text comprehension.

The Art of Teaching Reading: A Study of Teachers' Perceptions of Their Teacher Education Reading Course

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Lebsock, Rene Mendel

2016-01-01

This qualitative study examined the influence of a teacher education reading course on teachers' actual classroom reading instruction. The research included a pilot study, followed by a full study consisting of a demographic survey and four focus groups. Fifteen teachers, 9 beginning (1 to 3 years of experience), and 6 seasoned (4 to 8 years of…

Reading with Love: Reading of Life Narrative of a Mother of a Child with Cerebral Palsy

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Mercieca, Daniela; Mercieca, Duncan P.

2014-01-01

This paper draws upon Deleuze and Guattari's ideas to suggest a different kind of reading of a narrative of a mother of a child with severe disability, and thus a different kind of ethical response to them. This reading gives readers the possibility of opening up experiences of parents and children with disability, rather than…

Terceira idade: nova identidade, reinvenção da velhice ou experiência geracional? Third age: new identity, reformulation of the old age or generational experience?

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Luna Rodrigues Freitas Silva

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Este artigo trata das inovações acerca dos modos e das experiências de envelhecer que se vêm configurando nos últimos anos. Hábitos, imagens, crenças e condutas atreladas ao envelhecimento vêm-se alterando de forma significativa, determinando o surgimento do que se convenciona chamar de experiência da terceira idade. Mas, ainda que represente inovação e, sob muitos aspectos, seja descrita como uma reformulação extremamente positiva das possibilidades de envelhecer, o surgimento da terceira idade gera também questionamento e debate. Para compreender o estatuto desta experiência que surge no cenário contemporâneo, procederemos a um mapeamento da discussão acerca da terceira idade na literatura especializada, mais especificamente no que se refere a seu caráter de inovação em relação à identidade da velhice. Três hipóteses se destacam nesta análise: a primeira sugere que a terceira idade pode ser entendida como uma nova identidade, autônoma e diferenciada da identidade da velhice; a segunda, que seu surgimento pode ser compreendido como uma negação social da velhice propriamente dita; e, finalmente, a terceira hipótese supõe que as características da terceira idade são tributárias da experiência geracional de determinado grupo social. As principais hipóteses de entendimento da terceira idade são apresentadas e discutidas tendo em vista as possibilidades de criação, diversificação e inovação da experiência subjetiva.This paper deals with innovations on the ways and on the experience of aging set up in recent years. Habits, images, beliefs and behaviors related to aging have changed determining the emergence of what is usually called the third age experience. But although it represents innovation and, in many ways, is described as a very positive reformulation of the possibilities of aging, the emergence of the third age also generates questioning and debate. In order to understand the status of this

E-Book and Printed Book Reading in Different Contexts as Emergent Literacy Facilitator

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Korat, Ofra; Segal-Drori, Ora

2016-01-01

Research Findings: We present 3 studies that focused on preschoolers' electronic book (e-book) reading in different contexts aimed at supporting children's early literacy. In Study 1 we researched the impact of children's age and number of independent readings on phonological awareness and word reading. We found that all age groups benefited from…

Design, construction, quality checks and test results of first resistive-Micromegas read-out boards for the ATLAS experiment

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00215943; The ATLAS collaboration; Kuger, Fabian

2015-01-01

The development work carried out at CERN to push the Micromegas technology to a new frontier is now coming to an end. The construction of the first read-out boards for the upgrade of the ATLAS muon system will demonstrate in full-scale the feasibility of this ambitious project. The read-out boards, representing the heart of the detector, are manufactured in industries, making the Micromegas for ATLAS the first MPGD for a large experiment with a relevant part industrially produced. The boards are 50 cm wide and up to 220 cm long, carrying copper strips 315 μm wide with 415 μm pitch. Interconnected resistive strips, having the same pattern as the copper strips, provide spark protection. The boards are completed by the creation of cylindrical pillars 128 μm high, 280 μm in diameter and arranged in a triangular array 7 mm aside. The total number of boards to be produced for ATLAS is 2048 of 32 different types. We will review the main design parameters of the read-out boards for the ATLAS Micromegas, following...

Effects of early language, speech, and cognition on later reading: A mediation analysis

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Vanessa N Durand

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This longitudinal secondary analysis examined which early language and speech abilities are associated with school-aged reading skills, and whether these associations are mediated by cognitive ability. We analyzed vocabulary, syntax, speech sound maturity, and cognition in a sample of healthy children at age 3 years (N=241 in relation to single word reading (decoding, comprehension, and oral reading fluency in the same children at age 9 to 11 years. All predictor variables and the mediator variable were associated with the three reading outcomes. The predictor variables were all associated with cognitive abilities, the mediator. Cognitive abilities partially mediated the effects of language on reading. After mediation, decoding was associated with speech sound maturity; comprehension was associated with receptive vocabulary; and oral fluency was associated with speech sound maturity, receptive vocabulary, and syntax. In summary, all of the effects of language on reading could not be explained by cognition as a mediator. Specific components of language and speech skills in preschool made independent contributions to reading skills 6 to 8 years later. These early precursors to later reading skill represent potential targets for early intervention to improve reading.

Home Environmental and Behavioral Risk Indices for Reading Achievement.

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Taylor, Jeanette; Ennis, Chelsea R; Hart, Sara A; Mikolajewski, Amy J; Schatschneider, Christopher

2017-07-01

The goal of this study was to identify home environmental and temperament/behavior variables that best predict standardized reading comprehension scores among school-aged children. Data from 269 children aged 9-16 ( M = 12.08; SD = 1.62) were used in discriminant function analyses to create the Home and Behavior indices. Family income was controlled in each index. The final Home and Behavior models each classified around 75% of cases correctly (reading comprehension at grade level vs. not). Each index was then used to predict other outcomes related to reading. Results showed that Home and/or Behavior accounted for 4-7% of the variance in reading fluency and spelling and 20-35% of the variance in parent-rated problems in math, social anxiety, and other dimensions. These metrics show promise as environmental and temperament/behavior risk scores that could be used to predict and potentially screen for further assessment of reading related problems.

Associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading in preschool aged children

OpenAIRE

Degé, Franziska; Kubicek, Claudia; Schwarzer, Gudrun

2015-01-01

The association between music and language, in particular, the overlap in their processing results in the possibility to use one domain for the enhancement of the other. Especially in the preschool years music may be a valuable tool to train language abilities (e.g., precursors of reading). Therefore, detailed knowledge about associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading can be of great use for designing future music intervention studies that target language-related abiliti...

Emotional Experience Improves With Age: Evidence Based on Over 10 Years of Experience Sampling

Science.gov (United States)

Carstensen, Laura L.; Turan, Bulent; Scheibe, Susanne; Ram, Nilam; Ersner-Hershfield, Hal; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.; Brooks, Kathryn P.; Nesselroade, John R.

2012-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that emotional well-being improves from early adulthood to old age. This study used experience-sampling to examine the developmental course of emotional experience in a representative sample of adults spanning early to very late adulthood. Participants (N = 184, Wave 1; N = 191, Wave 2; N = 178, Wave 3) reported their emotional states at five randomly selected times each day for a one week period. Using a measurement burst design, the one-week sampling procedure was repeated five and then ten years later. Cross-sectional and growth curve analyses indicate that aging is associated with more positive overall emotional well-being, with greater emotional stability and with more complexity (as evidenced by greater co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions). These findings remained robust after accounting for other variables that may be related to emotional experience (personality, verbal fluency, physical health, and demographic variables). Finally, emotional experience predicted mortality; controlling for age, sex, and ethnicity, individuals who experienced relatively more positive than negative emotions in everyday life were more likely to have survived over a 13 year period. Findings are discussed in the theoretical context of socioemotional selectivity theory. PMID:20973600

Cortical activation during Braille reading is influenced by early visual experience in subjects with severe visual disability: a correlational fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Melzer, P; Morgan, V L; Pickens, D R; Price, R R; Wall, R S; Ebner, F F

2001-11-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed on blind adults resting and reading Braille. The strongest activation was found in primary somatic sensory/motor cortex on both cortical hemispheres. Additional foci of activation were situated in the parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes where visual information is processed in sighted persons. The regions were differentiated most in the correlation of their time courses of activation with resting and reading. Differences in magnitude and expanse of activation were substantially less significant. Among the traditionally visual areas, the strength of correlation was greatest in posterior parietal cortex and moderate in occipitotemporal, lateral occipital, and primary visual cortex. It was low in secondary visual cortex as well as in dorsal and ventral inferior temporal cortex and posterior middle temporal cortex. Visual experience increased the strength of correlation in all regions except dorsal inferior temporal and posterior parietal cortex. The greatest statistically significant increase, i.e., approximately 30%, was in ventral inferior temporal and posterior middle temporal cortex. In these regions, words are analyzed semantically, which may be facilitated by visual experience. In contrast, visual experience resulted in a slight, insignificant diminution of the strength of correlation in dorsal inferior temporal cortex where language is analyzed phonetically. These findings affirm that posterior temporal regions are engaged in the processing of written language. Moreover, they suggest that this function is modified by early visual experience. Furthermore, visual experience significantly strengthened the correlation of activation and Braille reading in occipital regions traditionally involved in the processing of visual features and object recognition suggesting a role for visual imagery. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Braille Reading Accuracy of Students Who Are Visually Impaired: The Effects of Gender, Age at Vision Loss, and Level of Education

Science.gov (United States)

Argyropoulos, Vassilis; Papadimitriou, Vassilios

2015-01-01

Introduction: The present study assesses the performance of students who are visually impaired (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) in braille reading accuracy and examines potential correlations among the error categories on the basis of gender, age at loss of vision, and level of education. Methods: Twenty-one visually impaired…

I RAN Fast and I Remembered What I Read: The Relationship between Reading, Rapid Automatic Naming, and Auditory and Visual Short-Term Memory

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Sheila G. Crewther

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Although rapid automatic naming (RAN speed and short-term auditory memory are widely recognised as good predictors of reading ability in most age groups, the predictive value of short-term memory for visually presented digits for reading and RAN in young typically developing learner readers (mean age 91.5 months has seldom been investigated. We found that visual digit span is a better predictor of reading ability than auditory digit span in learner readers. A significant correlation has also been found between RAN speed and visual, but not auditory digit span. These results suggests that RAN speed may be a good predictor of a child's future reading ability and eventual fluency because like visual digit span, it is a measure of rate of access to memory for the visual icons and their semantic name and meaning. The results also suggest that auditory memory is not an important factor in young children learning to read.

Docosahexaenoic acid for reading, working memory and behavior in UK children aged 7-9: A randomized controlled trial for replication (the DOLAB II study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Montgomery

Full Text Available Omega-3 fatty acids are central to brain-development of children. Evidence from clinical trials and systematic reviews demonstrates the potential of long-chain Omega-3 supplementation for learning and behavior. However, findings are inconclusive and in need of robust replication studies since such work is lacking.Replication of the 2012 DOLAB 1 study findings that a dietary supplementation with the long-chain omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA had beneficial effects on the reading, working memory, and behavior of healthy schoolchildren.Parallel group, fixed-dose, randomized (minimization, 30% random element, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (RCT.Mainstream primary schools (n = 84 from five counties in the UK in 2012-2015.Healthy children aged 7-9 underperforming in reading (<20th centile. 1230 invited, 376 met study criteria.600 mg/day DHA (from algal oil, placebo: taste/color matched corn/soybean oil; for 16 weeks.Age-standardized measures of reading, working memory, and behavior, parent-rated and as secondary outcome teacher-rated.376 children were randomized. Reading, working memory, and behavior change scores showed no consistent differences between intervention and placebo group. Some behavioral subscales showed minor group differences.This RCT did not replicate results of the earlier DOLAB 1 study on the effectiveness of nutritional supplementation with DHA for learning and behavior. Possible reasons are discussed, particularly regarding the replication of complex interventions.www.controlled-trials.com (ISRCTN48803273 and protocols.io (https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.k8kczuw.

New memory media: books and reading in the age of weblogs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vera Dodebei

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Memory is built with the present time as a starting point, through the tension between two actions: remembering and forgetting, and engages in a permanent dialogue with the objects we choose in order to analyze the condition of knowledge at a given point in time. This paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, we deal with the object "book", its appearance in society, its importance for the transmission of knowledge, its power to control people's attitudes, such as the memory-men created by Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451, and its possible decline in view of information medium technologies. The second part dissociates the act of reading from its most traditional support and deals with "reading" as an independent object, with the suggestion, based on Regina Zilberman's, Alberto Manguel's and Paulo Freire's proposals, that we are meant to read the world, irrespective of the mechanisms used in order to achieve this ultimate aim. In the third and last part, we present some signs of possible ways in which memory may exist in the cyber world, with comments on the role of blogs and websites in relation to the written word on paper.

Developing reading literacy by reading badge

OpenAIRE

Rejc, Blanka

2017-01-01

Reading is a fundamental activity of our society and is present in all areas of a person’s life. Authors who deal with reading define reading with different definitions, some of them I also presented in my master’s degree thesis. The ways of reading, typology of readers and knowledge of different reading models are only some of the important theoretical facts that serve as a basis for the research and defining reading. Reading motivation is an important motivational factor, which encourages a...

Preschool Phonological and Morphological Awareness As Longitudinal Predictors of Early Reading and Spelling Development in Greek.

Science.gov (United States)

Diamanti, Vassiliki; Mouzaki, Angeliki; Ralli, Asimina; Antoniou, Faye; Papaioannou, Sofia; Protopapas, Athanassios

2017-01-01

Different language skills are considered fundamental for successful reading and spelling acquisition. Extensive evidence has highlighted the central role of phonological awareness in early literacy experiences. However, many orthographic systems also require the contribution of morphological awareness. The goal of this study was to examine the morphological and phonological awareness skills of preschool children as longitudinal predictors of reading and spelling ability by the end of first grade, controlling for the effects of receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. At Time 1 preschool children from kindergartens in the Greek regions of Attika, Crete, Macedonia, and Thessaly were assessed on tasks tapping receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness (syllable and phoneme), and morphological awareness (inflectional and derivational). Tasks were administered through an Android application for mobile devices (tablets) featuring automatic application of ceiling rules. At Time 2 one year later the same children attending first grade were assessed on measures of word and pseudoword reading, text reading fluency, text reading comprehension, and spelling. Complete data from 104 children are available. Hierarchical linear regression and commonality analyses were conducted for each outcome variable. Reading accuracy for both words and pseudowords was predicted not only by phonological awareness, as expected, but also by morphological awareness, suggesting that understanding the functional role of word parts supports the developing phonology-orthography mappings. However, only phonological awareness predicted text reading fluency at this age. Longitudinal prediction of reading comprehension by both receptive vocabulary and morphological awareness was already evident at this age, as expected. Finally, spelling was predicted by preschool phonological awareness, as expected, as well as by morphological awareness, the contribution of which is expected to

Preschool Phonological and Morphological Awareness As Longitudinal Predictors of Early Reading and Spelling Development in Greek

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vassiliki Diamanti

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Different language skills are considered fundamental for successful reading and spelling acquisition. Extensive evidence has highlighted the central role of phonological awareness in early literacy experiences. However, many orthographic systems also require the contribution of morphological awareness. The goal of this study was to examine the morphological and phonological awareness skills of preschool children as longitudinal predictors of reading and spelling ability by the end of first grade, controlling for the effects of receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. At Time 1 preschool children from kindergartens in the Greek regions of Attika, Crete, Macedonia, and Thessaly were assessed on tasks tapping receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness (syllable and phoneme, and morphological awareness (inflectional and derivational. Tasks were administered through an Android application for mobile devices (tablets featuring automatic application of ceiling rules. At Time 2 one year later the same children attending first grade were assessed on measures of word and pseudoword reading, text reading fluency, text reading comprehension, and spelling. Complete data from 104 children are available. Hierarchical linear regression and commonality analyses were conducted for each outcome variable. Reading accuracy for both words and pseudowords was predicted not only by phonological awareness, as expected, but also by morphological awareness, suggesting that understanding the functional role of word parts supports the developing phonology–orthography mappings. However, only phonological awareness predicted text reading fluency at this age. Longitudinal prediction of reading comprehension by both receptive vocabulary and morphological awareness was already evident at this age, as expected. Finally, spelling was predicted by preschool phonological awareness, as expected, as well as by morphological awareness, the contribution of which is

Fear experience reading: women reading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sofia VALDIVIESO GÁMEZ

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Starting from the assumptions the patriarchal paradigm has used in the construction of male and female identity, the changes experienced by women in the last century and the statements about fear undergone by more than twenty-five women from different ages and nationalities through their own life cycle, the author gives us an account on what women fear and how they live and overcome it. These ideas are based on the hypothesis that if patriarchy as a social organization is a cultural constant, the fears experienced by women in the process of constructing themselves as such are also constant. She concludes that the only course to follow is necessarily a way where feminine consciousness must be integrated, both in men and women, as a previous step in the construction of a reality based on equals, though, at the same time, different. This would allow us to discover the masculine and feminine dimension in all of us.

Ageing degradation mechanisms in nuclear power plants: lessons learned from operating experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bieth, M.; Zerger, B.; Duchac, A.

2014-01-01

This paper presents main results of a comprehensive study performed by the European Clearinghouse on Operating Experience Feedback of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) with the support of IRSN (Institut de Surete Nucleaire et de Radioprotection) and GRS (Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen und Reaktorsicherheit mbH). Physical ageing mechanisms of Structures, Systems and Components (SSC) that eventually lead to ageing related systems and components failures at nuclear power plants were the main focus of this study. The analysis of ageing related events involved operating experience reported by NPP operators in France, Germany, USA and to the IAEA/NEA International Reporting System on operating experience for the past 20 years. A list of relevant ageing related events was populated. Each ageing related event contained in the list was analyzed and results of analysis were summarized for each ageing degradation mechanism which appeared to be the dominant contributor or direct cause. This paper provides insights into ageing related operating experience as well as recommendations to deal with the physical ageing of nuclear power plant SSC important to safety. (authors)

Detection of target phonemes in spontaneous and read speech

OpenAIRE

Mehta, G.; Cutler, A.

1988-01-01

Although spontaneous speech occurs more frequently in most listeners’ experience than read speech, laboratory studies of human speech recognition typically use carefully controlled materials read from a script. The phonological and prosodic characteristics of spontaneous and read speech differ considerably, however, which suggests that laboratory results may not generalize to the recognition of spontaneous and read speech materials, and their response time to detect word-initial target phonem...

Do reading and spelling share a lexicon?

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Jones, Angela C; Rawson, Katherine A

2016-05-01

In the reading and spelling literature, an ongoing debate concerns whether reading and spelling share a single orthographic lexicon or rely upon independent lexica. Available evidence tends to support a single lexicon account over an independent lexica account, but evidence is mixed and open to alternative explanation. In the current work, we propose another, largely ignored account--separate-but-shared lexica--according to which reading and spelling have separate orthographic lexica, but information can be shared between them. We report three experiments designed to competitively evaluate these three theoretical accounts. In each experiment, participants learned new words via reading training and/or spelling training. The key manipulation concerned the amount of reading versus spelling practice a given item received. Following training, we assessed both response time and accuracy on final outcome measures of reading and spelling. According to the independent lexica account, final performance in one modality will not be influenced by the level of practice in the other modality. According to the single lexicon account, final performance will depend on the overall amount of practice regardless of modality. According to the separate-but-shared account, final performance will be influenced by the level of practice in both modalities but will benefit more from same-modality practice. Results support the separate-but-shared account, indicating that reading and spelling rely upon separate lexica, but information can be shared between them. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Time Course of Incremental Word Processing during Chinese Reading

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Zhou, Junyi; Ma, Guojie; Li, Xingshan; Taft, Marcus

2018-01-01

In the current study, we report two eye movement experiments investigating how Chinese readers process incremental words during reading. These are words where some of the component characters constitute another word (an embedded word). In two experiments, eye movements were monitored while the participants read sentences with incremental words…

Reading Authentic Texts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balling, Laura Winther

2013-01-01

Most research on cognates has focused on words presented in isolation that are easily defined as cognate between L1 and L2. In contrast, this study investigates what counts as cognate in authentic texts and how such cognates are read. Participants with L1 Danish read news articles in their highly...... proficient L2, English, while their eye-movements were monitored. The experiment shows a cognate advantage for morphologically simple words, but only when cognateness is defined relative to translation equivalents that are appropriate in the context. For morphologically complex words, a cognate disadvantage...... word predictability indexed by the conditional probability of each word....

Reading Skill and Exposure to Orthography Influence Speech Production.

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Saletta, Meredith; Goffman, Lisa; Brentari, Diane

2016-03-01

Orthographic experience during the acquisition of novel words may influence production processing in proficient readers. Previous work indicates interactivity among lexical, phonological, and articulatory processing; we hypothesized that experience with orthography can also influence phonological processing. Phonetic accuracy and articulatory stability were measured as adult, proficient readers repeated and read aloud nonwords, presented in auditory or written modalities and with variations in orthographic neighborhood density. Accuracy increased when participants had read the nonwords earlier in the session, but not when they had only heard them. Articulatory stability increased with practice, regardless of whether nonwords were read or heard. Word attack skills, but not reading comprehension, predicted articulatory stability. Findings indicate that kinematic and phonetic accuracy analyses provide insight into how orthography influences implicit language processing.

Adoption of an integrated radiology reading room within a urologic oncology clinic: initial experience in facilitating clinician consultations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenkrantz, Andrew B; Lepor, Herbert; Taneja, Samir S; Recht, Michael P

2014-05-01

The authors describe their initial experience in implementing an integrated radiology reading room within a urologic oncology clinic, including the frequency and nature of clinician consultations and the perceived impact on patient management by clinicians. A radiology reading room was established within an office-based urologic oncology clinic in proximity to the surgeon's work area. A radiologist was present in this reading room for a 3-hour shift each day. The frequency and nature of consultations during these shifts were recorded. Also, the clinic's staff completed a survey assessing perceptions of the impact of the integrated reading room on patient management. One hundred two consultations occurred during 57 included dates (average, 1.8 consultations per shift): 52% for review of external cases brought in by patients on discs, 43% for review of internal cases, and 5% for direct review by the radiologist of imaging with patients. The maximum number of consultations during a single shift was 8. All of the clinic's urologists indicated that >90% of consultations benefited patient care. The clinicians indicated tendencies to view consultations as affecting management in the majority of cases, to be more likely to seek consultation for outside imaging when the radiologist was on site, and to be less likely to repeat outside imaging when the radiologist was on site. The integrated reading room within the clinic has potential to improve the quality of care, for instance by facilitating increased review of outside imaging studies and thereby potentially reducing duplicate ordering and by enabling occasional direct image review with patients by radiologists. Copyright © 2014 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Survey on the Reading Habits among Colleges of Education Students in the Information Age

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Fatiloro, Oluwayemisi Florence; Adesola, Oyekola Adebimpe; Hameed, Bilkis Alaba; Adewumi, Oseni Muinat

2017-01-01

Reading is the gateway to success in education. It is the heartbeat of all courses offered in institutions. It is therefore crucial to investigate Colleges of Education students reading habits and how to improve the skill. The study was a descriptive survey with a validated questionnaire on "Reading Habits among Colleges of Education students…

A case of exceptional reading accuracy in a child with Down syndrome – underlying skills and the relation to reading comprehension

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groen, M.A.; Laws, G.; Nation, K.; Bishop, D.V.M.

2006-01-01

We report on a case of a girl with Down syndrome (DS), K.S., whose reading accuracy is exceptional. This ability is associated with robust phonological skills and relative strengths in visual and verbal short-term memory, articulation, and speech fluency. Although her reading comprehension is age

Reading and Spelling Error Analysis of Native Arabic Dyslexic Readers

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Abu-rabia, Salim; Taha, Haitham

2004-01-01

This study was an investigation of reading and spelling errors of dyslexic Arabic readers ("n"=20) compared with two groups of normal readers: a young readers group, matched with the dyslexics by reading level ("n"=20) and an age-matched group ("n"=20). They were tested on reading and spelling of texts, isolated…

The effects of age and experience on memory for visually presented music.

Science.gov (United States)

Meinz, E J; Salthouse, T A

1998-01-01

Increased age is often associated with lower levels of performance in tests of memory for spatial information. The primary question in the current study was whether this relationship could be moderated as a function of one's relevant experience and/or knowledge. Stimulus materials consisted of short (7-11 note), visually presented musical melodies and structurally equivalent nonmusical stimuli. Participants (N = 128) were recruited from a wide range of age and experience levels. Although there were strong main effects of age and experience on memory for music, there was no evidence that the age-related differences in memory for these stimuli were smaller for individuals with moderate to large amounts of experience with music.

I read, you read, we read: the history of reading in Slovenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Dular

2013-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTPurpose: The aim of the article is to research reading habits in Slovenia in the period between 16th and 19th century and to find similarities with Austria and other European countries of that time.Methodology/approach: For the purpose of the analysis different resources were used – study books, catechisms, prayer books and manuals. We were focused on introductions in which readers are advised how to read, explaining to whom the work is intended and emphasizing the importance of meditation on the texts.Results: Historically the laud reading was prefered, as to continue the folk tradition. However, the 16th century texts were transmitted by women while the folk tradition was narrated by males. In the 18th century the higher level of literacy and greater book production and availability caused that the books were not a privilege of a few. At that time more texts were intended for silent, individual reading. Interestingly, the authors emphasized the importance of meditation on the texts, too. It was also advised when to read – it wasrecommedend to read in leisure time on Sundays, and on holidays. The role of books was also to breakaway with the reality and to forget everyday problems. Due to the overproduction of books in the 17th centrury it was concerned that books are misleading the crowds. The church considered the reading of books as inappropriate, and criticized fiction, novels and adventure stories mostly read by women.Research limitation: The study is based on Slovenian texts only, although the foreign literature, especially in German, was generally available, too.Originality/practical implications: The study is fullfiling the gap in the history of reading in Slovenia.

Comorbidity of Auditory Processing, Language, and Reading Disorders

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Sharma, Mridula; Purdy, Suzanne C.; Kelly, Andrea S.

2009-01-01

Purpose: The authors assessed comorbidity of auditory processing disorder (APD), language impairment (LI), and reading disorder (RD) in school-age children. Method: Children (N = 68) with suspected APD and nonverbal IQ standard scores of 80 or more were assessed using auditory, language, reading, attention, and memory measures. Auditory processing…

A Call to Embrace Social Reading in Higher Education

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Dean, Matthew D.

2016-01-01

Social reading can broadly be described as the experience surrounding the reading of electronic books, more commonly known as eBooks. Utilising eTextbooks and social reading at a university offers some powerful potential to engage students and help them succeed in their studies. A broad overview of the current landscape and recent initiatives…

The power of print reading: comics in the classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabaron, Sabine

2017-09-01

Evidence from neuroscience and psychological studies supporting benefits of print reading over digital reading has recently been discussed in these columns (Perbal 2017 J. Cell Commun. Signal. 11:1-4). In the present commentary, I would like to add my perspective as a Humanities educator, and build upon the idea that print reading results in better comprehension, learning and communication. The argumentation that is presented herein is based on a study performed in a French Comics language class aimed at broadening students' knowledge and experience of graphic novels, and providing them with a cultural representation in the foreign language. The results that are discussed in this commentary indicate that upon reading printed books students created connections for a more meaningful learning experience, leading to personal growth and linguistic development. The impact these graphic novels had on students' learning capacity and relationship to reading was tremendous. The kinesthetic relationship with printed text was deeply enriching and gratifying. The stimulatory effects on their imagination allowed for a more creative reading, and a deeper comprehension, resulting in meaningful communication.

Emotional experience improves with age : Evidence based on over 10 years of experience sampling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carstensen, L.L.; Turan, B.; Scheibe, S.; Ram, N.; Ersner-Hershfield, H.; Samanez-Larkin, G.R.; Brooks, K.P.; Nesselroade, J.R.

Recent evidence suggests that emotional well-being improves from early adulthood to old age. This study used experience-sampling to examine the developmental course of emotional experience in a representative sample of adults spanning early to very late adulthood. Participants (N = 184, Wave 1; N =

Does Extensive Reading Promote Reading Speed?

Science.gov (United States)

He, Mu

2014-01-01

Research has shown a wide range of learning benefits accruing from extensive reading. Not only is there improvement in reading, but also in a wide range of language uses and areas of language knowledge. However, few research studies have examined reading speed. The existing literature on reading speed focused on students' reading speed without…

Just reading: increasing pace and volume of reading whole narratives on the comprehension of poorer adolescent readers in English classrooms

OpenAIRE

Westbrook, Jo; Sutherland, Julia; Oakhill, Jane; Sullivan, Susan

2018-01-01

Poorer adolescent readers are often regarded by teachers as unable to read whole narratives and given short, simplified texts, yet are expected to analyse every part in a slow laborious read through. This article reports on a mixed methods study in which 20 English teachers in the South of England changed their current practice to read two whole challenging novels at a faster pace than usual in 12 weeks with their average and poorer readers ages 12-13. Ten teachers received additional trainin...

Reviews Book: The Age of Wonder Equipment: Portoscope DVD: Around the World in 80 Images Book: Four Laws that Drive the Universe Book: Antimatter Equipment: Coffee Saver Starter Set Equipment: Graphite Levitation Kit Book: Critical Reading Video: Science Fiction-Science Fact Web Watch

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

WE RECOMMEND The Age of Wonder This book tells the stories of inspiring 19th-century scientists Antimatter A fast read that gives an intriguing tour of the antimatter world Science Fiction-Science Fact A video from a set of resources about the facts in science fiction WORTH A LOOK Portoscope Lightweight ×30 microscope that is easy on the purse Four Laws that Drive the Universe In just 124 pages Peter Atkins explains thermodynamics Coffee Saver Starter Kit A tool that can demonstrate the effect of reduced air pressure Graphite Levitation Kit Compact set that demonstrates diamagnetic behaviour Critical Reading A study guide on how to read scientific papers HANDLE WITH CARE Around the World in 80 Images Navigate through images from Envistat, country by country WEB WATCH This month's issue features real-time simulation program Krucible 2.0, which enables learners to run virtual experiments

Reading in Place

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Leah

2012-01-01

The digital age is rendering books more common, not less. It is true that there is nothing new about "furniture books": The trade in reading material has long been dwarfed by the market for coffee-table books, books that steakhouse chains buy by the yard, empty bindings that interior decorators use to accessorize the upholstery. As coffee-table…

Contributions of syntactic awareness to reading in Chinese-speaking adolescent readers with and without dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Kevin K H; Ho, Connie S-H; Chan, David W; Tsang, Suk-Man; Lee, Suk-Han

2013-02-01

This study investigated the relative contribution of syntactic awareness to Chinese reading among Chinese-speaking adolescent readers with and without dyslexia. A total of 78 junior high school students in Hong Kong, 26 dyslexic adolescent readers, 26 average adolescent readers of the same age (chronological age control group) and 26 younger readers matched with the same reading level (reading-level group) participated and were administered measures of IQ, syntactic awareness, morphological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, working memory, word reading, and reading comprehension. Results showed that dyslexic readers scored significantly lower than chronological age but similarly to reading level control groups in most measures, especially in the areas of syntactic skills. Analyses of individual data also revealed that over half of the dyslexic readers exhibited certain aspects of deficits in syntactic skills. In regression analyses, syntactic skills were the strongest predictors of ability in word reading and reading comprehension measures. This study highlights the uniquely important correlates of syntactic skills in Chinese reading acquisition and impairment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AGS Foundation for Health in Aging

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... Health Policy Issues That Affect You Health in Aging Blog read more Read posts about issues concerning older adults © 2017 Health in Aging. All rights reserved. Feedback • Site Map • Privacy Policy • ...

The dual reading of general conditionals: The influence of abstract versus concrete contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Moyun; Yao, Xinyun

2018-04-01

A current main issue on conditionals is whether the meaning of general conditionals (e.g., If a card is red, then it is round) is deterministic (exceptionless) or probabilistic (exception-tolerating). In order to resolve the issue, two experiments examined the influence of conditional contexts (with vs. without frequency information of truth table cases) on the reading of general conditionals. Experiment 1 examined the direct reading of general conditionals in the possibility judgment task. Experiment 2 examined the indirect reading of general conditionals in the truth judgment task. It was found that both the direct and indirect reading of general conditionals exhibited the duality: the predominant deterministic semantic reading of conditionals without frequency information, and the predominant probabilistic pragmatic reading of conditionals with frequency information. The context of general conditionals determined the predominant reading of general conditionals. There were obvious individual differences in reading general conditionals with frequency information. The meaning of general conditionals is relative, depending on conditional contexts. The reading of general conditionals is flexible and complex so that no simple deterministic and probabilistic accounts are able to explain it. The present findings are beyond the extant deterministic and probabilistic accounts of conditionals.

Construction, integration, and mind wandering in reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Peter; Bortolussi, Marisa

2013-03-01

In two experiments, we investigated how text recall was related to moment-to-moment variations in mental state while reading, and how both recall and mental state were related to the interest value of the text. In both experiments, subjects read either an interesting text (a segment of Rice's Interview with the Vampire [A. Rice, 1997, Interview with the vampire, New York. NY: Ballantine Books] or a less interesting text (a segment of Thackery's The History of Pendennis [W. M. Thackery, 2009/1914, The history of Pendennis, Project Gutenberg, Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7265]). The texts were read sentence-by-sentence on a computer screen, and subjects were periodically interrupted to answer a probe question. In Experiment 1, the probe asked whether subjects were attending to the text; in Experiment 2, the probe asked whether subjects were engaged with the story world. After reading the text, subjects were asked to recall as much of the story as possible. Recall of the material just prior to the probe was examined as a function of the whether the ratings were high, medium, or low. As expected, both on-task ratings and engagement ratings were higher for Interview than for Pendennis, but there were a substantial number of medium ratings given to both stories. In Experiment 1, there was a clear effect of story on recall over and above the effect of on-task rating. However, in Experiment 2, recall was purely a function of engagement rating. The results were interpreted in terms of a model in which recall is largely determined by the situation model representation of the narrative and in which engagement ratings (but not on-task ratings) provide a relatively pure index of the allocation of resources to processing of the situation model.

How reading differs from object naming at the neuronal level.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, C J; McCrory, E; Noppeney, U; Mechelli, A; Moore, C J; Biggio, N; Devlin, J T

2006-01-15

This paper uses whole brain functional neuroimaging in neurologically normal participants to explore how reading aloud differs from object naming in terms of neuronal implementation. In the first experiment, we directly compared brain activation during reading aloud and object naming. This revealed greater activation for reading in bilateral premotor, left posterior superior temporal and precuneus regions. In a second experiment, we segregated the object-naming system into object recognition and speech production areas by factorially manipulating the presence or absence of objects (pictures of objects or their meaningless scrambled counterparts) with the presence or absence of speech production (vocal vs. finger press responses). This demonstrated that the areas associated with speech production (object naming and repetitively saying "OK" to meaningless scrambled pictures) corresponded exactly to the areas where responses were higher for reading aloud than object naming in Experiment 1. Collectively the results suggest that, relative to object naming, reading increases the demands on shared speech production processes. At a cognitive level, enhanced activation for reading in speech production areas may reflect the multiple and competing phonological codes that are generated from the sublexical parts of written words. At a neuronal level, it may reflect differences in the speed with which different areas are activated and integrate with one another.

Evaluation of a device for standardized measurements of reading performance in a prepresbyopic population.

Science.gov (United States)

Arad, Tschingis; Baumeister, Martin; Bühren, Jens; Kohnen, Thomas

2017-04-20

Automated measurements of reading performance are required for clinical trials involving presbyopia-correcting surgery options. Repeatability of a testing device for reading (Salzburg Reading Desk) was evaluated in a prepresbyopic population. Subjective reading performance of 50 subjects divided into 2 age groups (23-30 years and 38-49 years) with distance-corrected eyes was investigated with different log-scaled reading charts. At study entry, refractive parameters were measured and distance visual acuity assessed. Two standardized binocular measurements were performed for each subject (32.24 ± 9.87 days apart [mean ± SD]). The repeatability of the tests was estimated using correlation coefficients, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and Bland-Altman method. The test parameters at both maximum reading rate (MRR) measurements demonstrate a strong relationship of age group 2 subjects (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.74 p = 10-4) and of younger subjects (age group 1: r = 0.69, p = 10-4). Prepresbyopic subjects of age group 2 showed moderate results for near reading distance (r = 0.67, p = 10-4); by contrast, younger subjects had poorer results (r = 0.55, p = 10-3). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed agreement between measurements and Bland-Altman plots showed a wide data spread for MRR and near reading distance in both groups. The device measures repeatedly selected reading performance parameters of near real world conditions, such as MRR, in prepresbyopic populations if several factors are taken into account. The option to choose preferred distance leads to more variance in measuring repeated reading performance. German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) registration reference number: DRKS00000784.

"Superman Says, 'Read!'" National Comics and Reading Promotion

Science.gov (United States)

Tilley, Carol L.

2013-01-01

Between the years 1935 and 1946, National Comics--the leading comic book publisher in the United States--experimented with various strategies such as book lists and juvenile book reviews in order to encourage children and young adults to read books other than comics. This paper surveys these strategies and the work of key persons such as Malcolm…

Rumination, Age, and Years of Experience: A Predictive Study of Burnout

Science.gov (United States)

McDuffy, Moriel S.

2016-01-01

This study used a non-experimental design to examine whether job satisfaction, rumination, age and years of experience predict burnout among human service workers serving high-risk populations. The study also used a stepwise regression to assess whether job satisfaction, rumination, age, or years of experience predict burnout equally. Burnout was…

Evaluation of aging and hydration in natural volcanic glass: magnetic property variations during artificial aging and hydration experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Bowles, J. A.; Patiman, A.

2017-12-01

The recorded geomagnetic field intensity is a function of magnetic mineralogy, grain size, and mineral concentration as well as material stability in nature and during laboratory experiments. Fresh, unhydrated, volcanic glasses are recognized as a nearly ideal natural material for use in paleointensity experiments because they contain the requisite single domain to pseudo-single-domain magnetic particles. Although alteration of magnetic mineralogy can be monitored during the experiments, it is unclear how mineralogy and hence magnetization might change with age as the metastable glass structure relaxes and/or the glass becomes hydrated. Bulk magnetic properties as a function of age show no clear trend, even over hundreds of millions of years. This may be due to the fact that even in fresh, unhydrated glass, there are small-scale differences in magnetic properties due to variation cooling rate or composition variations. Therefore, in order to better understand how magnetic mineralogy evolves with time and hydration, we conducted artificial aging and hydration experiments on fresh, unhydrated rhyolitic (South Deadman Creek, California, 650-yr) and basaltic (Axial Seamount, 2011) end-member glasses. Here, we present the results of artificial aging and hydration experiments. Elevated temperatures accelerate the glass relaxation process in a way that relaxation time decreases with increasing temperature. Aged samples are dry-annealed at 200, 300 and 400 °C for up to 240 days. A second set of samples are hydrated under pressure at 300°C and 450°C. In all cases, isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) acquisition is monitored to assess changes in the coercivity spectrum and saturation IRM. Preliminary aging results show that in basaltic and rhyolitic glass there is one main peak coercivity at 150 mT and 35 mT, respectively. An increasing sIRM and decreasing peak coercivity trend is observed in basaltic glass whereas no trend is shown in the rhyolitic glass in both

The correlative analysis between CBF measured by SPECT and Chinese reading test in childhood reading disorder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Yonggang; Su Jianzhi; He Jianjun; Yang Zhiwei; Liu Guofeng

2002-01-01

Objective: To investigate changes of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and its association with Chinese reading skill diagnostic test (CRSDT) in childhood reading disorder (RD). Methods: In 25 RD children and 20 age-matched control subjects, the authors quantitatively determined CBF and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) with SPECT using the non-blood-withdrew method. The authors studied the correlation between the CBF and the total raw scores by CRSDT. Results: CBF in case group was (38.87 +- 3.77) ml·100 g -1 ·min -1 and was significantly lower than that in control group [43.65 +- 2.64) mL·100 g -1 ·min -1 (P < 0.01)]. These reduction in CBF correlated with the total raw scores by CRSDT. Conclusion: These results suggest the children with reading disorder have CBF reduction and SPECT is useful for evaluation of cerebral functioning in reading disorder children

Reading and listening in people with aphasia: effects of syntactic complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

DeDe, Gayle

2013-11-01

The purpose of this study was to compare online effects of syntactic complexity in written and spoken sentence comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) and adults with no brain damage (NBD). The participants in Experiment 1 were NBD older and younger adults (n = 20 per group). The participants in Experiment 2 were 10 PWA. In both experiments, the participants read and listened to sentences in self-paced reading and listening tasks. The experimental materials consisted of object cleft sentences (e.g., It was the girl who the boy hugged.) and subject cleft sentences (e.g., It was the boy who hugged the girl.). The predicted effects of syntactic complexity were observed in both Experiments 1 and 2: Reading and listening times were longer for the verb in sentences with object compared to subject relative clauses. The NBD controls showed exaggerated effects of syntactic complexity in reading compared to listening. The PWA did not show different modality effects from the NBD participants. Although effects of syntactic complexity were somewhat exaggerated in reading compared with listening, both the PWA and the NBD controls showed similar effects in both modalities.

Ecological aspects of the nuclear age: selected readings in radiation ecology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schultz, V.; Whicker, F.W.

1971-01-01

A compilation of selected readings is presented in the areas of radiation ecology, radionuclide cycling, ionizing radiation effects, radioisotope tracer techniques in ecology, and military and peaceful uses of nuclear energy

Social Process Variables Affecting Reading Performance in Delayed Readers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorton, Mary; Kukuk, Christopher

1978-01-01

Examines the relationship between 14 social process variables and the reading performances of 180 slow learners, ages 7-15. Finds that two of those factors (brith trauma and being held back in school) emerge as predictors of reading comprehension, word recognition, and spelling. (RL)

Listening to Students: Modification of a Reading Program Based on the Sources of Foreign Language Reading Anxiety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belgin Aydın

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the modifications implemented in a second year foreign language (FL reading program with respect to the problems students experience while reading in FL. This research draws on the sources of FL reading anxiety identified in the first year reading program with a motivation to re-design the second year program to help the students perceive reading positively free from the anxiety. This paper reports on the responses of students to the modifications implemented in the second year reading program. The participants of the study were 50 FL students who were in their second year at a state university in Turkey. All participants had already taken the first year reading course and were enrolled in the second year reading course. It was based on two qualitative research instruments. The first instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire administered to all participants. The second one was a semi-structured interview conducted with half of the participants to obtain more in depth information concerning the modifications that had been introduced. Both instruments revealed that students responded positively to the modifications introduced. The results of the study put forward that obtaining students’ opinions, giving them responsibility and involving them in decision making processes enhance their motivation, confidence and analytical skills while reading in a foreign language.

Reading the Bible Positively Popular Reading of the Bible with people living with HIV/AIDS in Brazil

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Schroder, Elisa Fenner

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In the early 60s, it began to emerge, in Latin America and Brazil, political movements that sought to raise awareness about their situation of oppression and theneed for ruptures with the dominant society. The Bible had been given to the people and was read from the experience and reality of men and women in situations ofoppression. The situations of oppression and exclusion experienced in Latin America broaden the understanding about the poor and the excluded and challenges newreadings of the Bible from each context. Prejudice and stigma affects the lives of people with HIV, causing them suffering. The situation of social vulnerability affecting a major portion of this population complicates the lives of these people even further. We seek to read the Bible through the context of lives of women with HIV by using popular bible reading methodology. This article bring some introductions reflection on the method and on the experience of a women group in Brazil.

Factors that affect South African Reading Literacy Achievement: evidence from prePIRLS 2011

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Surette van Staden

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study aims to identify factors that predict reading literacy achievement among Grade 4 learners in South Africa by utilising aspects of Carroll's model of school learning. The study draws on the preProgress in International Reading Literacy Study (prePIRLS 2011 data, which places South African Grade 4 learners' results substantially below the international centre point of 500 at 461 (SE = 3.7. Selected items from the prePIRLS 2011 learner, parent and teacher questionnaires were used in a two-level model to determine the effect of learner aptitude, opportunity to learn and quality of instructional events on reading literacy achievement. The results point to the statistical significance of engaged reading and cultivating motivation for reading among learners from an early age, specifically through parental involvement in introducing early literacy activities as foundation of reading literacy by school-going age. Other results provide evidence for the importance of the value of reading across the curriculum not confined to formal reading lessons only. The teaching of reading comprehension skills and strategies is identified as a significant predictor of reading literacy achievement, instruction of which should form an integral part of teaching reading in the classroom.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension

OpenAIRE

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)—how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text readi...

Otitis media: is precursor of delayed reading in Arabic speaking children?

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Azab, Safinaz Nagib; Rhman, Samir Shokr A

2014-04-01

To investigate the relation between otitis media in the language acquisition years and the occurrence of delayed reading between the ages of 7 and 10. Participants were 40 children, half of whom had a history of otitis media between the ages of birth and three years and half who were free of the disease. These children, now ages 7-10, were tested with the Stanford Beint and Arabic Dyslexia Assessment Test. Children with a history of otitis media scored over a year below grade level in reading and significantly below controls on Arabic Dyslexia Assessment tests as well as on the Verbal IQ factor on the Stanford Binet. Children with early onset otitis media (birth to three years) tend to be at greater risk for delayed reading than age-matched controls. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

mpscan: Fast Localisation of Multiple Reads in Genomes

Science.gov (United States)

Rivals, Eric; Salmela, Leena; Kiiskinen, Petteri; Kalsi, Petri; Tarhio, Jorma

With Next Generation Sequencers, sequence based transcriptomic or epigenomic assays yield millions of short sequence reads that need to be mapped back on a reference genome. The upcoming versions of these sequencers promise even higher sequencing capacities; this may turn the read mapping task into a bottleneck for which alternative pattern matching approaches must be experimented. We present an algorithm and its implementation, called mpscan, which uses a sophisticated filtration scheme to match a set of patterns/reads exactly on a sequence. mpscan can search for millions of reads in a single pass through the genome without indexing its sequence. Moreover, we show that mpscan offers an optimal average time complexity, which is sublinear in the text length, meaning that it does not need to examine all sequence positions. Comparisons with BLAT-like tools and with six specialised read mapping programs (like bowtie or zoom) demonstrate that mpscan also is the fastest algorithm in practice for exact matching. Our accuracy and scalability comparisons reveal that some tools are inappropriate for read mapping. Moreover, we provide evidence suggesting that exact matching may be a valuable solution in some read mapping applications. As most read mapping programs somehow rely on exact matching procedures to perform approximate pattern mapping, the filtration scheme we experimented may reveal useful in the design of future algorithms. The absence of genome index gives mpscan its low memory requirement and flexibility that let it run on a desktop computer and avoids a time-consuming genome preprocessing.

Maternal reading fluency is positively associated with greater functional connectivity between the child's future reading network and regions related to executive functions and language processing in preschool-age children.

Science.gov (United States)

Horowitz-Kraus, Tzipi; Hutton, John S; Phelan, Kieran; Holland, Scott K

2018-03-01

The role of the parent or educator in a child's learning is a key feature in child development. Evidence supports the impact of early language exposure for future language and cognitive abilities and of home reading environment on neural circuits supporting language and reading. As shared parent-child reading is largely contingent on the reading ability of the parent, the aim of the current study was to explore association of parental reading ability on functional connectivity of brain networks involved with reading acquisition in their children. Twenty-two 4-year-old girls and their mothers participated in the current study. Maternal reading fluency was applied as predictors of functional connectivity analyses of a stories-listening functional MRI task. Results indicate a positive association between maternal fluency scores and greater functional connectivity between regions in the future reading network and brain regions supporting language and cognitive control in the children. Maternal reading fluency is important in facilitating development of a child's reading network. Implications regarding shared reading are discussed, and an extended ecological model for child language and literacy development is proposed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Does ability to establish sound-symbol pairings mediate the RAN reading relationship?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Mads; Juul, Holger; Elbro, Carsten

for animals in a paired associate learning task. These animals were then used in a rapid naming task. Results Preliminary results show that reading correlated with the amount of training required for learning the animal names (r=-.19, p=.06). RAN speed with the same animals did not correlate with reading......Performance on tests to rapidly name letters and digits has been shown to correlate with reading. One possible reason is that these tests probe the ability to learn and automatise symbol-sound associations. However, most studies have not controlled for the amount of experience with the RAN......-items, so it is unclear whether it is the experience or the ability to take advantage of the experience that is responsible for the correlation between RAN and reading. Paired associate learning tasks have been shown to differentiate dyslexics from controls, and to correlate with reading in unselected...

Aesthetic-Receptive and Critical-Creative in Appreciative Reading

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Titin Setiartin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Reading is a process of aesthetically appreciative receptive to emphasize critical-creative reading activities. Metacognitively students understand, address any and explore the idea of the author in the text. Students responded, criticize, and evaluate the author's ideas in the text. At this stage, students can construct their post read text into other forms (new text. The aim of this strategy equips students to understand the meaning of the story, explore ideas, responding critically, and creatively pouring backstory idea. Reading strategies aesthetically-critical-creative receptive grabbed cognitive, effective, and psychomotor toward literacy critical reading and creative writing. Read appreciative included into the activities of reading comprehension. This activity involves the sensitivity and ability to process aesthetically-receptive reading and critical-creative. Readers imagination roam the author to obtain meaningful understanding and experience of reading. Some models of reading comprehension proposed experts covering the steps before reading, when reading, and after reading. At that stage to enable students after reading thinking abilities. Activities that can be done at this stage, for example, examine the back story, retell, make drawings, diagrams, or maps the concept of reading, as well as making a road map that describes the event. Other activities that can be done is to transform our student's text stories through reinforcement form illustrated stories into comic book form, for example (transliteration.

Raising the Reading Skills of Secondary-Age Students with Severe and Persistent Reading Difficulties: Evaluation of the Efficacy and Implementation of a Phonics-Based Intervention Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffes, Ben

2016-01-01

The importance of reading skills to academic achievement, job acquisition and future success is well documented. Most of the research on reading interventions focuses on children in primary schools but many children start secondary school with very poor reading skills and schools require evidence-based interventions to support these children. The…

"Show-Me Bedtime Reading'" An Unusual Study of the Benefits of Reading to Deaf Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Deborah

1989-01-01

Nine primary-age children at a residential school for the deaf were read bedtime stories using a Total Communication approach. Every child subsequently demonstrated growth on each of several language assessments, including language comprehension and expressive language. (JDD)

Sex, Age, and Emotional Valence: Revealing Possible Biases in the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Kynast, Jana; Schroeter, Matthias L

2018-01-01

The 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' test (RMET) assesses a specific socio-cognitive ability, i.e., the ability to identify mental states from gaze. The development of this ability in a lifespan perspective is of special interest. Whereas former investigations were limited mainly to childhood and adolescence, the focus has been shifted towards aging, and psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases recently. Although the RMET is frequently applied in developmental psychology and clinical settings, stimulus characteristics have never been investigated with respect to potential effects on test performance. Here, we analyzed the RMET stimulus set with a special focus on interrelations between sex, age and emotional valence. Forty-three persons rated age and emotional valence of the RMET picture set. Differences in emotional valence and age ratings between male and female items were analyzed. The linear relation between age and emotional valence was tested over all items, and separately for male and female items. Male items were rated older and more negative than female stimuli. Regarding male RMET items, age predicted emotional valence: older age was associated with negative emotions. Contrary, age and valence were not linearly related in female pictures. All ratings were independent of rater characteristics. Our results demonstrate a strong confound between sex, age, and emotional valence in the RMET. Male items presented a greater variability in age ratings compared to female items. Age and emotional valence were negatively associated among male items, but no significant association was found among female stimuli. As personal attributes impact social information processing, our results may add a new perspective on the interpretation of previous findings on interindividual differences in RMET accuracy, particularly in the field of developmental psychology, and age-associated neuropsychiatric diseases. A revision of the RMET might be afforded to overcome confounds

Developmental relations between reading comprehension and reading strategies

OpenAIRE

Muijselaar, M.M.L.; Swart, N.M.; Steenbeek-Planting, E.G.; Droop, W.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.; Jong, P.F. de

2017-01-01

We examined the developmental relations between knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension in a longitudinal study of 312 Dutch children from the beginning of fourth grade to the end of fifth grade. Measures for reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading fluency, vocabulary, and working memory were administered. A structural equation model was constructed to estimate the unique relations between reading strategies and reading comprehension, while controlling for reading...

Experience based ageing analysis of NPP protection automation in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simola, K.

2000-01-01

This paper describes three successive studies on ageing of protection automation of nuclear power plants. These studies were aimed at developing a methodology for an experience based ageing analysis, and applying it to identify the most critical components from ageing and safety points of view. The analyses resulted also to suggestions for improvement of data collection systems for the purpose of further ageing analyses. (author)

On Non-English Majors' Strategy Training in English Reading Comprehension

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Yang, Xiaoling

2017-01-01

This paper reviewed the literature of the previous research and questionnaire survey on reading strategy. Based on theories of psycholinguistics, a five-week experiment was carried out in order to probe into the effectiveness of strategy training. The experiment was designed to answer the following question: Can reading comprehension be improved…

Shared-Reading versus Oral Storytelling: Associations with Preschoolers' Prosocial Skills and Problem Behaviours

Science.gov (United States)

Curenton, Stephanie M.; Craig, Michelle Jones

2011-01-01

Dyadic shared-reading and oral storytelling practices and their association to American preschoolers' (N = 33) prosocial and problem behaviour was examined. The frequency (how often dyads read) and history (the child's age at first reading) were examined within shared-reading; emotion state talk and evaluative judgments were examined in both…

Reading Processes and Parenting Styles.

Science.gov (United States)

Carreteiro, Rui Manuel; Justo, João Manuel; Figueira, Ana Paula

2016-08-01

Home literacy environment explains between 12 and 18.5 % of the variance of children's language skills. Although most authors agree that children whose parents encourage them to read tend to develop better and earlier reading skills, some authors consider that the impact of family environment in reading skills is overvalued. Probably, other variables of parent-child relationship, like parenting styles, might be relevant for this field. Nevertheless, no previous studies on the effect of parenting styles in literacy have been found. To analyze the role of parenting styles in the reading processes of children. Children's perceptions of parenting styles contribute significantly to the explanation of statistical variance of children's reading processes. 110 children (67 boys and 43 girls), aged between 7 and 11 years (M [Formula: see text] 9.22 and SD [Formula: see text] 1.14) from Portuguese schools answered to a socio-demographic questionnaire. To assess reading processes it was administered the Portuguese adaptation (Figueira et al. in press) of Bateria de Avaliação dos Processos Leitores-Revista (PROLEC-R). To assess the parenting styles Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran-parents (EMBU-P) and EMBU-C (children version) were administered. According to multiple hierarchical linear regressions, individual factors contribute to explain all reading tests of PROLEC-R, while family factors contribute to explain most of these tests. Regarding parenting styles, results evidence the explanatory power about grammatical structures, sentence comprehension and listening. Parenting styles have an important role in the explanation of higher reading processes (syntactic and semantic) but not in lexical processes, focused by main theories concerning dyslexia.

Does age matter? Age and rehabilitation of visual field disorders after brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuett, Susanne; Zihl, Josef

2013-04-01

Homonymous visual field disorders (HVFD) are frequent and disabling consequences of acquired brain injury, particularly in older age. Their rehabilitation is therefore of great importance. Compensatory oculomotor therapy has been found to be effective in improving the associated functional impairments in reading and visual exploration. But older age is commonly considered to adversely affect practice-dependent functional plasticity and, thus, functional and rehabilitation outcome after acquired brain injury. The effect of age in the compensatory treatment of HVFD, however, has never been investigated hitherto. It remains unknown whether age determines not only patients' functional impairments but also the rehabilitation outcome and the required amount of treatment. We therefore present the first study to determine the effect of age in 38 patients with HVFD receiving compensatory oculomotor treatment for their reading and visual exploration impairments. We investigated whether older patients with HVFD (1) show more pronounced impairments and less spontaneous adaptation, (2) show lesser compensatory treatment-related improvement in reading and visual exploration, and (3) require a higher amount of treatment than younger patients. Our main finding is that older patients achieve the same treatment-induced improvements in reading and visual exploration with the same amount of treatment as younger patients; severity of functional impairment also did not differ between older and younger patients, at least in reading. Age does not seem to be a critical factor determining the functional and rehabilitation outcome in the compensatory treatment of HVFD. Older age per se is not necessarily associated with a decline in practice-dependent functional plasticity and adaptation. To the contrary, the effectiveness of compensatory treatment to reduce the functional impairments to a similar extent in younger and older patients with HVFD adds to the growing evidence for a life

Fixing fluency: Neurocognitive assessment of a dysfluent reading intervention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fraga González, G.

2016-01-01

The ability to read is essential to attain society’s literacy demands. Unfortunately, a significant percentage of the population experiences major difficulties in mastering reading and spelling skills. Individuals diagnosed with developmental dyslexia are at severe risk for adverse academic,

Teaching Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Richard R.

2013-01-01

"Teaching Reading" uncovers the interactive processes that happen when people learn to read and translates them into a comprehensive easy-to-follow guide on how to teach reading. Richard Day's revelations on the nature of reading, reading strategies, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and reading objectives make fascinating…

Slow Reading: Reading along "Lectio" Lines

Science.gov (United States)

Badley, K. Jo-Ann; Badley, Ken

2011-01-01

The medieval monastic movement preserved and developed reading practices--lectio--from ancient Greek pedagogy as a slow, mindful approach to reading for formation. This ancient way of reading, now better known as lectio divina, challenges the fast, pragmatic reading so characteristic of our time. We propose that the present moment may be ripe for…

The Association between Mathematical Word Problems and Reading Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Vilenius-Tuohimaa, Piia Maria; Aunola, Kaisa; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2008-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the interplay between mathematical word problem skills and reading comprehension. The participants were 225 children aged 9-10 (Grade 4). The children's text comprehension and mathematical word problem-solving performance was tested. Technical reading skills were investigated in order to categorise participants as…

Reading an ESL Writer’s Text

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Kei Matsuda

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on reading as a central act of communication in the tutorial session. Writing center tutors without extensive experience reading writing by second language writers may have difficulty getting past the many differences in surface-level features, organization, and rhetorical moves. After exploring some of the sources of these differences in writing, the authors present strategies that writing tutors can use to work effectively with second language writers.

Aging in Saudi Arabia: An Exploratory Study of Contemporary Older Persons' Views About Daily Life, Health, and the Experience of Aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Karlin, Nancy J; Weil, Joyce; Felmban, Wejdan

2016-01-01

Objective: This exploratory study sought to measure current self-reported experiences of older Saudi adults. Method: Self-reported aging perceptions and demographic data from semistructured questions were obtained from 52 community-dwelling older Saudi adults aged 50 or older. A thematic content analysis was completed around issues of family life/social support, daily/weekly activities, health and health programs, and older adults' own thoughts about aging and the experience and future of personal aging. Results: Several key themes emerged from the interviews. The majority of respondents in this preliminary study acknowledge a preference for family care. Formal programs in Saudi Arabia are attended with relative infrequency while older adults recognize family support as the preferred method of support. Older Saudi interviewees hold a positive view of aging, but physical functioning, varying financial resources, and other daily obligations are a concern for those in this study. Discussion: Data suggest as the Saudi population ages, more research is needed on the aging experience with particiular emphasis on issues relevant to older adults . Future research must work to clarify the aging experience as cultural context changes.

The Reading Comprehension Strategies of Second Language Learners: A Spanish-English Study

Science.gov (United States)

Acosta Caballero, Karen Anelice

2012-01-01

Reading comprehension of school-aged students is an important topic of research; however, research on the reading comprehension of adult foreign/second language learners whose first language is English is limited, especially studies investigating the reading comprehension strategies that readers of different proficiency levels use when they…

What All Reading Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do

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Fedora, Pledger

2014-01-01

When students experience reading difficulties--or even before they do--teachers can use specialized knowledge to help them achieve success. This overview of the International Dyslexia Association's "Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading" describes those reading and literacy standards and provides resources for teacher…

Reading speed and phonological awareness deficits among Arabic-speaking children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Layes, Smail; Lalonde, Robert; Rebaï, Mohamed

2015-02-01

Although reading accuracy of isolated words and phonological awareness represent the main criteria of subtyping developmental dyslexia, there is increasing evidence that reduced reading speed also represents a defining characteristic. In the present study, reading speed and accuracy were measured in Arabic-speaking phonological and mixed dyslexic children matched with controls of the same age. Participants in third and fourth grades, aged from 9-10 to 9-8 years, were given single frequent and infrequent word and pseudo-word reading and phonological awareness tasks. Results showed that the group with dyslexia scored significantly lower than controls in accuracy and speed in reading tasks. Phonological and mixed dyslexic subgroups differed in infrequent and frequent word reading accuracy, the latter being worse. In contrast, the subgroups were comparable in pseudo-word identification and phonological awareness. Delayed phonological and recognition processes of infrequent and frequent words, respectively, were placed in the context of the dual route model of reading and the specific orthographic features of the Arabic language. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

To elaborate and implement a brochure of reading strategies with a focus on andragogy “Reading is learning” in order to enhance Reading skills in ESL students of the B1+ level of the Language Centre at Universidad Técnica de Ambato, academic period 2015

OpenAIRE

Hidalgo Camacho, Cynthia Soledad

2016-01-01

This research work: to elaborate and to implement a brochure with Reading strategies “Reading is learning”, aims to enhance Reading comprehension in students from the B1+ level of English, at the languages center in Universidad Técnica De Ambato. The students’ population groups found here are adults from 18 to 40 years of age. Although reading can definitely be affected by some personal factors such as formal educational background, frequency of reading, types of texts used, attitude of th...

The Impact of Language Experience on Language and Reading: A Statistical Learning Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Seidenberg, Mark S.; MacDonald, Maryellen C.

2018-01-01

This article reviews the important role of statistical learning for language and reading development. Although statistical learning--the unconscious encoding of patterns in language input--has become widely known as a force in infants' early interpretation of speech, the role of this kind of learning for language and reading comprehension in…

Preservation of memory-based automaticity in reading for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Rawson, Katherine A; Touron, Dayna R

2015-12-01

Concerning age-related effects on cognitive skill acquisition, the modal finding is that older adults do not benefit from practice to the same extent as younger adults in tasks that afford a shift from slower algorithmic processing to faster memory-based processing. In contrast, Rawson and Touron (2009) demonstrated a relatively rapid shift to memory-based processing in the context of a reading task. The current research extended beyond this initial study to provide more definitive evidence for relative preservation of memory-based automaticity in reading tasks for older adults. Younger and older adults read short stories containing unfamiliar noun phrases (e.g., skunk mud) followed by disambiguating information indicating the combination's meaning (either the normatively dominant meaning or an alternative subordinate meaning). Stories were repeated across practice blocks, and then the noun phrases were presented in novel sentence frames in a transfer task. Both age groups shifted from computation to retrieval after relatively few practice trials (as evidenced by convergence of reading times for dominant and subordinate items). Most important, both age groups showed strong evidence for memory-based processing of the noun phrases in the transfer task. In contrast, older adults showed minimal shifting to retrieval in an alphabet arithmetic task, indicating that the preservation of memory-based automaticity in reading was task-specific. Discussion focuses on important implications for theories of memory-based automaticity in general and for specific theoretical accounts of age effects on memory-based automaticity, as well as fruitful directions for future research. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Improving Reading Instruction through Research-Based Instructional Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Nash, Vickie Lynn

2010-01-01

The diverse population of students in grades 1- 3 at a suburban elementary school has created a challenge for teachers when differentiating instruction in reading. The purpose of this doctoral project study was to explore the lived experiences of these teachers as they have acquired research-based instructional strategies in reading that support…

Reading Comprehension in Children with ADHD: Cognitive Underpinnings of the Centrality Deficit

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Amanda C.; Keenan, Janice M.; Betjemann, Rebecca S.; Willcutt, Erik G.; Pennington, Bruce F.; Olson, Richard K.

2013-01-01

We examined reading comprehension in children with ADHD by assessing their ability to build a coherent mental representation that allows them to recall central and peripheral information. We compared children with ADHD (mean age 9.78) to word reading-matched controls (mean age 9.89) on their ability to retell a passage. We found that even though…

The Importance of Intrinsic Motivation for High and Low Ability Readers' Reading Comprehension Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, Sarah; Medford, Emma; Hughes, Naomi

2011-01-01

The study examined how cognitive and motivational factors predicted reading skill and whether intrinsic reading motivation would explain significantly more variance in low ability readers' reading performance. One hundred and eleven children (aged 9-11) completed assessments of reading comprehension skill, verbal IQ, decoding skill and intrinsic…

The contribution of lexical access speed to RAN and reading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Mads

and reading speed in the older age group was still strong after controlling for general speed of processing, but controlling for confrontation picture naming speed reduced the contribution of RAN to only marginally significant. Conclusions: We conclude that RAN-objects relationship with reading speed......Purpose: The study investigated why and when rapid automatised naming is a predictor of reading. Specifically, we tested the hypotheses that (1) RAN-objects predicts reading because it is a measure of lexical (e.g. phonological) access speed, but (2) that RAN only becomes a predictor of reading...... development once a certain level of phonological recoding proficiency has been reached. Method: Forty Danish students without reading difficulties were administered tests of reading speed and accuracy, phoneme awareness, RAN-objects, timed confrontation picture naming, and visio-motor reaction time...

Impact of Animal Assisted Therapy Reading Instruction on Reading Performance of Homeschooled Students

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kelly A.

2010-01-01

While animal assisted therapy (AAT) has been a successful part of treatment plans within the medical field for several decades, AAT has not been quantitatively researched as a viable instructional tool that can be used in conjunction with other reading intervention strategies. With over one-third of elementary school aged children experiencing…

Reading comprehension of deaf students in regular education.

Science.gov (United States)

Luccas, Marcia Regina Zemella; Chiari, Brasília Maria; Goulart, Bárbara Niegia Garcia de

2012-01-01

To evaluate and compare the reading comprehension of deaf students included in regular classrooms of public schools with and without specialized educational support. Observational analytic study with 35 students with sensorineural hearing loss, with and without educational support. All subjects were assessed with the Word Reading Competence Test (WRCT), the Picture-Print Matching Test by Choice (PPMT-C), and the Sentence Reading Comprehension Test (SRCT). In the tests regarding comprehension of words (WRCT and PPMT-C), the results showed no difference in the performance of deaf students who attend and do not attend educational support. Regarding reading comprehension of sentences, the application of the SRCT also did not show differences between the groups of deaf students. A significant correlation was found between age and grade, indicating that the older the students and the higher their educational level, the better their performance in reading sentences. The results indicate that deaf students, regardless of attending educational support, read words better than sentences. There is no difference in reading comprehension between deaf students who receive and do not receive specialized pedagogical monitoring.

The Danish version of the Radner Reading Chart

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munch, Inger Christine; Jørgensen, Astrid Helene Ravn; Radner, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

, variance and number of errors per short text. Results The students read the short texts faster than the blue-collar workers (184 ± 21.4 words per minute (wpm) versus 163 ± 26.3 wpm, p ...Purpose To develop 28 short texts to be used as sentence optotypes in a Danish version of the Radner Reading Chart for the measurement of reading acuity and speed. Method Forty-six short texts of comparable lexical and grammatical difficulty were constructed. The short texts were tested together...... with two longer reference texts in 100 persons with visual acuity 6/6, of which 50 were university students (age: 24.7 ± 3.1 years, 36% males) and 50 were blue-collar workers (37.2 ± 13.4 years, 54% males). Study parameters were mean reading speed and error rate per participant, and mean reading time...

Reading comprehension and reading related abilities in adolescents with reading disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

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Ghelani, Karen; Sidhu, Robindra; Jain, Umesh; Tannock, Rosemary

2004-11-01

Reading comprehension is a very complex task that requires different cognitive processes and reading abilities over the life span. There are fewer studies of reading comprehension relative to investigations of word reading abilities. Reading comprehension difficulties, however, have been identified in two common and frequently overlapping childhood disorders: reading disability (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The nature of reading comprehension difficulties in these groups remains unclear. The performance of four groups of adolescents (RD, ADHD, comorbid ADHD and RD, and normal controls) was compared on reading comprehension tasks as well as on reading rate and accuracy tasks. Adolescents with RD showed difficulties across most reading tasks, although their comprehension scores were average. Adolescents with ADHD exhibited adequate single word reading abilities. Subtle difficulties were observed, however, on measures of text reading rate and accuracy as well as on silent reading comprehension, but scores remained in the average range. The comorbid group demonstrated similar difficulties to the RD group on word reading accuracy and on reading rate but experienced problems on only silent reading comprehension. Implications for reading interventions are outlined, as well as the clinical relevance for diagnosis.

Auditory short-term memory activation during score reading.

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Simoens, Veerle L; Tervaniemi, Mari

2013-01-01

Performing music on the basis of reading a score requires reading ahead of what is being played in order to anticipate the necessary actions to produce the notes. Score reading thus not only involves the decoding of a visual score and the comparison to the auditory feedback, but also short-term storage of the musical information due to the delay of the auditory feedback during reading ahead. This study investigates the mechanisms of encoding of musical information in short-term memory during such a complicated procedure. There were three parts in this study. First, professional musicians participated in an electroencephalographic (EEG) experiment to study the slow wave potentials during a time interval of short-term memory storage in a situation that requires cross-modal translation and short-term storage of visual material to be compared with delayed auditory material, as it is the case in music score reading. This delayed visual-to-auditory matching task was compared with delayed visual-visual and auditory-auditory matching tasks in terms of EEG topography and voltage amplitudes. Second, an additional behavioural experiment was performed to determine which type of distractor would be the most interfering with the score reading-like task. Third, the self-reported strategies of the participants were also analyzed. All three parts of this study point towards the same conclusion according to which during music score reading, the musician most likely first translates the visual score into an auditory cue, probably starting around 700 or 1300 ms, ready for storage and delayed comparison with the auditory feedback.

Costs and Benefits of Orthographic Inconsistency in Reading: Evidence from a Cross-Linguistic Comparison.

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Chiara Valeria Marinelli

Full Text Available We compared reading acquisition in English and Italian children up to late primary school analyzing RTs and errors as a function of various psycholinguistic variables and changes due to experience. Our results show that reading becomes progressively more reliant on larger processing units with age, but that this is modulated by consistency of the language. In English, an inconsistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs earlier on and it is demonstrated by faster RTs, a stronger effect of lexical variables and lack of length effect (by fifth grade. However, not all English children are able to master this mode of processing yielding larger inter-individual variability. In Italian, a consistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs later and it is less pronounced. This is demonstrated by larger length effects which remain significant even in older children and by larger effects of a global factor (related to speed of orthographic decoding explaining changes of performance across ages. Our results show the importance of considering not only overall performance, but inter-individual variability and variability between conditions when interpreting cross-linguistic differences.

The Explicit Instruction of Reading Strategies: Directed Reading Thinking Activity vs. Guided Reading Strategies

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Mohammad Mehdi Yazdani

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Investigating the efficiencies and deficiencies of reading strategies is one of the noticeable issues in the related theory and research in reading comprehension instruction. This study was to examine the impact of Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA and Guided Reading (GR on reading comprehension. Sixty three Iranian students of grade one in Shahed high school in the city of Bojnourd took part in the study. They were assigned in three groups, one control and two experimental groups. The instruction lasted for ten weeks. This study utilized a pretest posttest control group in quantitative quasi- experimental design. The same reading comprehension test was administered as pre-test and post-test. The results were twofold: First, the instruction of learning strategies could foster reading comprehension skill. Second, while the explicit instruction of both strategies could improve the students' reading comprehension skill, Directed Reading Thinking Activity had a more significant positive effect than Guided Reading.

Comorbid ADHD and mental health disorders: are these children more likely to develop reading disorders?

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Levy, Florence; Young, Deidra J; Bennett, Kelly S; Martin, Neilson C; Hay, David A

2013-03-01

While attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with both internalizing and externalizing childhood behaviour disorders, the specific relationship of these comorbid disorders to ADHD and reading problems is less well defined. The present study analysed data from the Australian Twin ADHD Project, which utilized DSM-IV-based ratings of ADHD, separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder for twins and siblings aged 6 to 18 years. While differences between children with and without ADHD were demonstrated for those with separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and a reading disorder, for all age groups, regression analysis of ADHD diagnostic subtypes by age and reading disorder showed that only generalized anxiety disorder remained significant after controlling for ADHD subtypes. Analysis of the mean reading disorder scores in children with and without ADHD showed that children with conduct disorder had significantly more reading problems, as did children with multiple comorbid disorders. In summary, both age and ADHD diagnosis were associated with variations in these comorbid disorders, and multiple comorbid disorders were associated with greater reading impairment.

Colors, colored overlays, and reading skills

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Arcangelo eUccula

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In this article, we are concerned with the role of colors in reading written texts. It has been argued that colored overlays applied above written texts positively influence both reading fluency and reading speed. These effects would be particularly evident for those individuals affected by the so called Meares-Irlen syndrome, i.e. who experience eyestrain and/or visual distortions – e.g. color, shape or movement illusions – while reading. This condition would interest the 12-14% of the general population and up to the 46% of the dyslexic population. Thus, colored overlays have been largely employed as a remedy for some aspects of the difficulties in reading experienced by dyslexic individuals, as fluency and speed. Despite the wide use of colored overlays, how they exert their effects has not been made clear yet. Also, according to some researchers, the results supporting the efficacy of colored overlays as a tool for helping readers are at least controversial. Furthermore, the very nature of the Meares-Irlen syndrome has been questioned. Here we provide a concise, critical review of the literature.

Developmental Relations Between Reading Comprehension and Reading Strategies

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Muijselaar, M.; Swart, N.M.; Steenbeek-Planting, E.G,.; Droop, M.; Verhoeven, L.; de Jong, P.F.

2017-01-01

We examined the developmental relations between knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension in a longitudinal study of 312 Dutch children from the beginning of fourth grade to the end of fifth grade. Measures for reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading fluency, vocabulary,

Evidence for simultaneous syntactic processing of multiple words during reading.

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Joshua Snell

Full Text Available A hotly debated issue in reading research concerns the extent to which readers process parafoveal words, and how parafoveal information might influence foveal word recognition. We investigated syntactic word processing both in sentence reading and in reading isolated foveal words when these were flanked by parafoveal words. In Experiment 1 we found a syntactic parafoveal preview benefit in sentence reading, meaning that fixation durations on target words were decreased when there was a syntactically congruent preview word at the target location (n during the fixation on the pre-target (n-1. In Experiment 2 we used a flanker paradigm in which participants had to classify foveal target words as either noun or verb, when those targets were flanked by syntactically congruent or incongruent words (stimulus on-time 170 ms. Lower response times and error rates in the congruent condition suggested that higher-order (syntactic information can be integrated across foveal and parafoveal words. Although higher-order parafoveal-on-foveal effects have been elusive in sentence reading, results from our flanker paradigm show that the reading system can extract higher-order information from multiple words in a single glance. We propose a model of reading to account for the present findings.

Forecasting Reading Anxiety for Promoting English-Language Reading Performance Based on Reading Annotation Behavior

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Chen, Chih-Ming; Wang, Jung-Ying; Chen, Yong-Ting; Wu, Jhih-Hao

2016-01-01

To reduce effectively the reading anxiety of learners while reading English articles, a C4.5 decision tree, a widely used data mining technique, was used to develop a personalized reading anxiety prediction model (PRAPM) based on individual learners' reading annotation behavior in a collaborative digital reading annotation system (CDRAS). In…

Monocular oral reading after treatment of dense congenital unilateral cataract

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Birch, Eileen E.; Cheng, Christina; Christina, V; Stager, David R.

2010-01-01

Background Good long-term visual acuity outcomes for children with dense congenital unilateral cataracts have been reported following early surgery and good compliance with postoperative amblyopia therapy. However, treated eyes rarely achieve normal visual acuity and there has been no formal evaluation of the utility of the treated eye for reading. Methods Eighteen children previously treated for dense congenital unilateral cataract were tested monocularly with the Gray Oral Reading Test, 4th edition (GORT-4) at 7 to 13 years of age using two passages for each eye, one at grade level and one at +1 above grade level. In addition, right eyes of 55 normal children age 7 to 13 served as a control group. The GORT-4 assesses reading rate, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Results Visual acuity of treated eyes ranged from 0.1 to 2.0 logMAR and of fellow eyes from −0.1 to 0.2 logMAR. Treated eyes scored significantly lower than fellow and normal control eyes on all scales at grade level and at +1 above grade level. Monocular reading rate, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension were correlated with visual acuity of treated eyes (rs = −0.575 to −0.875, p < 0.005). Treated eyes with 0.1-0.3 logMAR visual acuity did not differ from fellow or normal control eyes in rate, accuracy, fluency, or comprehension when reading at grade level or at +1 above grade level. Fellow eyes did not differ from normal controls on any reading scale. Conclusions Excellent visual acuity outcomes following treatment of dense congenital unilateral cataracts are associated with normal reading ability of the treated eye in school-age children. PMID:20603057

Reading aids for adults with low vision.

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Virgili, Gianni; Acosta, Ruthy; Bentley, Sharon A; Giacomelli, Giovanni; Allcock, Claire; Evans, Jennifer R

2018-04-17

The purpose of low-vision rehabilitation is to allow people to resume or to continue to perform daily living tasks, with reading being one of the most important. This is achieved by providing appropriate optical devices and special training in the use of residual-vision and low-vision aids, which range from simple optical magnifiers to high-magnification video magnifiers. To assess the effects of different visual reading aids for adults with low vision. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (2017, Issue 12); MEDLINE Ovid; Embase Ovid; BIREME LILACS, OpenGrey, the ISRCTN registry; ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). The date of the search was 17 January 2018. This review includes randomised and quasi-randomised trials that compared any device or aid used for reading to another device or aid in people aged 16 or over with low vision as defined by the study investigators. We did not compare low-vision aids with no low-vision aid since it is obviously not possible to measure reading speed, our primary outcome, in people that cannot read ordinary print. We considered reading aids that maximise the person's visual reading capacity, for example by increasing image magnification (optical and electronic magnifiers), augmenting text contrast (coloured filters) or trying to optimise the viewing angle or gaze position (such as prisms). We have not included studies investigating reading aids that allow reading through hearing, such as talking books or screen readers, or through touch, such as Braille-based devices and we did not consider rehabilitation strategies or complex low-vision interventions. We used standard methods expected by Cochrane. At least two authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. The primary outcome of the review was reading speed in words per minute. Secondary

Executive functioning predicts reading, mathematics, and theory of mind during the elementary years.

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Cantin, Rachelle H; Gnaedinger, Emily K; Gallaway, Kristin C; Hesson-McInnis, Matthew S; Hund, Alycia M

2016-06-01

The goal of this study was to specify how executive functioning components predict reading, mathematics, and theory of mind performance during the elementary years. A sample of 93 7- to 10-year-old children completed measures of working memory, inhibition, flexibility, reading, mathematics, and theory of mind. Path analysis revealed that all three executive functioning components (working memory, inhibition, and flexibility) mediated age differences in reading comprehension, whereas age predicted mathematics and theory of mind directly. In addition, reading mediated the influence of executive functioning components on mathematics and theory of mind, except that flexibility also predicted mathematics directly. These findings provide important details about the development of executive functioning, reading, mathematics, and theory of mind during the elementary years. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enduring links from childhood mathematics and reading achievement to adult socioeconomic status.

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Ritchie, Stuart J; Bates, Timothy C

2013-07-01

Understanding the determinants of socioeconomic status (SES) is an important economic and social goal. Several major influences on SES are known, yet much of the variance in SES remains unexplained. In a large, population-representative sample from the United Kingdom, we tested the effects of mathematics and reading achievement at age 7 on attained SES by age 42. Mathematics and reading ability both had substantial positive associations with adult SES, above and beyond the effects of SES at birth, and with other important factors, such as intelligence. Achievement in mathematics and reading was also significantly associated with intelligence scores, academic motivation, and duration of education. These findings suggest effects of improved early mathematics and reading on SES attainment across the life span.

Contextual modulation of reading rate for direct versus indirect speech quotations.

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Yao, Bo; Scheepers, Christoph

2011-12-01

In human communication, direct speech (e.g., Mary said: "I'm hungry") is perceived to be more vivid than indirect speech (e.g., Mary said [that] she was hungry). However, the processing consequences of this distinction are largely unclear. In two experiments, participants were asked to either orally (Experiment 1) or silently (Experiment 2, eye-tracking) read written stories that contained either a direct speech or an indirect speech quotation. The context preceding those quotations described a situation that implied either a fast-speaking or a slow-speaking quoted protagonist. It was found that this context manipulation affected reading rates (in both oral and silent reading) for direct speech quotations, but not for indirect speech quotations. This suggests that readers are more likely to engage in perceptual simulations of the reported speech act when reading direct speech as opposed to meaning-equivalent indirect speech quotations, as part of a more vivid representation of the former. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Age and the experience of strong self-conscious emotion.

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Henry, Julie D; von Hippel, William; Nangle, Matthew R; Waters, Michele

2018-04-01

It remains unclear whether there are age-related changes in the experience of strong self-conscious emotion, such as shame, guilt, pride and embarrassment. Because shame and guilt figure prominently in the aetiology of depressive symptoms and other mental health problems, a better understanding of how age affects the strong experience of these two negative self-conscious emotions is of particular importance. Thirty younger, 30 middle-aged and 30 older adults were compared on standardised cognitive assessments, in addition to an interview-based measure that assessed whether there are age differences in the likelihood of strongly experiencing four different types of self-conscious emotion within the past five years (shame, guilt, embarrassment and pride). The three groups did not differ in their likelihood of reporting an event that strongly elicited the positive self-conscious emotion of pride. However, older adults were more likely to report sources of pride that were other (as opposed to self) focused. Older adults were also less likely to report experiencing events that elicited all three negative self-conscious emotions, in particular, shame. Strong negative self-conscious emotion, and in particular shame, appears to be experienced less by older than younger adults.

Focussing on aging : An electrophysiological exploration of spatial and attentional processing during reading

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Gunter, TC; Jackson, JL; Mulder, G

1996-01-01

Three types of selective attention tasks were presented to 24 young (20.5 years) and 24 middle-aged (57.5 years) participants. The major aim of the experiment was to explore three different aspects of selective attention, namely a pre-attentive level (i.e. auditory passive oddball task), an

Reading of kana (phonetic symbols for syllables) in Japanese children with spastic diplegia and periventricular leukomalacia.

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Yokochi, K

2000-01-01

In 31 Japanese children with spastic diplegia and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), the age at which they could read Hiragana (phonetic symbols for syllables) and psychometric data were examined. Reading of Hiragana was achieved between 2 and 8 years of age in all subjects except one. Four children could read Hiragana at 2 to 3 years of age, an age which is considered early among Japanese children. Performance IQs of the Wechsler Scale were lower than Verbal IQs in 18 of 19 children who were administered this test, and DQs of the cognitive adaptive (C-A) area of the K-form developmental test (a popular test in Japan) were lower than those of the language social area in all 12 children taking this test. Among eight children having performance IQs or DQs of C-A less than 50, seven acquired reading ability of Hiragana at 8 years of age or below. A visuoperceptual disorder manifested by diplegic children with PVL does not affect the acquisition of Kana-reading ability.

Functional anatomy of listening and reading comprehension during development.

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Berl, Madison M; Duke, Elizabeth S; Mayo, Jessica; Rosenberger, Lisa R; Moore, Erin N; VanMeter, John; Ratner, Nan Bernstein; Vaidya, Chandan J; Gaillard, William Davis

2010-08-01

Listening and reading comprehension of paragraph-length material are considered higher-order language skills fundamental to social and academic functioning. Using ecologically relevant language stimuli that were matched for difficulty according to developmental level, we analyze the effects of task, age, neuropsychological skills, and post-task performance on fMRI activation and hemispheric laterality. Areas of supramodal language processing are identified, with the most robust region being left-lateralized activation along the superior temporal sulcus. Functionally, this conjunction has a role in semantic and syntactic processing, leading us to refer to this conjunction as "comprehension cortex." Different from adults, supramodal areas for children include less extensive inferior frontal gyrus but more extensive right cerebellum and right temporal pole. Broader neuroanatomical pathways are recruited for reading, reflecting the more active processing and larger set of cognitive demands needed for reading compared to listening to stories. ROI analyses reveal that reading is a less lateralized language task than listening in inferior frontal and superior temporal areas, which likely reflects the difficulty of the task as children in this study are still developing their reading skills. For listening to stories, temporal activation is stable by age four with no correlations with age, neuropsychological skills or post-task performance. In contrast, frontal activation during listening to stories occurs more often in older children, and frontal activation is positively correlated with better performance on comprehension questions, suggesting that the activation of frontal networks may reflect greater integration and depth of story processing. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Influence of Clinical Experience and Photographic Presentation on Age Assessment of Women

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Nielsen, Barbara Rubek; Linneberg, Allan; Christensen, Kaare

2016-01-01

as the presentation of participants. OBJECTIVE: It is not known whether the clinical experience of the assessor or photographic presentation have an influence on the assessment of perceived age, which the present study aimed to investigate. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study of 460 women aged 25-93 years, 10...... body. Intra- and inter-assessor agreements between photographic presentations were similar among both assessor groups. The accuracy in age assessment was significantly influenced by the photographic presentation but not by the clinical experience of the assessor. The difference in the mean perceived...... both facial and whole-body photographs. A regression towards the mean age was seen. CONCLUSION: The assessment of perceived age was influenced by the photographic presentation but not by the clinical experience of the assessor....

Inter-observer variability of visual analysis of "stress"-only adenosine first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging in relation to clinical experience and reading criteria

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Lubbers, D. D.; Kuijpers, D.; Bodewes, R.; Kappert, P.; Kerkhof, M.; van Ooijen, P. M. A.; Oudkerk, M.

To assess the inter-observer agreement of adenosine "stress"-only visual analysis of perfusion MR images in relation to experience and reading criteria. 106 adenosine perfusion MR examinations out of 350, 46 consecutive positive examinations and 60 randomly selected negative examinations were

Confrontation Naming and Reading Abilities at Primary School: A Longitudinal Study

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Chiara Luoni

2015-01-01

naming (i.e., the Boston Naming Test (BNT in a nonclinical sample of Italian primary school children was conducted (n=126, testing them at the end of each school year, to assess nonverbal intelligence, confrontation naming, and reading abilities. Results. Performance on the BNT emerged as a function of IQ and SES. Significant correlations between confrontation naming and reading abilities, especially comprehension, were found; BNT scores correlated better with reading fluency than with reading accuracy. Conclusions. The longitudinal data obtained in this study are discussed with regard to reading abilities, intelligence, age, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Alexithymia predicts lower reading frequency : The mediating roles of mentalising ability and reading attitude

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Samur, Dalya; Luminet, Olivier; Koole, Sander L.

2017-01-01

Some people may avoid reading because they lack the capacity and the motivation to understand the inner thoughts and feelings of the narrator and the characters in a text. Such mentalising problems are associated with alexithymia, a personality dimension that describes individuals who experience

The illness experience of middle-aged men with oral cancer.

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Cheng, Ching-Hui; Wang, Tsae-Jyy; Lin, Yu-Ping; Lin, Hung-Ru; Hu, Wen-Yu; Wung, Shin-Huey; Liang, Shu-Yuan

2013-12-01

To explore the essence of the illness experiences of middle-aged men with oral cancer. Having oral cancer creates great challenges in the lives of middle-aged men and their families. Understanding patients' experiences provides a sound basis for patient-centred and individualised care. Research is limited regarding the illness experience of middle-aged men with oral cancer with regard to facing both the invasion of disease and the responsibilities of middle age. A phenomenology approach was used. Nine men diagnosed with oral cancer within one year were recruited during 2009 and 2010. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews and analysed using Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis procedures. The following five themes emerged from the patterns of categorised interview data: the psychological journey in facing oral cancer, the question of how patients can control their disease as well as the sequelae of cancer treatment, the continuous disturbance and turmoil resulting from the disease, the appreciation of the support from family and friends, and the ability to learn to actively face the future. Patients with oral cancer experienced tremendous physical, psychosocial and financial challenges. Although burdened with multiple stressors, these middle-aged men were able to learn from their experiences and exhibit positive growth in life. Patients with oral cancer have to constantly adjust to the impact of their disease. The study results may serve as a reference for improving clinical practice and the quality of care among patients with oral cancer. Cancer care is multidimensional and holistic. Healthcare professionals should develop a set of plans by which patients receive complete medical care and support, as well as assistance from professionals and family members, as their treatment progresses to help patients face the challenges of cancer. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sex, Age, and Emotional Valence: Revealing Possible Biases in the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Task

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Jana Kynast

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ test (RMET assesses a specific socio-cognitive ability, i.e., the ability to identify mental states from gaze. The development of this ability in a lifespan perspective is of special interest. Whereas former investigations were limited mainly to childhood and adolescence, the focus has been shifted towards aging, and psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases recently. Although the RMET is frequently applied in developmental psychology and clinical settings, stimulus characteristics have never been investigated with respect to potential effects on test performance. Here, we analyzed the RMET stimulus set with a special focus on interrelations between sex, age and emotional valence. Forty-three persons rated age and emotional valence of the RMET picture set. Differences in emotional valence and age ratings between male and female items were analyzed. The linear relation between age and emotional valence was tested over all items, and separately for male and female items. Male items were rated older and more negative than female stimuli. Regarding male RMET items, age predicted emotional valence: older age was associated with negative emotions. Contrary, age and valence were not linearly related in female pictures. All ratings were independent of rater characteristics. Our results demonstrate a strong confound between sex, age, and emotional valence in the RMET. Male items presented a greater variability in age ratings compared to female items. Age and emotional valence were negatively associated among male items, but no significant association was found among female stimuli. As personal attributes impact social information processing, our results may add a new perspective on the interpretation of previous findings on interindividual differences in RMET accuracy, particularly in the field of developmental psychology, and age-associated neuropsychiatric diseases. A revision of the RMET might be afforded to

Sex, Age, and Emotional Valence: Revealing Possible Biases in the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Task

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Kynast, Jana; Schroeter, Matthias L.

2018-01-01

The ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ test (RMET) assesses a specific socio-cognitive ability, i.e., the ability to identify mental states from gaze. The development of this ability in a lifespan perspective is of special interest. Whereas former investigations were limited mainly to childhood and adolescence, the focus has been shifted towards aging, and psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases recently. Although the RMET is frequently applied in developmental psychology and clinical settings, stimulus characteristics have never been investigated with respect to potential effects on test performance. Here, we analyzed the RMET stimulus set with a special focus on interrelations between sex, age and emotional valence. Forty-three persons rated age and emotional valence of the RMET picture set. Differences in emotional valence and age ratings between male and female items were analyzed. The linear relation between age and emotional valence was tested over all items, and separately for male and female items. Male items were rated older and more negative than female stimuli. Regarding male RMET items, age predicted emotional valence: older age was associated with negative emotions. Contrary, age and valence were not linearly related in female pictures. All ratings were independent of rater characteristics. Our results demonstrate a strong confound between sex, age, and emotional valence in the RMET. Male items presented a greater variability in age ratings compared to female items. Age and emotional valence were negatively associated among male items, but no significant association was found among female stimuli. As personal attributes impact social information processing, our results may add a new perspective on the interpretation of previous findings on interindividual differences in RMET accuracy, particularly in the field of developmental psychology, and age-associated neuropsychiatric diseases. A revision of the RMET might be afforded to overcome confounds

Oral Health and Aging

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Child-centered reading intervention: See, talk, dictate, read, write!

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Muhammet BAŞTUĞ

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Poor reading achievement of children in elementary schools has been one of the major concerns in education. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a child-centered reading intervention in eliminating the reading problems of a student with poor reading achievement. The research was conducted with a student having difficulty in reading. A reading intervention was designed that targeted multiple areas of reading and aimed to improve reading skills through the use of multiple strategies. This intervention is child-centered and includes visual aids, talking, dictating, reading and writing stages. The study was performed in 35 sessions consisting of stages of a single sentence (5 sessions, two sentences (5 sessions, three sentences (20 sessions and the text stage (5 sessions. The intervention sessions were audio-taped. These recordings and the written responses to the reading comprehension questions provided the data for analysis. The findings on the reading intervention revealed positive outcomes. The student exhibited certain improvements at the levels of reading, reading rate and reading comprehension. These results were discussed in the literature and the findings suggest that child-centered reading strategies such as talking, dictating and writing should be the main focus of instruction for students with low reading literacy achievement to enable these students to meet the demands of the curriculum.

Predictors of Reading Comprehension for Struggling Readers: The Case of Spanish Speaking Language Minority Learners

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Mancilla-Martinez, Jeannette; Lesaux, Nonie K.

2010-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the process of English reading comprehension at age 11 years for 173 low-achieving Spanish-speaking children. The influence of growth rates, from early childhood (age 4.5 years) to pre-adolescence (age 11 years), in vocabulary and word reading skills on this complex process were evaluated with structural equation…

Troubled reading: ‘Sonny’s blues’ and empathy

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Eva Kowalska

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article uses a discussion of Baldwin’s short story ‘Sonny’s blues’ as a means of exploring reading and approaches to drug literature. It considers the possibility of understanding Baldwin’s fictional text as a statement on reading social as well as subjective ‘problems’ as universal across contexts. Using conclusions gleaned from a detailed reading of the primary text, as well as the contributions of others to the field, it argues for the importance of reading, as audience and as scholars, with the capacity to allow for the transformation of problematic subjective experience such as drug addiction into artistic expression with value beyond its initial context.

Attention in Relation to Coding and Planning in Reading

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Mahapatra, Shamita

2015-01-01

A group of 50 skilled readers and a group of 50 less-skilled readers of Grade 5 matched for age and intelligence and selected on the basis of their proficiency in reading comprehension were tested for their competence in word reading and the processes of attention, simultaneous coding, successive coding and planning at three levels, i.e.,…

Syntactic comprehension in reading and listening: a study with French children with dyslexia.

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Casalis, Séverine; Leuwers, Christel; Hilton, Heather

2013-01-01

This study examined syntactic comprehension in French children with dyslexia in both listening and reading. In the first syntactic comprehension task, a partial version of the Epreuve de Compréhension syntaxico-sémantique (ECOSSE test; French adaptation of Bishop's test for receptive grammar test) children with dyslexia performed at a lower level in the written but not in the spoken modality, compared to reading age-matched children, suggesting a difficulty in handling syntax while reading. In the second task, syntactic processing was further explored through a test of relative clause processing, in which inflectional markers could aid in attributing roles to the elements in a complex syntactic structure. Children with dyslexia were insensitive to inflectional markers in both reading and listening, as was the reading age control group, while only the older normal reader group appeared to make use of the inflectional markers. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that difficulties in comprehension in dyslexia are strongly related to poor reading skills.

Reading visual braille with a retinal prosthesis.

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Lauritzen, Thomas Z; Harris, Jordan; Mohand-Said, Saddek; Sahel, Jose A; Dorn, Jessy D; McClure, Kelly; Greenberg, Robert J

2012-01-01

Retinal prostheses, which restore partial vision to patients blinded by outer retinal degeneration, are currently in clinical trial. The Argus II retinal prosthesis system was recently awarded CE approval for commercial use in Europe. While retinal prosthesis users have achieved remarkable visual improvement to the point of reading letters and short sentences, the reading process is still fairly cumbersome. This study investigates the possibility of using an epiretinal prosthesis to stimulate visual braille as a sensory substitution for reading written letters and words. The Argus II retinal prosthesis system, used in this study, includes a 10 × 6 electrode array implanted epiretinally, a tiny video camera mounted on a pair of glasses, and a wearable computer that processes the video and determines the stimulation current of each electrode in real time. In the braille reading system, individual letters are created by a subset of dots from a 3 by 2 array of six dots. For the visual braille experiment, a grid of six electrodes was chosen out of the 10 × 6 Argus II array. Groups of these electrodes were then directly stimulated (bypassing the camera) to create visual percepts of individual braille letters. Experiments were performed in a single subject. Single letters were stimulated in an alternative forced choice (AFC) paradigm, and short 2-4-letter words were stimulated (one letter at a time) in an open-choice reading paradigm. The subject correctly identified 89% of single letters, 80% of 2-letter, 60% of 3-letter, and 70% of 4-letter words. This work suggests that text can successfully be stimulated and read as visual braille in retinal prosthesis patients.

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH IINTERACTIVE READ-ALOUD TECHNIQUE

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Edi Santoso

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The present study, entitled Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension through Interactive Read-Aloud, attempts to unlock problems found in teaching and reading comprehension through interactive read-aloud in a Senior High School of Sport (SMAN Olah Raga Lampung, in Metro. The findings revealed that students’ reading comprehension improved through interactive read-aloud. The improvement can be seen from the increase of test results, meaning construction, and motivation. The process of reading activities showed that the teacher’s gesture and body language, 20 questions, explain and guess activities were proven to help the students construct meaning from the given texts. In addition, interactive read-aloud is effective to boost students’ motivation to comprehend the texts.   Key words: Reading comprehension, interactive read-aloud.

Reading faster

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Paul Nation

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article describes the visual nature of the reading process as it relates to reading speed. It points out that there is a physical limit on normal reading speed and beyond this limit the reading process will be different from normal reading where almost every word is attended to. The article describes a range of activities for developing reading fluency, and suggests how the development of fluency can become part of a reading programme.

The Effectiveness of Dialogic Reading in Increasing English Language Learning Preschool Children's Expressive Language

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Brannon, Diana; Dauksas, Linda

2014-01-01

The effectiveness of dialogic reading in increasing the literacy interactions between English language learning parents (ELL) and their preschool aged children and children's expressive language development were studied. Twenty-one ELL parents of preschool aged children received dialogic reading training every other week for a ten-week period.…

The Comparative Effect of Collaborative Strategic Reading and Content-Based Instruction on EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

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Mania Nosratinia

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The present study was an attempt to compare the effect of teaching Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR and Content-Based Instruction (CBI on the reading comprehension of English as a Foreign Language (EFL learners. To fullfill this objective, a group of 90 intermediate female EFL learners, within the age range of 17 to 19, took a piloted sample of the PET as a pre-treatment proficiency test. Sixty of them were selected as homogeneous learners and were randomly divided into two experimental groups of CSR and CBI. The CSR group receieved CSR strategy training based on Klingner, Vaughan, and Schumm's model (2001, while the CBI group receieved CBI-based strategy training, using Tsai and Shang's (2010 model. At the end of the training, another piloted PET reading test was administered  as the posttest. The pre-treatment reading scores were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test whose results confirmed the pre-treatment homogeneity of the participants. The post-treatment scores were also analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test whose results indicated no significant difference in the reading posttest levels of CBI and CSR groups, U = 423.5, z = -.401, p = .688, r = -.0517. The article concludes with a discussion on the results and presenting some implications.

Theory of mind in emerging reading comprehension: A longitudinal study of early indirect and direct effects.

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Atkinson, Lynette; Slade, Lance; Powell, Daisy; Levy, Joseph P

2017-12-01

The relation between children's theory of mind (ToM) and emerging reading comprehension was investigated in a longitudinal study over 2.5years. A total of 80 children were tested for ToM, decoding, language skills, and executive function (EF) at Time 1 (mean age=3;10 [years;months]). At Time 2 (mean age=6;03), children's word reading efficiency, language skills, and reading comprehension were measured. Mediation analysis showed that ToM at Time 1, when children were around 4years old, indirectly predicted Time 2 reading comprehension, when children were 6years old, via language ability after controlling for age, nonverbal ability, decoding, EF, and earlier language ability. Importantly, ToM at 4years also directly predicted reading comprehension 2.5years later at 6years. This is the first longitudinal study to show a direct contribution of ToM to reading comprehension in typical development. Findings are discussed in terms of the simple view of reading (SVR); ToM not only supports reading comprehension indirectly by facilitating language but also contributes to it directly over and above the SVR. The potential role of metacognition is considered when accounting for the direct contribution of early ToM to later reading comprehension. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Docosahexaenoic acid for reading, working memory and behavior in UK children aged 7-9: A randomized controlled trial for replication (the DOLAB II study).

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Montgomery, Paul; Spreckelsen, Thees F; Burton, Alice; Burton, Jennifer R; Richardson, Alexandra J

2018-01-01

Omega-3 fatty acids are central to brain-development of children. Evidence from clinical trials and systematic reviews demonstrates the potential of long-chain Omega-3 supplementation for learning and behavior. However, findings are inconclusive and in need of robust replication studies since such work is lacking. Replication of the 2012 DOLAB 1 study findings that a dietary supplementation with the long-chain omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) had beneficial effects on the reading, working memory, and behavior of healthy schoolchildren. Parallel group, fixed-dose, randomized (minimization, 30% random element), double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (RCT). Mainstream primary schools (n = 84) from five counties in the UK in 2012-2015. Healthy children aged 7-9 underperforming in reading (reading, working memory, and behavior, parent-rated and as secondary outcome teacher-rated. 376 children were randomized. Reading, working memory, and behavior change scores showed no consistent differences between intervention and placebo group. Some behavioral subscales showed minor group differences. This RCT did not replicate results of the earlier DOLAB 1 study on the effectiveness of nutritional supplementation with DHA for learning and behavior. Possible reasons are discussed, particularly regarding the replication of complex interventions. www.controlled-trials.com (ISRCTN48803273) and protocols.io (https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.k8kczuw).

Reading Comprehension Difficulties in Chinese-English Bilingual Children.

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Tong, Xiuhong; McBride, Catherine; Shu, Hua; Ho, Connie Suk-Han

2018-02-01

The co-occurrence of reading comprehension difficulties for first language (L1) Chinese and second language (L2) English and associated longitudinal cognitive-linguistic correlates in each language were investigated. Sixteen poor comprehenders in English and 16 poor comprehenders in Chinese, 18 poor readers in both, and 18 children with normal performance in both were identified at age 10. The prevalence rate for being poor in both was 52.94%, suggesting that approximately half of children who are at risk for Chinese reading comprehension difficulty are also at risk for English reading comprehension difficulty. Chinese word reading, phonological, and morphological awareness were longitudinal correlates of poor comprehension in Chinese. English word reading and vocabulary were longitudinal correlates of poor comprehension in English. Chinese phonological awareness was an additional correlate of poor comprehension in English. Moreover, poor comprehenders in both Chinese and English showed slower rapid automatized naming scores than the other groups. Findings highlight some factors that might be critical for reading comprehension in L1 Chinese and L2 English; fluency is likely to be a critical part of reading comprehension across languages. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.