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Sample records for vocabulary reading writing

  1. The Effects of Pre-Learning Vocabulary on Reading Comprehension and Writing

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    Webb, Stuart A.

    2009-01-01

    This study investigates the effects of pre-learning vocabulary on reading comprehension and writing. Japanese students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) learned word pairs receptively and productively; four tests were used to measure reading comprehension, writing, and receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. The findings suggest…

  2. Investigating an Intervention Program Linking Writing and Vocabulary Development for Homeless Children

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    Richard Sinatra

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The presented study investigated the effects of a four-week academic and activity – enriched summer program on vocabulary development and writing achievement of homeless children residing in traditional shelter facilities. When compared to controls the experimental students did not reveal gains in vocabulary and spelling as measured by two norm referenced tests. They did however demonstrate highly significant gains in writing ability based on the New York State standards criteria, reflecting five qualities of writing. On two project-developed instruments designed to measure improvement in book vocabulary and tennis skills, they showed significant increases based on analyses of their pre- and posttest scores. The program closed achievement gaps, fulfilled standards criteria, and may be the first of its kind in the homeless literature whereby students’ writing development was compared to matched controls as vocabulary development occurred based on literary readings.

  3. IV. NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (CB): measuring language (vocabulary comprehension and reading decoding).

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    Gershon, Richard C; Slotkin, Jerry; Manly, Jennifer J; Blitz, David L; Beaumont, Jennifer L; Schnipke, Deborah; Wallner-Allen, Kathleen; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Gleason, Jean Berko; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Adams, Marilyn Jager; Weintraub, Sandra

    2013-08-01

    Mastery of language skills is an important predictor of daily functioning and health. Vocabulary comprehension and reading decoding are relatively quick and easy to measure and correlate highly with overall cognitive functioning, as well as with success in school and work. New measures of vocabulary comprehension and reading decoding (in both English and Spanish) were developed for the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (CB). In the Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test (TPVT), participants hear a spoken word while viewing four pictures, and then must choose the picture that best represents the word. This approach tests receptive vocabulary knowledge without the need to read or write, removing the literacy load for children who are developing literacy and for adults who struggle with reading and writing. In the Toolbox Oral Reading Recognition Test (TORRT), participants see a letter or word onscreen and must pronounce or identify it. The examiner determines whether it was pronounced correctly by comparing the response to the pronunciation guide on a separate computer screen. In this chapter, we discuss the importance of language during childhood and the relation of language and brain function. We also review the development of the TPVT and TORRT, including information about the item calibration process and results from a validation study. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of the measures are discussed. © 2013 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  4. Science and Literacy: Incorporating Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Research Methods, and Writing into the Science Curriculum

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    Nieser, K.; Carlson, C.; Bering, E. A.; Slagle, E.

    2012-12-01

    Part of preparing the next generation of STEM researchers requires arming these students with the requisite literacy and research skills they will need. In a unique collaboration, the departments of Physics (ECE) and Psychology at the University of Houston have teamed up with NASA in a grant to develop a supplemental curriculum for elementary (G3-5) and middle school (G6-8) science teachers called Mars Rover. During this six week project, students work in teams to research the solar system, the planet Mars, design a research mission to Mars, and create a model Mars Rover to carry out this mission. Targeted Language Arts skills are embedded in each lesson so that students acquire the requisite academic vocabulary and research skills to enable them to successfully design their Mars Rover. Students learn academic and scientific vocabulary using scientifically based reading research. They receive direct instruction in research techniques, note-taking, summarizing, writing and other important language skills. The interdisciplinary collaboration empowers students as readers, writers and scientists. After the curriculum is completed, a culminating Mars Rover event is held at a local university, bringing students teams in contact with real-life scientists who critique their work, ask questions, and generate excite about STEM careers. Students have the opportunity to showcase their Mars Rover and to orally demonstrate their knowledge of Mars. Students discover the excitement of scientific research, STEM careers, important research and writing tools in a practical, real-life setting.

  5. INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING THROUGH READING

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    Holly Warzecha, M.A. TESOL

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the following paper is to take a closer look at the benefits of incidental learning through reading, with a specific focus on vocabulary acquisition. The teaching of vocabulary has traditionally been an explicit process where the target vocabulary is taken out of context and taught separately. However, this kind of explicit teaching and learning may only take into account a form-meaning connection. Therefore, this paper explores research on incidental learning and specifically looks at what it takes to acquire new vocabulary incidentally through reading while considering the coverage rates of texts, how many words must be known already from the text, how many repetitions it takes to learn a word, types of texts that promote learning, and the effects of pairing students‘ reading with learner tasks. After reviewing many studies, it can be concluded that more reading is better. More specifically, extensive reading of chosen novels at an appropriate level and interest to the students showed important gains in vocabulary. In addition, readings that were supplemented with additional activities that focused on both form and meaning showed an even higher increase in word retention.

  6. Linguistic, reading, and transcription influences on kindergarten writing in children with English as a second language

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    Gina L. Harrison, Keira C. Ogle & Megan Keilty

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The contribution of linguistic, reading, and transcription processes to writing in kindergarten English as a second language (ESL children and their native-English speaking peers (EL1 were examined. ESL and EL1 performed similarly on one of the two measures of phonological awareness (PA and on measures of early reading, spelling, and writing. EL1 outperformed ESL on a pseudoword repetition task and on the English vocabulary and syntactic knowledge tasks. ESL outperformed EL1 on a writing fluency measure. Correlation and hierarchical regression results varied as a function of the writing tasks (procedural or generative and language status. Across language groups, writing tasks that captured children's developing graphophonemic knowledge were associated with a breadth of cognitive, linguistic, and early literacy skills. PA, reading, and transcription skills, but not oral vocabulary and syntactic knowledge contributed the most variance to writing irrespective of language status. The results suggest that parallel component skills and processes underlie ESL and EL1 children's early writing when formal literacy instruction begins in kindergarten even though ESL children are developing English oral and literacy proficiency simultaneously.

  7. The Impact of Vocabulary Enhancement Activities on Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention among Male and Female EFL Learners in Iran

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    Sharafi-Nejad, Maryam; Raftari, Shohreh; Bijami, Maryam; Khavari, Zahra; Ismail, Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed; Eng, Lin Siew

    2014-01-01

    In general, incidental vocabulary acquisition is represented as the "picking up" of new vocabularies when students are engaged in a variety of reading, listening, speaking, or writing activities. Research has shown when learners read extensively incidental vocabulary acquisition happens. Many EFL students cannot be involved in reading…

  8. Vocabulary Growth in College-Level Students’ Narrative Writing

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    Hicham ZYAD

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The nature and size of vocabulary significantly determine quality in a given piece of writing. It therefore follows that an extensive vocabulary repertoire is a key factor to success in academic life. Most certainly, this explains the vast amount of scholarly attention that has been invested in this line of research. In this regard, a wide array of studies have provided evidence suggesting that human assessors of writing quality are substantially influenced by the range and sophistication of the vocabulary used by L2 learners. The studies that offered such evidence used different measurement tools to evaluate the nature and/or size of L2 learners’ vocabulary. However, very few studies have attempted to chart vocabulary knowledge across different college-level proficiency levels in narrative writing productions in the Moroccan context. To contribute to this debate, the present study aims to investigate university L2 learners’ vocabulary knowledge across three proficiency levels from two post-secondary institutions. More specifically, this cross-sectional study operationalized vocabulary knowledge in terms of diversity and sophistication in order to chart growth in the lexical repertoire of 90 participants. Data analysis showed that the participants displayed different levels of vocabulary knowledge. In terms of lexical diversity, second-year students’ vocabulary was as diverse as third-year students but it was not as sophisticated. Nonetheless, sophistication did not differentiate first- and second-year students but it did differentiate between second- and third-year students. Additionally, diversity and sophistication were both good markers of difference between first- and second-year students. The implications of the findings will be discussed.

  9. The Impact of Gloss Types on Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary Gain and Vocabulary Retention: A Comparative Study

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    Atefeh Elekaei

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The significance and impact of vocabulary learning in reading comprehension and L2 language learning are apparent to teachers, researchers and language learners. Moreover, glosses are found as one of the most effective strategies regarding vocabulary retention. Therefore, the present study attempted to investigate the effect of different types of glosses on reading comprehension, vocabulary gain and vocabulary retention. To this end, 140 Iranian EFL learners learning English were selected and were divided into four groups (footnote gloss group, interlinear gloss group, marginal gloss group, and glossary group. They were required to read a text and answer four reading comprehension questions. In addition, one immediate vocabulary post-test and one delayed vocabulary post-test were taken in order to investigate learners' vocabulary gain and vocabulary retention. In order to analyze the data, one one-way ANOVA and one MANOVA were run. The results of one-way ANOVA revealed that participants who received interlinear glosses significantly outperformed the other groups regarding comprehending the text. Moreover, the immediate vocabulary post-test was conducted immediately after reading test and the delayed post-test was administered after four weeks. The results of MANOVA indicated that the group which received interlinear glosses outperformed the other groups in both vocabulary gain and vocabulary retention. The present study has implications for teachers and learners. Teachers can find better methods to teach new reading passages as well as vocabulary items. Also, glosses help learners to have a better comprehension of difficult passages and they facilitate learning. Moreover, learners can enhance their vocabulary knowledge with the help of glosses.

  10. The Impact of Vocabulary Knowledge Level on EFL Reading Comprehension

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    Shima Kameli

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The present study examined the impact of vocabulary knowledge level on reading comprehension performance among EFL language learners. The ultimate intention was to determine the association between levels of vocabulary knowledge and to clarify the relationship among vocabulary knowledge on reading comprehension performance of EFL Iranian students on subtest of VLT and IELTS. Quantitative data were collected from 220 EFL Iranian adult students at the beginning of second semester of 2011 in private English language institute (BAHAR, Shiraz, Iran. The Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT and Reading Comprehension Test (IELTS were performed in one session as research instruments. The findings indicated that there were positive relationships among different levels of vocabulary test and also test scores on vocabulary size/breadth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension.

  11. The Integration of Vocabulary and Effective Sentence Mastery towards Students’ Argumentative Writing Skills

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    Tien Rafida

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The aims of this result to reveal the integrated of vocabulary and effective sentence mastery against the argumentation writing skill students’ PBI-SU FITK UIN the hypothesis proposed in this results are : (1 vocabulary mastery contribute to the argument to the arguments writing skill of students; (2 effective sentence mastery contribute to the argument writing skill of student; (3 vocabulary mastery and effective sentence mastery together contribute to the argument writing skill of students. This result uses a quantitative approach. The population in this study is PBI UIN-SU as many as 6 classes. As for the samples in this result are students of class II. By using cluster random sampling, obtained a sample of 140 students. The instrument used is a test. These results indicate that: (1 vocabulary mastery contributed positively and significantly to the argument essay writing skills of students. The amount of contribution is 18.4%; (2 Effective sentence mastery contribute positively and significantly to the argument essay writing skills of students. The amount of contribution is 11.7%; (3 mastery of vocabulary and mastery of effective sentences together contributed positively and significantly to the argument essay writing skills of students. The major contribution is 26.5%; (4 mastering vocabulary to effectively contribute by 16.39% against the argument essay writing skills of students; (5 Mastery effective sentence effectively contribute 13.11% against the argument essay writing skills of students. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that the vocabulary and mastery of effective sentences are the two factors that influence the argument essay writing skills of students in addition to other factors. Therefore, the researchers suggest to all parties concerned to pay more attention to these two factors so that students' skills in essay writing can be further improved.

  12. Relationship between Vocabulary Size and Reading Comprehension Levels of Malaysian Tertiary Students

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    Angelina Wan Lin Tan

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary size and reading comprehension performance among students in a tertiary institution in a Malaysian context and examined the vocabulary size required for students to achieve reading comprehension at various levels of proficiency. The research questions that guided this study were: 1 What is the vocabulary size of second year diploma students studying Mass Communication?; 2 What is the reading comprehension proficiency of second year diploma students studying Mass Communication?; and 3 What vocabulary size is required for different levels of reading comprehension proficiency? This study used the quantitative approach. The participants were 53 Malaysian second-year students at a private university college in Malaysia who were reading for their Diploma in Mass Communication. The instruments used were the Vocabulary Size Test and the IELTS Reading Test (Academic Module. The findings showed that the average vocabulary size of the students was just over 6000 word families and this vocabulary size was generally insufficient for adequate reading comprehension. Students needed an average vocabulary size of about 8000 word families to achieve adequate reading comprehension and about 10000 word families to achieve proficient reading comprehension. Based on the individual student’s performance, this study did not find a linear relationship between vocabulary size and reading comprehension performance, nor was there a threshold vocabulary size for adequate reading comprehension.

  13. Reading and Writing as Academic Literacy in EAP Program of Indonesian Leaners

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    Imroatus Solikhah

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates academic literacy imposed in reading and writing for academic purposes in the EAP program. This study uses descriptive design elaborating data from curriculum documents and interviews.  Involving 45 participants from IAIN Surakarta and Veteran University, data were analyzed using constant-comparison and inductive analysis tecniques. The study diseovers that academic literacy is prominent to serve and recently it has been the growing learning outcomes universities should provide besides discipline and experise. Academic literacy in EAP program is embedded into academic vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing for academic purposes.  Consequently, academic literacy should be incurred in the curriculum, syllabus, aims and objectives, and teaching materials.

  14. Reading is FUNdamental: The effect of a reading programme on vocabulary development in a high poverty township school

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    Scheepers, Ruth

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the development of the vocabulary of grade 7 learners in a reading project currently underway at a school in Atteridgeville, a township on the outskirts of Pretoria. A library has been established at the school and teachers throughout the school attend workshops designed to heighten their awareness of the value of reading and the importance of vocabulary, and to provide them with strategies to facilitate the development of reading. This paper focuses on the vocabulary development of grade 7 learners – they are in the senior phase of primary school and will soon be entering high school where they will be faced with more academic vocabulary in context-reduced textbooks. Learners’ vocabulary was tested early in the year and then again towards the end to assess whether increased access to books and reading had had an effect on vocabulary growth. Results revealed that learners at the project school showed a lack of vocabulary, even at the end of the study period, not only in terms of academic words but also high frequency words. Extensive reading alone is clearly not enough – learners need explicit vocabulary instruction: in order to read successfully at high school level, learners need a working knowledge of academic vocabulary, and this knowledge is developed by reading – but learners cannot read successfully without an adequate basic high-frequency vocabulary.

  15. Vocabulary and syntactic knowledge factors in 5th grade students’ reading comprehension

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    Kouider Mokhtari

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available In this study, we examined 5th grade students’ levels of vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness relative to their reading comprehension performance. The aim was to explore the contributions of vocabulary and syntactic awareness as potential sources of reading comprehension difficulty for these readers. Overall, we found that both vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness contributed in significant yet unique ways to students’ reading comprehension performance. Students who showed weaknesses in vocabulary and syntax also performed poorly on measures of reading comprehension. Additionally, we found that syntactic awareness explained a small amount of additional variance in reading comprehension beyond what was explained by vocabulary. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of research and practice addressing the relationships among syntax, vocabulary, and reading comprehension for more and less skilled readers.

  16. Write to read: the brain's universal reading and writing network.

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    Perfetti, Charles A; Tan, Li-Hai

    2013-02-01

    Do differences in writing systems translate into differences in the brain's reading network? Or is this network universal, relatively impervious to variation in writing systems? A new study adds intriguing evidence to these questions by showing that reading handwritten words activates a pre-motor area across writing systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. VOCABULARY LEARNING IN AN AUTOMATED GRADED READING PROGRAM

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    Hsien-Chin Liou

    2007-02-01

    Full Text Available Adult L2 learners are often encouraged to acquire new words through reading in order to promote language proficiency. Yet preparing suitable reading texts is often a challenge for teachers because the chosen texts must have a high percentage of words familiar to specific groups of learners in order to allow the inference of word meanings from context. With the help of word lists research and advances in quantitative corpus analyses using word frequency computer programs, this study selected sixteen articles from the computer corpus of a local Chinese-English magazine and used them to construct an online English extensive reading program. A preliminary assessment of the reading program was conducted with 38 college students over twelve weeks based upon vocabulary gains from a pretest to a posttest. The results showed that learners improved their vocabulary scores after using the reading program. The online extensive reading syllabus demonstrated that such a design for a reading program is technically feasible and pedagogically beneficial and provides value in both vocabulary gains and learner satisfaction.

  18. 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.

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

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    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.

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

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    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…

  1. We learn to write by reading, but writing can make you smarter We learn to write by reading, but writing can make you smarter

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    Stephen Krashen

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available My goal in this paper is to make Iwo points: Writing style does not come from writing or from direct instruction, but from reading. Actual writing can help us solve problems and can make us smarter. Writing Style Comes from Readino, A substantial amount of research strongly suggests that we learn to write by reading. To be more precise, we acquire writing style, the special language of writing, by reading. Hypothesizing that writing style comes from reading, not from writing or instniction, is consistent with what is known about language acquisition: Most of language acquisition lakes place subconsciously, not through deliberate study, and it is a result of input (comprehension, not output (production (Krashen, 1982. My goal in this paper is to make Iwo points: Writing style does not come from writing or from direct instruction, but from reading. Actual writing can help us solve problems and can make us smarter. Writing Style Comes from Readino, A substantial amount of research strongly suggests that we learn to write by reading. To be more precise, we acquire writing style, the special language of writing, by reading. Hypothesizing that writing style comes from reading, not from writing or instniction, is consistent with what is known about language acquisition: Most of language acquisition lakes place subconsciously, not through deliberate study, and it is a result of input (comprehension, not output (production (Krashen, 1982.

  2. We learn to write by reading, but writing can make you smarter We learn to write by reading, but writing can make you smarter

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    Stephen Krashen

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available My goal in this paper is to make two points: 1. Writing style does not come from writing or from direct instruction, but from reading. 2. Actual writing can help us solve problems and can make us smarter. Writing Style Comes from Reading A substantial amount of research slrongly suggests that wc learn to write by reading. To be more precise, wc acquire writing style, the special language of writing, by reading. Hypothesizing that writing style comes from reading, not from writing or instruction, is consistent with what is known about language acquisition: Most of language acquisition takes place subconsciously, not through deliberate study, and it is a result of input (comprehension, not output (production (Krashen, 1982. Thus, if you wrile a page a day, your writing style or your command of mechanics will not improve. On Ihe other hand, other good things may result from your writing, as we shall see in the second section of this paper. My goal in this paper is to make two points: 1. Writing style does not come from writing or from direct instruction, but from reading. 2. Actual writing can help us solve problems and can make us smarter. Writing Style Comes from Reading A substantial amount of research slrongly suggests that wc learn to write by reading. To be more precise, wc acquire writing style, the special language of writing, by reading. Hypothesizing that writing style comes from reading, not from writing or instruction, is consistent with what is known about language acquisition: Most of language acquisition takes place subconsciously, not through deliberate study, and it is a result of input (comprehension, not output (production (Krashen, 1982. Thus, if you wrile a page a day, your writing style or your command of mechanics will not improve. On Ihe other hand, other good things may result from your writing, as we shall see in the second section of this paper.

  3. The Effects of Vocabulary Knowledge and Dictionary Use on EFL Reading Performance

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    Shen, Zhifa

    2013-01-01

    The present study mainly investigated the effects of vocabulary knowledge and dictionary use on EFL reading performance. The results show that scores on vocabulary size, specific vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension are highly and positively correlated. Scores on specific vocabulary knowledge are more closely correlated with reading…

  4. COMPUTING THE VOCABULARY DEMANDS OF L2 READING

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    Tom Cobb

    2007-02-01

    Full Text Available Linguistic computing can make two important contributions to second language (L2 reading instruction. One is to resolve longstanding research issues that are based on an insufficiency of data for the researcher, and the other is to resolve related pedagogical problems based on insufficiency of input for the learner. The research section of the paper addresses the question of whether reading alone can give learners enough vocabulary to read. When the computer’s ability to process large amounts of both learner and linguistic data is applied to this question, it becomes clear that, for the vast majority of L2 learners, free or wide reading alone is not a sufficient source of vocabulary knowledge for reading. But computer processing also points to solutions to this problem. Through its ability to reorganize and link documents, the networked computer can increase the supply of vocabulary input that is available to the learner. The development section of the paper elaborates a principled role for computing in L2 reading pedagogy, with examples, in two broad areas, computer-based text design and computational enrichment of undesigned texts.

  5. Self-reported reading as a predictor of vocabulary knowledge.

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    Pratheeba, N; Krashen, S

    2013-10-01

    25 engineering students in India, who were highly motivated to improve their English, filled out a questionnaire about their reading habits in English and took a demanding vocabulary test based on words taken from preparation books for the Graduate Records Examination. The correlation between reading habits and vocabulary was substantial (r = .78).

  6. Children's early reading vocabulary: description and word frequency lists.

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    Stuart, Morag; Dixon, Maureen; Masterson, Jackie; Gray, Bob

    2003-12-01

    When constructing stimuli for experimental investigations of cognitive processes in early reading development, researchers have to rely on adult or American children's word frequency counts, as no such counts exist for English children. The present paper introduces a database of children's early reading vocabulary, for use by researchers and teachers. Texts from 685 books from reading schemes and story books read by 5-7 year-old children were used in the construction of the database. All words from the 685 books were typed or scanned into an Oracle database. The resulting up-to-date word frequency list of early print exposure in the UK is available in two forms from a website address given in this paper. This allows access to one list of the words ordered alphabetically and one list of the words ordered by frequency. We also briefly address some fundamental issues underlying early reading vocabulary (e.g., that it is heavily skewed towards low frequencies). Other characteristics of the vocabulary are then discussed. We hope the word frequency lists will be of use to researchers seeking to control word frequency, and to teachers interested in the vocabulary to which young children are exposed in their reading material.

  7. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AS PREDICTORS OF READING COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE

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    Abbas Ali Zarei

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: The present study was conducted to investigate types of Multiple Intelligences as predictors of reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. To meet this objective, a 60-item TOEFL test and a 90-item multiple intelligences questionnaire were distributed among 240 male and female Iranians studying English at Qazali and Parsian Universities in Qazvin. Data were analyzed using a multiple regression procedure. The result of the data analysis indicated that musical, interpersonal, kinesthetic, and logical intelligences were predicators of reading comprehension. Moreover, musical, verbal, visual, kinesthetic and natural intelligences made significant contributions to predicting vocabulary knowledge.   Key words: Multiple intelligences, reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge.

  8. The Influence of Spelling Ability on Vocabulary Choices When Writing for Children with Dyslexia

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    Sumner, Emma; Connelly, Vincent; Barnett, Anna L.

    2016-01-01

    Spelling is a prerequisite to expressing vocabulary in writing. Research has shown that children with dyslexia are hesitant spellers when composing. This study aimed to determine whether the hesitant spelling of children with dyslexia, evidenced by frequent pausing, affects vocabulary choices when writing. A total of 31 children with dyslexia,…

  9. The Relationship between Interpersonal Intelligence, Reading Activity and Vocabulary Learning among Iranian EFL Learners

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    Mustapha Hajebi

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper was to describe the relationship between Interpersonal Intelligence and the learners' vocabulary learning through teaching reading activity so as to see whether this type of intelligence contributes to better vocabulary learning and whether there is any significant relationship between the performance of participants with interpersonal intelligence and their vocabulary learning in reading activity or not. This quantitative study consisted of a vocabulary test, a reading passage, an English proficiency test and a Multiple Intelligences questionnaire followed the study. A pre- test and post -test were conducted to get the differences in the students‟ post- test vocabulary score and their pre- test vocabulary score served as their gain score in vocabulary knowledge through reading. The comparison between the students‟ scores showed that there was no significant difference in the final performance of two groups. Therefore, this study doesn‟t support the idea of relationship between interpersonal intelligence and vocabulary learning through reading, but as a positive point, the present study indicated that reading texts can greatly assist the learners in developing the level of their vocabulary knowledge. This study proved to be useful for Iranian EFL learners and also EFL teachers can adopt the technique in their classes to advance their students' language learning. A comparison of the results after the next course cycle will then allow us to assess the effects of enhancing vocabulary knowledge, which would not be possible without reading texts.

  10. A Corpus of Writing, Pronunciation, Reading, and Listening by Learners of English as a Foreign Language

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    Kotani, Katsunori; Yoshimi, Takehiko; Nanjo, Hiroaki; Isahara, Hitoshi

    2016-01-01

    In order to develop effective teaching methods and computer-assisted language teaching systems for learners of English as a foreign language who need to study the basic linguistic competences for writing, pronunciation, reading, and listening, it is necessary to first investigate which vocabulary and grammar they have or have not yet learned.…

  11. Analysis of EFL Students' Ability in Reading Vocabulary of Synonyms and Antonyms

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    Vina Fathira

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Reading is an important thing for academic level. Every student must have many vocabularies to encourage her/his reading skill. The aim of this research is to analyze the students' understanding of reading vocabularies of synonyms and antonyms in the higher education level. Synonyms and antonyms are two important things should be mastered to get better reading comprehension. The method used in this research was quantitative with survey design. The population same as the sample of this research was from fifth semester students of STIBA Persada Bunda Pekanbaru. The procedures of the research were divided into 3 parts. First, students were asked to choose the best choice in the multiple choice for synonyms and anton, number and the wrong number, and grouped the wrong number into difficulties level. Last, the researcher analyzed the students' ability in reading vocabulary of synonyms and antonyms and concluded the result of students' ability in reading vocabulary of synonyms and antonyms in elementary, intermediate, and advanced level. The result of this research showed that the students' ability in reading vocabulary of synonyms and antonyms was categorized into "excellent" level with mean score 85. From the three difficulties level of question, the findings of this research were explained every level of question. In synonyms, the mean score of students' ability were 89, 85, and 84 for elementary, intermediate, and advanced level of question. Whereas, in antonyms, the mean score of students' ability were 97, 85, and 69 for elementary, intermediate, and advanced level of question.Keywords: students' ability, reading vocabulary, synonyms and antonyms

  12. Vocabulary test Strategies used by the Students to answer Vocabulary Test the Reading Comprehension of TOEFL

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    Suyatman Suyatman

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Test of English as a foreign Language or TOEFL is a standardized test of English for non-native speaker. It consists of three parts or three sections of tests. In Reading Comprehension test, it consists of vocabulary test. To get better result of score, it needs strategies. The purposes of this study are to know the strategies used by the students to answer the vocabulary test on reading section of TOEFL, to know the most strategy used by the students, to know the least strategy used by the students and to know the distribution of strategies used by the students to answer the Vocabulary test of Reading Comprehension of the TOEFL. The researcher used descriptive qualitative research. The subject was twelve students. The instrument was questionnaire that consisted of thirty questions. Data analyzes technique was by using mean score. The result of the research showed that; (1 students used all strategies to answer the vocabulary test of reading comprehension of TOEFL. (2 the most strategies used by the students was ‘Looking for contextual clues to the meaning of unknown words.(3 the least strategy used by the students to answer vocabulary test was ‘Developing a new vocabulary study system, and (4 the distribution of the strategy number 1 was 3.88,strategy number 2 was 3.61, number 3 was 2.94, number four was 2.91, strategy number 5 was3.88, strategy number six was 3.47, strategy number seven was 3.69, strategy number eight was 3.02, strategy number nine was 3.00 and the last strategy was 3.13.

  13. The Value of Picture-Book Reading-Based Collaborative Output Activities for Vocabulary Retention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Chia-Ho

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of three instructional modes: picture-book reading-only (PRO), picture-book reading plus vocabulary instruction (PRVI), and picture-book reading plus reading-based collaborative output activity (PRCOA) on young adult EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' vocabulary acquisition and retention. Eighty…

  14. Analysis on the Difficulties Faced by a Bilingual Child in Reading and Writing

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    Rizki Hardiyanti

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Bilingual child ability in two languages is become popular issue in the comparison of those two languages. In this paper, the Indonesian bilingual child has parent, school and course using English actively, then his environment using Bahasa Indonesia. This research was conducted to measure ability and difficulties faced by bilingual child in reading and writing in two languages Bahasa Indonesia- English. This journal applied a qualitative research design. Qualitative research is stated as naturalistic study that has the natural setting, as the direct source of data and the researcher is the key instrument  (Bogdan and Biklen, 1992. To specify the design in this journal, this qualitative method was used to analyze a specific person of Bilingual Child. The data were taken from observation, interview, video recording of the child’s reading the English and Bahasa Indonesia textbook story and written test of the child’s writing the English and Bahasa Indonesia summary of textbook story. In both English and Bahasa Indonesia, the reading difficulties appear related to pronunciation, intonation, expression and word stress and the writing difficulties appear related to relevance, organization, vocabulary and grammar.

  15. The Effect of Mnemonic Vocabulary Instruction on Reading Comprehension of Students

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    Parima Fasih

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The present article was an investigation of mnemonic vocabulary teaching to improve reading comprehension in the EFL classrooms. A major problem with the most of the past researches was that they paid no or little attention to the effects of using mnemonic strategies to improve reading comprehension. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how key word mnemonic vocabulary teaching can improve reading comprehension of the students. To this end, 360 third grade senior high school students from 6 senior high schools of Zanjan were selected through multistage cluster random sampling method and based on Cambridge placement test (2010, 345 students proved to be upper intermediate. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the effects of a mnemonic vocabulary intervention on reading comprehension. In this article there were one control group (A, n=115, and two experimental groups (B, n=115; C, n=115 all of which were male and there were selected randomly by the researchers. During one month in four weeks, every week in two thirty-minute session, group B received direct vocabulary instruction and group C received key word mnemonic instruction. The quantitative component of this article was comprised of the Unit Cloze test. In order to test the effects of Mnemonic Vocabulary Teaching on reading comprehension, the covariance analysis was employed and the results demonstrated that by eliminating the covariance factor of the pre-test, mnemonic vocabulary instruction improved the reading comprehension of the students. The use of keyword mnemonics as a means to differentiate instruction is an educational implication that can assist teachers seeking better student achievement outcomes.

  16. Examining Listening Previewing as a Classwide Strategy to Promote Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkins, Renee O.; Musti-Rao, Shobana; Hale, Andrea D.; McGuire, Shannon; Hailley, Jennifer

    2010-01-01

    Classwide instructional strategies to improve not only reading fluency but also comprehension and vocabulary knowledge are essential for student reading success. The current study examined the immediate effects of two classwide listening previewing strategies on reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. Twenty-one, fourth-grade general…

  17. Incorporating Vocabulary Instruction in Individual Reading Fluency Interventions with English Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Lauren E.; Mercer, Sterett H.; Geres-Smith, Rhonda

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this preliminary study was to determine whether incorporating vocabulary instruction in individual reading fluency interventions for English Language Learners (ELLs) would improve reading comprehension. Two vocabulary instructional procedures were contrasted with a fluency-building only condition in an alternating-treatments design…

  18. Analysis of EFL Students' Ability in Reading Vocabulary of Synonyms and Antonyms

    OpenAIRE

    Vina Fathira

    2017-01-01

    Reading is an important thing for academic level. Every student must have many vocabularies to encourage her/his reading skill. The aim of this research is to analyze the students' understanding of reading vocabularies of synonyms and antonyms in the higher education level. Synonyms and antonyms are two important things should be mastered to get better reading comprehension. The method used in this research was quantitative with survey design. The population same as the sample of this researc...

  19. A Vocabulary Learning Tool for L2 Undergraduates Reading Science and Technology Textbooks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Chihcheng; Yang, Fang-Chuan Ou

    2013-05-01

    Students of English as a second language who major in science and technology use English-language textbooks to ensure that they can read English materials upon graduation. Research indicates that teachers spend little time helping these students on the linguistic complexity of such textbooks. Vocabulary, grammar, and article structure are elements of this complexity, but to many students, these elements can be akin to locked doors. This study presents MyVLS-Reader, which focuses on unlocking the first of these doors-vocabulary-while assisting in reading. With explicit vocabulary learning, students learn and memorize individual vocabulary, but the context is lost if the depth of learning discards context. In implicit vocabulary learning, students acquire vocabulary through repeated exposure to contexts, but repeated encounters with new words are required. Few e-learning systems combine both vocabulary-learning approaches. MyVLS-Reader achieves such synergy by (1) using a keyword setting to provide context-matched vocabulary explanation while reading and (2) embedding multiple learning choices, such as keyword setting, the review and memorization of explicit vocabulary, and the option to ask instructors. This study includes two rounds of evaluations: (1) an evaluation of the learning achievements of control and treatment groups and (2) a quantitative and qualitative investigation of perceptions regarding the use of MyVLS-Reader. The evaluation results indicate that the treatment group developed a better vocabulary than the control group in significantly less time. The use of MyVLS-Reader also slightly improved higher-order thinking skills. This result suggests that MyVLS-Reader can effective assist students in building their vocabulary while reading.

  20. Service Learning: Flooding Students with Vocabulary through Read Alouds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, Kerry; Thompson, Judith

    2014-01-01

    In the spirit of the Steven Stahl 600 Book Kid Challenge, 90 preservice teachers engaged children in 36 read-aloud sessions for a vocabulary improvement service learning project. This article describes how the preservice teachers used narrative and informational books as a vehicle for rare-word vocabulary exposure for children ages 8-12.

  1. STRATEGIES IN IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

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    Khairil Razali

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Vocabulary acquisition concerns on how people expand the numbers of words they understand when learning a new language. Knowing words in a second or foreign language is vitally important because the reader will be able to understand the written text well and the speaker will be able to communicate basic ideas through vocabulary even if the person does not understand how to create a grammatically correct sentence. As Madsen argued, “mastering vocabulary is the primary thing that every student should acquire in learning English” (Harold, 1983. Therefore, acquiring a sufficiently large vocabulary is one of the important tasks faced by L2 learners in order to comprehend the written texts in reading as one of the four basic features of language learning.

  2. Vocabulary and Syntactic Knowledge Factors in 5th Grade Students' Reading Comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mokhtari, Kouider; Niederhauser, Dale S.

    2013-01-01

    In this study, we examined 5th grade students' levels of vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness relative to their reading comprehension performance. The aim was to explore the contributions of vocabulary and syntactic awareness as potential sources of reading comprehension difficulty for these readers. Overall, we found that both vocabulary…

  3. Vocabulary and Writing in a First and Second Language

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Albrechtsen, Dorte; Haastrup, Kirsten; Henriksen, Birgit

    Book description: Vocabulary and Writing in a First and Second Language is based on a large-scale empirical study. The innovative feature of the research was that the same students were asked to do the same tasks in both languages while reporting their thinking as they went along. Furthermore , t......-depth approach useful in understanding the processes of both first and second language performance......Book description: Vocabulary and Writing in a First and Second Language is based on a large-scale empirical study. The innovative feature of the research was that the same students were asked to do the same tasks in both languages while reporting their thinking as they went along. Furthermore...... the relationship between the skills and describe the level of development for individual learners within the three areas. In all cases, statistical and qualitative analyses are offered, the latter being based on the learners' own 'think-aloud' reports. Both researchers and teachers of language will find this in...

  4. Relationship between Reading/Writing Skills and Cognitive Abilities among Japanese Primary-School Children: Normal Readers versus Poor Readers (Dyslexics)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uno, Akira; Wydell, Taeko N.; Haruhara, Noriko; Kaneko, Masato; Shinya, Naoko

    2009-01-01

    Four hundred and ninety-five Japanese primary-school children aged from 8 (Grade-2) to 12 (Grade-6) were tested for their abilities to read/write in Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, for their size of vocabulary and for other cognitive abilities including arithmetic, visuo-spatial and phonological processing. Percentages of the children whose…

  5. The Effects of Content-Enriched Shared Book Reading versus Vocabulary-Only Discussions on the Vocabulary Outcomes of Preschool Dual Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pollard-Durodola, Sharolyn D.; Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Saenz, Laura; Resendez, Nora; Kwok, Oiman; Zhu, Leina; Davis, Heather

    2018-01-01

    Research Findings: This study compared the effects of content-based shared book-reading instruction versus an explicit vocabulary-only condition on the vocabulary development of preschool dual language learners (DLLs). Using shared book reading as the mode of instruction, we randomly assigned 48 bilingual preschool teachers and 281…

  6. Why and How EFL Students Learn Vocabulary in Parliamentary Debate Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aclan, Eunice M.; Aziz, Noor Hashima Abdul

    2015-01-01

    Vocabulary, the backbone of any language including English, is foundational for listening, speaking, reading and writing. These four macro-skills are necessary not only in gaining knowledge as English is the language to access major information sources particularly the World Wide Web but also in the demanding globalized workplace. Vocabulary is…

  7. Reading and esl writers Reading and esl writers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John R. Edlund

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Whether the student population consists of basic writers, non-native speakers, or well-prepared freshmen and whether the primary goal of the class is improvement in writing ability, language and vocabulary acquisition, or critical thinking skills, there is considerable evidence that substantial amounts of reading arc an essential component of the course (See Krashen Writing: Research, Theory and Applications for a summary. This is especially true in the ESL composition class, where language acquisition is still a major factor in the student's success as a writer. Whether the student population consists of basic writers, non-native speakers, or well-prepared freshmen and whether the primary goal of the class is improvement in writing ability, language and vocabulary acquisition, or critical thinking skills, there is considerable evidence that substantial amounts of reading arc an essential component of the course (See Krashen Writing: Research, Theory and Applications for a summary. This is especially true in the ESL composition class, where language acquisition is still a major factor in the student's success as a writer.

  8. Personalization of Reading Passages Improves Vocabulary Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heilman, Michael; Collins-Thompson, Kevyn; Callan, Jamie; Eskenazi, Maxine; Juffs, Alan; Wilson, Lois

    2010-01-01

    The REAP tutoring system provides individualized and adaptive English as a Second Language vocabulary practice. REAP can automatically personalize instruction by providing practice readings about topics that match interests as well as domain-based, cognitive objectives. While most previous research on motivation in intelligent tutoring…

  9. Vocabulary Growth and Reading Development across the Elementary School Years [Introduction to Special Issue

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoeven, L.T.W.; Leeuwe, J.F.J. van; Vermeer, A.R.

    2011-01-01

    The associations between vocabulary growth and reading development were examined longitudinally for a representative sample of Dutch children throughout the elementary school period. Data on basic and advanced vocabulary, word decoding, and reading comprehension were collected across the different

  10. The Role of Consulting a Dictionary in Reading and Vocabulary Learning

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    Carol A. Fraser

    1999-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This article reviews recent research on consulting a dictionary in L2 reading and vocabulary learning. From the perspective of cognitive learning theory, the author re-evaluates the limited role that has often been accorded to dictionary consulting. It is noted that, among the three available lexical processing strategies (inferencing, consulting and ignoring, learners tend to use consulting infrequently and selectively and also to differ among each other in their strategy use. Consulting in combination with inferencing is shown to have the greatest positive effect on performance in L2 reading and vocabulary learning, although consulting is found to slow down task completion. Excerpts from think-aloud protocols illustrate the potential contribution of strategic dictionary use to the cognitive processes required for vocabulary acquisition: attention to form-meaning connections, rehearsal of words for storage in long-term memory and elaboration of associations with other knowledge. Among the pedagogical implications of these findings is the need for training in lexical processing strategies in order to help learners use the dictionary effectively and accurately in L2 reading comprehension and vocabulary learning.

  11. Shared Reading to Build Vocabulary and Comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kesler, Ted

    2010-01-01

    The author presents four approaches to shared reading that he used with first through third graders in a high-needs, urban elementary school with a large population of students from immigrant homes. Using sociocultural and cognitive constructivist principles, the author shows how these approaches built students' academic vocabulary and…

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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…

  13. Effect of Focused Vocabulary Instruction on 7th Graders' Reading Comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horn, Mary; Feng, Jianhua

    2012-01-01

    This study reports an investigation on the effects of directed vocabulary and whole class instruction on improving students' vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension. Fifty-eight seventh grade students participated in the study, and a pre-test/post-test experimental design was employed. The results did not indicate any statistically…

  14. Reading to deaf children who sign: a response to Williams (2012) and suggestions for future research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, Jean F

    2012-01-01

    A commentary on Williams's (2012) invited article on the use of adapted vocabulary learning interventions focuses on three areas: (a) Vocabulary interventions with storybook reading originally designed for hearing children can be adapted for deaf children. (b) Teachers are invited to reflect on how the read-aloud process in English differs from the read-aloud process in sign. (b) Teachers are asked to consider adding drawing and writing activities to reading lessons to show young deaf readers how reading and writing are reciprocal processes. The emergent literacy theory is used, as it informs and drives instructional vocabulary teaching practices for deaf children in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. The emergent literacy theory broadly captures cognitive, social, perceptual, and linguistic understandings of how young signing deaf children acquire both English word recognition abilities and vocabulary knowledge, among other important prereading concepts.

  15. The Correlation Between Students’ Vocabulary Mastery and Their Interest in English Toward Reading Comprehension in Descriptive Text

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    Eva Faliyanti

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract :Vocabulary is one aspects  in reading comprehension. By having  a lot vocabulary, the students understand in reading comprehension. The interest in English also gives effect of students mastery in English. Before the students start to read they are must be interested in English first. Reading is one of skills in English that very essential for the students, because by reading the students can get information from the text. In this research the researcher focoses on reading comprehension in descriptive text. The problems formulation in this research are;(1 How far is the students score of ability in vocabulary mastery toward reading comprehension in descriptive text? (2 How far is the students score of ability in students interest in English toward reading comprehension in descriptive text? (3 How far is the correlation between students’ score of vocabulary mastery and students interest in English toward reading comprehension in descriptive text?. The objective of the research are; (1 To identify the students’ score in vocabulary mastery toward reading comprehension in descriptive text. (2 To identify the students’ score in students interest in English toward reading comprehension in descriptive text. (3 To find out how far the correlation between students’ score of vocabulary mastery and students interest in English toward reading compregension in descritive text.Theresearch was conducted at the second semester of Muhammadiyah University Students in Academic Year 2014/2015. The population of this research was 127 students. The researcher used cluster ramdom sampling in taking sample. In collecting the data the researcher used test and questionnarie, namely vocabulary mastery and reading comprehension in descriptive text. In questionnarie used to students interest in English and in analyzing the data, the researcher used Product Moment Formula.After analyzing the data by using the correlation product moment and Regression

  16. Incidental L2 Vocabulary Acquisition "from" and "while" Reading: An Eye-Tracking Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellicer-Sánchez, Ana

    2016-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that reading is an important source of incidental second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. However, we still do not have a clear picture of what happens when readers encounter unknown words. Combining offline (vocabulary tests) and online (eye-tracking) measures, the incidental acquisition of vocabulary knowledge…

  17. Unique Contributions of Maternal Reading Proficiency to Predicting Children's Preschool Receptive Vocabulary and Reading Proficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Linda M.; Norris, Stephen P.; Hayward, Denyse V.; Lovell, Meridith A.

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated whether mothers' measured reading proficiency and their educational level predict, over and above each other, their children's receptive vocabulary and reading proficiency when confounding factors of speaking a minority language, ethnicity, number of children in the family, and marital and employment status are controlled.…

  18. Effects of a virtual platform in reading comprehension and vocabulary: An alternative to improve reading abilities in Elementary school

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecilia Thorne

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Given, on the one hand, the poor results obtained by Peruvian children in the national and international reading assessments. And on the other hand, the increased investment intechnology for schools in the country, this study aimed to develop and test an online tool to improve reading comprehension. In order to do this, the reading comprehension strategies and vocabulary activities from the research-based digital environment ICON were adapted to design the platform LEO. A total of 88 fifth graders from urban middle-to-low-income private schools from Lima participated in this quasi-experimental study, which involved acontrol group and a treatment group that participated in a 12-week teacher-mediated digital intervention. All participants were administered reading and vocabulary assessments pre and post intervention. Results revealed that students who participated in the intervention achieved higher comprehension scores for narrative texts and higher vocabulary scores than those of the control group.

  19. The Effects of Differing Densities of Glossing on Vocabulary Uptake and Reading Comprehension

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    Elvenna Majuddin

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the effects of differing densities of glossing on the uptake of target words and the comprehension of idea units from a reading text. The focus was whether different densities of glossing would create trade-off effects. Thirty-three Malaysian ESL learners were assigned to three different conditions: high-density glossing, low-density glossing, and no-glossing. Three weeks after a vocabulary pretest the participants read a text under one of the conditions, and took a reading comprehension test and a vocabulary posttest. The results revealed that there were no trade-off effects between reading comprehension and uptake of the target words. However, the glossed words did appear to detract from the uptake of un-glossed vocabulary. The results also hinted at a trade-off effect between attention given to idea units containing glossed target words, and those that did not contain glosses. The findings suggested that teachers should be aware of potential side-effects of glossing.

  20. Reading Vocabulary in Children with and without Hearing Loss: The Roles of Task and Word Type

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coppens, Karien M.; Tellings, Agnes; Verhoeven, Ludo; Schreuder, Robert

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: To address the problem of low reading comprehension scores among children with hearing impairment, it is necessary to have a better understanding of their reading vocabulary. In this study, the authors investigated whether task and word type differentiate the reading vocabulary knowledge of children with and without severe hearing loss.…

  1. Reading and Vocabulary Recommendations for Spanish for Native Speakers Materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spencer, Laura Gutierrez

    1995-01-01

    Focuses on the need for appropriate materials to address the needs of native speakers of Spanish who study Spanish in American universities and high schools. The most important factors influencing the selection of readings should include the practical nature of themes for reading and vocabulary development, level of difficulty, and variety in…

  2. Effects of Hierarchy Vocabulary Exercises on English Vocabulary Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Ching-Ying; Hsu, Wei Shu

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of hierarchy vocabulary exercises and copying vocabulary exercises on EFL students' vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension. Two specific factors were probed: (a) vocabulary gains and retention from different exercises; (b) reading comprehension performance through different…

  3. Writing-Reading Relationships: Effectiveness of Writing Activities As Pre-Reading Tasks to Enhance L2 Inferential Reading Comprehension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thilina Indrajie Wickramaarachchi

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The study examines the interaction between reading and writing processes in general and more specifically the impact of pre-reading tasks incorporating writing tasks (referred to as “prw tasks” in helping the development of inferential reading comprehension. A sample of 70 first year ESL students of the University of Kelaniya were initially selected with one group (experimental group engaging in “prw tasks” while the other group (control group performing the tasks without a pre-reading component. The intervention was for 6 sessions (one hour in each session. At the end of each session, the performance of the two groups was measured and the test scores were analyzed using the data analysis package SPSS to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. The results indicated that the experimental group had significantly performed better than the control group which indicated the effectiveness of the prw tasks in improving reading comprehension.

  4. Task-based incidental vocabulary learning in L2 Arabic: The role of proficiency and task performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayman A. Mohamed

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This study tests the claim that word learning in a second language are contingent upon a task’s involvement load (i.e. the amount of need, search, and evaluation it imposes, as proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn (2001. Fifty-three English-speaking learners of Arabic were assigned to one of three vocabulary learning tasks that varied in the degree of involvement: reading comprehension with glosses (low, fill-in-the-gap task (medium, and sentence writing (high. Ten words, selected based on a pretest, were targeted in the tasks. Results showed a main effect of task, with the sentence writing task yielding the highest rates of vocabulary learning, followed by the gap-fill task, and finally the reading comprehension task. A significant correlation was found between accuracy of performance across participants and their subsequent vocabulary acquisition in the immediate posttest. Within groups, only the performance of the writing group correlated significantly with their posttest scores. Results of the present study validate the hypothesis and point to multiple factors at play in incidental vocabulary acquisition. The study provides further arguments to refine the hypothesis and implement pedagogical practices that accommodate incidental learning in foreign language settings.

  5. What Is the Value of Connecting Reading and Writing? Reading Education Report No. 55.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tierney, Robert J.; Leys, Margie

    The study of reading-writing connections involves appreciating how reading and writing work together as tools for information storage and retrieval, discovery and logical thought, communication, and self-indulgence. There are numerous benefits that can be accrued from connecting reading and writing. Thus far, for example, the research data have…

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  7. Reading to Write an Argumentation: The Role of Epistemological, Reading and Writing Beliefs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mateos, Mar; Cuevas, Isabel; Martin, Elena; Martin, Ana; Echeita, Gerardo; Luna, Maria

    2011-01-01

    The general aim of this study was to examine the relations among epistemological, reading and writing beliefs held by psychology undergraduates and the role played by these three types of belief in influencing the degree of perspectivism manifested in a written argumentation task based on reading two texts presenting conflicting perspectives on…

  8. Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition from Stories: Second and Fourth Graders Learn More from Listening than Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suggate, Sebastian P.; Lenhard, Wolfgang; Neudecker, Elisabeth; Schneider, Wolfgang

    2013-01-01

    Both reading and language experiences contribute to vocabulary development, but questions remain as to what effect each has and when. This article investigates the effects that reading, telling and sharing a story have on vocabulary acquisition. Children (N = 37) were told nine stories in a randomized, single-blind and counterbalanced 2 × 3 mixed…

  9. Microcomputer Activities Which Encourage the Reading-Writing Connection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balajthy, Ernest

    Many reading teachers, cognizant of the creative opportunities for skill development allowed by new reading-writing software, are choosing to use microcomputers in their classrooms full-time. Adventure story creation programs capitalize on reading-writing integration by allowing children, with appropriate assistance, to create their own…

  10. The Effects of Play-Based Intervention on Vocabulary Acquisition by Preschoolers at Risk for Reading and Language Delays

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLeod, Ragan H.; Hardy, Jessica K.; Kaiser, Ann P.

    2017-01-01

    Closing the vocabulary gap for young children at risk for reading and language delays due to low socioeconomic status may have far reaching effects, as the relationship between early vocabulary knowledge and later academic achievement has been well-established. Vocabulary instruction for young children at risk for reading and language delays…

  11. Reading, Writing & Rings: Science Literacy for K-4 Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnell, S.; Spilker, L.; Zimmerman-Brachman, R.

    2007-12-01

    Scientific discovery is the impetus for the K-4 Education program, "Reading, Writing & Rings." This program is unique because its focus is to engage elementary students in reading and writing to strengthen these basic academic skills through scientific content. As science has been increasingly overtaken by the language arts in elementary classrooms, the Cassini Education Program has taken advantage of a new cross-disciplinary approach to use language arts as a vehicle for increasing scientific content in the classroom. By utilizing the planet Saturn and the Cassini-Huygens mission as a model in both primary reading and writing students in these grade levels, young students can explore science material while at the same time learning these basic academic skills. Content includes reading, thinking, and hands-on activities. Developed in partnership with the Cassini-Huygens Education and Public Outreach Program, the Bay Area Writing Project/California Writing Project, Foundations in Reading Through Science & Technology (FIRST), and the Caltech Pre-College Science Initiative (CAPSI), and classroom educators, "Reading, Writing & Rings" blends the excitement of space exploration with reading and writing. All materials are teacher developed, aligned with national science and language education standards, and are available from the Cassini-Huygens website: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/edu-k4.cfm Materials are divided into two grade level units. One unit is designed for students in grades 1 and 2 while the other unit focuses on students in grades 3 and 4. Each includes a series of lessons that take students on a path of exploration of Saturn using reading and writing prompts.

  12. Vocabulary and Sentence Structure in Emergent Spanish Literacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briceño, Allison

    2016-01-01

    Dual language and bilingual education programs are increasing in number and popularity across the country. However, little information is available on how to teach children to read and write in Spanish. This article explores some of the similarities and differences in vocabulary and sentence structure in Spanish and English and considers the…

  13. The Effect of Task-based Teaching on Incidental Vocabulary Learning in English for Specific Purposes

    OpenAIRE

    FALLAHRAFIE, Zahra; RAHMANY, Ramin; SADEGHI, Bahador

    2015-01-01

    Abstract. Learning vocabulary is an essential part of language learning linking the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing together. This paper considers the incidental vocabulary teaching and learning within the framework of task-based activities in the hope of improving learners’ vocabulary acquiring in English for Specific Purposes courses (ESP), concentrating on Mechanical Engineering students at Islamic Azad University of Hashtgerd, Iran. A total number of 55 male and fe...

  14. The Relationship between Reading, Writing, and Spelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keegan, Jill

    This paper asks whether there is a relationship between reading, writing, and spelling, whether these subjects should be taught together or separately. A review of the literature found that many theorists saw a strong relationship between just reading and writing, while others believed spelling belonged with these. The consensus of researchers was…

  15. Incidental second language vocabulary learning from reading novels: a comparison of three mobile modes

    OpenAIRE

    Fisher, Tony; Sharples, Mike; Pemberton, Richard; Ogata, Hiroaki; Uosaki, Noriko; Edmonds, Phil; Hull, Anthony; Tschorn, Patrick

    2012-01-01

    This paper reports on a study in which incidental English vocabulary learning from three mobile modes (book, e-book and e-book with user modelling and adaptive vocabulary learning support) was investigated. The study employed a crossover design to test for vocabulary gain from reading three simplified English novels among a group of Japanese high school students, learning English as a second language. Small vocabulary gains were noted; however there was no significant difference between the m...

  16. Effects of Reading Strategies and Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge on Turkish EFL Learners' Text Inferencing Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çakir, Abdulvahit; Ünaldi, Ihsan; Arslan, Fadime Yalçin; Kiliç, Mehmet

    2016-01-01

    Within the framework of foreign language teaching and learning, reading strategies, depth of vocabulary knowledge and text inferencing skills have not been researched extensively. This study tries to fill this gap by analyzing the effects of reading strategies used by Turkish EFL learners and their depth of vocabulary knowledge on their text…

  17. Receptive and Productive Vocabulary Learning: The Effects of Reading and Writing on Word Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Stuart

    2005-01-01

    This study investigates the effects of receptive and productive vocabulary learning on word knowledge. Japanese students studying English as a foreign language learned target words in three glossed sentences and in a sentence production task in two experiments. Five aspects of vocabulary knowledge--orthography, syntax, association, grammatical…

  18. Building English Vocabulary through Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yurtbasi, Metin

    2015-01-01

    Semantics, the study of the meaning of words, is the sum of the basic elements of four skills, namely, reading, writing, speaking and listening effectively. The knowledge of vocabulary words in lexico-semantics, on the other hand, is essential in every grade level, subject area and assessment for every student. In order to improve students'…

  19. Teaching reading in an OBE framework | Lessing | Journal for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The workshop dealt with reading as an important aspect of the literacy learning area and suggestions were made to enhance the acquisition of vocabulary, sight reading words, decoding skills and comprehension. The importance of integration of the different aspects (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in the literacy ...

  20. Vocabulary Instruction through Books Read in American Sign Language for English-Language Learners with Hearing Loss

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannon, Joanna E.; Fredrick, Laura D.; Easterbrooks, Susan R.

    2010-01-01

    Reading to children improves vocabulary acquisition through incidental exposure, and it is a best practice for parents and teachers of children who can hear. Children who are deaf or hard of hearing are at risk for not learning vocabulary as such. This article describes a procedure for using books read on DVD in American Sign Language with…

  1. LEARNING VOCABULARY THROUGH COLOURFUL PUZZLE GAME

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Risca Dwiaryanti

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Vocabulary plays an important role because it links to the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Those aspects should be integrated in teaching and learning process of English. However, the students must be able to know the meaning of each word or vocabulary of English in order to master the four skills. It is as a mean to create a sentence in daily communication to show someone’s feeling, opinion, idea, desire, etc. So that, both speakers understand what the other speaker mean. However, English as a second language in Indonesia seems very hard for the students to master vocabulary of English. It makes them not easy to be understood directly and speak fluently. The students, sometimes, get difficulties in understanding, memorizing the meaning of the vocabulary, and getting confused in using the new words. There must be an effective strategy to attract students’ interest, break the boredom, and make the class more lively. Based on the writer experience, Colourful Puzzle Game is able to make the students learn vocabulary quickly. It needs teacher’s creativity to create the materials of this game based on the class condition. The teacher just need a game board made from colourful papers, write any command and prohibition words on it. A dice is a tool to decide where the player should stop based on the number. Some pins as counter as sign of each player.

  2. STRENGTHENING STUDENTS’ LITERACY THROUGH REFLECTIVE ESSAY WRITING: AN IMPLEMENTATION OF WRITING TO READ PROGRAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arina Shofiya

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Literacy is a condition where a person has capability to read for knowledge, write to share knowledge, and think critically. Students’ literacy is a never-end issue in the field of English Language Teaching. Studies have been carried out to investigate literacy practices in various level of education including higher education. Among the problems of students’ literacy in higher education are the amount of their reading and writing practices and their motivation to read and write. The current paper is intended to share an experience in strengthening students’ literacy at the English Department of State Islamic Institute (Institut Agama Islam Negeri/IAIN Tulungagung, East Java. The preliminary investigation of the present study revealed that many students have low motivation to read. In addition, their comprehension was relatively low as represented in their paper works. Under a Classroom Action Research Design, the present study was conducted to propose writing to read program to strengthen the students’ literacy. In such program, the students were required to write a reflective essay based on the selected topics that they had to read prior to classes. The findings showed that writing reflective essay helped students strengthen their literacy as well as improve their motivation to read and to write because the reading and writing activities were done in a more relax and supportive environment that was at home.

  3. Does Good Writing Mean Good Reading?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Balling, Laura Winther

    2013-01-01

    Many writing guides list constructions that writers should avoid, including passives, nominalisations and long complex words and sentences. This study presents an eye-tracking experiment that compared the reading of such supposedly problematic constructions with the reading of their recommended...... in writing guides. This suggests that, in themselves, the supposed problem constructions are not inherently problematic to understand. Therefore, factors previously put forward as important, such as the information structure of texts and the image the sender wishes to project, should be what influences...... the choice of constructions rather than simplified rules such as “Avoid passives!”. The implications of this finding for writing guides and for company and institutional language policies are discussed....

  4. Colorado Student Assessment Program: 2001 Released Passages, Items, and Prompts. Grade 4 Reading and Writing, Grade 4 Lectura y Escritura, Grade 5 Mathematics and Reading, Grade 6 Reading, Grade 7 Reading and Writing, Grade 8 Mathematics, Reading and Science, Grade 9 Reading, and Grade 10 Mathematics and Reading and Writing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colorado State Dept. of Education, Denver.

    This document contains released reading comprehension passages, test items, and writing prompts from the Colorado Student Assessment Program for 2001. The sample questions and prompts are included without answers or examples of student responses. Test materials are included for: (1) Grade 4 Reading and Writing; (2) Grade 4 Lectura y Escritura…

  5. Post-stroke writing and reading disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sinanović Osman

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The writing and reading disorders in stroke patients (alexias, agraphias and acalculias are more frequent than verified in routine exam, not only in the less developed but also in large neurological departments. Alexia is an acquired type of sensory aphasia where damage to the brain causes a patient to lose the ability to read. It is also called word blindness, text blindness or visual aphasia. Alexia refers to an acquired inability to read caused by brain damage and must be distinguished from dyslexia, a developmental abnormality in which the individual is unable to learn to read, and from illiteracy, which reflects a poor educational back-ground. Most aphasics are also alexic, but alexia may occur in the absence of aphasia and may occasionally be the sole disability resulting from specific brain lesions. There are different classifications of alexias. Traditionally, the alexias are divided into three categories: pure alexia with agraphia, pure alexia without agraphia, and alexia associated with aphasia ("aphasic alexia". Agraphia is defined as the disruption of previously intact writing skills by brain damage. Writing involves several elements - language processing, spelling, visual perception, visual-spatial orientation for graphic symbols, motor planning, and motor control of writing. A disturbance of any of these processes can impair writing. Agraphia may occur by itself or as association with aphasias, alexia, agnosia and apraxia. Agraphia can also result from "peripheral" involvement of the motor act of writing. Like alexia, agraphia must be distinguished from illiteracy, where writing skills were never developed. Acalculia is a clinical syndrome of acquired deficits in mathematical calculation, either mentally or with paper and pencil. This language disturbances can be classified differently, but there are three principal types of acalculia: acalculia associated with language disturbances, including number paraphasia, number agraphia, or

  6. POST-STROKE WRITING AND READING DISORDERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sinanović Osman

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The writing and reading disorders in stroke patients (alexias, agraphias and acalculias are more frequent than verified in routine exam, not only in the less developed but also in large neurological departments. Alexia is an acquired type of sensory aphasia where damage to the brain causes a patient to lose the ability to read. It is also called word blindness, text blindness orvisual aphasia. Alexia refers to an acquired inability to read caused by brain damage and must be distinguished from dyslexia, a developmental abnormality in which the individual is unable to learn to read, and from illiteracy, which reflects a poor educational back-ground. Most aphasics are also alexic, but alexia may occur in the absence of aphasia and may occasionally be the soledisability resulting from specific brain lesions. There are different classifications of alexias. Traditionally, the alexias are divided into three categories: pure alexia with agraphia, pure alexia without agraphia, and alexia associated with aphasia (“aphasic alexia”. Agraphia is defined as the disruption of previously intact writing skills by brain damage. Writing involves several elements—language processing, spelling, visual perception, visual-spatial orientation for graphic symbols, motor planning, and motor control of writing. A disturbance of any of these processes can impair writing. Agraphia may occur by itself or as association with aphasias, alexia, agnosia and apraxia. Agraphia can also result from “peripheral” involvement of the motor act of writing. Like alexia, agraphia must be distinguished from illiteracy, where writing skills were never developed. Acalculia is a clinical syndrome of acquired deficits in mathematical calculation, either mentally or with paper and pencil. This language disturbances can be classified differently, but there are three principal types of acalculia: acalculia associated with language disturbances, including number paraphasia, number

  7. Identity Styles: Predictors of Reading and Writing Abilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zohre Mohamadi

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available How the individual differences prime different learning process is well addressed in literature. But, what is missing from these analyses is how learners with different identity styles approach reading and writing skills and if different identity styles can predict differentiated language performance. The present study aims at investigating the relationship between identity styles, and reading/writing skills of Iranian intermediate female EFL learners. One the basis of the results of Nelson language proficiency test, 120 participants were selected to participate in this research. Participants' answers to Berzonsky's Identity Style Inventory (ISI3 and reading and writing parts of Preliminary English Test were analyzed. The results indicated that informational and normative identity styles were found to be positively correlated and diffuse-avoidant style was negatively correlated with reading and writing abilities whereas commitment identity didn't bear any significant relationships. The findings also indicated that informational style acted as the best predictor of these skills. Implications for language teachers are suggested.

  8. Engaging Sources through Reading-Writing Connections across the Disciplines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carillo, Ellen C.

    2016-01-01

    This essay argues that what might otherwise be considered "plagiarism" in student writing is a symptom of the difficulties students encounter in their reading and writing, moments in which students' inabilities to critically assess, read, and respond to sources through the act of writing come to the surface. Expanding the context within…

  9. Clock domain crossing modules for OCP-style read/write interfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herlev, Mathias; Sparsø, Jens

    The open core protocol (OCP) is an openly licensed, configurable, and scalable interface protocol for on-chip subsystem communications. The protocol defines read and write transactions from a master towards a slave across a point-to-point connection and the protocol assumes a single common clock....... This paper presents the design of two OCP clock domain crossing interface modules, that can be used to construct systems with multiple clock domains. One module (called OCPio) supports a single word read-write interface and the other module (called OCPburst) supports a four word burst read-write interface......-style read-write transaction interfaces. An OCP interface typically has control signals related to both the master issuing a read or write request and the slave producing a response. If all these control signals are passed across the clock domain boundary and synchronized it may add significant latency...

  10. Achieve3000®. Beginning Reading. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    What Works Clearinghouse, 2018

    2018-01-01

    "Achieve3000®" is a supplemental online literacy program that provides nonfiction reading content to students in grades preK-12 and focuses on building phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills. "Achieve3000®" is designed to help students advance their nonfiction reading skills…

  11. READING-WRITING AND LITERACY IN CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marilene Bortolotti Boraschi

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available This article focuses on the role and learning of reading and wrinting to human development as a social practice, considering the necessary condition to reading and writing as an exercise in citizenship. Aims to reflect on the occurrence of reading-writing processes and literacy in children with intellectual disabilities. The study was conducted by means of literature, and are based on a qualitative research. The reflections made throughout the investigation brought some considerations on intellectual disability, charactering it. Allowed some notes on the processes of reading-writing and literacy. As the survey results, some thoughts were about the possible occurrence of the processes of reading-writing and literacy in intellectually disabled children, discussing how these processes can take place through pedagogical practices in classrooms common regular education, contributing to the appropriation of the world literate and active participation by such child in society.

  12. Fourteen Autumns: A Reading Teacher Teaches Writing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Jo-Anne R.

    1984-01-01

    An elementary school reading teacher describes how she restructured her teaching methods by encouraging children to read and write as part of an integrated process, rather than teaching reading alone as a set of fragmented steps. (GC)

  13. Voxel-based lesion analysis of brain regions underlying reading and writing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldo, Juliana V; Kacinik, Natalie; Ludy, Carl; Paulraj, Selvi; Moncrief, Amber; Piai, Vitória; Curran, Brian; Turken, And; Herron, Tim; Dronkers, Nina F

    2018-03-20

    The neural basis of reading and writing has been a source of inquiry as well as controversy in the neuroscience literature. Reading has been associated with both left posterior ventral temporal zones (termed the "visual word form area") as well as more dorsal zones, primarily in left parietal cortex. Writing has also been associated with left parietal cortex, as well as left sensorimotor cortex and prefrontal regions. Typically, the neural basis of reading and writing are examined in separate studies and/or rely on single case studies exhibiting specific deficits. Functional neuroimaging studies of reading and writing typically identify a large number of activated regions but do not necessarily identify the core, critical hubs. Last, due to constraints on the functional imaging environment, many previous studies have been limited to measuring the brain activity associated with single-word reading and writing, rather than sentence-level processing. In the current study, the brain correlates of reading and writing at both the single- and sentence-level were studied in a large sample of 111 individuals with a history of chronic stroke using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM). VLSM provides a whole-brain, voxel-by-voxel statistical analysis of the role of distinct regions in a particular behavior by comparing performance of individuals with and without a lesion at every voxel. Rather than comparing individual cases or small groups with particular behavioral dissociations in reading and writing, VLSM allowed us to analyze data from a large, well-characterized sample of stroke patients exhibiting a wide range of reading and writing impairments. The VLSM analyses revealed that reading was associated with a critical left inferior temporo-occipital focus, while writing was primarily associated with the left supramarginal gyrus. Separate VLSM analyses of single-word versus sentence-level reading showed that sentence-level reading was uniquely associated with anterior

  14. Reading vocabulary in children with and without hearing loss: the roles of task and word type.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coppens, Karien M; Tellings, Agnes; Verhoeven, Ludo; Schreuder, Robert

    2013-04-01

    To address the problem of low reading comprehension scores among children with hearing impairment, it is necessary to have a better understanding of their reading vocabulary. In this study, the authors investigated whether task and word type differentiate the reading vocabulary knowledge of children with and without severe hearing loss. Seventy-two children with hearing loss and 72 children with normal hearing performed a lexical and a use decision task. Both tasks contained the same 180 words divided over 7 clusters, each cluster containing words with a similar pattern of scores on 8 word properties (word class, frequency, morphological family size, length, age of acquisition, mode of acquisition, imageability, and familiarity). Whereas the children with normal hearing scored better on the 2 tasks than the children with hearing loss, the size of the difference varied depending on the type of task and word. Performance differences between the 2 groups increased as words and tasks became more complex. Despite delays, children with hearing loss showed a similar pattern of vocabulary acquisition as their peers with normal hearing. For the most precise assessment of reading vocabulary possible, a range of tasks and word types should be used.

  15. Teaching strategies for improving reading and writing in English ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Teaching strategies for improving reading and writing in English First Additional Language for men and women. ... Reading and writing have become one serious national issue in primary schools in South ... AJOL African Journals Online.

  16. Teaching Reading and Writing: Reading a Balanced Diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manning, Maryann; Manning, Gary

    1994-01-01

    Presents elementary school teachers with 13 ideas on how to achieve a balanced "diet" in their primary and intermediate reading and writing programs using 5 different genres--artistic, personal, narrative, expository, and procedural. (BB)

  17. Vocabulary Acquisition without Adult Explanations in Repeated Shared Book Reading: An Eye Movement Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Mary Ann; Saint-Aubin, Jean

    2013-01-01

    When preschoolers listen to storybooks, are their eye movements related to their vocabulary acquisition in this context? This study addressed this question with 36 four-year-old French-speaking participants by assessing their general receptive vocabulary knowledge and knowledge of low-frequency words in 3 storybooks. These books were read verbatim…

  18. Hypertext Glosses for Foreign Language Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Acquisition: Effects of Assessment Methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, I-Jung

    2016-01-01

    This study compared how three different gloss modes affected college students' L2 reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. The study also compared how results on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition may differ depending on the four assessment methods used. A between-subjects design was employed with three groups of Mandarin-speaking…

  19. Strengthening Academic Vocabulary with Word Generation® Helps Sixth-Grade Students Improve Reading Comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mokhtari, Kouider; Velten, Justin

    2015-01-01

    In this quasi-experimental study, we assessed the promise of Word Generation, a research-based academic vocabulary program, on improving the reading achievement outcomes of struggling sixth-grade readers in an after-school small group instructional setting. After 34 hours of academic vocabulary instruction, we compared the performance of a…

  20. Translating Vocabulary Research to Social Studies Instruction: Before, during, and after Text-Reading Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hairrell, Angela; Simmons, Deborah; Swanson, Elizabeth; Edmonds, Meaghan; Vaughn, Sharon; Rupley, William H.

    2011-01-01

    In the upper elementary grades, content-area text gains increasing importance as a primary source of reading and information. This article focuses on the specialized vocabulary demands of social studies texts and presents a framework of teaching and learning strategies based on vocabulary research. Strategies are introduced before, during, and…

  1. Executive functions in becoming writing readers and reading writers: note taking and report writing in third and fifth graders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altemeier, Leah; Jones, Janine; Abbott, Robert D; Berninger, Virginia W

    2006-01-01

    Results are reported for a study of 2 separate processes of report writing-taking notes while reading source material and composing a report from those notes-and related individual differences in executive functions involved in integrating reading and writing during these writing activities. Third graders (n = 122) and 5th graders (n = 106; overall, 127 girls and 114 boys) completed two reading-writing tasks-read paragraph (mock science text)-write notes and use notes to generate written report, a reading comprehension test, a written expression test, four tests of executive functions (inhibition, verbal fluency, planning, switching attention), and a working memory test. For the read-take notes task, the same combination of variables was best (explained the most variance and each variable added unique variance) for 3rd graders and 5th graders: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (WIAT-II) Reading Comprehension, Process Assessment of the Learner Test for Reading and Writing (PAL) Copy Task B, WIAT-II Written Expression, and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Inhibition. For the use notes to write report task, the best combinations of variables depended on grade level: For 3rd graders, WIAT-II Reading Comprehension, WIAT-II Written Expression, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency, and Tower of Hanoi; for 5th graders, WIAT-II Reading Comprehension, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency, WIAT-II Written Expression, and PAL Alphabet Task. These results add to prior research findings that executive functions contribute to the writing development of elementary-grade students and additionally support the hypothesis that executive functions play a role in developing reading-writing connections.

  2. Exploring Learner Factors in Second Language (L2) Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition through Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Aiping; Guo, Ying; Biales, Carrie; Olszewski, Arnold

    2016-01-01

    This study examined the predictive role of several learner factors in second language (L2) incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading: L2 proficiency, motivation, anxiety, and mastery of strategies. Participants were 129 English learners in a comprehensive university in China. Participants read two English texts and were given an…

  3. Helping Children Learn Vocabulary during Computer-Assisted Oral Reading

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregory Aist

    2002-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses an indispensable skill using a unique method to teach a critical component: helping children learn to read by using computer-assisted oral reading to help children learn vocabulary. We build on Project LISTEN’s Reading Tutor, a computer program that adapts automatic speech recognition to listen to children read aloud, and helps them learn to read (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~listen. To learn a word from reading with the Reading Tutor, students must encounter the word and learn the meaning of the word in context. We modified the Reading Tutor first to help students encounter new words and then to help them learn the meanings of new words. We then compared the Reading Tutor to classroom instruction and to human-assisted oral reading as part of a yearlong study with 144 second and third graders. The result: Second graders did about the same on word comprehension in all three conditions. However, third graders who read with the 1999 Reading Tutor, modified as described in this paper, performed statistically significantly better than other third graders in a classroom control on word comprehension gains – and even comparably with other third graders who read one-on-one with human tutors.

  4. Effect of Content Schema, Vocabulary Knowledge, and Reading Comprehension on Translation Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reza Kafipour

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Schemata refer to all kinds of knowledge which are gained throughout the lifetime. Few studies tried to integrate schema theory and the next two crucial factors in translation and learning which are vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Thus, the present research aimed at delineating the potential effect of these three factors on translation performance of Iranian undergraduate students majoring in translator training. To this end, 172 Iranian undergraduate students majoring in translator training were selected based on two-step cluster sampling. To collect data, the participants answered a set of 6 open-ended questions to measure the students’ content schema along with a vocabulary size test, reading comprehension test, and translation task. To analyze data, Pearson correlation coefficient as well as stepwise multiple regressions was conducted through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 17. Data analysis indicated that the independent variables significantly correlated with translation performance. In addition, multiple regressions analysis specified reading comprehension as the main contributing variable and content schema as the second in students’ translation performance. It also showed that vocabulary knowledge could not be a predicting factor in translation performance of the learners; the reason may refer to the inseparable component of their translation task that is dictionary. The results highlighted the role of content schema in translation performance of the learners.

  5. The relation of linguistic awareness and vocabulary to word reading and spelling for first-grade students participating in response to intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Young-Suk; Apel, Kenn; Al Otaiba, Stephanie

    2013-10-01

    The relations of phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness and vocabulary to word reading and spelling were examined for 304 first-grade children who were receiving differentiated instruction in a Response to Intervention (RtI) model of instruction. First-grade children were assessed on their phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness; expressive vocabulary; word reading; and spelling. Year-end word reading and spelling were outcome variables, and phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness; expressive vocabulary; and RtI status (Tiers 1, 2, & 3) were predictor variables. The 3 linguistic awareness skills were unique predictors of word reading, and phonological and orthographic awareness were unique predictors of spelling. The contributions that these linguistic awareness skills and vocabulary made to word reading and spelling did not differ by children's RtI tier status. These results, in conjunction with previous studies, suggest that even beginning readers and spellers draw on multiple linguistic awareness skills for their word reading and spelling regardless of their level of literacy abilities. Educational implications are discussed.

  6. A Case Study of Two College Students’ Reading Strategies and Their Writing Styles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhanfang Li

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The importance of integrating reading and writing has aroused many people’s interest, and how to bridge the gap between input (reading and output (writing is regarded as an urgent necessity. However, input does not equal to intake, and to achieve the stage of intake, the reader’s conscious attention to the input is necessary, which is commonly realized in the reading process, either by intensive reading (focus-on-form or extensive reading (focus-on-meaning. Previous studies put more emphasis on extensive reading, while this study is based on the assumed different effects of reading strategies upon writing styles, that is, intensive reading may guarantee accurate writing and extensive reading may promote fluent writing. Therefore the relationship between two college students’ reading strategies and writing styles is the focus of this study. The research lasts for 16 months (August, 2014 - December, 2015, during which all their journal writing pieces, their term papers, together with their compositions in the final exams, are used as the written data, while materials concerned with their reading strategies are collected by a questionnaire, two interviews, as well as their written self-reflections. Results show that extensive reading with a subconscious focus-on-meaning tends to enhance the fluency of writing while intensive reading with a conscious focus-on-form is more likely to promote the writing accuracy. Findings suggest that production is based on intake, which is the result of either the subconscious or conscious attention to both the language meaning and language form.

  7. Read-To-Write-Tasks” in English for Specific Purposes Classes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Galina Kavaliauskienė

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available At university level students face demanding tasks of reading an enormous amount of professional materials in English. Writing various assignments is another challenging part of higher education. Online activities are the priority for conducting assignments at tertiary level. Students usually start doing the English for Specific Purposes (ESP course before learning subject-matters of the future profession, i.e. in their first year. The cornerstone of the ESP is unfamiliar lexis and numerous concepts of subject-matter. In order to succeed, students need to develop proficiency in reading professional texts and writing skillfully on relevant subject issues. The aim of this paper is to study, first, learners‘ attitudes to online reading of professional materials as well as to writing various assignments online and, second, to examine learners‘ self-assessment of proficiency in these skills. Our research employed brief written surveys designed in accordance with the standards in Social Sciences, which were administered to the students doing the ESP course, and the verbal data obtained during individual interviews intended to assess learners‘ success and achievements throughout the academic year. The respondents were the students specializing in psychology at Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania. All the participants were unanimous in the importance of writing and reading skills for the ESP tasks. 100% of respondents support reading professional materials, and 80% of respondents support exercising online writing. Self-assessment of reading proficiency demonstrates that 90% of students believe they possess very good or good skills of reading, and 70% of learners are sure of their good skills in writing. Respondents’ performance in these skills is less impressive. Some recommendations towards perfecting students’ proficiency in “read-to-write-tasks” are suggested. It is important to help learners develop better rates of reading

  8. Longitudinal Relationships of Levels of Language in Writing and between Writing and Reading in Grades 1 to 7

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, Robert D.; Berninger, Virginia W.; Fayol, Michel

    2010-01-01

    Longitudinal structural equation modeling was used to evaluate longitudinal relationships across adjacent grade levels 1 to 7 for levels of language in writing (Model 1, subword letter writing, word spelling, and text composing) or writing and reading (Model 2, subword letter writing and word spelling and reading; Model 3, word spelling and…

  9. Helping Remedial Readers Master the Reading Vocabulary through a Seven Step Method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aaron, Robert L.

    1981-01-01

    An outline of seven important steps for teaching vocabulary development includes components of language development, visual memory, visual-auditory perception, speeded recall, spelling, reading the word in a sentence, and word comprehension in written context. (JN)

  10. Variables Predicting Foreign Language Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Acquisition in a Linear Hypermedia Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akbulut, Yavuz

    2007-01-01

    Factors predicting vocabulary learning and reading comprehension of advanced language learners of English in a linear multimedia text were investigated in the current study. Predictor variables of interest were multimedia type, reading proficiency, learning styles, topic interest and background knowledge about the topic. The outcome variables of…

  11. 39% access time improvement, 11% energy reduction, 32 kbit 1-read/1-write 2-port static random-access memory using two-stage read boost and write-boost after read sensing scheme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Yasue; Moriwaki, Shinichi; Kawasumi, Atsushi; Miyano, Shinji; Shinohara, Hirofumi

    2016-04-01

    We propose novel circuit techniques for 1 clock (1CLK) 1 read/1 write (1R/1W) 2-port static random-access memories (SRAMs) to improve read access time (tAC) and write margins at low voltages. Two-stage read boost (TSR-BST) and write word line boost (WWL-BST) after the read sensing schemes have been proposed. TSR-BST reduces the worst read bit line (RBL) delay by 61% and RBL amplitude by 10% at V DD = 0.5 V, which improves tAC by 39% and reduces energy dissipation by 11% at V DD = 0.55 V. WWL-BST after read sensing scheme improves minimum operating voltage (V min) by 140 mV. A 32 kbit 1CLK 1R/1W 2-port SRAM with TSR-BST and WWL-BST has been developed using a 40 nm CMOS.

  12. The relation of linguistic awareness and vocabulary to word reading and spelling for first grade students participating in Response to Intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Young-Suk; Apel, Kenn; Otaiba, Stephanie Al

    2013-01-01

    Purpose We examined the relations of phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness and vocabulary to word reading and spelling for first grade children who were receiving differentiated instruction in a Response to Intervention (RTI) model of instruction (N = 304). Method First grade children were assessed on their phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness, expressive vocabulary, word reading, and spelling. Year-end word reading and spelling were outcome variables while phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness, expressive vocabulary, and RTI status (Tiers 1, 2, & 3) were predictor variables assessed in the middle of the school year. Results The three linguistic awareness skills were unique predictors of word reading and phonological and orthographic awareness were unique predictors of spelling. The contributions these linguistic awareness skills and vocabulary made to word reading and spelling did not differ by children's RTI tier status. Conclusion These results, in conjunction with previous studies, suggest that even beginning readers and spellers draw on multiple linguistic awareness skills for their word reading and spelling regardless of their level of literacy skills. Educational implications are discussed. PMID:23833281

  13. Using Comic Art to Improve Speaking, Reading and Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowkett, Steve

    2011-01-01

    "Using Comic Art to Improve Speaking, Reading and Writing" uses children's interest in pictures, comics and graphic novels as a way of developing their creative writing abilities, reading skills and oracy. The book's underpinning strategy is the use of comic art images as a visual analogue to help children generate, organise and refine their ideas…

  14. An Experimental Study on the Effects of Different Reading Tasks on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jianping

    2009-01-01

    This empirical study was undertaken to test the Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001) by examining the impact of three tasks on vocabulary acquisition. It was designed to test and develop the involvement load hypothesis by examining the impact of different reading tasks on the L2 vocabulary acquisition. The results show that…

  15. Using Vocabulary Notebooks for Vocabulary Acquisition and Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubiner, Deborah

    2017-01-01

    Vocabulary knowledge is recognized as an essential element for second language acquisition and reading comprehension. One known way to encourage and support vocabulary development amongst second language learners is keeping a vocabulary notebook. The primary purpose of the present study was to document two aspects of student teachers' own…

  16. The Relationship between Three Measures of L2 Vocabulary Knowledge and L2 Listening and Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Junyu; Matthews, Joshua

    2018-01-01

    This study explores the constructs that underpin three different measures of vocabulary knowledge and investigates the degree to which these three measures correlate with, and are able to predict, measures of second language (L2) listening and reading. Word frequency structured vocabulary tests tapping "receptive/orthographic (RecOrth)…

  17. Early Vocabulary, Parental Education, and the Frequency of Shared Reading as Predictors of Toddler's Vocabulary and Grammar at Age 2;7: A Slovenian Longitudinal CDI Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marjanovic-Umek, Ljubica; Fekonja-Peklaj, Urška; Socan, Gregor

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this longitudinal study, carried out on a sample of Slovenian-speaking toddlers, was to analyze developmental changes and stability in early vocabulary development; to establish relations between toddler's vocabulary and grammar; and to analyze the effects of parental education and the frequency of shared reading on toddlers' vocabulary…

  18. Using Multimedia Vocabulary Annotations in L2 Reading and Listening Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jing Xu

    2010-01-01

    This paper reviews the role of multimedia vocabulary annotation (MVA) in facilitating second language (L2) reading and listening activities. It examines the multimedia learning and multimedia language learning theories that underlie the MVA research, synthesizes the findings on MVA in the last decade, and identifies three underresearched areas on…

  19. The Influence of Spanish Vocabulary and Phonemic Awareness on Beginning English Reading Development: A Three-Year (K-2nd) Longitudinal Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, Michael F.; Roe, Mary; Blanchard, Jay; Atwill, Kim

    2015-01-01

    This investigation examined the influence of varying levels of Spanish receptive vocabulary and phonemic awareness ability on beginning English vocabulary, phonemic awareness, word reading fluency, and reading comprehension development across kindergarten through second grade. The 80 respondents were Spanish speaking children with no English…

  20. INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT (IQ AS A PREDICTOR OF READING COMPREHENSION AND WRITING ACHIEVEMENT OF EFL LEARNERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ary Setya B. Ningrum

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed at investigating Intelligent Quotient (IQ as a predictor of reading comprehension and writing achievement as well as to correlate the students‟ reading comprehension with their writing achievement. The participant of the study were 32 senior high school Indonesian students. There are three instruments used in this study, those are IQ test, reading comprehension test, and writing test. Upon obtaining the whole data needed, Pearson Product Moment formula was employed to determine the correlation of IQ with reading comprehension and writing achievement as well as reading comprehension with writing achievement. The result of this study revealed that IQ made significant contribution in predicting reading comprehension (23.42% and writing achievement (16.08%. In addition, the correlation coefficient of reading comprehension and writing achievement shows that they are moderately correlated (r=.587, meaning that reading comprehension contributes as many as 34.45% to writing achievement.

  1. Grammar and vocabulary for First and First for schools with answers

    CERN Document Server

    Thomas, Barbara; Matthews, Laura

    2015-01-01

    Grammar and Vocabulary reference and practice for the revised Cambridge English: First (FCE) and Cambridge English: First (FCE) for Schools from 2015 Cambridge Grammar and Vocabulary for First and First for Schools provides complete coverage of the grammar and vocabulary needed for the Cambridge First exams, and develops listening skills at the same time. It includes the full range of First and First for Schools exam tasks from the Reading and Use of English, Writing and Listening papers, and contains helpful grammar explanations. This edition is updated for the new exam to be introduced from 2015. It is informed by the Cambridge Learner Corpus to ensure that the language tackles real learner errors. The accompanying listening material is available online for download.

  2. Writing and reading in the electronic health record: an entirely new world

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lauri Lopp

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Electronic health records (EHRs are structured, distributed documentation systems that differ from paper charts. These systems require skills not traditionally used to navigate a paper chart and to produce a written clinic note. Despite these differences, little attention has been given to physicians’ electronic health record (EHR-writing and -reading competence. Purposes: This study aims to investigate physicians’ self-assessed competence to document and to read EHR notes; writing and reading preferences in an EHR; and demographic characteristics associated with their perceived EHR ability and preference. Methods: Fourteen 5-point Likert scale items, based on EHR system characteristics and a literature review, were developed to measure EHR-writing and -reading competence and preference. Physicians in the midwest region of the United States were invited via e-mail to complete the survey online from February to April 2011. Factor analysis and reliability testing were conducted to provide validity and reliability of the instrument. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to pursue answers to the research questions. Results: Ninety-one physicians (12.5%, from general and specialty fields, working in inpatient and outpatient settings, participated in the survey. Despite over 3 years of EHR experience, respondents perceived themselves to be incompetent in EHR writing and reading (Mean = 2.74, SD = 0.76. They preferred to read succinct, narrative notes in EHR systems. However, physicians with higher perceived EHR-writing and -reading competence had less preference toward reading succinct (r= − 0.33, p<0.001 and narrative (r= − 0.36, p<0.001 EHR notes than physicians with lower perceived EHR competence. Physicians’ perceived EHR-writing and -reading competence was strongly related to their EHR navigation skills (r=0.55, p<0.0001. Conclusions: Writing and reading EHR documentation is different for physicians. Maximizing

  3. The effect of shared book reading on the acquisition of expressive vocabulary of a 7 year old who uses AAC.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soto, Gloria; Dukhovny, Elena

    2008-05-01

    Children who have poor expressive vocabularies are at risk of further language delays and reading comprehension difficulties, which will significantly impact their educational achievement. The role of shared book reading in supporting vocabulary growth continues to receive empirical attention in the field of communication disorders. This single-subject study analyzes the effect of an intervention program based on shared book reading in a girl with no functional speech who used augmentative and alternative communication. The study included three literacy activities, a prereading activity to stimulate the girl's prior knowledge about the topic, a shared reading activity, and a postreading activity to assess and support language comprehension. Our findings suggest that the activities and elicitation techniques used by the clinician had a positive effect on the participant's expressive vocabulary.

  4. Games as a measure of reading and writing generalization after computerized teaching of reading skills

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Carolina Sella

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Behavior Analysis is usually accused of not being able to account for the generalization of verbal behavior that is present in linguistically competent individuals. However, several behavior analytic studies investigate this theme, and gamification has been seen as a useful way to study generalization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate reading and writing generalization in games, after these behaviors were taught through the program Learning to Read in Small Steps. Participants were four children between 7 and 12 years old who had reading and writing deficits. The experimental design was a pre-posttest design that encompassed five phases. Performance in probes suggests generalization of reading and writing skills to new activities (games and responses. This study represents a small step in a systematic understanding of how games can be used to assess behavior change.

  5. The Living Classroom: Writing, Reading, and Beyond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armington, David

    This book describes the special way one teacher, Jeanette Amidon, approaches children's thinking, with a particular focus on reading and writing instruction. The root value of her first-grade classroom in Massachusetts is respect for children's ideas, with the children's art and writing as visible signs of the teacher's respect for their thinking.…

  6. The Effect of Interest in Reading on Mastery of English Vocabulary with Fifth Grade Elementary Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Herlina Herlina

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research is to find out whether there was a positive relationship between students’ interest in reading and their mastery of English vocabulary for fifth grade elementary school students at the lab school in Jakarta. This research used a quantitative method applying a co-relational approach. The population for this research was fifth grade elementary school students from three lab schools. A simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 60 students as respondents from these schools: Lab school Rawamangun in East Jakarta, Lab school Setia Budi in South Jakarta and Lab school Kebayoran also in South Jakarta. Data was collected using a questionnaire with 30 questions requiring answers on a Likert scale and 32 test items were given to each respondent. The conclusion from this research is that there was a positive and significant relationship between interest in reading and mastery of English vocabulary amongst the sample fifth grade elementary school students from these lab schools in Jakarta. Hence, students who had high interest in reading, their mastery of English vocabulary also increased.

  7. Reading & Writing Workshop. The Fantastic Harry Potter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lockman, Darcy

    2000-01-01

    Discusses the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, explaining how to use it to enhance reading and writing instruction. The article presents a brief interview with J.K. Rowling, a Harry Potter time line, and ideas for working on writing and editing paragraphs, creating dynamic dialogue, and fixing grammar and punctuation. Other fantasy books are…

  8. Technological mediation as a learning tool for writing and reading

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gladys Molano Caro

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This article disclosed the progress a technological mediation has built to the adquisition, use and development of reading and writing from Cognitive Affective Method for Learning -MACPA-. A development like the one being proposed, is an option for children and young people to, activate, promote, develop and / or enhance the learning of reading and writing. Likewise, it is an option to consider the results achieved in the PISA test and case reports, done by teachers by teachers, showing that that elementary students do not perform production of texts so spontaneous or directed; and they fail to make progress in reading comprehension levels. Given this context, the partial results achieved in the second phase of the research aims to implement a technology platform based mediation MACPA as an educational resource to enhance the processes of reading and writing among students from first to fourth grades of primary education. Accordingly, through Article basis be found in a software for reading and writing that takes into account the particularities of learning of students with intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities in students who have not evidenced difficulties in academic learning processes, though they require a new method to accelerate learning.

  9. Effect of Home Video on the Reading Habit of Literate Nigerian ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Nekky Umera

    energy, concentration and time so that one is able to understand the content of what is ... good readers, develop a good writing style, acquire more vocabulary, build .... Intelligent Test. ... Administrative Strategies for Improving Reading Skills.

  10. Reading, Writing, and the Study of Literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biddle, Arthur W., Ed.; Fulwiler, Toby, Ed.

    Approaching literary study from two distinct yet interlocking perspectives (by looking at the major genres of literature and by examining the forms in which students of literature are expected to write about the literature they read), this book has two main sections. Following the Prelude, which treats the relationships between reading and writing…

  11. Everyday Reading and Writing: English. 5112.24.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knowles, Marlene; Wardell, Arlene

    A curriculum guide to help students improve their everyday English skills has been designed for the Dade County Public Schools. The course, for grades 8 through 12, is to help students learn to read, write, and interpret letters, business forms, instructions, signs, maps, and magazines. The practical subject matter emphasizes basic reading and…

  12. Are Attitudes Toward Writing and Reading Separable Constructs? A Study With Primary Grade Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, Steve; Berninger, Virginia; Abbott, Robert

    2012-01-01

    This study examined whether or not attitude towards writing is a unique and separable construct from attitude towards reading for young, beginning writers. Participants were 128 first-grade children (70 girls and 58 boys) and 113 third-grade students (57 girls and 56 boys). Each child was individually administered a 24 item attitude measure, which contained 12 items assessing attitude towards writing and 12 parallel items for reading. Students also wrote a narrative about a personal event in their life. A factor analysis of the 24 item attitude measure provided evidence that generally support the contention that writing and reading attitudes are separable constructs for young beginning writers, as it yielded three factors: a writing attitude factor with 9 items, a reading attitude factor with 9 parallel items, and an attitude about literacy interactions with others factor containing 4 items (2 items in writing and 2 parallel items in reading). Further validation that attitude towards writing is a separable construct from attitude towards reading was obtained at the third-grade level, where writing attitude made a unique and significant contribution, beyond the other two attitude measures, to the prediction of three measures of writing: quality, length, and longest correct word sequence. At the first-grade level, none of the 3 attitude measures predicted students’ writing performance. Finally, girls had more positive attitudes concerning reading and writing than boys. PMID:22736933

  13. Handwriting or Typewriting? The Influence of Pen- or Keyboard-Based Writing Training on Reading and Writing Performance in Preschool Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiefer, Markus; Schuler, Stefanie; Mayer, Carmen; Trumpp, Natalie M; Hille, Katrin; Sachse, Steffi

    2015-01-01

    Digital writing devices associated with the use of computers, tablet PCs, or mobile phones are increasingly replacing writing by hand. It is, however, controversially discussed how writing modes influence reading and writing performance in children at the start of literacy. On the one hand, the easiness of typing on digital devices may accelerate reading and writing in young children, who have less developed sensory-motor skills. On the other hand, the meaningful coupling between action and perception during handwriting, which establishes sensory-motor memory traces, could facilitate written language acquisition. In order to decide between these theoretical alternatives, for the present study, we developed an intense training program for preschool children attending the German kindergarten with 16 training sessions. Using closely matched letter learning games, eight letters of the German alphabet were trained either by handwriting with a pen on a sheet of paper or by typing on a computer keyboard. Letter recognition, naming, and writing performance as well as word reading and writing performance were assessed. Results did not indicate a superiority of typing training over handwriting training in any of these tasks. In contrast, handwriting training was superior to typing training in word writing, and, as a tendency, in word reading. The results of our study, therefore, support theories of action-perception coupling assuming a facilitatory influence of sensory-motor representations established during handwriting on reading and writing.

  14. Text-Based Vocabulary Intervention Training Study: Supporting Fourth Graders with Low Reading Comprehension and Learning Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solís, Michael; Scammacca, Nancy; Barth, Amy E.; Roberts, Garrett J.

    2017-01-01

    This experimental study examined the effectiveness of a text-based reading and vocabulary intervention with self-regulatory supports for 4th graders with low reading comprehension. Students with standard scores on the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test between 1.0 standard deviation (SD) and 0.5 SD below the normative sample were included (N=44) and…

  15. Developing Historical Reading and Writing with Adolescent Readers: Effects on Student Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    De La Paz, Susan; Felton, Mark; Monte-Sano, Chauncey; Croninger, Robert; Jackson, Cara; Deogracias, Jeehye Shim; Hoffman, Benjamin Polk

    2014-01-01

    In this study, the effects of a disciplinary reading and writing curriculum intervention with professional development are shared. We share our instructional approach and provide writing outcomes for struggling adolescent readers who read at or below basic proficiency levels, as well as writing outcomes for proficient and advanced readers.…

  16. Neural substrates of reading and writing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakurai, Yasuhisa

    2008-01-01

    Functional MRI has made a great advance in the neurological field because of its low invasion, easiness to collect data to be analyzed by such a globally standardizable software as SPM (statistical parametric mapping), and appearance of academic journals specified for neuroimaging. This chapter of the review describes the activating regions and functions in reading and writing, the essential ability of language belonging to the cerebral highest function, as evidenced by the fMRI and positron emission tomography (PET) images including those under disease states (alexia and agraphia), in the following order; Correspondence of Japanese kanji/kana-words to English ones for studies on activation, Cognitive psychological model of reading, Studies on the activation of reading words, and Studies on the activation of writing words. In this paper, regions are mainly documented in accordance with the coordinate of Montreal Neurological Institute. The third section above mentions the concerned regions in the fusiform gyrus and posterior inferior temporal cortex; lateral occipital gyrus subcortex; temporal plane, superior temporal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus; posterior middle temporal, angular and supramarginal gyri; and inferior frontal gyrus, insular gyri, and supplementary motor area. The fourth section for writing words says the regions in the fusiform gyrus, posterior inferior temporal gyrus and posterior inferior temporal cortex; intraparietal sulcus pericortex, superior parietal lobule and lateral occipital gyrus; and sensorimotor area, posterior middle temporal gyrus and posterior inferior frontal gyrus. (R.T.)

  17. Reading, writing, rebelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Doubinsky, Sebastien

    2017-01-01

    What is reading? What is writing? What connects the two? These questions have been the fertile ground for many literary and philosophical theories, from New Criticism to Deconstruction. This essay does not pretend answering to these two questions, but rather to question the question themselves...... and try to shed a different light of this essential problematic. Choosing not to consider literature as a stable concept, but rather as an ontologically impermanent one, I try to reflect upon the terms that condition our approach of works and of the creation of these works. In a large perspective......, the notions of “reading” and “writing” are examined through the prism of their incarnations as “works”, and the consequences of this identity have on our critical discourse. In order to read critically, one must thus recognize this immanent instability of our notions and definitions, and begin from...

  18. Investigating Connections among Reading, Writing, and Language Development: A Multiliteracies Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paesani, Kate

    2016-01-01

    This study explores relationships among reading literature, creative writing, and language development in a university-level advanced French grammar course through the theoretical lens of the multiliteracies framework. The goal is to investigate reading-writing connections and whether these literacy practices facilitate students' understanding and…

  19. Enhancing Vocabulary Acquisition through Reading: A Hierarchy of Text-Related Exercise Types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wesche, M.; Paribakht, T. Sima

    This paper describes a classification scheme developed to examine the effects of extensive reading on primary and second language vocabulary acquisition and reports on an experiment undertaken to test the model scheme. The classification scheme represents a hypothesized hierarchy of the degree and type of mental processing required by various…

  20. Handwriting or Typewriting? The Influence of Pen- or Keyboard-Based Writing Training on Reading and Writing Performance in Preschool Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiefer, Markus; Schuler, Stefanie; Mayer, Carmen; Trumpp, Natalie M.; Hille, Katrin; Sachse, Steffi

    2015-01-01

    Digital writing devices associated with the use of computers, tablet PCs, or mobile phones are increasingly replacing writing by hand. It is, however, controversially discussed how writing modes influence reading and writing performance in children at the start of literacy. On the one hand, the easiness of typing on digital devices may accelerate reading and writing in young children, who have less developed sensory-motor skills. On the other hand, the meaningful coupling between action and perception during handwriting, which establishes sensory-motor memory traces, could facilitate written language acquisition. In order to decide between these theoretical alternatives, for the present study, we developed an intense training program for preschool children attending the German kindergarten with 16 training sessions. Using closely matched letter learning games, eight letters of the German alphabet were trained either by handwriting with a pen on a sheet of paper or by typing on a computer keyboard. Letter recognition, naming, and writing performance as well as word reading and writing performance were assessed. Results did not indicate a superiority of typing training over handwriting training in any of these tasks. In contrast, handwriting training was superior to typing training in word writing, and, as a tendency, in word reading. The results of our study, therefore, support theories of action-perception coupling assuming a facilitatory influence of sensory-motor representations established during handwriting on reading and writing. PMID:26770286

  1. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AS PREDICTORS OF READING COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE

    OpenAIRE

    Abbas Ali Zarei; Nima Shokri Afshar

    2014-01-01

    Abstract: The present study was conducted to investigate types of Multiple Intelligences as predictors of reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. To meet this objective, a 60-item TOEFL test and a 90-item multiple intelligences questionnaire were distributed among 240 male and female Iranians studying English at Qazali and Parsian Universities in Qazvin. Data were analyzed using a multiple regression procedure. The result of the data analysis indicated that musical, interpersonal, kin...

  2. Developing methodological awareness of reading, thinking and writing as knowledge producing practices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Katan, Lina Hauge; Baarts, Charlotte

    Developing methodological awareness among university students about reading, thinking and writing as knowledge producing practices Integrated acts of reading, thinking and writing comprise an extensive and extremely significant part of the learning processes through which we produce knowledge...... text books on method and classes too. As a consequence students have few chances of encountering the practices of reading, thinking and writing depicted as those imperative parts of knowledge making that we as researchers of the humanities and social sciences know them to be. Subsequently students...... are not taught to understand reading, thinking and writing as central practices of research nor do they come to develop methododological awareness about them as such. In this paper, we report from our endavour into designing and developing a course offered for under- and graduate students, with the aim...

  3. Bilingual Dialogic Book-Reading Intervention for Preschoolers with Slow Expressive Vocabulary Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsybina, Irina; Eriks-Brophy, Alice

    2010-01-01

    This study examined the feasibility of using a dialogic book-reading intervention for 22-r41-month-old bilingual preschool children with expressive vocabulary delays. The intervention was provided in English and Spanish concurrently to an experimental group of six children, while six other children were in a delayed treatment control group. Thirty…

  4. Reading-to-write: A Practice of Critical Thinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhanfang Li

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Reading-to-write, a term taken from language testing studies, puts great emphasis on a student-centered learning atmosphere, on the situational context and cooperative learning, on an authentic learning environment, on making use of various information resources, and on the process of the individuals’ meaning construction and critical thinking. The application of this model in class will shed lights on College English teaching in China, providing the English teachers with a new perception of language teaching: Reading and writing can be integrated to elicit more authentic language use, and skill training and critical thinking are not two separate stages.

  5. Powerful Vocabulary Acquisition through Texts Comparison

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Reza Hasannejad

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to investigate if dual version reading comprehension had a positive effect on Intermediate EFL students’ general vocabulary acquisition, receptive and productive knowledge of vocabulary and students’ synonymous power of words. Two groups were selected - the experimental group and the control group. The study included: (1 four pretests (2 the dual version reading comprehension, and (3 four posttests. It was found that there was no significant difference between the two groups of students on the pretests. However there was a significant difference between the two groups of the students on the posttests. Overall, the dual version reading comprehension vocabulary-learning made the experimental group learners outperformed the control groups in terms of their performance on four types of vocabulary tests. This indicates that students following dual version reading comprehension were more successful in vocabulary acquisition, and developing their receptive knowledge of vocabulary, transferring their receptive knowledge in to the productive knowledge and enhancing the memorization of the synonymous words.

  6. Development of decoding, reading comprehension, vocabulary and spelling during the elementary school years

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aarnoutse, C.A.J.; Leeuwe, J.F.J. van; Voeten, M.J.M.; Oud, J.H.L.

    2001-01-01

    The goal of this study was (1) to investigate the development of decoding (efficiency), reading comprehension, vocabulary and spelling during the elementary school years and (2) to determine the differences between poor, average and good performers with regard to the development of these skills.

  7. Developing a Specialized Vocabulary Word List in a Composition Culinary Course through Lecture Notes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.Nordin N. R.

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Learning to write in a composition culinary course is very challenging for L2 learners. The main barrier in writing proficiency within this discipline is the lack of vocabulary, specifically the lack of exposure towards specialized vocabulary. This study aims to provide a corpus of specialized vocabulary within a food writing course. By providing students with a word list of specialized vocabulary in the course, students may benefit by familiarizing with the language discourse which will aid in better comprehension of the course, and subsequently facilitate in their writing development. A compilation of all PowerPoint slides from one writing course was assembled and analyzed using the range and frequency program to identify the specialized vocabularies in a food writing course. The corpus was categorized using a four step rating scale, which identified 113 specialized vocabularies in food writing. The learning of specialized vocabulary specialized vocabulary is an important issue at the tertiary level in Malaysia, with educators’ realization of the importance of discourse proficiency in ESP programs, thus many more research is yielded on the many new issues on the teaching and learning of specialized vocabulary particularly within the academic and professional context.

  8. A dual V t disturb-free subthreshold SRAM with write-assist and read isolation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatnagar, Vipul; Kumar, Pradeep; Pandey, Neeta; Pandey, Sujata

    2018-02-01

    This paper presents a new dual V t 8T SRAM cell having single bit-line read and write, in addition to Write Assist and Read Isolation (WARI). Also a faster write back scheme is proposed for the half selected cells. A high V t device is used for interrupting the supply to one of the inverters for weakening the feedback loop for assisted write. The proposed cell provides an improved read static noise margin (RSNM) due to the bit-line isolation during the read. Static noise margins for data read (RSNM), write (WSNM), read delay, write delay, data retention voltage (DRV), leakage and average powers have been calculated. The proposed cell was found to operate properly at a supply voltage as small as 0.41 V. A new write back scheme has been suggested for half-selected cells, which uses a single NMOS access device and provides reduced delay, pulse timing hardware requirements and power consumption. The proposed new WARI 8T cell shows better performance in terms of easier write, improved read noise margin, reduced leakage power, and less delay as compared to the existing schemes that have been available so far. It was also observed that with proper adjustment of the cell ratio the supply voltage can further be reduced to 0.2 V.

  9. Close Reading and Creative Writing in Clinical Education: Teaching Attention, Representation, and Affiliation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charon, Rita; Hermann, Nellie; Devlin, Michael J

    2016-03-01

    Medical educators increasingly have embraced literary and narrative means of pedagogy, such as the use of learning portfolios, reading works of literature, reflective writing, and creative writing, to teach interpersonal and reflective aspects of medicine. Outcomes studies of such pedagogies support the hypotheses that narrative training can deepen the clinician's attention to a patient and can help to establish the clinician's affiliation with patients, colleagues, teachers, and the self. In this article, the authors propose that creative writing in particular is useful in the making of the physician. Of the conceptual frameworks that explain why narrative training is helpful for clinicians, the authors focus on aesthetic theories to articulate the mechanisms through which creative and reflective writing may have dividends in medical training. These theories propose that accurate perception requires representation and that representation requires reception, providing a rationale for teaching clinicians and trainees how to represent what they perceive in their clinical work and how to read one another's writings. The authors then describe the narrative pedagogy used at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Because faculty must read what their students write, they receive robust training in close reading. From this training emerged the Reading Guide for Reflective Writing, which has been useful to clinicians as they develop their skills as close readers. This institution-wide effort to teach close reading and creative writing aims to equip students and faculty with the prerequisites to provide attentive, empathic clinical care.

  10. Close Reading and Creative Writing in Clinical Education: Teaching Attention, Representation, and Affiliation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charon, Rita; Hermann, Nellie; Devlin, Michael J.

    2015-01-01

    Medical educators increasingly have embraced literary and narrative means of pedagogy, such as the use of learning portfolios, reading works of literature, reflective writing, and creative writing, to teach interpersonal and reflective aspects of medicine. Outcomes studies of such pedagogies support the hypotheses that narrative training can deepen the clinician's attention to a patient and can help to establish the clinician's affiliation with patients, colleagues, teachers, and the self. In this article, the authors propose that creative writing in particular is useful in the making of the physician. Of the conceptual frameworks that explain why narrative training is helpful for clinicians, the authors focus on aesthetic theories to articulate the mechanisms through which creative and reflective writing may have dividends in medical training. These theories propose that accurate perception requires representation and that representation requires reception, providing a rationale for teaching clinicians and trainees how to represent what they perceive in their clinical work and how to read one another's writings. The authors then describe the narrative pedagogy used at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Since faculty must read what their students write, they receive robust training in close reading. From this training emerged the Reading Guide for Reflective Writing, which has been useful to clinicians as they develop their skills as close readers. This institution-wide effort to teach close reading and creative writing aims to equip students and faculty with the pre-requisites to provide attentive, empathic clinical care. PMID:26200577

  11. Matching Vocabulary Learning Process with Learning Outcome in L2 Academic Writing: An Exploratory Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Qing

    2013-01-01

    This exploratory case study of two undergraduates links vocabulary learning approaches with lexical quality measured in academic writing. Employing an array of qualitative data, it is shown that in a "semi-language-rich" learning context, Chinese learners may dispense with rote learning and engage in a more natural learning approach in which…

  12. Linguistic Feature Development Across Grades and Genre in Elementary Writing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall-Mills, Shannon; Apel, Kenn

    2015-07-01

    As children develop skills in writing across academic contexts, clinicians and educators need to have a fundamental understanding of typical writing development as well as valid and reliable assessment methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the progression of linguistic elements in school-age children's narrative and expository writing development. Narrative and expository writing samples produced by 89 children in Grades 2 through 4 were analyzed at the microstructure and macrostructure levels. Measures of receptive vocabulary, word-level reading, and reading comprehension were obtained. Exploratory factor analyses revealed 4 microstructure factors (e.g., productivity, grammatical complexity, grammatical accuracy, and lexical density) and 1 macrostructure factor (e.g., a combination of organization, text structure, and cohesion). Multivariate analyses of covariance with reading comprehension as a covariate showed that productivity and macrostructure were sensitive to grade-level and genre differences and that expository grammatical complexity was sensitive to grade-level differences. Findings are discussed in light of grade-level standards for narrative and expository writing and current practices in writing assessment. Multiple suggestions are offered for clinical and educational implications, and specific directions are provided for future research.

  13. Writing Dear Abby: An Interim Report to Teachers of Spelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Virginia French

    New spellers, adults just beginning to learn to read and write, face daunting problems with English vocabulary. Teachers use varying approaches to help these students, including published lists of Words Most Frequently Used. This paper provides an inventory of words used in letters to syndicated columnist "Dear Abby" as published in a…

  14. Recognizing Textual Entailment with Attentive Reading and Writing Operations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Liang; Huo, Huan; Liu, Xiufeng

    2018-01-01

    -range dependency. In this paper, we propose to facilitate the conventional attentive reading operations with two sophisticated writing operations - forget and update. Instead of utilizing a single vector that accommodates the attention history, we write the past attention information directly into the sentence...

  15. Reading Stories to Learn Math: Mathematics Vocabulary Instruction for Children with Early Numeracy Difficulties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassinger-Das, Brenna; Jordan, Nancy C; Dyson, Nancy

    2015-12-01

    The present study involved examining whether a storybook reading intervention targeting mathematics vocabulary, such as "equal," "more," and "less," and associated number concepts would increase at-risk children's vocabulary knowledge and number competencies. Children with early numeracy difficulties (N = 124) were recruited from kindergarten classes in four schools. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a storybook number competencies (SNC) intervention, a number sense intervention, or a business-as-usual control. Interventions were carried out in groups of four children over 8 weeks (24 thirty-minute sessions). Findings demonstrated that the SNC intervention group outperformed the other groups on measures of mathematics vocabulary, both in terms of words that were closely aligned to the intervention and those that were not. There was no effect of the SNC intervention, however, on general mathematics measures, suggesting a need to provide the mathematics vocabulary work along with more intensive instruction in number concepts.

  16. Practices of reading and writing in five diferent programs of the Sergio Arboleda university

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Blanca González

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of an investigation into the practices of reading and writing present in five courses of different programs assigned at the Sergio Arboleda University (Bogotá. The research derives from the following questions: What is the role of reading and writing process in the course of some programs at the University? How is assign, directed and accompanied the task of reading and writing? and how are assessed the progress and results in the process of reading and writing? The information was obtained from written tests, surveys, classroom observations and interviews with teachers of these programs. After the analysis process, were set up five units of information, which in the case of reading were reading assignment, intervention guidance, intervention to clarify, evaluation and assessments of teachers, and for the case of writing: defining text types, intervention process, intervention in the correction process, evaluation and assessments of teachers.

  17. Examining the Read-to-Write Strategy and its Effects on Second Grader’s Writing of Sequential Text

    OpenAIRE

    Neal, John

    2017-01-01

    Writing is so important. It is important in school and in our careers; writing is found to be helpful physiologically and psychologically. Experts wonder, with writing so important, why is writing not being adequately taught in the schools. The answer may be that writing is complex and teaching it is even more complex. The Read-to-Write Strategy is a writing model based on the study of exemplary models of text and children are explicitly taught how to write the way an author writes through a ...

  18. Reading-Writing Relationships in First and Second Language Academic Literacy Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grabe, William; Zhang, Cui

    2016-01-01

    Reading and writing relations, as this concept applies to academic learning contexts, whether as a major way to learn language or academic content, is a pervasive issue in English for academic purposes (EAP) contexts. In many cases, this major link between reading/writing and academic learning is true even though explicit discussions of this…

  19. Embedded Instruction Improves Vocabulary Learning during Automated Storybook Reading among High-Risk Preschoolers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Howard; Kelley, Elizabeth; Greenwood, Charles; McCune, Luke; Carta, Judith; Atwater, Jane; Guerrero, Gabriela; McCarthy, Tanya; Schneider, Naomi; Spencer, Trina

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: We investigated a small-group intervention designed to teach vocabulary and comprehension skills to preschoolers who were at risk for language and reading disabilities. These language skills are important and reliable predictors of later academic achievement. Method: Preschoolers heard prerecorded stories 3 times per week over the course…

  20. Literacy of 8th and 9th grade pupils with reading and writing disabilities in comparison with pupils without reading and writing disabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Fijavž, Katarina

    2017-01-01

    For the last decade literacy and illiteracy of the young at the end of their education has been very often the subject under discussion. Already in 1951 UNESCO provided the definition of literacy, which says that literacy is the ability of a person who can with understanding both read and write a short, simple statement of his everyday life. The definition was later on expanded to the possession by an individual of the knowledge and skills of reading and writing, which enable him to effective...

  1. Temporal Resolution Ability in Students with Dyslexia and Reading and Writing Disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaubet, Juliana

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction The Gaps-in-Noise (GIN test assesses the hearing ability of temporal resolution. The development of this ability can be considered essential for learning how to read. Objective Identify temporal resolution in individuals diagnosed with reading and writing disorders compared with subjects with dyslexia. Methods A sample of 26 subjects of both genders, age 10 to 15 years, included 11 diagnosed with dyslexia and 15 diagnosed with reading and writing disorders. Subjects did not display otologic, neurologic, and/or cognitive diseases. A control group of 30 normal-hearing subjects was formed to compare thresholds and percentages obtained from the GIN test. The responses were obtained considering two measures of analysis: the threshold gap and the percentage of correct gap. Results The threshold was lower in the GIN for the typical group than for the other groups. There was no difference between groups with dyslexia and with reading and writing disorders. The GIN results of the typical group revealed a higher percentage of correct answer than in the other groups. No difference was obtained between the groups with dyslexia and with reading and writing disorders. Conclusion The GIN test identified a difficulty in auditory ability of temporal resolution in individuals with reading and writing disorders and in individuals with dyslexia in a similar way.

  2. Using Different Types of Dictionaries for Improving EFL Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alharbi, Majed A.

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of monolingual book dictionaries, popup dictionaries, and type-in dictionaries on improving reading comprehension and vocabulary learning in an EFL program. An experimental design involving four groups and a post-test was chosen for the experiment: (1) pop-up dictionary (experimental group 1); (2) type-in…

  3. A Vocabulary Learning Tool for L2 Undergraduates Reading Science and Technology Textbooks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Chihcheng; Ou Yang, Fang-Chuan

    2013-01-01

    Students of English as a second language who major in science and technology use English-language textbooks to ensure that they can read English materials upon graduation. Research indicates that teachers spend little time helping these students on the linguistic complexity of such textbooks. Vocabulary, grammar, and article structure are elements…

  4. The Relation of Morphological Awareness and Syntactic Awareness to Adults' Reading Comprehension: Is Vocabulary Knowledge a Mediating Variable?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Ying; Roehrig, Alysia D.; Williams, Rihana S.

    2011-01-01

    The authors' goal was to examine the structural relationships among vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension in English-speaking adults. Structural equation analysis of data collected from 151 participants revealed that morphological awareness affected reading comprehension directly. Syntactic…

  5. Self-Efficacy of Teacher Candidates for Teaching First Reading and Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gündogmus, Hatice Degirmenci

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to determine by different variables the self-efficacy of a teacher candidate for teaching first reading and writing in their 3rd and 4th year in the department of primary school teaching. In line with the purpose of the study, the self-efficacy levels of teacher candidates for teaching first reading and writing were…

  6. A Mixed-Methods Approach to Investigating First- and Second-Language Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition through the Reading of Fiction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Barry Lee

    2015-01-01

    Adult English-L1 (n = 20) and English-L2 (n = 32) experimental groups were given a novel containing nonce words to read within two weeks to investigate whether the reading of fiction can induce a state of incidental vocabulary acquisition. After reading, an unexpected meaning recall translation assessment measuring acquisition of 49 target nonce…

  7. Brains with character: Reading and writing neuronarrative

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yaczo, T.F.

    2015-01-01

    Brains with Character: Reading and Writing Neuronarrative tracks the concept of neuronarrative by analyzing the reciprocal and catalytic relationships between neuroscience and literary media. Crucial to understanding the contemporary stakes in these two cultural endeavors is how their relationships

  8. Do infant vocabulary skills predict school-age language and literacy outcomes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duff, Fiona J; Reen, Gurpreet; Plunkett, Kim; Nation, Kate

    2015-01-01

    Background Strong associations between infant vocabulary and school-age language and literacy skills would have important practical and theoretical implications: Preschool assessment of vocabulary skills could be used to identify children at risk of reading and language difficulties, and vocabulary could be viewed as a cognitive foundation for reading. However, evidence to date suggests predictive ability from infant vocabulary to later language and literacy is low. This study provides an investigation into, and interpretation of, the magnitude of such infant to school-age relationships. Methods Three hundred British infants whose vocabularies were assessed by parent report in the 2nd year of life (between 16 and 24 months) were followed up on average 5 years later (ages ranged from 4 to 9 years), when their vocabulary, phonological and reading skills were measured. Results Structural equation modelling of age-regressed scores was used to assess the strength of longitudinal relationships. Infant vocabulary (a latent factor of receptive and expressive vocabulary) was a statistically significant predictor of later vocabulary, phonological awareness, reading accuracy and reading comprehension (accounting for between 4% and 18% of variance). Family risk for language or literacy difficulties explained additional variance in reading (approximately 10%) but not language outcomes. Conclusions Significant longitudinal relationships between preliteracy vocabulary knowledge and subsequent reading support the theory that vocabulary is a cognitive foundation of both reading accuracy and reading comprehension. Importantly however, the stability of vocabulary skills from infancy to later childhood is too low to be sufficiently predictive of language outcomes at an individual level – a finding that fits well with the observation that the majority of ‘late talkers’ resolve their early language difficulties. For reading outcomes, prediction of future difficulties is likely to

  9. Scaffolding and co-operative learning : Effects on reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge in English as a foreign language

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wachyunni, Sri

    2015-01-01

    For university students in Indonesia, English reading comprehension, which partially depends on vocabulary knowledge, is key to success in academic achievement. The current study was set up to compare the effect of two commonly known teaching interventions during a whole semester to improve reading

  10. How directional change in reading/writing habits relates to directional change in displayed pictures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hachoung; Oh, Songjoo

    2016-01-01

    It has been suggested that reading/writing habits may influence the appreciation of pictures. For example, people who read and write in a rightward direction have an aesthetic preference for pictures that face rightward over pictures that face leftward, and vice versa. However, correlations for this phenomenon have only been found in cross-cultural studies. Will a directional change in reading/writing habits within a culture relate to changes in picture preference? Korea is a good place to research this question because the country underwent gradual changes in reading/writing direction habits, from leftward to rightward, during the 20th century. In this study, we analyzed the direction of drawings and photos published in the two oldest newspapers in Korea from 1920-2013. The results show that the direction of the drawings underwent a clear shift from the left to the right, but the direction of the photos did not change. This finding suggests a close psychological link between the habits of reading/writing and drawing that cannot be accounted for simply by an accidental correspondence across different cultures.

  11. Flights of Fancy: Imaginary Travels as Motivation for Reading, Writing, and Speaking German.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bryant, Keri L.; Pohl, Rosa Marie

    1994-01-01

    The article describes an innovative teaching project suitable for students at any age and all levels of German. The project, conducted entirely in German, includes writing, reading, and speaking, and promotes the skills of letter-writing, reading for content, note-taking, and oral presentation. (JL)

  12. Reading, Writing, and Animation in Character Learning in Chinese as a Foreign Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yi; Chang, Li-Yun; Zhang, Juan; Perfetti, Charles A.

    2013-01-01

    Previous studies suggest that writing helps reading development in Chinese in both first and second language settings by enabling higher-quality orthographic representation of the characters. This study investigated the comparative effectiveness of reading, animation, and writing in developing foreign language learners' orthographic knowledge…

  13. Introducing and Sustaining Close Reading and Writing through Poetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timmermans, Karren M.; Johnson, Angie

    2017-01-01

    Close reading of poetry scaffolds readers and writers as they come to understand the form and function of poetry and transfer those skills to writing. In this teaching tip, the authors explain a way in which primary teachers can introduce close reading and move young students toward composing and presenting poetry.

  14. Influence of writing and reading intertrack interferences in terms of bit aspect ratio in shingled magnetic recording

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nobuhara, Hirofumi; Okamoto, Yoshihiro; Yamashita, Masato; Nakamura, Yasuaki; Osawa, Hisashi; Muraoka, Hiroaki

    2014-05-01

    In this paper, we investigate the influence of the writing and reading intertrack interferences (ITIs) in terms of bit aspect ratio (BAR) in shingled magnetic recording by computer simulation using a read/write model which consists of a writing process based on Stoner-Wohlfarth switching asteroid by a one-side shielded isosceles triangular write head and a reading process by an around shielded read head for a discrete Voronoi medium model. The results show that BAR should be 3 to reduce the influence of writing and reading ITIs, media noise, and additive white Gaussian noise in an assumed areal density of 4.61Tbpsi.

  15. Developing a Specialized Vocabulary Word List in a Composition Culinary Course through Lecture Notes

    Science.gov (United States)

    M.Nordin, N. R.; Stapa, S. H.; Darus, S.

    2013-01-01

    Learning to write in a composition culinary course is very challenging for L2 learners. The main barrier in writing proficiency within this discipline is the lack of vocabulary, specifically the lack of exposure towards specialized vocabulary. This study aims to provide a corpus of specialized vocabulary within a food writing course. By providing…

  16. The Effects of Target Word Properties on the Incidental Acquisition of Vocabulary through Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Barry Lee

    2016-01-01

    The primary aim of this investigation was to determine what combination of target word variables (frequency, patternedness, length, cognateness, lexicalization) could best predict the difficulty of incidentally acquiring vocabulary through reading. A group of adult English First Language (EL1) (n = 20) and adult English as a Foreign Language (EFL)…

  17. Why and How EFL Students Learn Vocabulary in Parliamentary Debate Class

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eunice M. Aclan

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Vocabulary, the backbone of any language including English, is foundational for listening, speaking, reading and writing. These four macro-skills are necessary not only in gaining knowledge as English is the language to access major information sources particularly the World Wide Web but also in the demanding globalized workplace. Vocabulary is seen to be learned better when it is contextualized thus language teachers should design communicative activities such as debate. However, debate, being more known as a competitive rather than a classroom activity worldwide, has not been explored yet for its potential to develop vocabulary among EFL/ESL students although it has been identified for its power in developing communication skills in general as well as critical thinking and other soft skills. Thus, this qualitative study was conducted to explore why and how EFL students learn vocabulary in classroom debate. The data were gathered through end-of-course evaluation and focus group interview with seven participants from the Middle East, African and ASEAN countries. The findings show that students learned vocabulary due to debate’s interactive nature requiring contextualized and meaningful language use from preparation to actual debate. EFL students described how they learned vocabulary through debate which has implications for SLA and language teaching.   Keywords: Noticing hypothesis, Comprehensible input, Incomprehensible input, Vocabulary building strategies

  18. Do infant vocabulary skills predict school-age language and literacy outcomes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duff, Fiona J; Reen, Gurpreet; Plunkett, Kim; Nation, Kate

    2015-08-01

    Strong associations between infant vocabulary and school-age language and literacy skills would have important practical and theoretical implications: Preschool assessment of vocabulary skills could be used to identify children at risk of reading and language difficulties, and vocabulary could be viewed as a cognitive foundation for reading. However, evidence to date suggests predictive ability from infant vocabulary to later language and literacy is low. This study provides an investigation into, and interpretation of, the magnitude of such infant to school-age relationships. Three hundred British infants whose vocabularies were assessed by parent report in the 2nd year of life (between 16 and 24 months) were followed up on average 5 years later (ages ranged from 4 to 9 years), when their vocabulary, phonological and reading skills were measured. Structural equation modelling of age-regressed scores was used to assess the strength of longitudinal relationships. Infant vocabulary (a latent factor of receptive and expressive vocabulary) was a statistically significant predictor of later vocabulary, phonological awareness, reading accuracy and reading comprehension (accounting for between 4% and 18% of variance). Family risk for language or literacy difficulties explained additional variance in reading (approximately 10%) but not language outcomes. Significant longitudinal relationships between preliteracy vocabulary knowledge and subsequent reading support the theory that vocabulary is a cognitive foundation of both reading accuracy and reading comprehension. Importantly however, the stability of vocabulary skills from infancy to later childhood is too low to be sufficiently predictive of language outcomes at an individual level - a finding that fits well with the observation that the majority of 'late talkers' resolve their early language difficulties. For reading outcomes, prediction of future difficulties is likely to be improved when considering family

  19. The Effect of Summary Writing on Reading Comprehension: The Role of Mediation in EFL Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yang

    2013-01-01

    Reading teachers focus more on the instruction of reading content or strategies, but pay relatively less attention to the impact of writing on reading comprehension. Based on mediation theory, the author examined the effect of summary writing about reading texts on readers' comprehension. By reviewing relevant literatures on the topic of…

  20. Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of the Integration of Mathematics, Reading, and Writing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinke, Kathryn; Mokhtari, Kouider; Willner, Elizabeth

    1997-01-01

    Examined the perceptions of preservice elementary teachers enrolled in reading, mathematics, and integrating reading and mathematics methods courses about integrating mathematics, reading, and writing instruction at the elementary/middle school level. Surveys indicated that all students were generally positive about instructional integration. They…

  1. Writing and reading in a multicultural classroom

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ingerslev, Gitte Holten

    2007-01-01

    The study investigates how interpretive reading skills and literary understanding may be enhanced through initial narrative writing tasks. In the class in question the majority of students are children of migrant workers in Denmark. The class in question belongs to what is called an ethnic lingui...

  2. Reading, Writing, and Cooperative Learning in a JTPA Summer Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thistlethwaite, Linda

    1989-01-01

    A Job Training Partnership Act-funded reading, writing, mathematics, and cooperative learning program for 83 participants aged 14-21 was evaluated with pre- and postassessments. Program strengths identified were emphasis on a workplace atmosphere, structure with flexibility, variety in grouping procedures, computer-assisted writing, and outside…

  3. Developing reading and writing competences of year 4 primary school pupils

    OpenAIRE

    Turičnik, Mateja

    2016-01-01

    The fundamental aim of Slovene lessons is to develop communication competences as competences of receiving and producing diverse texts. The curriculum for Slovene gives a special attention to teaching of reading and writing, with the aim of teaching to not merely master the fluent reading and writing, but also to use written language to communicate, think, create, learn, and for entertainment. Therefore, the aim is to enable all children to achieve a higher level of so-called critical literac...

  4. Using an Online Vocabulary Memorization Tool versus Traditional Vocabulary Exercises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arif Bakla

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to reveal what Memrise, an online vocabulary study tool, can offer to upper-intermediate EFL learners compared to traditional vocabulary exercises in L2 vocabulary learning. Two groups of upper-intermediate learners (N=80 were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group and were given the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale, VKS for short, as the pre-test and post-test. The participants in both groups were exposed to the target vocabulary items in the same reading text. While those in the experimental group created list of target vocabulary items collaboratively in Memrise and then studied the sets individually, the learners in the control group did traditional vocabulary exercises. The results of the post-tests indicated that there was a significant difference between the control group and the experimental group in favor of the experimental group. The researchers discuss possible pedagogical implications of this significant finding for EFL vocabulary instruction.

  5. The Correlation Between Students’Vocabulary Mastery and Their Interest in English Toward Reading Comprehension in descriptive Text at the Second Semester of Muhammadiyah University of Metro Academic Year 2014/2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eva Faliyanti

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstarct -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vocabulary is one aspects  in reading comprehension. By having  a lot vocabulary, the students understand in reading comprehension. The interest in English also gives effect of students mastery in English. Before the students start to read they are must be interested in English first. Reading is one of skills in English that very essential for the students, because by reading the students can get information from the text. In this research the researcher focoses on reading comprehension in descriptive text. The problems formulation in this research are; (1 How far is the students score of ability in vocabulary mastery toward reading comprehension in descriptive text? (2 How far is the students score of ability in students interest in English toward reading comprehension in descriptive text? (3 How far is the correlation between students’ score of vocabulary mastery and students interest in English toward reading comprehension in descriptive text?. The objective of the research are; (1 To identify the students’ score in vocabulary mastery toward reading comprehension in descriptive text. (2 To identify the students’ score in students interest in English toward reading comprehension in descriptive text. (3 To find out how far the correlation between students’ score of vocabulary mastery and students interest in English toward reading compregension in descritive text. The research was conducted at the second semester of Muhammadiyah University Students in Academic Year 2014/2015. The population of this research was 127 students. The researcher used cluster ramdom sampling in taking sample. In collecting the data the researcher used test and questionnarie, namely vocabulary mastery and reading comprehension in descriptive text. In questionnarie used to students interest in English and in analyzing the data, the

  6. Effects of a phonological awareness program on English reading and spelling among Hong Kong Chinese ESL children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeung, Susanna S S; Siegel, Linda S; Chan, Carol K K

    2013-05-01

    This study investigated the effects of a 12-week language-enriched phonological awareness instruction on 76 Hong Kong young children who were learning English as a second language. The children were assigned randomly to receive the instruction on phonological awareness skills embedded in vocabulary learning activities or comparison instruction which consisted of vocabulary learning and writing tasks but no direct instruction in phonological awareness skills. They were tested on receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness at the syllable, rhyme and phoneme levels, reading, and spelling in English before and after the program implementation. The results indicated that children who received the phonological awareness instruction performed significantly better than the comparison group on English word reading, spelling, phonological awareness at all levels and expressive vocabulary on the posttest when age, general intelligence and the pretest scores were controlled statistically. The findings suggest that phonological awareness instruction embedded in vocabulary learning activities might be beneficial to kindergarteners learning English as a second language.

  7. Orthographic Mapping in the Acquisition of Sight Word Reading, Spelling Memory, and Vocabulary Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ehri, Linnea C.

    2014-01-01

    Orthographic mapping (OM) involves the formation of letter-sound connections to bond the spellings, pronunciations, and meanings of specific words in memory. It explains how children learn to read words by sight, to spell words from memory, and to acquire vocabulary words from print. This development is portrayed by Ehri (2005a) as a sequence of…

  8. Assessing roles of vocabulary knowledge predominating in contextual clues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patcharawadee Promduang

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and the use of contextual clues and whether EFL learners who are well-equipped with reading skills are able to comprehend the text despite a low level of vocabulary knowledge. Therefore, the study focused on which vocabulary dimensions help students guess unfamiliar words. The study was carried out at Hatyai University in Thailand. The population of this study consisted of 34 undergraduates who were studying International Business English and had taken a course in reading techniques. The present study was conducted to conceptually validate the roles of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge to improve skills by contextual clue. Vocabulary Depth was specially employed to evaluate two dimensions namely Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic. The Schmitt and Clapham Vocabulary Level Test was used to test vocabulary breadth, while the vocabulary depth was implemented by Read’s Vocabulary Depth Test. Reading parts of the TOEFL were adopted for contextual clue items. There were two statistical analysis tools also implemented in this study: paired-sample t-test and bivariate correlation. First, in an attempt to find which vocabulary dimension predominates in guessing word meaning from the text, a paired-sample t-test was utilized to compare the difference of two vocabulary dimensions in reading part: vocabulary depth and contextual clues, and vocabulary breadth and contextual clues. Second, a bivariate correlation was used to find the degree of relationship between vocabulary knowledge and contextual clues. The consequences of this study identified empirical results that 1 there was a positive relationship between contextual clues and vocabulary depth, the reverse is true in vocabulary breadth. Moreover, vocabulary depth is more significantly crucial than breadth to enhance student’s ability to guess words’ meaning from the context.

  9. Academic vocabulary in learner writing from extraction to analysis

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    Paquot, Magali

    2010-01-01

    Academic vocabulary is in fashion, as witnessed by the increasing number of books published on the topic. In the first part of this book, Magali Paquot scrutinizes the concept of academic vocabulary and proposes a corpus-driven procedure based on the criteria of keyness, range and evenness of distribution to select academic words that could be part of a common-core academic vocabulary syllabus. In the second part, the author offers a thorough analysis of academic vocabulary in the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) and describes the factors that account for learners difficulties in

  10. Direct and Indirect Teaching: Using E-Books for Supporting Vocabulary, Word Reading, and Story Comprehension for Young Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korat, Ofra; Shamir, Adina

    2012-01-01

    We examine the effect of direct and indirect teaching of vocabulary and word reading on pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children following use of an electronic storybook (e-book). The children in each age group were randomly assigned to an intervention group which read the e-book or to a control group which was afforded the regular school…

  11. Cybertext Redux: Using Digital Game-Based Learning to Teach L2 Vocabulary, Reading, and Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neville, David O.; Shelton, Brett E.; McInnis, Brian

    2009-01-01

    The essay reports on a mixed-methods study using an interactive fiction (IF) game to teach German vocabulary, reading, and culture to university students. The study measured knowledge retention and transfer, and evaluated the attitudes of students toward the game. The results tentatively indicate that contextualized, immersive role play may have…

  12. Textual and Pictorial Glosses: Effectiveness on Incidental Vocabulary Growth When Reading in a Foreign Language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kost, Claudia R.; Foss, Pamelo; Lenzini, John J.

    1999-01-01

    Investigates the effects of pictorial and textual glosses and a combination thereof on incidental vocabulary growth of foreign language learners. Subjects from second-semester German classes read a narrative text passage under one of three marginal gloss conditions: textual gloss (English translation); pictorial gloss; and text and pictures in the…

  13. PROMOTING INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING THROUGH VERBAL DRAMATIZATION OF WORDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Looi-Chin Ch’ng

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Despite the fact that explicit teaching of vocabulary is often practised in English as a Second Language (ESL classrooms, it has been proven to be rather ineffective, largely because words are not taught in context. This has prompted the increasing use of incidental vocabulary learning approach, which emphasises on repeated readings as a source for vocabulary learning. By adopting this approach, this study aims to investigate students’ ability in learning vocabulary incidentally via verbal dramatization of written texts. In this case, readers’ theatre (RT is used as a way to allow learners to engage in active reading so as to promote vocabulary learning. A total of 160 diploma students participated in this case study and they were divided equally into two groups, namely classroom reading (CR and RT groups. A proficiency test was first conducted to determine their vocabulary levels. Based on the test results, a story was selected as the reading material in the two groups. The CR group read the story through a normal reading lesson in class while the RT group was required to verbally dramatize the text through readers’ theatre activity. Then, a post-test based on vocabulary levels was carried out and the results were compared. The findings revealed that incidental learning was more apparent in the RT group and their ability to learn words from the higher levels was noticeable through higher accuracy scores. Although not conclusive, this study has demonstrated the potential of using readers’ theatre as a form of incidental vocabulary learning activity in ESL settings.

  14. "Reading to Write" in East Asian Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freedman, Leora

    2013-01-01

    A reading-writing initiative began in 2011-12 at the University of Toronto as a partnership between an East Asian Studies (EAS) department and an English Language Learning (ELL) Program. In this institution, students are expected to enter into scholarly discussions in their first year essays, yet many (both native English speakers and non-native…

  15. THE SOCIAL PRACTICE OF READING AND WRITING INSTRUCTIONIN SCHOOLS FOR INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED PUPILS

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    Monica REICHENBERG

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available In Sweden, schooling for children who are regarded as intellectually disabled is organised in a special school, Särskolan. The overall aim of this article was to investigate the teachers’ attitudes towards the social practice of reading and writing instruction in Särskolan.Therefore, 40 teachers from Northern Swedenwere sampled for the em­pi­rical study. The teachers were asked to fill out a questionnaire. One of the findings was that the teachers reported different attitudes towards the social practice of reading and writing instruction. Another finding was that the teachers reported they did not practice the documentation of reading and writing difficulties. Furthermore, the practice of documentation was associated with professio­nal competence in reading and writing literacy. The study suggests that literacy educa­tion did have an effect on teachers’ attitu­des towards their practice of docu­men­ting.However, the openness towards organizational learning was polarized, and consequently, it produced a threshold for change. Accordingly, more studies are necessary for further descrip­tion and explanation of the complexities of the present findings.

  16. Writing and reading training effects on font type and size preferences by students with low vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atasavun Uysal, Songül; Düger, Tülin

    2012-06-01

    The effect of writing and reading training on preferred font type and size in low-vision students was evaluated in 35 children. An ophthalmologist confirmed low vision according to ICD-10-CM. Children identified the font type and size they could best read. The writing subtest of the Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test, read in 1 min., and legibility as measured by the number of readable written letters were used in evaluating the children. A writing and reading treatment program was conducted, beginning with the child's preferred font type and size, for 3 months, 2 days per week, for 45 min. per day at the child's school. Before treatment, the most preferred font type was Verdana; after treatment, the preferred font type and size changed. Students had gained reading and writing speed after training, but their writing legibility was not significantly better. Training might affect the preferred font type and size of students with low vision. Surprisingly, serif and sans-serif fonts were preferred about equally after treatment.

  17. Equivalent Circuit for Magnetoelectric Read and Write Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camsari, Kerem Y.; Faria, Rafatul; Hassan, Orchi; Sutton, Brian M.; Datta, Supriyo

    2018-04-01

    We describe an equivalent circuit model applicable to a wide variety of magnetoelectric phenomena and use spice simulations to benchmark this model against experimental data. We use this model to suggest a different mode of operation where the 1 and 0 states are represented not by states with net magnetization (like mx , my, or mz) but by different easy axes, quantitatively described by (mx2-my2), which switches from 0 to 1 through the write voltage. This change is directly detected as a read signal through the inverse effect. The use of (mx2-my2) to represent a bit is a radical departure from the standard convention of using the magnetization (m ) to represent information. We then show how the equivalent circuit can be used to build a device exhibiting tunable randomness and suggest possibilities for extending it to nonvolatile memory with read and write capabilities, without the use of external magnetic fields or magnetic tunnel junctions.

  18. THE COMPARISON OF USING SNAKE LADDERS AND SCRABBLE MEDIA TOWARDS VOCABULARY MASTERY OF STUDENTS

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    Eka Pra Setiawati

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Vocabulary is an essential component in learning English. It influences four English skills; they are listening, speaking, reading, and writing, for getting a good result in English. In teaching learning process, the teacher often implements the less interesting method, technique, or even media of vocabulary mastery in teaching and learning process which make the students to be bored, inactive, an uniterested in memorizing English vocabulary. Some media can be interested as the solutions in vocabulary mastery, they are Snake Ladders media and Scrabble media. The investigation was undergone by quantitative research. The researcher applied experimental research. This research underwent pre-test post-test control group design. To analyze data, t-test formula is used to measure the result of collected data. From the t-test measurement, it showed that t-test is 3.15 and t-table is 2.66. It means that t-hit > t-table. Based on the collected data, there is different result of using Snake Ladders from Scrabble media toward students’ vocabulary mastery. It was found that the students who are taught by using Snake Ladders resulted significant outcome than those are instructed by Scrabble media. It means that Snake Ladders is effective to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery.

  19. The effects of dictionary training on Turkish EFL students' reading comprehension and vocabulary learning

    OpenAIRE

    Altun, Arif

    1995-01-01

    Ankara : The Institute of Economic and Social Sciences of Bilkent Univ., 1995. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1995. Includes bibliographical references leaves 55-59 The present study investigated the effects of monolingual dictionary training on Turkish EFL students' reading comprehension and vocabulary learning. Thirty-seven intermediate-level Turkish EFL preparatory students in the Department of English Language Teaching at Mustafa Kemal University participated in this st...

  20. The Role of Reading Strategies in Integrated L2 Writing Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plakans, Lia

    2009-01-01

    Integrated second-language writing tasks elicit writing performances that involve other abilities such as reading or listening. Thus, understanding the role of these other abilities is necessary for interpreting performance on such tasks. This study used an inductive analysis of think-aloud protocol data and interviews to uncover the reading…

  1. A Study of the Vocabulary Adequacy of College Student Education Majors for Reading "Reader's Digest."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greif, Ivo P.

    Doubts about the reading vocabulary adequacies of today's high school graduates led to an experiment with a list of 199 difficult words culled from the "Reader's Digest." College juniors and seniors (298 in the first stage and 388 in the second stage) were asked to indicate whether they knew the pronunciation and the meaning of the…

  2. The Importance of SES, Home and School Language and Literacy Practices, and Oral Vocabulary in Bilingual Children's English Reading Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Elizabeth R.; Páez, Mariela M.; August, Diane L.; Barr, Christopher D.; Kenyon, Dorry; Malabonga, Valerie

    2014-01-01

    This study explores the role that socioeconomic status (SES), home and school language and literacy practices, and oral vocabulary play in the development of English reading skills in Latino English language learners (ELLs) and how these factors contribute differentially to English reading outcomes for children of different ages and in different…

  3. From reading to writing: Evaluating the Writer's Craft as a means of assessing school student writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pauline Sangster, Graeme Trousdale & Charles Anderson

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This article reports on part of a study investigating a new writing assessment, the Writer's Craft, which requires students to read a stimulus passage and then write a continuation adopting the style of the original. The article provides a detailed analysis of stimulus passages employed within this assessment scheme and students' written continuations of these passages. The findings reveal that this is a considerably more challenging assessment writing task than has previously been recognised; and that questions arise concerning the nature of the stimulus passages and the extent to which the assessment criteria captured what the students had achieved in their writing. The implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations are made.

  4. English reading and writing performance of Xitsonga-speaking Grade 7 learners in township schools: A case study

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    Manyike, Tintswalo V.

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available A clear preference for English as language of teaching and learning (LoLT is evident in most South African schools. However, discrepancies exist between language policy aims and educational outcomes with regard to the successful acquisition of English among English second language (ESL learners. Effective participation in all learning activities is closely linked to learners’ proficiency in the LoLT; poor English proficiency leads to underachievement across the curriculum. In the light of this, a case study as conducted to investigate the English reading and writing performance of Grade 7 Xitsonga-speaking learners in three selected township schools in the Tshwane metropolitan area, Gauteng Province. Firstly, a literature review was undertaken to explore the importance of reading and writing skills in the classroom with particular reference to the demands made on ESL learners. Following this, standardised tests were used to assess the learners’ English reading and writing performance. Findings indicated that learners performed poorly in both reading and writing; however, no significant relationship could be demonstrated between reading and writing, possibly due to the nature of the components of the test. The overall lack of reading and writing competence in English holds implications for learners’ academic achievement in all learning areas in situations in which English is used as the LoLT.

  5. 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

  6. The Effects of a Web-Based Vocabulary Development Tool on Student Reading Comprehension of Science Texts

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    Karen Thompson

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The complexities of reading comprehension have received increasing recognition in recent years. In this realm, the power of vocabulary in predicting cognitive challenges in phonological, orthographic, and semantic processes is well documented. In this study, we present a web-based vocabulary development tool that has a series of interactive displays, including a list of the 50 most frequent words in a particular text, Google image and video results for any combination of those words, definitions, and synonyms for particular words from the text, and a list of sentences from the text in which particular words appear. Additionally, we report the results of an experiment that was performed working collaboratively with middle school science teachers from a large urban district in the United States. While this experiment did not show a significant positive effect of this tool on reading comprehension in science, we did find that girls seem to score worse on a reading comprehension assessment after using our web-based tool. This result could reflect prior research that suggests that some girls tend to have a negative attitude towards technology due to gender stereotypes that give girls the impression that they are not as good as boys in working with computers.

  7. Neuroimaging correlates of handwriting quality as children learn to read and write

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gimenez, Paul; Bugescu, Nicolle; Black, Jessica M.; Hancock, Roeland; Pugh, Kenneth; Nagamine, Masanori; Kutner, Emily; Mazaika, Paul; Hendren, Robert; McCandliss, Bruce D.; Hoeft, Fumiko

    2014-01-01

    Reading and writing are related but separable processes that are crucial skills to possess in modern society. The neurobiological basis of reading acquisition and development, which critically depends on phonological processing, and to a lesser degree, beginning writing as it relates to letter perception, are increasingly being understood. Yet direct relationships between writing and reading development, in particular, with phonological processing is not well understood. The main goal of the current preliminary study was to examine individual differences in neurofunctional and neuroanatomical patterns associated with handwriting in beginning writers/readers. In 46 5–6 year-old beginning readers/writers, ratings of handwriting quality, were rank-ordered from best to worst and correlated with brain activation patterns during a phonological task using functional MRI, and with regional gray matter volume from structural T1 MRI. Results showed that better handwriting was associated negatively with activation and positively with gray matter volume in an overlapping region of the pars triangularis of right inferior frontal gyrus. This region, in particular in the left hemisphere in adults and more bilaterally in young children, is known to be important for decoding, phonological processing, and subvocal rehearsal. We interpret the dissociation in the directionality of the association in functional activation and morphometric properties in the right inferior frontal gyrus in terms of neural efficiency, and suggest future studies that interrogate the relationship between the neural mechanisms underlying reading and writing development. PMID:24678293

  8. Neuroimaging correlations of handwriting quality as children learn to read and write

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul eGimenez

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Reading and writing are related but separable processes that are crucial skills to possess in modern society. The neurobiological basis of reading acquisition and development, which critically depends on phonological processing, and to a lesser degree, beginning writing as it relates to letter perception, are increasingly being understood. Yet direct relationships between writing and reading development, in particular, with phonological processing is not well understood. The main goal of the current preliminary study was to examine individual differences in neurofunctional and neuroanatomical patterns associated with handwriting in beginning writers/readers. In 46 5-6 year-old beginning readers/writers, ratings of handwriting quality, were rank-ordered from best to worst and correlated with brain activation patterns during a phonological task using functional MRI, and with regional grey matter volume from structural T1 MRI. Results showed that better handwriting was associated negatively with activation and positively with gray matter volume in an overlapping region of the pars triangularis of right inferior frontal gyrus. This region, in particular in the left hemisphere in adults and more bilaterally in young children, is known to be important for decoding, phonological processing, and subvocal rehearsal. We interpret the dissociation in the directionality of the association in functional activation and morphometric properties in the right inferior frontal gyrus in terms of neural efficiency, and suggest future studies that interrogate the relationship between the neural mechanisms underlying reading and writing development.

  9. Read/write schemes analysis for novel complementary resistive switches in passive crossbar memory arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Shimeng; Liang Jiale; Wu Yi; Wong, H-S Philip

    2010-01-01

    Recently a prototype of complementary resistive switches has been proposed to solve the sneak-path problem in passive crossbar memory arrays. To further evaluate the potential of this novel cell structure for practical applications, we present a modeling analysis to capture its switching dynamics and analyze its unique read/write schemes. The model is corroborated by experimental data. We found a trade-off between the read voltage window and write voltage window. The constraint from avoiding disturbance on unselected cells is critical for proper functionality, which in turn limits the writing speed.

  10. Learning to Read Spectra: Teaching Decomposition with Excel in a Scientific Writing Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muelleman, Andrew W.; Glaser, Rainer E.

    2018-01-01

    Literacy requires reading comprehension, and fostering reading skills is an essential prerequisite to and a synergistic enabler of the development of writing skills. Reading comprehension in the chemical sciences not only consists of the understanding of text but also includes the reading and processing of data tables, schemes, and graphs. Thus,…

  11. Effects of Adapted Dialogic Reading on Oral Language and Vocabulary Knowledge of Latino Preschoolers at Risk for English Language Delays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Correa, Vivian I.; Lo, Ya-Yu; Godfrey-Hurrell, Kristi; Swart, Katie; Baker, Doris Luft

    2015-01-01

    In this single-case design study, we examined the effects of an adapted dialogic reading intervention on the oral language and vocabulary skills of four Latino preschool children who were at risk for English language delays. We used adapted dialogic reading strategies in English and two literacy games that included a rapid naming activity and…

  12. Predicting Ethnic Minority Children's Vocabulary from Socioeconomic Status, Maternal Language and Home Reading Input: Different Pathways for Host and Ethnic Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prevoo, Mariëlle J. L.; Malda, Maike; Mesman, Judi; Emmen, Rosanneke A. G.; Yeniad, Nihal; Van Ijzendoorn, Marinus; Linting, Mariëlle

    2014-01-01

    When bilingual children enter formal reading education, host language proficiency becomes increasingly important. This study investigated the relation between socioeconomic status (SES), maternal language use, reading input, and vocabulary in a sample of 111 six-year-old children of first- and second-generation Turkish immigrant parents in the…

  13. MULTIMEDIA LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION AND VOCABULARY MASTERY FOR ENHANCHING STUDENTS’ JAPANESE LANGUAGE READING SKILL AT SMKN 1 PURWOKERTO

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    Haryono Haryono

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The present research is the implementation of the 2013 doctoral disertation report funded by DIKTI. The research is a part of IPTEKS scheme for community devotion that have strong relation to language education technology. It concern with the use of multimedia learning and vocabulary mastery on students’ Japanese language  reading skills at SMK 1 Purwokerto. The method is implemented experimentally by giving multimedia learning treatment such as Rosetta Stone and Tell Me More Japanese. Through some presentation with the use of those multimedia learning material, the purpose of this research is to know the extent to which the level of their vocabulary mastery and to encourage students in order to have an approriate skill to read Japanese documents. With the implementation of this multimedia learning training, graduate students of SMK Negeri I Purwokerto will be increased and for the future they have a good job at Japanese companies in Indonesia

  14. Emergence of Reading and Writing in Illiterate Adults After Matching-to-Sample Tasks

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    Carmen Silvia Motta Bandini

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Reading and writing are behaviors that provide an individual with the opportunity for inclusion in many social environments. Despite the importance of these behaviors, statistical indices show that, in Brazil, 8.6% of the people aged 15-24 are illiterate. The purpose of this manuscript, which is divided into two studies, was to assess the effects of a Portuguese language reading curriculum for simple (Study 1 and complex words (Study 2 in illiterate adults. Four participants took part in each study. In both studies, reading was taught mainly by training dictated words to printed words relations. Overall, there was an increase in the percentage of correct responses in reading and writing tasks when pre-tests and post-tests were compared; results were more consistent in reading tasks. Future studies should continue to investigate procedures with these goals for this population.

  15. Modeling of the write and read back performances of hexagonal Ba-ferrite particulate media for high density tape recording

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jehyun; Fuger, Markus; Fidler, Josef; Suess, Dieter; Schrefl, Thomas; Shimizu, Osamu

    2010-01-01

    In this study, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performances of longitudinally, randomly, and perpendicularly oriented particles, based on hexagonal barium ferrite (h-BaFe) platelets with an average volume of 2400 nm 3 have been studied as a function of the recording head to media distance by numerical micromagnetic simulations. The distances from the write head to media and from the read head to media were varied independently. For a fixed read distance and varied writing distances, the SNR was decreasing in larger write distance. An optimum write distance of 40 and 50 nm was found for the longitudinally oriented media and the perpendicularly oriented media, respectively. The optimum write distance for longitudinally oriented media, 40 nm, resulted in the local minimum SNR for the perpendicularly oriented media. In most write distances the perpendicularly oriented media show the outstanding best performance, but near the write distance of 40 nm the longitudinally oriented media work as good as the perpendicularly oriented media. In a fixed write distance with various read distances, the SNR was almost constant in each media whereas the average signal amplitude was exponentially decayed in larger read head to media distance. The best SNR was found in the perpendicularly oriented media at write head to media distance d write =20 nm and read head to media distance d read =40 nm. The best SNR value is 11.9 and 24.4 dB in time domain and frequency domain, respectively.

  16. Updated optical read/write memory system components

    Science.gov (United States)

    1974-01-01

    A survey of the building blocks of the electro-optic read/write system was made. Critical areas and alternate paths are discussed. The latest PLZT block data composer is analyzed. Stricter controls in the production and fabrication of PLZT are implied by the performance of the BDC. A reverse charge before erase has eliminated several problems observed in the parallel plane charging process for photoconductor-thermoplastic hologram storage.

  17. Narrating, writing, reading: life story work as an aid to (self) advocacy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meininger, H.P.

    2006-01-01

    This article is about life story work with people with learning disabilities. It talks about reading and writing stories, and listening to them. Telling your life story, writing it down and talking about it with others can be an important part of self-advocacy for people with learning disabilities.

  18. Assessment of read and write stability for 6T SRAM cell based on charge plasma DLTFET

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anju; Yadav, Shivendra; Sharma, Dheeraj

    2018-03-01

    To overcome the process variations due to random dopant fluctuations (RDFs) and complex annealing techniques a charge plasma based doping less TFET (CP-DLTFET) device has been proposed for designing of 6T SRAM cell. The proposed device also benefited by subthreshold slope, low leakage current, and low power supply. In this paper, to avoid the dependency of stability parameters of SRAM cell to supply voltage (Vdd), here N-curve metrics has been analyzed to determine read and write stability. Because N-curve provides stability analysis in terms of voltage and current as well as it gives combine stability analysis with the facility of an inline tester. Further, analyzing the N-curve metrics for different Vdd, cell ratio, and pull-up ratio assist in designing the configuration of transistors for the better read and write stability. Power metrics of N-curve gives the knowledge about read and write stability instead of using four metrics (SINM, SVNM, WTV, and WTI) of N-curve. Finally, in the 6T CP-DLTFET SRAM cell, read and write stability is tested by the interface trap charges (ITCs). The performance parameter of the 6T CP-DLTFET SRAM cell provides considerable read and write stability with less fabrication complexity.

  19. How do faculty conceptions on reading, writing and their role in the teaching of academic literacies influence their inclusive attitude

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Colombo

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This study explored faculty conceptions about reading and writing, the student body, reasons for student low-performance as well as their declared teaching practices aimed at helping students to better understand readings and write academic texts. The objective was to understand what type of professors´ conceptions contributed with a more inclusive attitude towards first-year students. Content analysis from data gathered from in-depth interviews indicates that professors who acknowledged the complexity of the reading and writing processes tend to be more inclusive and to use reading and writing to teach and not just to evaluate. Those who taught writing courses tended to consider writing as a general skill, transferable to other contexts and spheres of knowledge. Less-inclusive teachers, explaining why they did not offer guidance or proposed remedial solutions, claimed that students should already have mastered academic reading and writing when entering the university and that teaching these skills implied being overprotective and not allowing them to mature.

  20. Writing to and reading from a nano-scale crossbar memory based on memristors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vontobel, Pascal O; Robinett, Warren; Kuekes, Philip J; Stewart, Duncan R; Straznicky, Joseph; Stanley Williams, R

    2009-01-01

    We present a design study for a nano-scale crossbar memory system that uses memristors with symmetrical but highly nonlinear current-voltage characteristics as memory elements. The memory is non-volatile since the memristors retain their state when un-powered. In order to address the nano-wires that make up this nano-scale crossbar, we use two coded demultiplexers implemented using mixed-scale crossbars (in which CMOS-wires cross nano-wires and in which the crosspoint junctions have one-time configurable memristors). This memory system does not utilize the kind of devices (diodes or transistors) that are normally used to isolate the memory cell being written to and read from in conventional memories. Instead, special techniques are introduced to perform the writing and the reading operation reliably by taking advantage of the nonlinearity of the type of memristors used. After discussing both writing and reading strategies for our memory system in general, we focus on a 64 x 64 memory array and present simulation results that show the feasibility of these writing and reading procedures. Besides simulating the case where all device parameters assume exactly their nominal value, we also simulate the much more realistic case where the device parameters stray around their nominal value: we observe a degradation in margins, but writing and reading is still feasible. These simulation results are based on a device model for memristors derived from measurements of fabricated devices in nano-scale crossbars using Pt and Ti nano-wires and using oxygen-depleted TiO 2 as the switching material.

  1. Picture a World without Pens, Pencils, and Paper: The Unanticipated Future of Reading and Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bromley, Karen

    2010-01-01

    This article discusses the future of reading and writing. It includes a brief history of reading and writing, shows the reader how digital text has quietly evolved and threatens to take over traditional notions of what it means to be literate, and suggests that speech will emerge as a dominant way of communicating. The three ideas developed here…

  2. The Impact of Topic Interest, L2 Proficiency, and Gender on EFL Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition through Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sunjung; Pulido, Diana

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the impact of topic interest, alongside L2 proficiency and gender, on L2 vocabulary acquisition through reading. A repeated-measures design was used with 135 Korean EFL students. Control variables included topic familiarity, prior target-word knowledge, and target-word difficulty (word length, class, and concreteness).…

  3. Neuroplasticity-based Cognitive and Linguistic Skills Training Improves Reading and Writing Skills in College Students

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    Beth eRogowsky

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This study reports an evaluation of the effect of computer-based cognitive and linguistic training on college students’ reading and writing skills. The computer-based training included a series of increasingly challenging software programs that were designed to strengthen students’ foundational cognitive skills (memory, attention span, processing speed, and sequencing in the context of listening and higher level reading tasks. Twenty-five college students (12 native English language; 13 English Second Language who demonstrated poor writing skills participated in the training group. The training group received daily training during the spring semester (11 weeks with the Fast ForWord Literacy (FFW-L and upper levels of the Fast ForWord Reading series (Levels 3, 4 and 5. The comparison group (n=28 selected from the general college population did not receive training. Both the training and comparison groups attended the same university. All students took the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT and the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS Written Expression Scale at the beginning (Time 1 and end (Time 2 of the spring college semester. Results from this study showed that the training group made a statistically greater improvement from Time 1 to Time 2 in both their reading skills and their writing skills than the comparison group. The group who received training began with statistically lower writing skills before training, but exceeded the writing skills of the comparison group after training.

  4. teachers say reading and writing in a university degree in the colombian caribbean.

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    Luis Manuel Cárdenas Cárdenas

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Literacy practices in higher education: what students andThis article is the result of a survey conducted in 10 degrees in a University Colombian Caribbean whose general purpose was to describe, interpret and understand the literacy practices that take place in these degrees. To achieve this article was taken into account one aspect that research in general was conceived as the first specific objective. This aspect refers to the conceptions which teachers and students of the degrees on the teaching and learning of reading and writing academic texts in college. The study usually takes as a theoretical concept of academic literacy. Data collected through classroom observations, also came from surveys and interviews with students and teachers of the degrees. The results of the investigation determined that the teaching and learning of reading and writing in the undergraduate classroom is very limited. The development of pedagogical and didactic classes lacks reading and writing practices. 

  5. Profiling vocabulary in psychology journal abstracts: A comparison between Iranian and Anglo-American journals

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    Is’haaq Akbarian

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Lexical profiling has yielded fruitful results for language description and pedagogy (Liu, 2014, and particularly highlighted the significance of academic vocabulary for EFL learners in this process. This investigation, likewise, attempts to comparatively profile the vocabulary, more particularly the academic vocabulary, in the ‘abstract’ section of scholarly articles in Iranian and Anglo-American refereed journals in psychology. Iranian journals under study publish articles in Persian but also include an English abstract whereas the latter publish papers in English. For this purpose, a corpus (consisting of 307,126 words, with two sub-corpora of almost similar size and characteristics, was collected from Iranian and Anglo-American journals and analyzed through the software Range. The analyses conducted show a coverage of over 15 percent and the use of over 500 words of the Academic Word List (AWL in both Iranian and Anglo-American sub-corpora. However, there are variations in academic and nonacademic vocabulary use in abstracts across the two sub-corpora above. Most of the academic words used belong to the beginning AWL sub-lists. Pedagogical implications are made for reading and writing, particularly in EAP contexts.

  6. Using ICT to foster (pre)reading and writing skills in young children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Voogt, Joke; McKenney, Susan

    2008-01-01

    This study examines how technology can support the development of emergent reading and writing skills in four- to five-year-old children. The research was conducted with PictoPal, an intervention which features a software package that uses images and text in three main activity areas: reading,

  7. An investigation of using the computer for reading and writing in the English classroom in secondary schools in the UK

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    Bin Zou

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an investigation of using the computer in English teaching at the secondary school in the UK, particularly in respect of reading and writing skills. Many studies suggest that the computer brings significant possibilities for promoting the teaching of reading and writing in the English classroom. The computer can enhance the development of reading and writing. This study adopted interviews as research technique and some student teachers in a university and some English teachers in a secondary school in the UK involved this investigation. The findings of this study show that the computer can enhance students’ reading and writing. However, teachers have to learn how to control the process of teaching of reading and writing with the use of the computer.

  8. The effect of extensive reading and paired-associate learning on long-term vocabulary retention: an event-related potential study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chun, Eunjin; Choi, Sungmook; Kim, Junsoo

    2012-07-19

    We investigated the relative efficacy of extensive reading (ER) and paired-associate learning (PAL) in the ability of second language (L2) learners to retain new vocabulary words. To that end, we combined behavioral measures (i.e., vocabulary tests) and an event-related potential (ERP) investigation with a focus on the N400 ERP component to track short- and long-term vocabulary retention as a consequence of the two different approaches. Behavioral results indicated that both ER and PAL led to substantial short-term retention of the target words. In contrast, on a long-term basis, ER was more effective than PAL to a considerable degree as indicated by a large-size effect (d=1.35). Evidence from the N400 effects (d=1.70) observed in the parietal electrode group (P3, Pz, P4) provided further support for the superior effects of ER over PAL on long-term vocabulary retention. The converging evidence challenges the assumptions of some L2 researchers and makes a significant contribution to the literature of vocabulary acquisition, because it provides the first ERP evidence that ER is more conducive to long-term vocabulary retention than PAL. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. How do faculty conceptions on reading, writing and their role in the teaching of academic literacies influence their inclusive attitude

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Colombo

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2016v69n3p115 This study explored faculty conceptions about reading and writing, the student body, reasons for student low-performance as well as their declared teaching practices aimed at helping students to better understand readings and write academic texts. The objective was to understand what type of professors´ conceptions contributed with a more inclusive attitude towards first-year students. Content analysis from data gathered from in-depth interviews indicates that professors who acknowledged the complexity of the reading and writing processes tend to be more inclusive and to use reading and writing to teach and not just to evaluate. Those who taught writing courses tended to consider writing as a general skill, transferable to other contexts and spheres of knowledge. Less-inclusive teachers, explaining why they did not offer guidance or proposed remedial solutions, claimed that students should already have mastered academic reading and writing when entering the university and that teaching these skills implied being overprotective and not allowing them to mature.

  10. Literacy and teacher training: some reflections on reading and writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helenise Sangoi Antunes

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents reflections on reading and writing, from the research project “Literacy Lab: rethinking teacher training” which aims to establish exchanges between socially vulnerable schools and the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM and contribute to the training of undergraduates in Pedagogy and Special Education, as well as the teachers of the schools involved. Adopting a qualitative methodology based on studies of Bogdan and Bicklen (1994, the project seeks to support the literacy process by proposing reflection on the current pedagogical practices in the early years of elementary school. The results show the existence of practices in elementary school which mostly ignore the creative ability of the students. It was concluded that this project has enhanced the relationship between initial and continuous training of teachers and practices of reading and writing.

  11. Incidental Vocabulary Learning in Second Language Acquisition: A Literature Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Falcon Dario Restrepo Ramos

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This literature review aims to analyze previous studies that address the incidental learning of vocabulary in second language acquisition. The articles included in this literature review look into the understanding of vocabulary learning through incidental means, the relationship of reading and incidental vocabulary learning, and the strategies and tasks that promote the incidental learning of vocabulary. The findings show that L2 learners develop much of their vocabulary by incidental means through exposure to words in informative contexts. Moreover, this exposure is promoted by reading, and enhanced through multimodal glosses. Further research may focus on listening for higher lexical retention rates, the circumstances that allow incidental learning of multi-word phrases and collocations, and the use of technology-based methods for incidental vocabulary acquisition.

  12. Extensive Reading of Children’s Literature in First, Second, and Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dominic Cheetham

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Extensive reading of children’s literature can be seen as one of the most powerful means to acquiring a large working vocabulary for both first language learners and second language learners. However, for foreign language learners, children’s literature has a less positive image. For foreign language learners the most commonly recommended reading is of graded readers. Corpus research has shown that work for children has a wide range of rare words, comparable to adult literature, and this leads to the argument that children’s literature puts too great a comprehension and memory strain on foreign language learners, and is an inefficient learning tool compared to graded readers. This paper reviews existing research and examines the arguments for children’s literature in language learning in terms of some features of naturalistic child reading behaviour, and the stylistic choices of writers for children. Replication of child reading behaviours in conjunction with the aid to comprehension and memory inherent in stylistic choices, combined with motivational and practical considerations, are argued to make children’s literature an equal, if not superior choice as extended reading material for foreign language learners.

  13. Does the Freedom of Reader Choice Affect Second Language Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Barry Lee; Bai, Yi Ling

    2013-01-01

    In this study, the effect of freedom of reader choice on the incidental acquisition of vocabulary was investigated in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading classes. Despite advocating free extensive reading as a means of obtaining a native-like L2 vocabulary,existing studies investigating the incidental acquisition of vocabulary have not…

  14. What Do You Do With Hands Like These? Close Reading Facilitates Exploration and Text Creation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lindsey Moses

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available This article shares instructional ideas to enhance language and literacy experiences involving the reading and writing processes of young bilinguals (Spanish and English in Colorado, USA when engaging with informational texts. Informational texts provide language scaffolds for young bilinguals because they build on their background knowledge about the world around them. Drawing on their recognition of real-world concepts found in informational texts, teaching ideas that enrich both academic and social vocabulary are shared. These teaching ideas suggest moving beyond the read aloud and individual reading of informational texts; they suggest instead teaching young learners to ‘read like writers’ and utilize Jenkins and Page’s What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? (2003 as a mentor text. This article includes relevant research, teaching ideas and classroom examples for scaffolding a close reading, ultimately resulting in intercultural explorations as the children share their writing about their home contexts.

  15. Examining Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition by Person-and Item-Level Factors in Secondary Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Jennifer LeeAnn

    2016-01-01

    Vocabulary knowledge is central to the process of reading comprehension (Cromely & Azevedo, 2007; Stahl & Nagy, 2005; Stanovich, 1986). The majority of our vocabulary knowledge is postulated to come from the process of incidental vocabulary acquisition (IVA) while reading (Nagy & Anderson, 1984). Prior studies have estimated an average…

  16. Learning to Read and Write in the Multilingual Family

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiao-lei

    2011-01-01

    This book is a guide for parents who wish to raise children with more than one language and literacy. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, as well as the experiences of parents of multilingual children, this book walks parents through the multilingual reading and writing process from infancy to adolescence. It identifies essential literacy…

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  18. Roles of Metalinguistic Awareness and Academic Extensive Reading in the Development of EFL/ESL Academic Writing Skills

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    Grace H. Wang

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper argues that the development of academic writing proficiency may require both explicit metalinguistic awareness (MA and extensive reading (ER of academic texts. Specifically, it argues that: (a there may be a connection between explicit MA and the development of writing skills; (b there is a connection between ER and the development of writing skills, but academic ER may be required for development of academic writing skills; (c there may be a connection between explicit MA and the development of reading skills, which may be exploited for the development of academic ER skills, which in turn supports the development of academic writing skills.

  19. Effects of nonfiction guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds on fourth grader's depth of content area science vocabulary knowledge and comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanna, Tania Tamara

    Effects of nonfiction guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds as a supplement to basal science textbooks on three vocabulary measures, definitions, examples, and characteristics, and one multiple-choice comprehension measure were assessed for 127 fourth graders over three time periods: pretest, posttest, and a 2-week delayed posttest. Two of three fourth-grade elementary science teachers implemented a series of 12 content-enhanced guided interactive scripted lessons. Two of these teachers implemented two treatments each. The first condition employed basal science textbooks as the text for guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds while the second treatment employed basal science textbooks in conjunction with nonfiction text sets as the texts for guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds. The third teacher, guided by traditional lesson plans, provided students with silent independent reading instruction using basal science textbooks. Multivariate analyses of variance and analyses of variance tests showed that mean scores for both treatment groups significantly improved on definitions and characteristics measures at posttest and either stabilized or slightly declined at delayed posttest. The treatment-plus group lost considerably on the examples posttest measure. The treatment group improved mean scores on the examples posttest measure, outperforming the treatment-plus group and the control group. Alternately, the control group significantly improved on the delayed posttest examples measure. Additionally, the two groups implementing guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds performed better than the independent reading group on multiple-choice comprehension measures at posttest and sustained those gains 2 weeks later on delayed posttests. Findings maintain the incremental nature of vocabulary acquisition and development research and emphasize the roles of listening and speaking as critical features for integrating vocabulary into long

  20. A New Twist on Vocabulary Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities in Biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grillo, Kelly J.; Dieker, Lisa A.

    2013-01-01

    An essential element of science instruction is content literacy. In order to improve literacy specific to science, vocabulary must be addressed. As Jitendra et al. (2004) pointed out, "because learning vocabulary during independent reading is very inefficient for students with reading difficulties, vocabulary and word learning skills must be…

  1. Assessing reading comprehension with narrative and expository texts: Dimensionality and relationship with fluency, vocabulary and memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos, Sandra; Cadime, Irene; Viana, Fernanda L; Chaves-Sousa, Séli; Gayo, Elena; Maia, José; Ribeiro, Iolanda

    2017-02-01

    Reading comprehension assessment should rely on valid instruments that enable adequate conclusions to be taken regarding students' reading comprehension performance. In this article, two studies were conducted to collect validity evidence for the vertically scaled forms of two Tests of Reading Comprehension for Portuguese elementary school students in the second to fourth grades, one with narrative texts (TRC-n) and another with expository ones (TRC-e). Two samples of 950 and 990 students participated in Study 1, the study of the dimensionality of the TRC-n and TRC-e forms, respectively. Confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence of an acceptable fit for the one-factor solution for all test forms. Study 2 included 218 students to collect criterion-related validity. The scores obtained in each of the test forms were significantly correlated with the ones obtained in other reading comprehension measures and with the results obtained in oral reading fluency, vocabulary and working memory tests. Evidence suggests that the test forms are valid measures of reading comprehension. © 2016 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Functions of the digital image in Education: A methodological proposal for reading and writing the digital image on instructional screens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariella Milagros Azzato

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available This research goes through the instructional possibilities that reading and writing the digital image have in Education. Along these lines, we are presenting this research that looks for, on one hand, to develop a methodological proposal for reading and writing the digital image, and on the other, to implement these methodologies in a course used as a study case and whose objective was to evaluate students' performance when writing screens for a learning object using the methodologies for reading and writing the digital image. The process for compiling date was based on the questionnaire technique, individual interviews and the analysis of course proposed activities. The application of the first questionnaire allowed us to determine students' knowledge level about the digital image before starting the course. The individual interview allowed us to determine the students' reading criteria gained after using the reading methodology for the digital image to analyse educational materials (Galavis, 2008; Azzato, 2009. The proposed activities for the course permitted us to value students' performance when reading and writing the digital image of a learning object. Finally, after course completion, the second questionnaire was applied in order to determine the students' acquired knowledge level about reading and writing an image on digital screens. The results obtained in each of the analysis allowed us to establish that the proposed methodologies were highly useful to write the educational image for the screens of each one of the learning objects created in the course.

  3. Is there a relationship between literature reading and creative writing?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Broekkamp, H.; Janssen, T.; van den Bergh, H.

    2009-01-01

    This study attempts to reliably measure literature reading and creative writing ability, and subsequently to determine whether a relationship exists between the two abilities. Participants were 19 eleventh-grade students: 11 were known to be good readers of literature, whereas 8 were known to be

  4. Motivate Students to Engage in Word Study Using Vocabulary Games

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wells, Jenny C.; Narkon, Drue E.

    2011-01-01

    Vocabulary instruction across the content areas aids reading comprehension, making it time well spent in the classroom. Although students with learning disabilities (LD) need many practice opportunities to learn new words, engaging them in vocabulary instruction may prove challenging. Due to their past difficulties in acquiring reading skills,…

  5. Teaching the pre-primary child reading and writing: a challenge for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Teaching the pre-primary child reading and writing: a challenge for pre-primary school teachers in rivers state, Nigeria. ... Global Journal of Educational Research ... of the child's interactive learning and emphasizes specific teaching methods ...

  6. Expand your English a guide to improving your academic vocabulary

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    Hart, Steve

    2018-01-01

    Writing academic prose in English is especially difficult for non-native speakers, largely because the standard vocabulary used in this genre can be quite different from colloquial English. Expand Your English: A Guide to Improving Your Academic Vocabulary is a unique and invaluable guide that will enable the reader to overcome this hurdle. It will become the favourite go-to reference book for both beginners and for intermediate learners struggling with the complexities of English-language academic writing. Steve Hart covers 1,000 vocabulary items that are essential for good academic writing. The first section describes 200 key terms in detail, grouping them into logical sets of 10. Through careful repetition, the reader will find it easy to retain, retrieve, and reuse these essential phrases. The second section explains a further 800 terms, grouping them according to function, meaning, and the areas of an essay where they are likely to be used. The expansive scope of Expand Your English gives non-native spea...

  7. Relationship of word- and sentence-level working memory to reading and writing in second, fourth, and sixth grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berninger, Virginia W; Abbott, Robert D; Swanson, H Lee; Lovitt, Dan; Trivedi, Pam; Lin, Shin-Ju Cindy; Gould, Laura; Youngstrom, Marci; Shimada, Shirley; Amtmann, Dagmar

    2010-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the contribution of working memory at the word and sentence levels of language to reading and writing outcomes. Measures of working memory at the word and sentence levels, reading and writing, were administered to 2nd (N = 122), 4th (N = 222), and 6th (N = 105) graders. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate whether the 2 predictor working memory factors contributed unique variance beyond their shared covariance to each of 5 outcome factors: handwriting, spelling, composing, word reading, and reading comprehension. At each grade level, except for handwriting and composing in 6th grade, the word-level working memory factor contributed unique variance to each reading and writing outcome. The text-level working memory factor contributed unique variance to reading comprehension in 4th and 6th grade. The clinical significance of these findings for assessment and intervention is discussed.

  8. Connecting Practice and Research: Integrated Reading and Writing Instruction Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caverly, David C.; Taylor, Judi Salsburg; Dimino, Renee K.; Lampi, Jodi P.

    2016-01-01

    The first "Connecting Practice and Research" column (Lampi, Dimino, & Salsburg Taylor, 2015), introduced a Research-to-Practice partnership (Coburn & Penuel, 2016) between two faculty from a community college and a university professor who were aiming to develop effective integrated reading and writing (IRW) instruction through a…

  9. The Effects of Word Exposure Frequency and Elaboration of Word Processing on Incidental L2 Vocabulary Acquisition through Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eckerth, Johannes; Tavakoli, Parveneh

    2012-01-01

    Research on incidental second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition through reading has claimed that repeated encounters with unfamiliar words and the relative elaboration of processing these words facilitate word learning. However, so far both variables have been investigated in isolation. To help close this research gap, the current study…

  10. Teaching Reading Strategies and Resources for Grades K-6

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    McCormack, Rachel L

    2009-01-01

    Elementary teachers of reading have one essential goal—to prepare diverse children to be independent, strategic readers in real life. This innovative text helps preservice and inservice teachers achieve this goal by providing knowledge and research-based strategies for teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, all aspects of comprehension, and writing in response to literature. Special features include sample lessons and photographs of literacy-rich classrooms. Uniquely interactive, the text is complete with pencil-and-paper exercises and reproducibles that facilitate learning

  11. Implicit and Explicit Cognitive Processes in Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ender, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    Studies on vocabulary acquisition in second language learning have revealed that a large amount of vocabulary is learned without an overt intention, in other words, incidentally. This article investigates the relevance of different lexical processing strategies for vocabulary acquisition when reading a text for comprehension among 24 advanced…

  12. Crossword Puzzles as a Learning Tool for Vocabulary Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orawiwatnakul, Wiwat

    2013-01-01

    Introduction: Since vocabulary is a key basis on which reading achievement depends, various vocabulary acquisition techniques have become pivotal. Among the many teaching approaches, traditional or otherwise, the use of crossword puzzles seems to offer potential and a solution for the problem of learning vocabulary. Method: This study was…

  13. Going Out on a Limb: A Reading and Writing Course about the Fourth Dimension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putz, John F.

    2001-01-01

    Describes a reading and writing course about the fourth dimension that involves readings selected from both mathematical and non-mathematical literature, frequent class discussion, several invited speakers from disciplines other than mathematics, and some hands-on and group activities. (Author/ASK)

  14. Barriers to acquiring English reading and writing skills by Zulu ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article reflects on an investigation into the barriers that hinder Zulu-speaking. English second language (L2) learners in the Foundation Phase from acquiring reading and writing skills. These barriers are categorised as contextual, language, school and intrinsic learner factors. A questionnaire based on these categories ...

  15. Some Techniques for Teaching Vocabulary. ERIC Focus Reports on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Number 27.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michel, Joseph; Patin, Paul

    Discussion of techniques for teaching vocabulary in language programs centers on five major areas: (1) "knowing" the word, (2) selection of vocabulary, (3) grading vocabulary for presentation, (4) teaching methods, and (5) vocabulary expansion in advanced levels. Theory of vocabulary instruction is largely supported by writings of Nelson Brooks,…

  16. Relations between Early Reading and Writing Skills among Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodrich, J. Marc; Farrington, Amber L.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

    2016-01-01

    Although there is a growing body of literature on the development of reading skills of Spanish-speaking language minority children, little research has focused on the development of writing skills in this population. This study evaluated whether children's Spanish early reading skills (i.e., print knowledge, phonological awareness, oral language)…

  17. Comparing dictionary-induced vocabulary learning and inferencing ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This research examines dictionary-induced vocabulary learning and inferencing in the context of reading. One hundred and four intermediate English learners completed one of two word-focused tasks: reading comprehension and dictionary consultation, and reading comprehen-sion and inferencing. In addition to ...

  18. Developmental Relations Between Reading Comprehension and Reading Strategies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    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,

  19. Using the MoodleReader as an Extensive Reading Tool and Its Effect on Iranian EFL Students' Incidental Vocabulary Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alavi, Sepideh; Keyvanshekouh, Afsaneh

    2012-01-01

    The present study focused on using the MoodleReader to promote extensive reading (ER) in an Iranian EFL context, emphasizing its effect on students' incidental vocabulary acquisition. Thirty eight Shiraz University sophomores were assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group used the MoodleReader for their ER program, while…

  20. Create, compose, connect! reading, writing, and learning with digital tools

    CERN Document Server

    Hyler, Jeremy

    2014-01-01

    Find out how to incorporate digital tools into your English language arts class to improve students' reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Authors Jeremy Hyler and Troy Hicks show you that technology is not just about making a lesson engaging; it's about helping students become effective creators and consumers of information in today's fast-paced world. You'll learn how to use mobile technologies to teach narrative, informational, and argument writing as well as visual literacy and multimodal research. Each chapter is filled with exciting lesson plans and tech tool suggestions that you can take back to your own classroom immediately.

  1. Effects of Multimedia Annotations on Incidental Vocabulary Learning and Reading Comprehension of Advanced Learners of English as a Foreign Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akbulut, Yavuz

    2007-01-01

    The study investigates immediate and delayed effects of different hypermedia glosses on incidental vocabulary learning and reading comprehension of advanced foreign language learners. Sixty-nine freshman TEFL students studying at a Turkish university were randomly assigned to three types of annotations: (a) definitions of words, (b) definitions…

  2. Facilitating vocabulary acquisition of young English language learners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lugo-Neris, Mirza J; Jackson, Carla Wood; Goldstein, Howard

    2010-07-01

    This study examined whether English-only vocabulary instruction or English vocabulary instruction enhanced with Spanish bridging produced greater word learning in young Spanish-speaking children learning English during a storybook reading intervention while considering individual language characteristics. Twenty-two Spanish-speaking children learning English (ages 4-6) who participated in a summer education program for migrant families were randomly assigned to receive 2 weeks of each instruction: (a) word expansions in English or (b) English readings with word expansions in Spanish. Researcher-created measures of target vocabulary were administered, as were English and Spanish standardized measures of language proficiency and vocabulary. Results revealed significant improvement in naming, receptive knowledge, and expressive definitions for those children who received Spanish bridging. Spanish expansions produced the greatest gains in the children's use of expressive definitions. Initial language proficiency in both languages was found to affect participants' gains from intervention, as those with limited skills in both languages showed significantly less vocabulary growth than those with strong skills in Spanish. Additional benefits to using Spanish expansions in vocabulary instruction were observed. Future research should explore additional ways of enhancing the vocabulary growth of children with limited skills in both languages in order to support and strengthen the child's first language and promote second language acquisition.

  3. Writing and Reading Knowledge of Spanish/English Second-Generation Bilinguals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ardila, Alfredo; Garcia, Krystal; Garcia, Melissa; Mejia, Joselyn; Vado, Grace

    2017-01-01

    Written bilingualism represents a particular type of bilingualism that is not frequently approached. The aim of this study was to investigate the writing and reading abilities of second-generation immigrants, Spanish-English bilinguals in South Florida. 58 participants (36 females, 22 males; 18-39 years of age) were selected. Both parents were…

  4. EDMODO AS A MEDIA TO TEACH VOCABULARY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sutrisno Sadji Evenddy

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This article aims at intoducing how to use Edmodo to teach vocabulary. Vocabulary is a component of English language. When we are speaking and writing, we need to master vocabulary related to certain topic. Therefore vocabulary is important thing in learning language. But, mastering English vocabularies is not easy. Teacher needs a media to make an interesting teaching-learning process. One of the most accepted trends in the field of teaching vocabulary in a foreign language teaching is Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL. CALL has several applications that can be used by the teachers in teaching vocabulary. Computer and mobile telephone internet allow immediate connection to a server. In the internet browser the teachers and students can browse Edmodo. One of media is Edmodo. Edmodo is one of social media which can be operated by students, teachers or lecturers, and parents. It is able to be used to post various assignments and students’ learning achievement, actual discussion topics, video, appointments, and to facilitate students’ polls which are related to teaching learning process.

  5. 499 words every college student should know a professor's handbook on words essential to great writing and better grades

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    Spignesi, Stephen

    2017-01-01

    Words equal credibility. The more articulate a person is, the more seriously they will be taken—by everyone. On any given day, you might read “abrogate" used in a USA Today article; or “demagogue" or “fiduciary" used on CNN. You might hear “ensorcelled" and “torpor" in a TV drama; you'll hear a political candidate described as “truculent." You may hear “pedantic" used in a movie. How many of these words are part of most college students' “arsenal of words"? Hopefully all of them, but if not, 499 Words Every College Student Should Know will provide them with what they need to become more articulate in their speaking and writing. It will also enhance their comprehension in their reading, ultimately culminating in what every student aspires to: earning better grades! 499 Words Every College Student Should Know teaches truly important vocabulary words and focuses on Professor Spignesi's classroom-tested Trinity of Vocabulary Use. For each word, the vocabulary-enriched and educated student will be able to...

  6. Investigating the Reading-to-Write Processes and Source Use of L2 Postgraduate Students in Real-Life Academic Tasks: An Exploratory Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCulloch, Sharon

    2013-01-01

    Existing studies of source use in academic student writing tend to i), focus more on the writing than the reading end of the reading-to-write continuum and ii), involve the use of insufficiently "naturalistic" writing tasks. Thus, in order to explore the potential of an alternative approach, this paper describes an exploratory case study…

  7. Parents' reading-related knowledge and children's reading acquisition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ladd, Megan; Martin-Chang, Sandra; Levesque, Kyle

    2011-12-01

    Teacher reading-related knowledge (phonological awareness and phonics knowledge) predicts student reading, however little is known about the reading-related knowledge of parents. Participants comprised 70 dyads (children from kindergarten and grade 1 and their parents). Parents were administered a questionnaire tapping into reading-related knowledge, print exposure, storybook reading, and general cultural knowledge. Children were tested on measures of letter-word knowledge, sound awareness, receptive vocabulary, oral expression, and mathematical skill. Parent reading-related knowledge showed significant positive links with child letter-word knowledge and sound awareness, but showed no correlations with child measures of mathematical skill or vocabulary. Furthermore, parent reading-related knowledge was not associated with parents' own print exposure or cultural knowledge, indicating that knowledge about English word structure may be separate from other cognitive skills. Implications are discussed in terms of improving parent reading-related knowledge to promote child literacy.

  8. E-Book as Facilitator of Vocabulary Acquisition: Support of Adults, Dynamic Dictionary and Static Dictionary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korat, Ofra; Levin, Iris; Atishkin, Shifra; Turgeman, Merav

    2014-01-01

    We investigated the effects of three facilitators: adults' support, dynamic visual vocabulary support and static visual vocabulary support on vocabulary acquisition in the context of e-book reading. Participants were 144 Israeli Hebrew-speaking preschoolers (aged 4-6) from middle SES neighborhoods. The entire sample read the e-book without a…

  9. Teacher knowledge, instructional expertise, and the development of reading proficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid Lyon, G; Weiser, Beverly

    2009-01-01

    Teacher knowledge and instructional expertise have been found in correlational and pre- and posttest studies to be related to student reading achievement. This article summarizes data presented in this special issue and additional research to address four questions: (a) What do expert reading teachers know? (b) Why do teachers need to acquire this knowledge? (c) Do teachers believe they have this knowledge? and (d) Are teachers being adequately prepared to teach reading? Well-designed studies relevant to this topic have been sparse with a noticeable lack of attention given to identifying specific causal links between teacher knowledge, teaching expertise, and student reading achievement. Until the appropriate research designs and methodologies are applied to address the question of causal effects, conclusions about the specific content that teachers must know and the instructional practices that are most beneficial in presenting this content are preliminary at best. Future studies of the effect of essential reading content knowledge must be extended beyond word-level skills to vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing.

  10. Helping Taiwanese Graduate Students Help Themselves: Applying Corpora to Industrial Management English as a Foreign Language Academic Reading and Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Barry Lee

    2015-01-01

    Lack of knowledge in the conventional use of vocabulary and multiword patterns in one's respective field of expertise causes Taiwanese students to produce academic writing that is markedly "non-nativelike." This is because Taiwanese students are first and foremost second language readers and often have difficulty "picking up…

  11. Reading/Writing Women in Myriam Warner-Vieyra's Juletane

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bella Brodzki

    1993-01-01

    Full Text Available Voicelessness, alienation, confinement, deracination, rupture, exclusion, madness and exile: the thematic preoccupations of Myriam Warner-Vieyra's Juletane are familiar to readers of francophone Caribbean women's writing. The legacy of slavery and 20th century departmentalization have produced a complex politics of identity, whose points of reference and sites of longing—though privileged in a variety of ways in the psyches of Caribbean subjects—are Africa and France. The orphaned protagonist Juletane seeks love in Africa in the heady days before Independence. Warner-Vieyra uses the device of the fictional first-person journal mode to examine Juletane's disillusionment as well as the interplay of colonially-produced cultural differences among Caribbean and West African women in a traditional West African community. One of the effects of this devastating narrative is that Western feminist criticism's universalizing theories about reading and writing appear hopelessly reductive from a contemporary francophone African perspective.

  12. Vocabulary development and intervention for English learners in the early grades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Doris Luft; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Ortiz, Miriam; Correa, Vivian; Cole, Ron

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this chapter is to describe the vocabulary development and promising, evidence-based vocabulary interventions for English learners (ELs) from preschool through second grade. To achieve this purpose, we have taken six steps. First, we describe the elements of language development in the native language (L1) and a second language (L2) and how these elements relate to three phases of reading development (i.e., the prereading phase, the learning to read phase, and the reading to learn phase). We contend that in order for ELs to succeed in school, they need a strong language foundation prior to entering kindergarten. This language foundation needs to continue developing during the "learning to read" and "reading to learn" phases. Second, we describe the limitations of current practice in preschool for ELs related to vocabulary instruction and to family involvement to support children's language development. Third, we report curricular challenges faced by ELs in early elementary school, and we relate these challenges to the increase in reading and language demands outlined in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Specific language activities that can help meet some of the demands are provided in a table. Fourth, we synthesize the research on evidence-based vocabulary instruction and intervention and discuss implications for practice with ELs. Fifth, we describe two intervention projects under development that have the potential to improve EL vocabulary and language proficiency in the early grades. We conclude with a summary of the chapter and provide additional resources on the topic.

  13. Rethinking the Reading-Writing Workshop: Tensions and Negotiations between a Stephen King Reader and Her Teacher.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandler, Kelly

    2000-01-01

    Explores the participation in reading-writing workshops of students who consider reading to be an important part of their lives. Finds students who are engaged readers of fiction bring a set of expectations that differ from their teachers' and from students who do not read regularly for pleasure. (NH)

  14. Vocabulary Use by Low, Moderate, and High ASL-Proficient Writers Compared to Hearing ESL and Monolingual Speakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singleton, Jenny L; Morgan, Dianne; DiGello, Elizabeth; Wiles, Jill; Rivers, Rachel

    2004-01-01

    The written English vocabulary of 72 deaf elementary school students of various proficiency levels in American Sign Language (ASL) was compared with the performance of 60 hearing English-as-a-second-language (ESL) speakers and 61 hearing monolingual speakers of English, all of similar age. Students were asked to retell "The Tortoise and the Hare" story (previously viewed on video) in a writing activity. Writing samples were later scored for total number of words, use of words known to be highly frequent in children's writing, redundancy in writing, and use of English function words. All deaf writers showed significantly lower use of function words as compared to their hearing peers. Low-ASL-proficient students demonstrated a highly formulaic writing style, drawing mostly on high-frequency words and repetitive use of a limited range of function words. The moderate- and high-ASL-proficient deaf students' writing was not formulaic and incorporated novel, low-frequency vocabulary to communicate their thoughts. The moderate- and high-ASL students' performance revealed a departure from findings one might expect based on previous studies with deaf writers and their vocabulary use. The writing of the deaf writers also differed from the writing of hearing ESL speakers. Implications for deaf education and literacy instruction are discussed, with special attention to the fact that ASL-proficient, deaf second-language learners of English may be approaching English vocabulary acquisition in ways that are different from hearing ESL learners.

  15. The Contribution of Vocabulary Knowledge and Spelling to the Reading Comprehension of Adolescents Who Are and Are Not English Language Learners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Deborah K; Petscher, Yaacov; Foorman, Barbara R

    2016-04-01

    This study examined the contributions of vocabulary and spelling to the reading comprehension of students in grades 6-10 who were and were not classified as English language learners. Results indicate that vocabulary accounted for greater between-grade differences and unique variance (Δ R 2 = .11 to .31) in comprehension as compared to spelling (Δ R 2 = .01 to .09). However, the contribution of spelling to comprehension was higher in the upper grade levels included in this cross-sectional analysis and functioned as a mediator of the impact of vocabulary knowledge at all levels. The direct effect of vocabulary was strong but lower in magnitude at each successive grade level from .58 in grade 6 to .41 in grade 10 while the indirect effect through spelling increased in magnitude at each successive grade level from .09 in grade 6 to .16 in grade 10. There were no significant differences between the language groups in the magnitude of the indirect impact, suggesting both groups of students relied more on both sources of lexical information in higher grades as compared to students in lower grades.

  16. The Effect of Dialogue Journal Writing on EFL Learners' Descriptive Writing Performance: A Quantitative Study

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    Ali Dabbagh

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This study sought to evaluate the effect of dialogue journal writing on writing performance as well as its different sub-components, namely content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics (Following Polio, 2013. Participants were 84 EFL intermediate learners who were selected based on their performance on Oxford Quick Placement Test (2004 and divided randomly into experimental and control groups. While the participants in the control group took part in descriptive writing pre and post-tests only, their counterparts in experimental group were asked to write 3 journals a week for about 6 months in the period between the pre- and post-tests. The instructor of the experimental group provided feedback to each journal entry mostly on its content and message to which the participants replied in a dialogic manner. Results of independent sample t-test located a significant difference between the experimental and control group regarding the overall writing performance, as well as the sub-components of content, organization, and vocabulary in the post-test. However, the obtained results did not reveal a significant effect of dialogue journal writing on language use and mechanics of writing performance. The results which promise implications for writing instructors, curriculum developers, and material designers are fully discussed.

  17. "My Place": Exploring Children's Place-Related Identities through Reading and Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charlton, Emma; Cliff Hodges, Gabrielle; Pointon, Pam; Nikolajeva, Maria; Spring, Erin; Taylor, Liz; Wyse, Dominic

    2014-01-01

    This paper considers how children perceive and represent their placed-related identities through reading and writing. It reports on the findings of an 18-month interdisciplinary project, based at Cambridge University Faculty of Education, which aimed to consider children's place-related identities through their engagement with, and creation of,…

  18. Didactic Strategies to Improve Reading and Writing

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    Elide del Rosario Castellanos Santiago

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The importance of the present article is that it tries to reflect on generating theoretical orientations on didactic strategies to improve the literacy in the students of the school Mercedes Diaz of the parish Sabana de Mendoza, municipality Sucre, Trujillo state. Methodologically, the research was documentary, descriptive, supported by the postulates of Lev Vygotsky (1993, Piaget (1978 and Emilia Ferreiro (2000, Ortiz, (2008 Flower and Hayes (2009. The obtained results evidenced the effective participation by the teachers and the commitment acquired through the management and application of didactic strategies of reading and writing that can favor the learning of the subject that learns.

  19. The role of speech prosody and text reading prosody in children's reading comprehension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veenendaal, Nathalie J; Groen, Margriet A; Verhoeven, Ludo

    2014-12-01

    Text reading prosody has been associated with reading comprehension. However, text reading prosody is a reading-dependent measure that relies heavily on decoding skills. Investigation of the contribution of speech prosody - which is independent from reading skills - in addition to text reading prosody, to reading comprehension could provide more insight into the general role of prosody in reading comprehension. The current study investigates how much variance in reading comprehension scores is explained by speech prosody and text reading prosody, after controlling for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness. A battery of reading and language assessments was performed by 106 Dutch fourth-grade primary school children. Speech prosody was assessed using a storytelling task and text reading prosody by oral text reading performance. Decoding skills, vocabulary, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension were assessed using standardized tests. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that text reading prosody explained 6% of variance and that speech prosody explained 8% of variance in reading comprehension scores, after controlling for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness. Phrasing was the significant factor in both speech and text reading. When added in consecutive order, phrasing in speech added 5% variance to phrasing in reading. In contrast, phrasing in reading added only 3% variance to phrasing in speech. The variance that speech prosody explained in reading comprehension scores should not be neglected. Speech prosody seems to facilitate the construction of meaning in written language. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

  20. The Effect of Glosses on Incidental Vocabulary Learning of Iranian EFL learners

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    Abbas Moradan

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Reading passages contain many new words. Looking up every word in the dictionary and finding the exact meaning can be a difficult job for learners and may hinder the process of reading. Providing glosses can help learners deal with this issue. The objective of the present study is to make enquiries about the effect of glosses on incidental vocabulary learning. To this end, 45 Iranian EFL learners were selected from 70 according to their performance on KET test. Then they were divided into three groups of 15 randomly. Ten reading texts were selected and unfamiliar vocabularies were glossed in three ways: pictorial, textual and pictorial-textual glosses. Participants were required to read the texts under one of the three conditions. After the completion of ten sessions of treatment, participants were given a vocabulary post-test to measure vocabulary learning. The outcome of the study indicated that the group that received the combination of pictorial and textual glosses outperformed the other two groups. The findings can be of great importance for language teachers and material developers.

  1. 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...

  2. Teaching Academic Vocabulary to Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beach, Kristen D.; Sanchez, Victoria; Flynn, Lindsay J.; O'Connor, Rollanda E.

    2015-01-01

    This article describes the efforts of a U.S. History teacher to directly teach word meanings using the "robust vocabulary instruction" (RVI) approach, because research supports this method as a way to improve vocabulary knowledge for a range of students, including adolescents reading below grade level (i.e., struggling readers) and…

  3. Exploring the Relationship between Reading and Writing in Early Literacy Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurth, Ruth J.

    Researchers studying emerging literacy have begun building a theory of literacy development that links the processes of reading and writing. Their findings suggest that a child's emerging literacy is based on three factors: a functional expectation for print to make logical sense; an expectation of how language operates in alternate contexts; and…

  4. Writing fluency and quality in kindergarten and first grade: The role of attention, reading, transcription, and oral language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, Shawn; Wanzek, Jeanne; Petscher, Yaacov; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Kim, Young-Suk

    2013-01-01

    In the present study, we examined the influence of kindergarten component skills on writing outcomes, both concurrently and longitudinally to first grade. Using data from 265 students, we investigated a model of writing development including attention regulation along with students’ reading, spelling, handwriting fluency, and oral language component skills. Results from structural equation modeling demonstrated that a model including attention was better fitting than a model with only language and literacy factors. Attention, a higher-order literacy factor related to reading and spelling proficiency, and automaticity in letter-writing were uniquely and positively related to compositional fluency in kindergarten. Attention and higher-order literacy factor were predictive of both composition quality and fluency in first grade, while oral language showed unique relations with first grade writing quality. Implications for writing development and instruction are discussed. PMID:25132722

  5. Quantum memory Write, read and reset

    CERN Document Server

    Wu Tai Tsun; Wu, Tai Tsun; Yu, Ming Lun

    2002-01-01

    A model is presented for the quantum memory, the content of which is a pure quantum state. In this model, the fundamental operations of writing on, reading, and resetting the memory are performed through scattering from the memory. The requirement that the quantum memory must remain in a pure state after scattering implies that the scattering is of a special type, and only certain incident waves are admissible. An example, based on the Fermi pseudo-potential in one dimension, is used to demonstrate that the requirements on the scattering process are consistent and can be satisfied. This model is compared with the commonly used model for the quantum memory; the most important difference is that the spatial dimensions and interference play a central role in the present model.

  6. Vocabulary Constraint on Texts

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    C. Sutarsyah

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available This case study was carried out in the English Education Department of State University of Malang. The aim of the study was to identify and describe the vocabulary in the reading text and to seek if the text is useful for reading skill development. A descriptive qualitative design was applied to obtain the data. For this purpose, some available computer programs were used to find the description of vocabulary in the texts. It was found that the 20 texts containing 7,945 words are dominated by low frequency words which account for 16.97% of the words in the texts. The high frequency words occurring in the texts were dominated by function words. In the case of word levels, it was found that the texts have very limited number of words from GSL (General Service List of English Words (West, 1953. The proportion of the first 1,000 words of GSL only accounts for 44.6%. The data also show that the texts contain too large proportion of words which are not in the three levels (the first 2,000 and UWL. These words account for 26.44% of the running words in the texts.  It is believed that the constraints are due to the selection of the texts which are made of a series of short-unrelated texts. This kind of text is subject to the accumulation of low frequency words especially those of content words and limited of words from GSL. It could also defeat the development of students' reading skills and vocabulary enrichment.

  7. Reading and Writing as Academic Literacy in EAP Program of Indonesian Leaners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solikhah, Imroatus

    2015-01-01

    This study investigates academic literacy imposed in reading and writing for academic purposes in the EAP program. This study uses descriptive design elaborating data from curriculum documents and interviews. Involving 45 participants from IAIN Surakarta and Veteran University, data were analyzed using constant-comparison and inductive analysis…

  8. The Value of Understanding Students' Prior Writing Experience in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    How should undergraduate science students' writing be understood when it does not meet the conventions of scientific writing? Studies have shown that the writing that students produce in their course work on tasks that imitate authentic scientific writing practices often do not match the tone, vocabulary and grammatical ...

  9. Computerization in industry causes problems for people with reading and writing difficulties (dyslexia).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knutsson, A

    1986-01-01

    For 10 years computerization in industry has advanced at a rapid pace. A problem which has not received attention is that of people with reading and writing difficulties who experience severe problems when they have to communicate with a computer monitor screen. These individuals are often embarrassed by their difficulties and conceal them from their fellow workers. A number of case studies are described which show the form the problems can take. In one case, an employee was compelled to move from department to department as each was computerized in turn. Computers transform a large number of manual tasks in industry into jobs which call for reading and writing skills. Better education at elementary school and at the workplace in connection with computerization are the most important means of overcoming this problem. Moreover, computer programs could be written in a more human way.

  10. The efficacy of a vocabulary intervention for dual-language learners with language impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Restrepo, Maria Adelaida; Morgan, Gareth P; Thompson, Marilyn S

    2013-04-01

    In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy of a Spanish-English versus English-only vocabulary intervention for dual-language learners (DLLs) with language impairment compared to mathematics intervention groups and typically developing controls with no intervention. Further, in this study the authors also examined whether the language of instruction affected English, Spanish, and conceptual vocabulary differentially. The authors randomly assigned 202 preschool DLLs with language impairment to 1 of 4 conditions: bilingual vocabulary, English-only vocabulary, bilingual mathematics, or English-only mathematics. Fifty-four DLLs with typical development received no intervention. The vocabulary intervention consisted of a 12-week small-group dialogic reading and hands-on vocabulary instruction of 45 words. Postintervention group differences and linear growth rates were examined in conceptual, English, and Spanish receptive and expressive vocabulary for the 45 treatment words. Results indicate that the bilingual vocabulary intervention facilitated receptive and expressive Spanish and conceptual vocabulary gains in DLLs with language impairment compared with the English vocabulary intervention, mathematics intervention, and no-intervention groups. The English-only vocabulary intervention differed significantly from the mathematics condition and no-intervention groups on all measures but did not differ from the bilingual vocabulary intervention. Vocabulary growth rates postintervention slowed considerably. Results support the idea that bilingual interventions support native- and second-language vocabulary development. English-only intervention supports only English. Use of repeated dialogic reading and hands-on activities facilitates vocabulary acquisition.

  11. Writing a Movie.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffner, Helen

    2003-01-01

    Explains a reading and writing assignment called "Writing a Movie" in which students view a short film segment and write a script in which they describe the scene. Notes that this assignment uses films to develop fluency and helps students understand the reading and writing connections. Concludes that students learn to summarize a scene from film,…

  12. Multilingual Dyslexia in University Students: Reading and Writing Patterns in Three Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindgren, Signe-Anita; Laine, Matti

    2011-01-01

    We investigated reading and writing in two domestic languages (Swedish and Finnish) and one foreign language (English) among multilingual university students with (n = 20) versus without dyslexia (n = 20). Our analyses encompassed overall speed and accuracy measures and an in-depth analysis of grapheme-phoneme-grapheme errors and inflectional…

  13. Integrating Reading and Writing Instruction in Middle and High School: The Role of Professional Development in Shaping Teacher Perceptions and Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doubet, Kristina J.; Southall, Gena

    2018-01-01

    This study examined the extent to which middle and high school English teachers integrate reading and writing instruction as complementary processes. Using qualitative research methods, researchers investigated the following: (a) Do middle and high school English teachers conceive of and enact the teaching of reading and writing as integrated…

  14. The Predictor Factor of Reading Comprehension Performance in English as a Foreign Language: Breadth or Depth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shima Kameli

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The present study explored the association among vocabulary breadth/size, depth/quality of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension in English as a foreign language. The main intention of this research was to  explore the association of vocabulary knowledge depth/quality and reading comprehension performance. This study was also intended to find out which aspects of vocabulary knowledge, breadth/size or depth/quality, has more significant association with determining EFL learners’ reading comprehension performance. The Vocabulary Level Test (VLT, Word Associates Test (WAT, and Reading Comprehension test (IELTS have been administered among all the respondents. The participants were 220 adult male and female EFL learners who were learning English in advanced level in BAHAR institute, Shiraz, Iran. The findings revealed that 1 test  scores on vocabulary size/ breadth, depth/ quality of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension were  positively correlated, 2 vocabulary size/ breadth was a stronger predictor of reading comprehension than depth/ Quality of vocabulary knowledge.

  15. Association of Kinesthetic and Read-Write Learner with Deep Approach Learning and Academic Achievement

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    Latha Rajendra Kumar

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: The main purpose of the present study was to further investigate study processes, learning styles, and academic achievement in medical students. Methods: A total of 214 (mean age 22.5 years first and second year students - preclinical years - at the Asian Institute of Medical Science and Technology (AIMST University School of Medicine, in Malaysia participated.  There were 119 women (55.6% and 95 men (44.4%.   Biggs questionnaire for determining learning approaches and the VARK questionnaire for determining learning styles were used.  These were compared to the student’s performance in the assessment examinations. Results: The major findings were 1 the majority of students prefer to study alone, 2 most students employ a superficial study approach, and 3 students with high kinesthetic and read-write scores performed better on examinations and approached the subject by deep approach method compared to students with low scores.  Furthermore, there was a correlation between superficial approach scores and visual learner’s scores. Discussion: Read-write and kinesthetic learners who adopt a deep approach learning strategy perform better academically than do the auditory, visual learners that employ superficial study strategies.   Perhaps visual and auditory learners can be encouraged to adopt kinesthetic and read-write styles to enhance their performance in the exams.

  16. Teacher’s Interaction Styles during Sociodramatic Play that Promote Reading and Writing among Preschoolers

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    Excelsa C. Tongson

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to help understand a teacher’s facilitation of reading and writing during sociodramatic play among Filipino preschoolers. It describes how Filipino preschool teachers demonstrate redirecting and extending style interactions as they participate during sociodramatic play. It also identifies the ways by which the teacher provided print-rich environments in the dramatic play area to promote early reading and writing among Filipino children with ages ranging from four years old to f ive years old and 11 months. Five female teachers from four schools in Quezon City that adopt the play curriculum based on a set of criteria were studied. Each teacher was interviewed regarding play, her role, and how she prepares the dramatic play area. She was observed for 10 consecutive school days. The teachers’ interaction styles were classified as either extending or redirecting. Four of the f ive teachers demonstrated at varying degrees both extending and redirecting styles as they participated in the children’s sociodramatic play. The interaction style of the teacher revealed her ability to perform within the context of the play and the ways she assisted children in performing reading and writing activities. The considerable increase in the frequency of children’s literacy activities during sociodramatic play could be attributed to the combination of extending style interaction and the integration of literacy materials in the dramatic play area.

  17. Reading, writing, rebelling. Propositions for a renewed critical stance

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    Sébastien Doubinsky

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available What is reading? What is writing? What connects the two? These questions have been the fertile ground for many literary and philosophical theories, from New Criticism to Deconstruction. This essay does not pretend answering to these two questions, but rather to question the question themselves and try to shed a different light of this essential problematic. Choosing not to consider literature as a stable concept, but rather as an ontologically impermanent one, I try to reflect upon the terms that condition our approach of works and of the creation of these works. In a large perspective, the notions of “reading” and “writing” are examined through the prism of their incarnations as “works”, and the consequences of this identity have on our critical discourse. In order to read critically, one must thus recognize this immanent instability of our notions and definitions, and begin from there instead of ending there. In other words, the instability of the reading is the only way to mirror the instability of the works, and to acknowledge their ever-changing form. Far from being innocent, critical reading therefore appears as a radical, but necessary action, a rebellion against the obvious and accepted definitions to which works are too often attached.

  18. Using Think-Pair-Share for writing descriptive texts

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    Rosnani Sahardin

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Using the right technique to teach writing is very important to help students overcome problems in writing. Think Pair Share (TPS is a cooperative teaching-learning method that it is believed to help students improve their writing ability. Thus, the writers conducted an experimental study to tenth grade students at a senior high school in Banda Aceh to find out whether or not this technique could facilitate and improve the students’ writing of descriptive texts in English. The results showed that the TPS technique successfully improved the ability of students’ in writing, reflected by the post-test scores covering five aspects of writing. The progress before and after the technique was implemented can be seen in these average scores for the five aspects: content increased from 12 to 16, organization from 11 to 15, vocabulary from 9 to13, grammar from 8 to 10, and mechanics from 8 to 11 where the improvement for each aspect was 4, 4, 4, 2 and 3. Despite the results showed that the TPS technique was effective for improving the students’ mastery of organization, vocabulary and content, but less so for improving mechanics and grammar. This is probably because it is generally much easier to make improvements in organization, vocabulary and content but it requires a much longer effort with much more practice to significantly improve mechanics and grammar. Nevertheless, the writers suggest that English teachers and others can use the TPS technique to teach writing, hence some of the problems faced by students in writing can be helped and, more importantly, they can improve their ability to write English.

  19. Does the Use of Connective Words in Written Assessments Predict High School Students' Reading and Writing Achievement?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duggleby, Sandra J.; Tang, Wei; Kuo-Newhouse, Amy

    2016-01-01

    This study examined the relationship between ninth-grade students' use of connectives (temporal, causal, adversative, and additive) in functional writing and performance on standards-based/criterion-referenced measures of reading and writing. Specifically, structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to examine the relationship between…

  20. Predictors of writing competence in 4- to 7-year-old children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunsmuir, Sandra; Blatchford, Peter

    2004-09-01

    This longitudinal study sought to improve understanding of the factors at home and school that influence children's attainment and progress in writing between the ages of 4 and 7 years. (i) To investigate the relationship between home variables and writing development in preschool children; (ii) to determine associations between child characteristics and writing development (iii) to conduct an analysis of the areas of continuity and discontinuity between variables at home and at school, and influences on subsequent writing development. Sixty children attending four urban primary schools participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation schedules and standardized assessments were used. Writing samples were collected each term. Associations between measures and continuity over time were assessed using multiple regression analysis. Preschool variables that were found to be significantly associated with writing proficiency at school entry included mother's educational level, family size, parental assessment of writing and a measure of home writing. Child characteristics, skills and competencies were measured at school entry and those found to be significantly associated with writing at 7 years included season of birth, vocabulary score, pre-reading skills, handwriting and proficiency in writing name. The only preschool variable that maintained its significant relationship to writing at 7 years was home writing. Teacher assessments of pupil attitudes to writing were consistently found to be significantly associated with writing competence. This comprehensive study explored the complex interaction of cognitive, affective and contextual processes involved in learning to write, and identified specific features of successful writers. Results are discussed in relation to educational policy and practice issues.

  1. Reading Violence in Boys' Writing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Michael

    2003-01-01

    Describes how a teacher finds value in popular culture and violent writing by closely examining the writing of a student who laces his stories with explosions and battles. Finds that once he began to see the similarities between the media his student experiences, the writing the student prefers, and his own favorite media and writing, the teacher…

  2. A Comparative Study of the Effects of Different Glossing Conditions on EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Recall

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    Tayebeh Danesh

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of different glossing conditions on English as a foreign language (EFL learners’ vocabulary recall. To this end, five glossing conditions were adopted (i.e., inference-gloss-gloss, gloss-retrieval-gloss, inference-gloss-retrieval-gloss, gloss-retrieval-gloss-retrieval, and full glossing. The participants were 140 MA students of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL. They were randomly assigned to one glossing condition to read an English reading passage. Five target words were glossed in different glossing conditions within a reading passage. To ensure the participants’ attention focused on the reading material, the participants were told that a multiple-choice reading comprehension test would be administrated. Afterward, two vocabulary tests (i.e., form recall and meaning recall were conducted. The results of one-way MANOVAs and the post hoc Scheffé tests revealed that the full glossing condition group did significantly better than other glossing groups in vocabulary form recall, whereas the gloss-retrieval-gloss-retrieval condition group outperformed other four groups in vocabulary meaning recall.

  3. Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions about Strategies which Promote Proficiency in Second Language Writing

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    Monique Bournot-Trites

    2003-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract We examined the perceptions and suggestions of French immersion students regarding their progress in written production in French. Fifty-seven French immersion students were interviewed about two comparable compositions they had written in Grades 5 and 7 and asked about the differences they observed between the two. Students talked about what they had learned and which teaching and learning strategies they had found most effective. The students’ teachers from Grades 5 through 7 were also interviewed about the progress they had noticed in the two compositions. Findings suggest that French immersion students have a high degree of language awareness, understanding what contributes to their writing abilities. These include the benefits of grammar work, reading and vocabulary, and the transfer of first language writing skills.

  4. Reading and writing development of low-achieving adolescents: The roles of linguistic knowledge, fluency, and metacognitive knowledge

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Trapman, M.J.W.

    2016-01-01

    Whereas school and society pose high demands on youngsters’ reading and writing skills, many adolescents experience difficulties in understanding what they read and in expressing their thoughts in comprehensible texts. Especially low-achieving students in the lowest educational tracks in the

  5. Students' Perceptions of Vocabulary Knowledge and Learning in a Middle School Science Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Patrick L.; Concannon, James P.

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated eighth-grade science students' (13-14-year-olds) perceptions of their vocabulary knowledge, learning, and content achievement. Data sources included pre- and posttest of students' perceptions of vocabulary knowledge, students' perceptions of vocabulary and reading strategies surveys, and a content achievement test.…

  6. Expanding Third Graders' Vocabulary Using a Data Base, Individual Thesauri and Brainstorming Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaffuri, Ann

    A practicum was developed to expand written vocabulary for third graders through training in using a data base and brainstorming strategies. Individual thesauri were written and published to demonstrate the results of collecting vocabulary and applying it to specific topics. Daily process writing became an integral part of the curriculum. Class…

  7. Studies of Danish L2 learners’ vocabulary knowledge and the lexical richness of their written production in English

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Henriksen, Birgit; Danelund, Lise

    2015-01-01

    A number of lexical studies report a strong correlation between L2 learners’ vocabulary size and depth and their writing skills. Three Danish empirical studies explore this relationship further by looking at the vocabulary knowledge of young upper-secondary school learners of English...... analysis of written essays from learners across two educational levels. All studies show a surprisingly low level of receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge for the pupils tested. Moreover, the lexical analyses of the texts reveal that the learners do not exploit the vocabulary resources they have...... in their written production. Even the high-level learners, who have more L2 vocabulary, are using a “playing-it-safe strategy”, relying on familiar high-frequent lexical items in their writing. The results are discussed in light of the meaning-based teaching approaches used in Danish EFL classrooms and the lack...

  8. PROFILING THE VOCABULARY OF NEWS TEXTS AS CAPACITY BUILDING FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gusti Astika

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: The importance of vocabulary in reading has been discussed extensively in the literature. Researchers claim that vocabulary is essential and has a central role in comprehension.   Development in ICT and easy access to information from the internet necessitate language teachers to have relevant knowledge and skills to utilize pedagogical tools to use authentic online materials for learning purposes.  One of such a tool is the Vocabulary Profiler that can be used to categorize lexical words in a text into different frequency levels: high, low, and academic word list. This paper discusses how to use the Vocabulary Profiler to classify words in a text into the different categories.  The utilization of this tool can significantly alleviate the workload of teachers in selecting vocabulary in  reading text which is conventionally based on teachers’ intuition and perception. The sample text in this paper was selected from VOA website which may not be found in the textbooks currently used at schools. The paper ends with some implication for teaching about vocabulary selection.

  9. Does Writing System Influence the Associations between Phonological Awareness, Morphological Awareness, and Reading? A Meta-Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruan, Yufang; Georgiou, George K.; Song, Shuang; Li, Yixun; Shu, Hua

    2018-01-01

    Differences in how writing systems represent language raise important questions about the extent to which the role of linguistic skills such as phonological awareness (PA) and morphological awareness (MA) in reading is universal. In this meta-analysis, the authors examined the relationship between PA, MA, and reading (accuracy, fluency, and…

  10. Teaching Vocabulary to Preschoolers with Disabilities Using Adult-Child Shared Bookreading: A Comparison of Traditional and Electronic Books

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhodehouse, Sara Bernice

    2013-01-01

    This study sought to validate adult-child shared storybook reading as a method for teaching target vocabulary words to preschool children with disabilities. The Vocabulary Learning through Books (VLTB) instructional procedure incorporates, adult-child book reading, questioning during reading requiring the child to answer with a target word, and…

  11. The development of word recognition, sentence comprehension, word spelling, and vocabulary in children with deafness: a longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colin, S; Leybaert, J; Ecalle, J; Magnan, A

    2013-05-01

    Only a small number of longitudinal studies have been conducted to assess the literacy skills of children with hearing impairment. The results of these studies are inconsistent with regard to the importance of phonology in reading acquisition as is the case in studies with hearing children. Colin, Magnan, Ecalle, and Leybaert (2007) revealed the important role of early phonological skills and the contribution of the factor of age of exposure to Cued Speech (CS: a manual system intended to resolve the ambiguities inherent to speechreading) to subsequent reading acquisition (from kindergarten to first grade) in children with deafness. The aim of the present paper is twofold: (1) to confirm the role of early exposure to CS in the development of the linguistic skills necessary in order to learn reading and writing in second grade; (2) to reveal the possible existence of common factors other than CS that may influence literacy performances and explain the inter-individual difference within groups of children with hearing impairment. Eighteen 6-year-old hearing-impaired and 18 hearing children of the same chronological age were tested from kindergarten to second grade. The children with deafness had either been exposed to CS at an early age, at home and before kindergarten (early-CS group), or had first been exposed to it when they entered kindergarten (late-CS group) or first grade (beginner-CS group). Children were given implicit and explicit phonological tasks, silent reading tasks (word recognition and sentence comprehension), word spelling, and vocabulary tasks. Children in the early-CS group outperformed those of the late-CS and beginner-CS groups in phonological tasks from first grade to second grade. They became better readers and better spellers than those from the late-CS group and the beginner-CS group. Their performances did not differ from those of hearing children in any of the tasks except for the receptive vocabulary test. Thus early exposure to CS seems

  12. Static Analysis of Processes for No Read-Up and No Write-Down

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bodei, C.; Degano, P.; Nielson, Flemming

    1999-01-01

    We study a variant of the no read-up/no write-down security property of Bell and LaPadula for processes in the π-calculus. Once processes are given levels of security clearance, we statically check that a process at a high level never sends names to processes at a lower level. The static check...

  13. Vocabulary skills are well developed in university students with dyslexia: Evidence from multiple case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavalli, Eddy; Casalis, Séverine; El Ahmadi, Abdessadek; Zira, Mélody; Poracchia-George, Florence; Colé, Pascale

    2016-01-01

    Most studies in adults with developmental dyslexia have focused on identifying the deficits responsible for their persistent reading difficulties, but little is known on how these readers manage the intensive exposure to written language required to obtain a university degree. The main objective of this study was to identify certain skills, and specifically vocabulary skills, that French university students with dyslexia have developed and that may contribute to their literacy skills. We tested 20 university students with dyslexia and 20 normal readers (matched on chronological age, gender, nonverbal IQ, and level of education) in reading, phonological, vocabulary breadth (number of known words), and vocabulary depth (accuracy and precision) tasks. In comparing vocabulary measures, we used both Rasch model and single case study methodologies. Results on reading and phonological tasks confirmed the persistence of deficits in written word recognition and phonological skills. However, using the Rasch model we found that the two groups performed at the same level in the vocabulary breadth task, whereas dyslexics systematically outperformed their chronological age controls in the vocabulary depth task. These results are supplemented by multiple case studies. The vocabulary skills of French university students with dyslexia are well developed. Possible interpretations of these results are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Tracking the Mind's Eye: A New Technology for Researching Twenty-First-Century Writing and Reading Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anson, Chris M.; Schwegler, Robert A.

    2012-01-01

    This article describes the nature of eye-tracking technology and its use in the study of discourse processes, particularly reading. It then suggests several areas of research in composition studies, especially at the intersection of writing, reading, and digital media, that can benefit from the use of this technology. (Contains 2 figures.)

  15. Evaluation of Reading, Writing, and Watching TV Using the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bruijning, J.E.; van Rens, G.H.M.B.; Knol, D.L.; van Nispen, R.M.A.

    2014-01-01

    PURPOSE: To investigate the longitudinal outcomes of rehabilitation (from baseline to 4 and 12 months) at a multidisciplinary rehabilitation center. The three goals (“Reading,” “Writing,” and “Watching TV”) were measured with the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory (D-AI). In addition, outcomes were

  16. Teacher's Perspective on How to Promote Children's Learning in Reading and Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandberg, Gunilla; Hellblom-Thibblin, Tina; Garpelin, Anders

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of teacher's perspective on how to promote all children's learning in reading and writing in grade 1 of primary school. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in a Swedish context with 18 primary school teachers, representing a large collective experience from working as teachers in grade 1.…

  17. Improved read disturb and write error rates in voltage-control spintronics memory (VoCSM) by controlling energy barrier height

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inokuchi, T.; Yoda, H.; Kato, Y.; Shimizu, M.; Shirotori, S.; Shimomura, N.; Koi, K.; Kamiguchi, Y.; Sugiyama, H.; Oikawa, S.; Ikegami, K.; Ishikawa, M.; Altansargai, B.; Tiwari, A.; Ohsawa, Y.; Saito, Y.; Kurobe, A.

    2017-06-01

    A hybrid writing scheme that combines the spin Hall effect and voltage-controlled magnetic-anisotropy effect is investigated in Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ru/CoFe/IrMn junctions. The write current and control voltage are applied to Ta and CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB junctions, respectively. The critical current density required for switching the magnetization in CoFeB was modulated 3.6-fold by changing the control voltage from -1.0 V to +1.0 V. This modulation of the write current density is explained by the change in the surface anisotropy of the free layer from 1.7 mJ/m2 to 1.6 mJ/m2, which is caused by the electric field applied to the junction. The read disturb rate and write error rate, which are important performance parameters for memory applications, are drastically improved, and no error was detected in 5 × 108 cycles by controlling read and write sequences.

  18. Connecting Reading and Writing Using Children's Literature in the University L2 Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leal, Priscila

    2015-01-01

    This article investigates the potential benefits of using children's literature in adult second language (L2) classrooms. A short-term, intensive university course for English reading and writing was designed incorporating children's literature into the curriculum. The author describes the course and discusses how children's literature can be used…

  19. Towards a Southern African English Defining Vocabulary

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    of parameters, such as avoiding synonyms and antonyms, to determine which words are necessary to write definitions in a concise and simple way. It has been found that existing defining vocabularies lack certain words that would make definitions more accessible to southern African learners, and therefore there is a need ...

  20. Hacia una didáctica para la lectoescritura en el contexto universitario / Towards a didactics for reading and writing in the foreign language in the university context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orlando Alberteris Galbán

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Reading and writing in the university context need a coherent didactic direction that contributes to the students’ comprehensive education. The article offers some components for a didactics for reading and writing, based on the integration of the afore mentioned components of verbal activity, that share the base knowledge, taking into account the relations between comprehension and production stated as a constellation of interrelated processes. The methods used allowed the systematization of basic elements to structure the didactics. An operational model for reading and writing was also introduced. Its practical implementation evidenced higher levels in reading and writing performance of the students. Keywords: a, , , interrelated processes, foreign languages.

  1. A Brief Study of Scoring in Chinese Writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofi Zhang

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available A writing test is a comprehensive test. It not only tests students' vocabulary, grammar, usage of language elements, but also tests their constructional ability, analytical ability, expressional ability, logical reasoning, on a variety of stylistic mastery. This paper tries to describe and summarize the problems on Chinese writing as second language learning with the theories of writing evaluation and the writing evaluation of research results.  

  2. What Can Readers Read after Graded Readers?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McQuillan, Jeff

    2016-01-01

    Nation (2014) concluded that most of the vocabulary one needs to read challenging texts in English can be acquired incidentally through voluminous reading. This study examines possible texts that second language (L2) readers can use to move from controlled-vocabulary materials such as graded readers, which go up through approximately the…

  3. Read/write performance of perpendicular double-layered cylindrical media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, H.; Shimatsu, T.; Watanabe, I.; Tsuchiyama, R.; Aoi, H.; Muraoka, H.; Nakamura, Y.

    2005-01-01

    A cylindrical magnetic storage system using perpendicular double-layered media has been developed. CoCrTa/CoZrNb deposited on a rotating cylindrical substrate shows perpendicular anisotropy and magnetic properties, which have almost the same characteristics as conventional disk-media. The fundamental read/write characteristics of perpendicular double-layered cylindrical media were measured using a single-pole-type (SPT) writer with a sliding-contact-type slider and a merged giant magneto-resistive (GMR) reader with a one-pad-type slider designed for use with cylindrical media. Preliminary studies for improving the characteristics of the recording layer are also described

  4. TEACHING WRITING SKILL BY USING BRAINWRITING STRATEGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Khayatul Virdyna

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available English is getting more crucial to be mastered since its important part in the world nowadays.  It is not only as a means of communication but also a means transferring knowledge, news, and technology around the world. There are four basic skills in English such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing, every students must have problem in learning and mastering those skill. But writing is the main issue to be discussed in this article.  In writing, some of the writer’s students feel difficult to determine the topic when they want to write, they are hardly to complete a writing paper because they run out of idea. In this case the students need to absorb some information to understand a word, including how to combine a word with the other words. Therefore the teacher should have a strategy to get the students understanding and overcome their problems.Teaching is about just how to encourage the learners to achieve their goals and other times it requires that we actually facilitate resources and foster experiences so students can learn, continue learning and love the process. It is an art of the teacher to know how to make the students able to create knowledge of their own. Brainstorming is one of the teaching techniques in writing that can encourage the students to think about the topic as many as possible. This technique is help the students to enrich their vocabularies then create an idea become a writing composition. By using this strategy the students will be able to improve their writing skill. Brainwriting is an alternative method to brainstorming that tries to encourage a more uniform participation within a group. Like brainstorming, it is designed to generate lots and lots of ideas in a short amount of time.

  5. Groundwork for a Better Vocabulary. Second Edition. Instructor's Edition. Townsend Press Vocabulary Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, R. Kent; Johnson, Beth; Mohr, Carole

    This instructor's edition of a vocabulary textbook for college students, who read at the fifth to eighth grade level, features 25 chapters and teaches 250 basic words. The first and third chapters in each unit contain word-part practices. The second and fourth chapters in each unit contain synonym-antonym practices. The book's last chapter in each…

  6. Writing and Reading Multiplicity in the Uni-Verse: Engagements with Mathematics through Poetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radakovic, Nenad; Jagger, Susan; Jao, Limin

    2018-01-01

    In this article, we explore the reading and writing of mathematical poetry from our experiences as mathematics teacher educators. First, we outline how our own engagement with mathematical poetry encouraged us to incorporate it into our teaching of pre-service teachers. We describe how our initial disappointment with the mathematical content of…

  7. Writing Nature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristin Asdal

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This special issue of the Nordic Journal of Science and Technology Studies is interested in how nature, in different versions and forms, is invited into our studies, analyses, and stories. How is it that we “write nature”? How is it that we provide space for, and actually describe the actors, agents, or surroundings, in our stories and analyses? The articles in the issue each deal with different understandings of both the practices of writing and the introduction of various natures into these. In this introduction to the issue the editors engage with actor-network theory as a material semiotic resource for writing nature. We propose to foreground actor-network theory as a writing tool, at the expense of actor-network theory as a distinct vocabulary. In doing this and pointing out the semiotic origins to material-semiotics we also want to problematize a clear-cut material approach to writing nature.

  8. Reading and writing in order not to drop out of university

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giohanny Olave Arias

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17227/01234870.38folios45.59 This text investigates the relationships between dropping out of university and difficulties in reading and writing, in accordance with the recent overview of both phenomena. After a general review of the studies on dropping out of university, in which their importance for the continued development of Colombia’s professionalization is gauged, the practices of reading comprehension and producing texts are problematized specifically in the field of higher education and are then causally related to the phenomenon of dropping out of university. Finally, the current processes of literacy at university, based on recognition of its relevance in the educational mission of higher education, are discussed.

  9. Teaching reading and writing in local language using the child-centred pedagogy in Uganda

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Akello, Dora Lucy; Timmerman, Greetje; Namusisi, Speranza

    2016-01-01

    Uganda introduced the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction in primary schools in 2007. This was meant to promote interaction and participation in the learning process and improve children's proficiency in reading and writing. Drawing elements of interaction and participation from the

  10. Exploring vocabulary language in action

    CERN Document Server

    Gardner, Dee

    2013-01-01

    Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics is a series of introductory level textbooks covering the core topics in Applied Linguistics, primarily designed for those beginning postgraduate studies, or taking an introductory MA course as well as advanced undergraduates. Titles in the series are also ideal for language professionals returning to academic study. The books take an innovative 'practice to theory' approach, with a 'back-to-front' structure. This leads the reader from real-world problems and issues, through a discussion of intervention and how to engage with these concerns, before finally relating these practical issues to theoretical foundations. Additional features include tasks with commentaries, a glossary of key terms, and an annotated further reading section. Vocabulary is the foundation of language and language learning and as such, knowledge of how to facilitate learners’ vocabulary growth is an indispensable teaching skill and curricular component. Exploring Vocabulary is designed t...

  11. COMMENTARY: CAN FREE READING TAKE YOU ALL THE WAY? A RESPONSE TO COBB (2007

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeff McQuillan

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available Cobb (2007 argues that free reading cannot provide L2 readers with sufficient opportunities for acquiring vocabulary in order to reach an adequate level of reading comprehension of English texts. In this paper, we argue that (1 Cobb severely underestimates the amount of reading even a very modest reading habit would afford L2 readers, and therefore underestimates the impact of free reading on L2 vocabulary development; and (2 Cobb’s data show that free reading is in fact a very powerful tool in vocabulary acquisition.

  12. Promoting an Interest in Language To Stimulate College Students' Vocabulary Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wellington, Kathy

    1999-01-01

    Describes using the book "The Professor and the Madman" (which tells the story of how the "Oxford English Dictionary" came into being) in a college or developmental reading class. Notes it motivates students to take greater interest in language and work on expanding their vocabularies, thus promoting vocabulary development and…

  13. Writing Workshop.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novelli, Joan

    2001-01-01

    Six ideas for writing autobiographies with elementary school students include: model the writing process to get students started; read examples of autobiographies; brainstorm writing ideas; free-write the first draft; edit and revise; and publish the stories. Suggestions for mini-lessons are included. A student reproducible offers an editing…

  14. Reading and writing academic practices in the phonoaudiology program at the University of Cauca

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pilar Mirely Chois-Lenis

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available This article presents some results of an investigation aimed to characterize the academic literacy practices that are developed in the Phonoaudiology program at the University of Cauca. In this descriptive study, a sample of 24 students was taken from those in the last semester of the first academic period of 2009, who answered a survey of 26 multiple choice questions. The results indicate that the academic moment for which the students write and read the most is for the courses, who develop these practices primarily to be assessed and predominantly read and write their own lecture notes and the materials prepared by their faculty, to the detriment of scientific articles or papers for publication. It is expected, from these results, to generate reflexion processes and actions that qualify the practices of academic literacy within the program for the benefit of academic and professional performance of their students and graduates.

  15. Vocabulary Word Instruction for Students Who Read Braille

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savaiano, Mackenzie E.; Compton, Donald L.; Hatton, Deborah D.; Lloyd, Blair P.

    2016-01-01

    The association made between the meaning, spelling, and pronunciation of a word has been shown to help children remember the meanings of words. The present study addressed whether the presence of a target word in Braille during instruction facilitated vocabulary learning more efficiently than an auditory-only instructional condition. The authors…

  16. A Study Of Creative Writings In Urdu Of The Secondary School Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Qamar Saleem

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Psychologists and educators throughout the world paid attention to creativity and creative thinking. The routine type of tasks in the school appears to be very simple and uninteresting to the creative students. Atmosphere of some schools is conducive for the development of creative potential. Whereas the atmosphere of many schools comes in the way of its development. Children prefer to learn in creative ways rather than just memorizing information provided by a teacher or parents. It is generally assumed that Children are highly creative, with vivid imaginations, and that they learn by exploring, risking, manipulating, testing, and modifying ideas. Language allows children to talk to each other and to write their thoughts and ideas and mother tongue is the most important and comprehensive medium for expression. Self-expression in reading, writing and speech; reading of suitable general books of high quality with interest rather than concentration on textbooks: approach to literature as a source of joy and inspiration rather killjoy drill in grammar and vocabulary. Children learn to connect individual words with objects, ideas, and actions. In the process, they write their thoughts and ideas in very creative ways. The researcher took this study to know the written potential of Urdu medium students. In this paper, The researcher emphasized that Urdu speaking children are not less than children of any other language. The only problem is less opportunities for them. The Researcher found that Urdu medium students are naughty, distracted, disturbed due to various reasons but at the same time they are highly creative in writing.

  17. The Quotation Theory of Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, David R.; Oatley, Keith

    2014-01-01

    Learning to read and write is seen as both the acquisition of skills useful in a modern society and an introduction to a world increasingly organized around the reading and writing of authoritative texts. While most agree on the importance of writing, insufficient attention has been given to the more basic question of just what writing is, that…

  18. Delayed Early Vocabulary Development in Children at Family Risk of Dyslexia

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Viersen, Sietske; de Bree, Elise H.; Verdam, Mathilde; Krikhaar, Evelien; Maassen, Ben; van der Leij, Aryan; de Jong, Peter F.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This study aimed to gain more insight into the relation between vocabulary and reading acquisition by examining early growth trajectories in the vocabulary of children at family risk (FR) of dyslexia longitudinally. Method: The sample included 212 children from the Dutch Dyslexia Program with and without an FR. Parents reported on their…

  19. Spin injection, transport, and read/write operation in spin-based MOSFET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, Yoshiaki; Marukame, Takao; Inokuchi, Tomoaki; Ishikawa, Mizue; Sugiyama, Hideyuki; Tanamoto, Tetsufumi

    2011-01-01

    We proposed a novel spin-based MOSFET 'Spin-Transfer-torque-Switching MOSFET (STS-MOSFET)' that offers non-volatile memory and transistor functions with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility, high endurance and fast write time using STS. The STS-MOSFETs with Heusler alloy (Co 2 Fe 1 Al 0.5 Si 0.5 ) were prepared and reconfigurability of a novel spintronics-based MOSFET, STS-MOSFET, was successfully realized for the transport properties owing to reduction of the contact resistance in ferromagnetic metal/thin insulator tunnel barrier/Si junctions. The device showed magnetocurrent (MC) and write characteristics with the endurance of over 10 5 cycles. It was also clarified that the read characteristic can be improved in terms of MC ratio, however, is deteriorated in terms of the mobility by choosing connection configurations of the source and the drain in the STS-MOSFETs.

  20. Reading comprehension and expressive writing: a comparison between good and poor comprehenders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carretti, Barbara; Re, Anna Maria; Arfè, Barbara

    2013-01-01

    This study investigated expressive writing in 8- to 10-year-old children with different levels of reading comprehension. Poor and good comprehenders were presented with three expressive writing tasks where the modality (pictorial vs. verbal) and the text genre (narrative vs. descriptive) varied. Results showed that poor comprehenders' performance was minimally influenced by the modality of the prompt. In fact, their performance was generally worse than that of good comprehenders and affected by the text genre, as the quality of their narratives was generally lower than that of good comprehenders. However, in the descriptive text condition, their performance was comparable to that of good comprehenders. One can conclude that their problems depend on the characteristics of the narrative text where coherence and causality are important elements.

  1. Integrating Curriculum through the Learning Cycle: Content-Based Reading and Vocabulary Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spencer, Brenda H.; Guillaume, Andrea M.

    2006-01-01

    The content areas provide rich contexts for developing vocabulary. This article presents some principles and a lesson model--the learning cycle--that can be used to develop vocabulary while building understanding in science. Because science instruction and the learning cycle model promote learning in real-world contexts, they provide students with…

  2. Substituting ICT as a lever for inclusion of children with reading and writing difficulties

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Levinsen, Karin

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents research findings from a 3 year development and research project named Project IT-folder (PIF) that aimed at inclusion of young children with potential reading and writing difficulties into normal classes in a suburb to the Danish capital. The project ran from 2007 to June 2010...

  3. Substituting ICT as a lever for inclusion of children with reading and writing difficulties

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Levinsen, Karin

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents research findings from a 3 year development and research project named Project IT-folder (PIF) that aimed at inclusion of young children with potential reading and writing difficulties into normal classes in a suburb to the Danish capital. The project ran from 2007 to June 201...

  4. Reading, writing, and reserve: Literacy activities are linked to hippocampal volume and memory in multiple sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumowski, James F; Rocca, Maria A; Leavitt, Victoria M; Riccitelli, Gianna; Meani, Alessandro; Comi, Giancarlo; Filippi, Massimo

    2016-10-01

    Engagement in cognitive leisure activities during early adulthood has been linked to preserved memory and larger hippocampal volume in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). To investigate which specific types of cognitive leisure activities contribute to hippocampal volume and memory. We investigated links between three types of cognitive activities (Reading-Writing, Art-Music, Games-Hobbies) and (a) hippocampal volume within independent samples of Italian (n=187) and American (n=55) MS patients and (b) memory in subsamples of Italian (n=97) and American (n=53) patients. Reading-Writing was the only predictor of hippocampal volume (rp=.204, p=.002), and the best predictor of memory (rp=.288, p=.001). Findings inform the development of targeted evidence-based enrichment programs aiming to bolster reserve against memory decline. © The Author(s), 2016.

  5. Lexical quality and executive control predict children's first and second language reading comprehension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raudszus, Henriette; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

    2018-01-01

    This study compared how lexical quality (vocabulary and decoding) and executive control (working memory and inhibition) predict reading comprehension directly as well as indirectly, via syntactic integration, in monolingual and bilingual fourth grade children. The participants were 76 monolingual and 102 bilingual children (mean age 10 years, SD  = 5 months) learning to read Dutch in the Netherlands. Bilingual children showed lower Dutch vocabulary, syntactic integration and reading comprehension skills, but better decoding skills than their monolingual peers. There were no differences in working memory or inhibition. Multigroup path analysis showed relatively invariant connections between predictors and reading comprehension for monolingual and bilingual readers. For both groups, there was a direct effect of lexical quality on reading comprehension. In addition, lexical quality and executive control indirectly influenced reading comprehension via syntactic integration. The groups differed in that inhibition more strongly predicted syntactic integration for bilingual than for monolingual children. For a subgroup of bilingual children, for whom home language vocabulary data were available ( n  = 56), there was an additional positive effect of home language vocabulary on second language reading comprehension. Together, the results suggest that similar processes underlie reading comprehension in first and second language readers, but that syntactic integration requires more executive control in second language reading. Moreover, bilingual readers additionally benefit from first language vocabulary to arrive at second language reading comprehension.

  6. Language Literacy in Writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saeideh Ahangari

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the ways in which the transfer of assumptions from first language (L1 writing can help the process of writing in second language (L2. In learning second language writing skills, learners have two primary sources from which they construct a second language system: knowledge and skills from first language and input from second language. To investigate the relative impact of first language literacy skills on second language writing ability, 60 EFL students from Tabriz Islamic Azad University were chosen as participants of this study, based on their language proficiency scores. The subjects were given two topics to write about: the experimental group subjects were asked to write in Persian and then translate their writing into English. The control group wrote in English. The results obtained in this study indicate that the content and vocabulary components of the compositions were mostly affected by the use of first language.

  7. Do You Read Me? Service Supplement: Reading Development Activities Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kendall, Elizabeth L.; Chenoweth, Roberta

    This activity guide is one of four supplements to be used with "Do You Read Me? Prevocational-Vocational Reading Development Activities" (ED 210 454). Each supplement deals with a different occupational category. Games, puzzles, and other activities are offered to aid in developing the word recognition, vocabulary, and comprehension…

  8. Writing Inspired

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tischhauser, Karen

    2015-01-01

    Students need inspiration to write. Assigning is not teaching. In order to inspire students to write fiction worth reading, teachers must take them through the process of writing. Physical objects inspire good writing with depth. In this article, the reader will be taken through the process of inspiring young writers through the use of boxes.…

  9. Teaching Reading and Writing in Local Language Using the Child-Centred Pedagogy in Uganda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akello, Dora Lucy; Timmerman, Greetje; Namusisi, Speranza

    2016-01-01

    Uganda introduced the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction in primary schools in 2007. This was meant to promote interaction and participation in the learning process and improve children's proficiency in reading and writing. Drawing elements of interaction and participation from the socio-cultural theory, the child-centred pedagogy was…

  10. The Effects of Extensive Reading on Reading Comprehension, Reading Rate, and Vocabulary Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suk, Namhee

    2017-01-01

    Several empirical studies and syntheses of extensive reading have concluded that extensive reading has positive impacts on language learning in second- and foreign-language settings. However, many of the studies contained methodological or curricular limitations, raising questions about the asserted positive effects of extensive reading. The…

  11. Taking a Closer Look at Your Informational Writing Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beschorner, Beth; Hall, Anna H.

    2018-01-01

    When students write informational text, they have the opportunity to engage with meaningful topics, become curious about the world, learn domain-specific knowledge, and use academic vocabulary. Given the possibilities for learning through writing informational text, it is important for teachers to reflect on and improve their informational writing…

  12. Synthetic phonics and decodable instructional reading texts: How far do these support poor readers?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price-Mohr, Ruth Maria; Price, Colin Bernard

    2018-05-01

    This paper presents data from a quasi-experimental trial with paired randomisation that emerged during the development of a reading scheme for children in England. This trial was conducted with a group of 12 children, aged 5-6, and considered to be falling behind their peers in reading ability and a matched control group. There were two intervention conditions (A: using mixed teaching methods and a high percentage of non-phonically decodable vocabulary; P: using mixed teaching methods and low percentage of non-decodable vocabulary); allocation to these was randomised. Children were assessed at pre- and post-test on standardised measures of receptive vocabulary, phoneme awareness, word reading, and comprehension. Two class teachers in the same school each selected 6 children, who they considered to be poor readers, to participate (n = 12). A control group (using synthetic phonics only and phonically decodable vocabulary) was selected from the same 2 classes based on pre-test scores for word reading (n = 16). Results from the study show positive benefits for poor readers from using both additional teaching methods (such as analytic phonics, sight word vocabulary, and oral vocabulary extension) in addition to synthetic phonics, and also non-decodable vocabulary in instructional reading text. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Latent class analysis of reading, decoding, and writing performance using the Academic Performance Test: concurrent and discriminating validity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cogo-Moreira H

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Hugo Cogo-Moreira,1 Carolina Alves Ferreira Carvalho,2 Adriana de Souza Batista Kida,2 Clara Regina Brandão de Avila,2 Giovanni Abrahão Salum,3,5 Tais Silveira Moriyama,1,4 Ary Gadelha,1,5 Luis Augusto Rohde,3,5 Luciana Monteiro de Moura,1 Andrea Parolin Jackowski,1 Jair de Jesus Mari11Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 2Department of Hearing and Speech Pathology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 3Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, 4Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 5National Institute for Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescent, (National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development, BrazilAim: To explore and validate the best returned latent class solution for reading and writing subtests from the Academic Performance Test (TDE.Sample: A total of 1,945 children (6–14 years of age, who answered the TDE, the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA, and had an estimated intelligence quotient (IQ higher than 70, came from public schools in São Paulo (35 schools and Porto Alegre (22 schools that participated in the ‘High Risk Cohort Study for Childhood Psychiatric Disorders’ project. They were on average 9.52 years old (standard deviation = 1.856, from the 1st to 9th grades, and 53.3% male. The mean estimated IQ was 102.70 (standard deviation = 16.44.Methods: Via Item Response Theory (IRT, the highest discriminating items (‘a’>1.7 were selected from the TDE subtests of reading and writing. A latent class analysis was run based on these subtests. The statistically and empirically best latent class solutions were validated through concurrent (IQ and combined attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] diagnoses and discriminant (major depression diagnoses measures.Results: A three-class solution was found to be the best model solution, revealing classes of children with good, not

  14. Comparison of executive functions in students with and without specific learning disability with the characteristic reading and writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saba Hasanvandi

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: The aim of present study was to investigate executive functions included of working memory, organization-planning and reasoning in the children with and without specific learning disability with the characteristic reading and writing. Materials and methods: The design of this research was Ex-Post Facto design. Statistical population was all male students of third grade primary schools in Tehran which were referred to education institution with diagnosis special learning disorders in educational centers. The sample included of 90 students chosen and assigned into 3 groups of 30 students, included of: children who had specific learning disability with characteristic reading, children who had specific learning disability with characteristic writing, normal children were selected by systematic randomized sampling and 3 groups were compared. The data instruments were: Wechsler’ subtests of similarities and digit differences, Andre Ray test, in formal (unofficial reading and dictation test. The obtained data were analyzed with ANOVA. Results: The results showed that there was difference between the group of normal children and other group in executive functions including working memory, organization-planning and reasoning (P<0.05. Also there was difference between two children groups with specific learning disability with  characteristic reading and writing in working memory and reasoning, whereas for organization-planning parameter there were not seen any differences between these two groups (P<0.05. Conclusion: Regarding to obtained results, it is recommended to adoption some ways for improvements of working memory, organization-planning and reasoning

  15. Elementary Students' Acquisition of Academic Vocabulary Through Engineering Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kugelmass, Rachel

    This study examines how STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) inquiry-based learning through a hands-on engineering design can be beneficial in helping students acquire academic vocabulary. This research took place in a second grade dual- language classroom in a public, suburban elementary school. English language learners, students who speak Spanish at home, and native English speakers were evaluated in this study. Each day, students were presented with a general academic vocabulary focus word during an engineering design challenge. Vocabulary pre-tests and post-tests as well as observation field notes were used to evaluate the student's growth in reading and defining the focus academic vocabulary words. A quiz and KSB (knowledge and skill builder) packet were used to evaluate students' knowledge of science and math content and engineering design. The results of this study indicate that engineering design is an effective means for teaching academic vocabulary to students with varying levels of English proficiency.

  16. Just-in-Time Teaching Techniques through Web Technologies for Vocational Students' Reading and Writing Abilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chantoem, Rewadee; Rattanavich, Saowalak

    2016-01-01

    This research compares the English language achievements of vocational students, their reading and writing abilities, and their attitudes towards learning English taught with just-in-time teaching techniques through web technologies and conventional methods. The experimental and control groups were formed, a randomized true control group…

  17. Reading for Integration, Identifying Complementary Threshold Concepts: The ACRL Framework in Conversation with Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brittney Johnson

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In 2015, threshold concepts formed the foundation of two disciplinary documents: the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy (2015 and Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies (2015. While there is no consensus in the fields about the value of threshold concepts in teaching, reading the six Frames in the ACRL document alongside the threshold concepts of writing studies illuminates overlapping elements that may empower faculty in both fields to advocate collectively against skills-focused writing and research instruction through cross-disciplinary integrations. To facilitate cross-disciplinary conversations around the documents, the authors propose an order for reading the Frames, identify the associated writing concepts, and explain how the shared concepts reveal an internal complexity which may have implications for teaching the ACRL Framework.

  18. Pupil's motivation in the 3. grades for required reading and The Reading Badge

    OpenAIRE

    Logar, Renata

    2013-01-01

    Reading is extremely important for pupils and their development. The pupil with reading habits riches his vocabulary and gaining knowledge. On the other hand the pupil through reading entry into the world of imagination and stories. Major role in motivating students to read have parents and teachers. In this graduation thesis I was interested in how third grade teachers motivate their pupils to read. In doing so, I was focused mainly to reading for required reading and The Reading Badge. ...

  19. The Role of Home and School Factors in Predicting English Vocabulary among Bilingual Kindergarten Children in Singapore

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, L. Quentin

    2011-01-01

    Research in monolingual populations indicate that vocabulary knowledge is essential to reading achievement, but how vocabulary develops in bilingual children has been understudied. The current study investigated the role of home and school factors in predicting English vocabulary among 284 bilingual kindergartners (168 Chinese, 65 Malay, 51…

  20. Lexical Errors and Accuracy in Foreign Language Writing. Second Language Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    del Pilar Agustin Llach, Maria

    2011-01-01

    Lexical errors are a determinant in gaining insight into vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary use and writing quality assessment. Lexical errors are very frequent in the written production of young EFL learners, but they decrease as learners gain proficiency. Misspellings are the most common category, but formal errors give way to semantic-based…

  1. The Impact of a Systematic and Explicit Vocabulary Intervention in Spanish with Spanish-Speaking English Learners in First Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cena, Johanna; Baker, Doris Luft; Kame'enui, Edward J.; Baker, Scott K.; Park, Yonghan; Smolkowski, Keith

    2013-01-01

    This study examined the impact of a 15-min daily explicit vocabulary intervention in Spanish on expressive and receptive vocabulary knowledge and oral reading fluency in Spanish, and on language proficiency in English. Fifty Spanish-speaking English learners who received 90 min of Spanish reading instruction in an early transition model were…

  2. Sharing a Reading Technique with Families

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irish, Christy K.; Parsons, Seth A.

    2016-01-01

    Sharing reading techniques with families is an important responsibility of teachers. Dialogic reading is one way to improve young students' expressive vocabulary skills, which are important for later reading success. Dialogic reading also supports students' understanding of story structure and content. This well researched technique has not been…

  3. The Cortical Network for Braille Writing in the Blind.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Likova, Lora T; Tyler, Christopher W; Cacciamani, Laura; Mineff, Kristyo; Nicholas, Spero

    2016-01-01

    Fundamental forms of high-order cognition, such as reading and writing, are usually studied in the context of one modality - vision. People without sight, however, use the kinesthetic-based Braille writing, and haptic-based Braille reading. We asked whether the cognitive and motor control mechanisms underlying writing and reading are modality-specific or supramodal. While a number of previous functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the brain network for Braille reading in the blind, such studies on Braille writing are lacking. Consequently, no comparative network analysis of Braille writing vs. reading exists. Here, we report the first study of Braille writing, and a comparison of the brain organization for Braille writing vs Braille reading. FMRI was conducted in a Siemens 3T Trio scanner. Our custom MRI-compatible drawing/writing lectern was further modified to provide for Braille reading and writing. Each of five paragraphs of novel Braille text describing objects, faces and navigation sequences was read, then reproduced twice by Braille writing from memory, then read a second time. During Braille reading, the haptic-sensing of the Braille letters strongly activated not only the early visual area V1 and V2, but some highly specialized areas, such as the classical visual grapheme area and the Exner motor grapheme area. Braille-writing-from-memory, engaged a significantly more extensive network in dorsal motor, somatosensory/kinesthetic, dorsal parietal and prefrontal cortex. However, in contrast to the largely extended V1 activation in drawing-from-memory in the blind after training (Likova, 2012), Braille writing from memory generated focal activation restricted to the most foveal part of V1, presumably reflecting topographically the focal demands of such a "pin-pricking" task.

  4. How life changes itself: the Read-Write (RW) genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, James A

    2013-09-01

    The genome has traditionally been treated as a Read-Only Memory (ROM) subject to change by copying errors and accidents. In this review, I propose that we need to change that perspective and understand the genome as an intricately formatted Read-Write (RW) data storage system constantly subject to cellular modifications and inscriptions. Cells operate under changing conditions and are continually modifying themselves by genome inscriptions. These inscriptions occur over three distinct time-scales (cell reproduction, multicellular development and evolutionary change) and involve a variety of different processes at each time scale (forming nucleoprotein complexes, epigenetic formatting and changes in DNA sequence structure). Research dating back to the 1930s has shown that genetic change is the result of cell-mediated processes, not simply accidents or damage to the DNA. This cell-active view of genome change applies to all scales of DNA sequence variation, from point mutations to large-scale genome rearrangements and whole genome duplications (WGDs). This conceptual change to active cell inscriptions controlling RW genome functions has profound implications for all areas of the life sciences. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Kindergarten Predictors of Third Grade Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Young-Suk; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Wanzek, Jeanne

    2015-01-01

    The primary goal of the present study was to examine the relations of kindergarten transcription, oral language, word reading, and attention skills to writing skills in third grade. Children (N = 157) were assessed on their letter writing automaticity, spelling, oral language, word reading, and attention in kindergarten. Then, they were assessed on writing in third grade using three writing tasks – one narrative and two expository prompts. Children’s written compositions were evaluated in terms of writing quality (the extent to which ideas were developed and presented in an organized manner). Structural equation modeling showed that kindergarten oral language and lexical literacy skills (i.e., word reading and spelling) were independently predicted third grade narrative writing quality, and kindergarten literacy skill uniquely predicted third grade expository writing quality. In contrast, attention and letter writing automaticity were not directly related to writing quality in either narrative or expository genre. These results are discussed in light of theoretical and practical implications. PMID:25642118

  6. [Relationship between clinical symptoms and Hiragana reading ability in children with difficulties in reading and writing:usefulness of a clinical-symptoms-checklist].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kita, Yosuke; Kobayashi, Tomoka; Koike, Toshihide; Koeda, Tatsuya; Wakamiya, Eiji; Hosokawa, Torn; Kaga, Makiko; Inagaki, Masumi

    2010-11-01

    We investigated the clinical symptoms of children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and evaluated the relationship between these symptoms and their Hiragana reading abilities. In order to detect the clinical symptoms of DD, we newly developed a clinical-symptoms-checklist (CL), which consisted of a total of 30 yes/no questions regarding symptoms linked to reading (15 questions) and writing (15 questions). Subjects were 98 Japanese school grade (1 to 9) children, aged 6 to 15 years old, with normal intelligence confirmed by the Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children (WISC-Ill) and they were divided into 2 groups according to their diagnosis. Twenty four children diagnosed as developmental dyslexia consisted the DD group, and the remaining 74 children were grouped in the non-DD group. CL showed significant construct validity (pHiragana reading ability of articulation time in all Hiragana reading tasks (pJapanese children.

  7. The Relationship between Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of Writing Skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howerton, Mary Lou P.; And Others

    The relationships of quantitative measures of writing skills to overall writing quality as measured by the E.T.S. Composition Evaluation Scale (CES) were examined. Quantitative measures included indices of language productivity, vocabulary diversity, spelling, and syntactic maturity. Power of specific indices to account for variation in overall…

  8. Enriching Students’ Vocabulary Mastery Using Graphic Organizers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syaifudin Latif Darmawan

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This action research is carried out to (1 identify whether graphic organizers enrich student’s vocabulary mastery; and (2 to describe the classroom situation when graphic organizers are employed in instructional process of vocabulary. The research is conducted in two cycles from March to May 2016/2017 in the eight years of SMP Muhammadiyah Sekampung, East lampung. The procedure of the research consists of identifying the problem, planning the action, implementing the action, observing the action, and reflecting the result of the research. Qualitative data are collected through interview, observation, questionnaire, and research diary. Quantitative data are collected through test. To analyze qualitative data, the researcher used constant comparative method. It consists of four steps: (1 comparing incidents applicable to each category; (2 Integrating categories and their properties; (3 delimiting the theory; (4 Writing the theory. Meanwhile, to analyze quantitative data, the researcher employed descriptive statistic.    The result of the research shows that using graphic organizers can enrich students’ vocabulary mastery and classroom situation. The improvement on students’ vocabulary included; a the students are able to speak English; b the students are able to understand the meaning of the text as they have a lot of vocabularies. The improvement of the classroom situation; (a students come on time in the class (b students are more motivated to join the class (c Students pay more attention in the instructional process (d students’ participation in responding the questions are high.

  9. The Effects of Hypertext Glosses on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition: A Meta-Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Jeehwan

    2011-01-01

    This study examines (1) the effects of hypertext gloss use on L2 vocabulary acquisition in computerized reading contexts; (2) which specific combination of either text-only (single) or text + visual (multiple) hypertext glosses is more effective on L2 vocabulary acquisition; and (3) potential moderators to systematically account for between study…

  10. Individual differences in children's working memory and writing skill.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swanson, H L; Berninger, V W

    1996-11-01

    The purpose of this research is to address (a) whether individual differences in working memory (WM) and writing are related to a general or process-specific system, (b) whether WM tasks operate independently of phonological short-term memory (STM) on measures of writing and reading, and (c) whether working memory predicts variance in writing beyond that predicted by reading alone. The present study correlated several WM and phonological STM measures with writing and reading measures. The study showed among the memory measures that a four-factor model reflecting phonological STM, verbal WM span, executive processing, and visual-spatial WM span best fit the multivariate data set. Working memory was correlated significantly with a number of writing measures, particularly those related to text generation. WM measures contributed unique variance to writing that was independent of reading skill, and STM measures best predicted transcription processes and reading recognition, whereas WM measures best predicted text generation and reading comprehension. Both verbal and visual-spatial working memory measures predicted reading comprehension, whereas only WM measures that reflect executive processing significantly predicted writing. In general, the results suggest that individual differences in children's writing reflect a specific capacity system, whereas reading comprehension draws upon a multiple capacity system.

  11. Shared Book Reading Promotes Not Only Language Development, But Also Grapheme Awareness in German Kindergarten Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wesseling, Patricia B C; Christmann, Corinna A; Lachmann, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Effects of shared book reading on expressive vocabulary and grapheme awareness without letter instruction in German kindergarteners (longitudinal; N = 69, 3;0-4;8 years) were investigated. Expressive vocabulary was measured by using a standardized test; grapheme awareness was measured by asking children to identify one grapheme per trial presented amongst non-letter distractors. Two methods of shared book reading were investigated, literacy enrichment (additional books) and teacher training in shared book reading strategies, both without explicit letter instruction. Whereas positive effects of shared book reading on expressive vocabulary were evident in numerous previous studies, the impact of shared book reading on grapheme awareness has not yet been investigated. Both methods resulted in positive effects on children's expressive vocabulary and grapheme awareness over a period of 6 months. Thus, early shared book reading may not only be considered to be a tool for promoting the development of expressive vocabulary, but also for implicit acquisition of grapheme awareness. The latter is considered an important precondition required for the explicit learning of grapheme-phoneme conversion rules (letter knowledge).

  12. Definition of a focus of reading and writing teaching in the process from preparatory to primary level at school

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rudy Doria Correa

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper shows the results of a research exercise in order to define an approach of reading and writing’s teaching and learning in the process from preparatory to primary education in Asodesi’s school in the city of Monteria - Córdoba. This experience is a part of the investigation “classroom projects: an experience of action research in language teaching at school”, theoretically oriented from the study of various approaches about teaching reading and writing early, with a qualitative methodology (IA, by forming a study group work (SGW, within which teachers reflect on their teaching practices, in order to improve and transform them. The main results are: the definition of a comprehensive approach of teaching reading and writing, linked to the goals of training offered in classroom projects in primary and secondary levels and the development of skills incomprehension and textual production. 

  13. 10,000 optical write, read, and erase cycles in an azobenzene sidechain liquid-crystalline polyester

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holme, NCR; Ramanujam, P.S.; Hvilsted, Søren

    1996-01-01

    We show far what is believed to he the first time that it is possible tu generate 10,000 rapid write, read, and erase cycles optically in an azobenzene sidechain liquid-crystalline polyester. We do this by exposing the film alternately to visible light from an argon laser at 488 nm and ultraviolet...

  14. THE VOCABULARY TEACHING AND VOCABULARY LEARNING: PERCEPTION, STRATEGIES, AND INFLUENCES ON STUDENTS' VOCABULARY MASTERY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dewi Nur Asyiah

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Vocabulary plays pivotal role in foreign language learning. However, vocabulary teaching and vocabulary learning in TEFL seems to be neglected. The study was aimed to investigate how vocabulary teaching and learning are perceived by teacher and students, strategies to teach and learn the vocabulary, and also influences of students’ vocabulary learning strategy on their vocabulary mastery. Accordingly, a mix method design was employed to one English teacher and 30 junior high school students to reveal the issues being investigated. The findings showed that both teacher and students have positive response on vocabulary teaching and learning. Concerning strategies, it was found that teacher mostly employed Fully-contextual strategy, meanwhile Determination and Metacognitive strategy were found as the most favored VLS chosen by students. The study also confirmed that there is a significant relationship between students’ vocabulary learning strategy and their vocabulary mastery (r-value Discovery = .023 and r-value Consolidating = .000, p<.05. It is recommended for EFL teachers to give a bigger portion to vocabulary in the EFL teaching and to teach vocabulary using the combination of fully-contextual and de-contextual strategy. It is also suggested to introduce students to various kinds of vocabulary learning strategies.  

  15. Writing Skill and Categorical Error Analysis: A Study of First Year Undergraduate University Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adnan Satariyan

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This study identifies and analyses the common errors in writing skill of the first year students of Azad University of South Tehran Branch in relation to their first language (L1, the type of high school they graduated, and their exposure to media and technology in order to learn English. It also determines the categories in which the errors are committed (content, organisation/discourse, vocabulary, mechanics, or syntax and whether or not there is a significant difference in the percentage of errors committed and these categories. Participants of this study are 190 first year students that are asked to write an essay. An error analysis model adapted from Brown (2001 and Gayeta (2002 is then used to evaluate the essay writings in terms of content, organisation, vocabulary, mechanics, and syntax or language use. The results of the study show that the students have greater difficulties in organisation, content, and vocabulary and experience less difficulties in mechanics and syntax.

  16. Teaching Reading and Writing in Mother Tongue for Children with Visual Impairments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Panagiotis GIOTIS

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Language plays an important role in the lives of human beings by means of communicating, expressing\tthoughts\tand\tdescribing\texperiences. Language\tpedagogy\tis\tthe\tscience\tthat\taims\tat education, teaching\tand implementation of the spoken\tand\twritten speech. If\twe\tare dealing with children who have special educational needs, e.g. visually impaired then the teaching is called special education. The loss of vision significantly affects people in various activities. Finding alternative\tmethods of communication is important. The\tmethod braille based touch allows to visually impaired people to write and read. The key element of writing is the exastigmo (six dots. The braille method is linguistically a faithful reproduction of written language. The\treading\tis\tbased on\tthe\tsame\tsounds,\tthe\tmeanings\tof\tthe\twords,\tthe\tgrammar and\tthe\tsemantics\twhich\tare\tnecessary\tfor\tthe\tunderstanding\tof\twritten\ttexts\tin\tany\tlanguage.

  17. Impact of Using CALL on Iranian EFL Learners' Vocabulary Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yunus, Melor Md; Salehi, Hadi; Amini, Mahdi

    2016-01-01

    Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) integration in EFL contexts has intensified noticeably in recent years. This integration might be in different ways and for different purposes such as vocabulary acquisition, grammar learning, phonology, writing skills, etc. More explicitly, this study is an attempt to explore the effect of using CALL on…

  18. Negotiation between peers: strategic device for a reading and writing program at the university level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Estela Ines Moyano

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The following paper focuses on the description and exemplification of a device which is the core of the Academic Reading and Writing Program (PROLEA, for its acronym in Spanish conducting at University of Flores (UFLO: the “negotiation between peers” or “negotiation between teaching partners”. The Program design is based on the Sydney School's developments in Systemic Functional Linguistics. The negotiation between peers comprises the work between a professor on academic and professional literacies, who is a member of the Program, and the professors of each of the specific subjects involved. In order to successfully implement this modality, the realization of the negotiation between peers is necessary. This device entails a series of agreements between the professors involved about the teaching of the curricula contents through reading and writing tasks. First in this paper, the negotiation between peers is characterized, and its function and value in the Program are highlighted; second, two scenarios of application are presented in order to show the device contribution as well as its difficulties and the way of resolution of the problems found.

  19. Early Vocabulary Development of Australian Indigenous Children: Identifying Strengths

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brad M. Farrant

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The current study sought to increase our understanding of the factors involved in the early vocabulary development of Australian Indigenous children. Data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children were available for 573 Indigenous children (291 boys who spoke English (M=37.0 months, SD=5.4 months, at wave 3. Data were also available for 86 children (51 boys who spoke an Indigenous language (M=37.1 months, SD=6.0 months, at wave 3. As hypothesised, higher levels of parent-child book reading and having more children’s books in the home were associated with better English vocabulary development. Oral storytelling in Indigenous language was a significant predictor of the size of children’s Indigenous vocabulary.

  20. "If I write like a scientist, then soy un cientifico": Differentiated Writing Supports and the Effects on Fourth-Grade English Proficient Students' and English Language Learners' Science Content Knowledge and Explanatory Writing About Magnetism and Electricity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lichon, Kathryn A.

    The purpose of this pre-post quasi-experimental dissertation was to investigate the effects of differentiated writing supports on English Proficient Students' (EPSs) and English Language Learners' (ELLs) science content knowledge and explanatory writing about magnetism and electricity. Eighty-seven fourth-grade students (EPSs = 35; ELLs = 52) were randomly assigned to two groups based on two differentiated writing: guided questions ( n = 43) or targeted writing frames (n = 44). In the guided questions condition, students completed four question sets after a science investigation, and in the targeted writing frames condition, students completed the same four question sets, but with explicit support for vocabulary, transitions, and relational language in the form of if-then statements. Over the course of the four week intervention, students completed a total of nine writing tasks, and were pretested and posttested on six variables: magnetism and electricity content knowledge test, explanatory writing task, total number of words written, total number of sentences written, number of if-then statements, and number of content-based vocabulary words. Results indicate that EPSs and ELLs in both writing conditions improved significantly from pretest to posttest on six content and explanatory writing variables, with statistically significant gain scores occurring for the magnetism and electricity content knowledge test in which the targeted writing frames condition had a larger rate of gain. ANCOVA results indicated that in comparing writing conditions, a statistically significant difference was found for magnetism and electricity content knowledge posttests, when controlling for pretests. No statistically significant effects for language classification on the six variables were found when controlling for pretest scores. Interaction effects between writing condition and language classification were statistically significantly different for the interaction effect found on if

  1. Using Peer Collaboration to Support Online Reading, Writing, and Communication: An Empowerment Model for Struggling Readers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, Laurie A.; Castek, Jill; O'Byrne, W. Ian; Zawilinski, Lisa

    2012-01-01

    This comparative case study investigated the implementation of an empowerment model for struggling readers that utilized the Internet as a context for reading, writing, and communicating in 3 different classroom contexts. Through student-centered techniques, such as flexible grouping and peer teaching, we designed Internet Reciprocal Teaching to…

  2. Reading is fundamentally similar across disparate writing systems: A systematic characterization of how words and characters influence eye movements in Chinese reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xingshan; Bicknell, Klinton; Liu, Pingping; Wei, Wei; Rayner, Keith

    2013-01-01

    While much previous work on reading in languages with alphabetic scripts has suggested that reading is word-based, reading in Chinese has been argued to be less reliant on words. This is primarily because in the Chinese writing system words are not spatially segmented, and characters are themselves complex visual objects. Here, we present a systematic characterization of the effects of a wide range of word and character properties on eye movements in Chinese reading, using a set of mixed-effects regression models. The results reveal a rich pattern of effects of the properties of the current, previous, and next words on a range of reading measures, which is strikingly similar to the pattern of effects of word properties reported in spaced alphabetic languages. This finding provides evidence that reading shares a word-based core and may be fundamentally similar across languages with highly dissimilar scripts. We show that these findings are robust to the inclusion of character properties in the regression models, and are equally reliable when dependent measures are defined in terms of characters rather than words, providing strong evidence that word properties have effects in Chinese reading above and beyond characters. This systematic characterization of the effects of word and character properties in Chinese advances our knowledge of the processes underlying reading and informs the future development of models of reading. More generally, however, this work suggests that differences in script may not alter the fundamental nature of reading. PMID:23834023

  3. Writing the Ties that Bind: Service-Learning in the Writing Classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, David D.; Julier, Laura

    1995-01-01

    The Service Learning Writing Project at Michigan State University links service-learning and writing instruction. Students read and discuss American literary and historical texts, write academic analyses of ideas, and practice peer editing and revision in small workshops, while working in service placements in community and nonprofit…

  4. Read/write characteristics of a new type of bit-patterned-media using nano-patterned glassy alloy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takenaka, Kana; Saidoh, Noriko; Nishiyama, Nobuyuki; Ishimaru, Manabu; Futamoto, Masaaki; Inoue, Akihisa

    2012-01-01

    The paper reports a feasibility study of new type bit-patterned-media using a nano-patterned glassy alloy template for ultra-high density hard disk applications. The prototype bit-patterned-media was prepared using a nano-hole array pattern fabricated on a Pd-based glassy alloy thin film and a Co/Pd multilayered film filled in the nano-holes. The prepared prototype bit-patterned-media had a smooth surface and isolated Co/Pd multilayer magnetic dots, where the average dot diameter, the average dot pitch and the average dot height were 30, 60 and 19 nm, respectively. MFM (magnetic force microscope) observation revealed that each dot was magnetized in a perpendicular direction and the magnetization could reverse when an opposite magnetic field was applied. Static read/write tester measurements showed that repeated writing and reading on isolated magnetic dots were possible in combination with conventional magnetic heads and high-accuracy positioning technologies. The present study indicates that the new type of bit-patterned-media composed of nano-hole arrays fabricated on glassy alloy film template and Co/Pd multilayer magnetic dots are promising for applications to next generation ultra-high density hard disk drives. - Highlights: ► Prototype BPM using a nano-hole array pattern of imprinted Pd-based glassy alloy thin film and Co/Pd multilayered film was set. ► The prototype BPM has smooth surface and isolated Co/Pd multilayer magnetic dots with an average dot diameter of 30 nm. ► Dots acted as perpendicular magnetic dot and were able to read, erase and write in a row by a usual perpendicular magnetic head.

  5. An In-Depth Investigation into the Relationship between Vocabulary Knowledge and Academic Listening Comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teng, Feng

    2016-01-01

    The present study was conducted in the context of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) with the purpose of assessing the roles of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in academic listening comprehension. The Vocabulary Size Test (VST, Nation & Beglar, 2007) and the Word Associates Test (WAT, Read, 2004) were administered to…

  6. Improving the 5th Formers’ Continuous Writing Skills through the Creative Writing Module

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohana Ram Murugiah

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Writing is a complex task. The development of students’ writing skill depends on the teacher’s teaching strategy and also the materials used in the writing lesson. In the present study, the effectiveness of a creative writing module was examined that was designed to improve the writing skill of a group of excellent students. It was added with explicit teaching strategies. The selected group of students were students who were in the excellent group but lacked creativity and vocabulary in their writing. The creative writing module was designed to help these students. Students’ improvement was observed through observation in the classrooms during the lessons and through writing task as well as interviews. Two observations were made. One was before the creative writing project was started and another after the completion of the entire task of the module. The interview was carried out to learn about the students’ perception of the module and how do they find the module has helped them.  The result of the research showed that students have shown a great level of improvement in their writing skills. The outcome of this present study could be useful to assist language instructors in helping proficient learners to undergo a more effective second language learning experience.

  7. A Learning Log Analysis of an English-Reading e-Book System Combined with a Guidance Mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ting-Ting

    2016-01-01

    Learning English by reading articles on multimedia e-book devices can assist students in improving their vocabulary and in understanding the associations among vocabulary, textual meaning, and paragraph composition. Adaptive integration of reading technologies and strategies not only strengthens their language ability and reading comprehension,…

  8. Students’ Attitude on The Use of Facebook And Blog In Writing Class and Their Writing Competence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irfan Rifai

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Article aims to investigate the relationship between students’ attitudes on the use of Facebook and blog as learning tools in writing class. Two groups of students were made as experimental and control group. The experimental group used Facebook and blog in as learning tools for thirteen sessions while the control group only used Binusmaya, local multi channel learning. It was assumed that Facebook and blog would be able to help students in three level of writing mastery: the vocabulary, the accuracy and the fluency in writing. Students’ attitudes were gathered through survey and the results compared to their final test scores. The result shows that students’ lack of enthusiasm was in line with students’ level of achievement in writing and that Facebook and blog did not give significant influence on improving students’ writing competence.   

  9. Auditory Perception, Suprasegmental Speech Processing, and Vocabulary Development in Chinese Preschoolers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hsiao-Lan S; Chen, I-Chen; Chiang, Chun-Han; Lai, Ying-Hui; Tsao, Yu

    2016-10-01

    The current study examined the associations between basic auditory perception, speech prosodic processing, and vocabulary development in Chinese kindergartners, specifically, whether early basic auditory perception may be related to linguistic prosodic processing in Chinese Mandarin vocabulary acquisition. A series of language, auditory, and linguistic prosodic tests were given to 100 preschool children who had not yet learned how to read Chinese characters. The results suggested that lexical tone sensitivity and intonation production were significantly correlated with children's general vocabulary abilities. In particular, tone awareness was associated with comprehensive language development, whereas intonation production was associated with both comprehensive and expressive language development. Regression analyses revealed that tone sensitivity accounted for 36% of the unique variance in vocabulary development, whereas intonation production accounted for 6% of the variance in vocabulary development. Moreover, auditory frequency discrimination was significantly correlated with lexical tone sensitivity, syllable duration discrimination, and intonation production in Mandarin Chinese. Also it provided significant contributions to tone sensitivity and intonation production. Auditory frequency discrimination may indirectly affect early vocabulary development through Chinese speech prosody. © The Author(s) 2016.

  10. The 2008-2009 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment Handbook for Assessment Coordinators: Writing, Reading and Mathematics, Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2010

    2010-01-01

    This handbook describes the responsibilities of district and school assessment coordinators in the administration of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). This updated guidebook contains the following sections: (1) General Assessment Guidelines for All Assessments; (2) Writing Specific Guidelines; (3) Reading and Mathematics…

  11. Effect of Jigsaw II, Reading-Writing-Presentation, and Computer Animations on the Teaching of "Light" Unit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koç, Yasemin; Yildiz, Emre; Çaliklar, Seyma; Simsek, Ümit

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to determine the effect of Jigsaw II technique, reading-writing-presentation method, and computer animation on students' academic achievements, epistemological beliefs, attitudes towards science lesson, and the retention of knowledge in the "Light" unit covered in the 7th grade. The sample of the study consists…

  12. Improving reading in the primary grades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duke, Nell K; Block, Meghan K

    2012-01-01

    Almost fifteen years have passed since the publication of the National Research Council's seminal report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, which provided research-based recommendations on what could be done to better position students in prekindergarten through third grade for success in grade four and above. This article by Nell Duke and Meghan Block first examines whether specific key recommendations from the report have been implemented in U.S. classrooms. They find that recommendations regarding increased access to kindergarten and greater attention to and improvement of students' word-reading skills have been widely adopted. Others have not. Vocabulary and comprehension, long neglected in the primary grades, still appear to be neglected. Contrary to the report's recommendations, attention to building conceptual and content knowledge in science and social studies has actually decreased in the past fifteen years. In other words, the easier-to-master skills are being attended to, but the broader domains of accomplishment that constitute preparation for comprehension and learning in the later grades--vocabulary knowledge, comprehension strategy use, and conceptual and content knowledge--are being neglected. Near stagnation in fourth-grade students' comprehension achievement is thus unsurprising. The authors then turn to research and reviews of research on improving primary-grade reading published since 1998, when Preventing Reading Difficulties was issued. They discuss several instructional approaches identified as effective in improving word-reading skill, vocabulary and conceptual knowledge, comprehension strategies, and reading outside of school; they discuss advances in interventions for struggling readers, and in whole-school literacy reform. Duke and Block then identify three key obstacles that have prevented widespread adoption of these best practices in teaching reading. The first obstacle is a short-term orientation toward instruction and

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  14. Advertisements: An Overlooked Resource in the Foreign Language Classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deutsch, Rena

    The use of newspaper and magazine advertisements for teaching foreign language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing as well as vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, grammar, pronunciation, and culture is encouraged and discussed. Suggested lessons and classroom activities are presented in four categories: vocabulary, grammatical rules…

  15. Effects of multimedia vocabulary instruction on adolescents with learning disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Michael J; Deshler, Donald D; Lloyd, John Wills

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the effects of using content acquisition podcasts (CAPs), an example of instructional technology, to provide vocabulary instruction to adolescents with and without learning disabilities (LD). A total of 279 urban high school students, including 30 with LD in an area related to reading, were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions with instruction occurring at individual computer terminals over a 3-week period. Each of the four conditions contained different configurations of multimedia-based instruction and evidence-based vocabulary instruction. Dependent measures of vocabulary knowledge indicated that students with LD who received vocabulary instruction using CAPs through an explicit instructional methodology and the keyword mnemonic strategy significantly outperformed other students with LD who were taught using the same content, but with multimedia instruction that did not adhere to a specific theoretical design framework. Results for general education students mirrored those for students with LD. Students also completed a satisfaction measure following instruction with multimedia and expressed overall agreement that CAPs are useful for learning vocabulary terms. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2013.

  16. Interactive electronic storybooks for kindergartners to promote vocabulary growth

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smeets, Daisy J. H.; Bus, Adriana G

    2012-01-01

    The goals of this study were to examine (a) whether extratextual vocabulary instructions embedded in electronic storybooks facilitated word learning over reading alone and (b) whether instructional formats that required children to invest more effort were more effective than formats that required

  17. Secondary School Students’ English Literacy: Use of Interactive Read Aloud Instructional Strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mutiara Ayu

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The Global era has had a great impact on the existence of English as a global language which requires students to be good at its every skill. It is believed that students’ English could be enhanced well with the use of certain strategies, one of which is Interactive Read Aloud Instructional Strategy (IRAIS. This study was aimed at examining the efficacy of IRAIS to help students to improve their English literacy achievements. Forty five out of 746 students were selected randomly as sample based on their grade levels (7th, 8th, 9th and their levels of comprehension. By using time series design, these students were given interventions for three months using IRAIS and their English achievements were obtained from pre- and post-tests of four English literacy skills. During the interventions, the progress of the students was also monitored regularly by using three formative tests.The results showed consistent progress on the students’ achievement during the interventions and upon their total English literacy achievement after the interventions. Among the four English literacy skills, the most significant improvement was in listening followed by writing, reading, and speaking. In terms of aspects of each literacy skill, the highest achievement scores were in inference of listening, narrative techniques of writing, vocabulary of reading, and vocal expression of speaking. These findings lead to the conclusion that IRAIS  is an effective strategy in helping students to improve their level of English proficiency.

  18. Reading in a second language: Considering the "simple view of reading" as a foundation to support ESL readers in Lesotho, Southern Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    van Staden, Annalene

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Globally, reading proficiency has been a major area of difficulty for English second-language (ESL learners. This research inter alia utilised a quantitative, quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test research design to address the paucity of evidence-based second-language reading research internationally, as well as in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in Lesotho in particular; and to determine if second-language learners (L2 in the experimental group can improve their L2 reading abilities after being exposed to reading intervention strategies, based on the “simple view of reading”. Drawing from both psycholinguistic and cognitive linguistic principles, the authors considered this as a working model to develop reading strategies to support ESL learners in Lesotho who experienced significant delays in L2 reading abilities and comprehension. In the present study, strategies based on the “simple view of reading”, , included, inter alia, effective language exposure, building a rich vocabulary, improving reading fluency and word recognition abilities, and creating socio-linguistic opportunities to develop vocabulary and enhance reading comprehension (for example, creating a “word wall”, interactive story-book reading and the application of the ReQuest reading method. Results from this quantitative study demonstrated that Grade 4 ESL learners in the experimental group (N=36 significantly outperformed those in the control group (N=36 with regard to sight word fluency, word recognition, syntactic awareness, vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. As we move forward in an attempt to understand the nuances of creating a responsive reading environment to support ESL learners’ reading development, assessing the effectiveness of strategies to improve their reading skills is essential.

  19. Teaching and learning of reading and writing in education of young people and adults: dialogues with the childhood education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Greice Ferreira da Silva

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to present a discussion of the methodological aspects of teaching and learning to read and write in adult education, in an attempt to seek a dialogue with the Early Childhood Education by pointing convergent elements between these two instances. And, therefore, it proposes a reflection on the construction of human nature and ownership of reading and writing as a humanizing process from the perspective of historical-cultural theory advocated by Vygotsky and his collaborators. In this context it is presented a pedagogical situation in a public school for kindergarten in the state of Sao Paulo, followed by analysis from the perspective of Bakhtin in order to make some approximations in the teaching and learning of the mother tongue with adults and children.

  20. THE IMPACT OF GLOSS TYPES ON IRANIAN EFL STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AND LEXICAL RETENTION

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    Mohammad Taghi Farvardin

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Research has shown that the effect of marginal glosses on reading comprehension and vocabulary retention is a controversial issue. The purpose of this study was to investigate this issue among Iranian university EFL students. Three types of glosses were applied in this study: single gloss in participants’ first language (SL1G, single gloss in participants’ second language (SL2G, and multiple-choice gloss (MCG in participants’ second language. One hundred and twenty undergraduate students majoring in English Teaching at Azad University of Najafabad, Iran, read the texts under three conditions: SL1G, SL2G, and MCG. Afterwards, participants answered two vocabulary tests, one administered immediately after the reading test and another three weeks later. One-way repeated measures ANOVA and follow-up post hoc tests (p<.05 showed that MCG facilitated participants’ vocabulary learning while reading the text more than SLGs. The results of One-way ANOVA also revealed that SL2G was the most facilitative gloss type for the participants’ reading comprehension. The study illustrates how different types of textual glosses can affect both reading comprehension and vocabulary retention. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

  1. Creating a Classroom Where Readers Flourish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Donalyn

    2012-01-01

    Numerous research studies prove that wide reading improves children's comprehension, background knowledge, vocabulary, fluency, and writing. The author, a sixth-grade language arts teacher, describes the classroom conditions and instructional practices that encourage wide reading and increase her students' reading motivation such as choice in…

  2. The Rhetorical Making of the Asian/Asian American Face: Reading and Writing Asian Eyelids

    OpenAIRE

    Sano-Franchini, Jennifer

    2013-01-01

    In The Rhetorical Making of the Asian/Asian American Face: Reading and Writing Asian Eyelids, I examine representations of East Asian blepharoplasty in online video in order to gain a sense of how cultural values change over time. Drawing on scholarship in and around rhetorical theory, cultural rhetorics, Asian American rhetoric, cultural studies, Asian American studies, and postcolonial theory alongside qualitative data analysis of approximately fifty videos and the numerous viewer comments ...

  3. TEACHING WRITING THROUGHT DICTOGLOSS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ratna Sari Dewi

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to help students in developing their ideas in writing due to their difficulties to arrange ideas. Although they do have ideas, they cannot structure their ideas well in their papers. Several factors could cause this problem such as lack of vocabulary and knowledge or strategies in arranging ideas in papers. Another factor is unclear explanation and insufficient guidance from the teachers. Based on literature review, dictoglos can be a guide for students to develop their ideas in writing. It is a teaching technique which incorporates various activities such listening, taking notes, discussing, and reconstructing which have some standard procedures and variations.

  4. Teachers' Perceptions of Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Teaching Reading and Writing for First Grade Students in Kuwait

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Dhafir, Mohammad

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to examine the Kuwaiti first grade teachers' perceptions of developmentally appropriate practices in teaching reading and writing. To achieve the research purpose, a questionnaire was developed and administrated to 167 first grade teachers. Results revealed that first grade teachers hold moderate agreement towards…

  5. Transparent and flexible write-once-read-many (WORM) memory device based on egg albumen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qu, Bo; Lin, Qianru; Wan, Tao; Du, Haiwei; Chen, Nan; Lin, Xi; Chu, Dewei

    2017-01-01

    Egg albumen, as an important protein resource in nature, is an interesting dielectric material exhibiting many fascinating properties for the development of environmentally friendly electronic devices. Taking advantage of their extraordinary transparency and flexibility, this paper presents an innovative preparation approach for albumen thin film based write-once-read-many-times (WORM) memory devices in a simple, cost-effective manner. The fabricated device shows superior data retention properties including non-volatile character (over 10 5 s) and promising great read durability (10 6 times). Furthermore, our results suggested that the electric-field-induced trap-controlled space charge limited current (SCLC) conduction is responsible for the observed resistance switching effect. The present study may likely reveal another pathway towards complete see-through electrical devices. (paper)

  6. Transparent and flexible write-once-read-many (WORM) memory device based on egg albumen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Bo; Lin, Qianru; Wan, Tao; Du, Haiwei; Chen, Nan; Lin, Xi; Chu, Dewei

    2017-08-01

    Egg albumen, as an important protein resource in nature, is an interesting dielectric material exhibiting many fascinating properties for the development of environmentally friendly electronic devices. Taking advantage of their extraordinary transparency and flexibility, this paper presents an innovative preparation approach for albumen thin film based write-once-read-many-times (WORM) memory devices in a simple, cost-effective manner. The fabricated device shows superior data retention properties including non-volatile character (over 105 s) and promising great read durability (106 times). Furthermore, our results suggested that the electric-field-induced trap-controlled space charge limited current (SCLC) conduction is responsible for the observed resistance switching effect. The present study may likely reveal another pathway towards complete see-through electrical devices.

  7. Vocabulary knowledge mediates the link between socioeconomic status and word learning in grade school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maguire, Mandy J; Schneider, Julie M; Middleton, Anna E; Ralph, Yvonne; Lopez, Michael; Ackerman, Robert A; Abel, Alyson D

    2018-02-01

    The relationship between children's slow vocabulary growth and the family's low socioeconomic status (SES) has been well documented. However, previous studies have often focused on infants or preschoolers and primarily used static measures of vocabulary at multiple time points. To date, there is no research investigating whether SES predicts a child's word learning abilities in grade school and, if so, what mediates this relationship. In this study, 68 children aged 8-15 years performed a written word learning from context task that required using the surrounding text to identify the meaning of an unknown word. Results revealed that vocabulary knowledge significantly mediated the relationship between SES (as measured by maternal education) and word learning. This was true despite the fact that the words in the linguistic context surrounding the target word are typically acquired well before 8 years of age. When controlling for vocabulary, word learning from written context was not predicted by differences in reading comprehension, decoding, or working memory. These findings reveal that differences in vocabulary growth between grade school children from low and higher SES homes are likely related to differences in the process of word learning more than knowledge of surrounding words or reading skills. Specifically, children from lower SES homes are not as effective at using known vocabulary to build a robust semantic representation of incoming text to identify the meaning of an unknown word. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Morpho-phonemic analysis boosts word reading for adult struggling readers

    OpenAIRE

    Gray, Susan H.; Ehri, Linnea C.; Locke, John L.

    2017-01-01

    A randomized control trial compared the effects of two kinds of vocabulary instruction on component reading skills of adult struggling readers. Participants seeking alternative high school diplomas received 8 h of scripted tutoring to learn forty academic vocabulary words embedded within a civics curriculum. They were matched for language background and reading levels, then randomly assigned to either morpho-phonemic analysis teaching word origins, morpheme and syllable structures, or traditi...

  9. Classroom Teacher Candidates' Metaphoric Perceptions Regarding the Concepts of Reading and Writing: A Comparative Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozenc, Emine Gül; Ozenc, Mehmet

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to determine and compare candidate classroom teachers' metaphoric perceptions about reading and writing. The study was conducted with teacher candidates who were studying at Ömer Halisdemir University's Department of Elementary Education in Nigde/Turkey during 2016-2017 academic year. A total of 266 1st, 2nd, 3rd and…

  10. Differential lexical predictors of reading comprehension in fourth graders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

    The mental lexicon plays a central role in reading comprehension (Perfetti & Stafura, 2014). It encompasses the number of lexical entries in spoken and written language (vocabulary breadth), the semantic quality of these entries (vocabulary depth), and the connection strength between lexical

  11. SENSES FOR READING AND WRITING ACTIVITIES AT SCHOOLS OF FUNDAMENTAL TEACHING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osmar de Souza

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available This article have to present the contributions of a Extension Program of FURB - Regional University of Blumenau. The Program, until 2008, was entitled “Senses for reading and writting activities at school” - this article corresponds to a glance on the development of the Program in two years: 2007 and 2008. The contemplated communities are public schools of Blumenau, more precisely, groups of fourth series of the Fundamental Teaching. In the first contact with the groups, questionnaires were hand out to students, aiming to notice the children's knowledge regarding the proposed themes (community and family. In the other visits - one per week -, reading and writting activities were developed. The students were, still, guests to research: in the library, questioning relatives or residents of the street in that they live. One of the results - that will be presented in full detail along the article - is the enlargement of the knowledge on local history - for students, teachers and academics involved. In spite of there are objectives propellers of the Program - as "to create conditions to students of fourth series read and write texts, more precisely about family and community -, one of the conclusions, regarding the development of the Program, is the possibility to contribute in the dimensions institutional, academic and social. Sometimes, those contributions can't be imagined when a Program is idealized.

  12. DESIGNING AND BUILDING EXERCISE MODEL OF TECHNICAL ENGLISH VOCABULARIES USING CALL (COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yogi Widiawati

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The research is aimed to assist and facilitate the students of Electrical and Electronics Department of Politeknik Negeri Jakarta (State Polytechnics of Jakarta, Indonesia, in learning technical English vocabulary. As technical students, they study ESP (English for Specific Purposes and they find some obstacles in memorizing technical vocabularies which are very important in order to read and understand manual books for laboratory and workshop. Some English technical vocabularies among others are “generate”, “pile”, “bench”, et cetera. The research outcome is software which will be beneficial for technical students, especially electrical and electronics students. This software can be used to practice their vocabulary skills, so they will be more skillful and knowledgeable. This software is designed by using the program of Rapid E-Learning Suite Version 5.2 and Flash CS3. The software practice contains some exercises on reading text and reading comprehension questions and presented with the multiple answers. This software is handy and flexible because students can bring it anywhere and be studied anytime. It is handy because this software is put and saved in CD (compact disc, so the students can take it with them anywhere and anytime they want to learn. In other words, they have flexibility to learn and practice English Technical Vocabularies. As a result, the students are found one of the ways to overcome their problems of memorizing vocabularies. The product is a kind of software which is easily used and portable so that the students can use the software anywhere and anytime. It consists of 3 (three sections of exercises. At the end of each exercise, the students are evaluated automatically by looking at the scoring system. These will encourage them to get good score by repeating it again and again. So the technical words are not problem for them. Furthermore, the students can practice technical English vocabulary both at home and

  13. A Probe into the Negative Writing Transfer of Chinese College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Xiaojun; Niao, Lina

    2015-01-01

    Although Chinese college students have studied English for many years, they still have much difficulty in writing a good paper. There are many factors resulting in their inability to write well, such as students' lack of vocabulary, having a poor knowledge of grammar, language transfer, and so on. But, of these factors, the negative transfer of…

  14. Examining Fourth-Grade Mathematics Writing: Features of Organization, Mathematics Vocabulary, and Mathematical Representations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hebert, Michael A.; Powell, Sarah R.

    2016-01-01

    Increasingly, students are expected to write about mathematics. Mathematics writing may be informal (e.g., journals, exit slips) or formal (e.g., writing prompts on high-stakes mathematics assessments). In order to develop an effective mathematics-writing intervention, research needs to be conducted on how students organize mathematics writing and…

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  17. Reading Journal as A Way to Improve Students’ Comprehension toward A Textbook Reading Material

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Menik Winiharti

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Reading journal is one way to record students’ independent learning based on text they read. This study was conducted to find out the students’ level of reading comprehension through some notes written in the reading journal, the extent to which the activity of writing reading journals improved students’ reading comprehension, whether the students got benefit from reading journal. There were 104 respondents coming from four different departments in Bina Nusantara University were asked to read a text related to the subject they learned in a certain session. Then they were assigned to write a journal that records the things they had read. When this task was finished, the lecturer ran a quiz containing related questions to check whether they really understood the content of the text. Afterwards, students were to fill in a questionnaire regarding their opinion on the impact of the reading journal toward their reading comprehension. The findings indicate that more than half of the participants appear to understand the material well, and the task plays a certain role in improving students’ understanding. The most crucial thing is that most students think they get benefit by writing the reading journal.

  18. Consciência sintática no ensino fundamental: correlações com consciência fonológica, vocabulário, leitura e escrita Syntactic awareness in elementary school: correlation with phonological awareness, vocabulary, reading and spelling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandra Gotuzo Seabra Capovilla

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available Habilidades metalingüísticas, como consciência fonológica e consciência sintática, são importantes à aquisição de leitura e escrita. Provas de consciência fonológica por escolha de figuras, escrita sob ditado, competência de leitura e vocabulário receptivo auditivo já se encontram disponíveis na bibliografia. Este estudo apresenta a Prova de Consciência Sintática e dados preliminares de validação com 204 crianças de 1a a 4a séries do ensino fundamental. Resultados mostraram efeito significativo da série escolar sobre o escore geral na Prova de Consciência Sintática e os escores específicos de seus quatro subtestes, mesmo depois de controlado o efeito da inteligência verbal usando o escore em vocabulário como covariante. O efeito da série escolar também foi significativo para os escores em consciência fonológica, competência de leitura, escrita sob ditado e vocabulário. Os escores gerais dos cinco testes mostraram-se positiva e significativamente intercorrelacionados, corroborando evidências bibliográficas sobre as relações entre leitura, escrita e habilidades metalingüísticas.Metalinguistic skills such as phonological awareness and syntactic awareness are important to reading and spelling acquisition. Standardized tests on phonological awareness, reading competence, spelling under dictation and receptive vocabulary in Brazilian Portuguese are already available in the literature. This paper presents a Syntactic Awareness Test, along with preliminary validation data from 204 first to fourth grade elementary school children. Children were tested in syntactic awareness, phonological awareness, reading, spelling and receptive vocabulary. Results showed significant effects of school grade upon Syntactic Awareness Test overall scores, as well as upon specific scores in all its four subtests, even after controlling for the effect of verbal intelligence by using vocabulary scores as covariant. Significant effects

  19. Effects of Multimedia Instruction on L2 Acquisition of High-Level, Low-Frequency English Vocabulary Words

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Euna

    2017-01-01

    The present study examined the effects of multimedia enhancement in video form in addition to textual information on L2 vocabulary instruction for high-level, low-frequency English words among Korean learners of English. Although input-based incidental learning of L2 vocabulary through extensive reading has been conventionally believed to be…

  20. The Effect of Computer-Based Self-Access Learning on Weekly Vocabulary Test Scores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jordan Dreyer

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This study sets out to clarify the effectiveness of using an online vocabulary study tool, Quizlet, in an urban high school language arts class. Previous similar studies have mostly dealt with English Language Learners in college settings (Chui, 2013, and were therefore not directed at the issue self-efficacy that is at the heart of the problem of urban high school students in America entering remedial writing programs (Rose, 1989. The study involves 95 students over the course of 14 weeks. Students were tested weekly and were asked to use the Quizlet program in their own free time. The result of this optional involvement was that many students did not participate in the treatment and therefore acted as an elective control group. The resultant data collected shows a strong correlation between the use of an online vocabulary review program and short-term vocabulary retention. The study also showed that students who paced themselves and spread out their study sessions outperformed those students who used the program only for last minute “cram sessions.” The implications of the study are that students who take advantage of tools outside of the classroom are able to out perform their peers. The results are also in line with the call to include technology in the Basic Writing classroom not simply as a tool, but as a “form of discourse” (Jonaitis, 2012. Weekly vocabulary tests, combined with the daily online activity as reported by Quizlet, show that: 1 utilizing the review software improved the scores of most students, 2 those students who used Quizlet to review more than a single time (i.e., several days before the test outperformed those who only used the product once, and 3 students who professed proficiency with the “notebook” system of vocabulary learning appeared not to need the treatment.

  1. Executive Functioning Skills Uniquely Predict Chinese Word Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Kevin K. H.; McBride-Chang, Catherine

    2011-01-01

    Eighty-five Hong Kong Chinese children were tested across both the 2nd and 3rd years of kindergarten (ages 4-5 years) on tasks of inhibitory control, working memory, vocabulary knowledge, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and word reading. With age, vocabulary knowledge, and metalinguistic skills statistically controlled, the…

  2. Teaching the Vocabulary of Citation: Action Research in a Southeast Asian Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynch, Jena

    2016-01-01

    This action research project sought to investigate the role of explicit citation vocabulary instruction in the learning of citation style guidelines for an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing course at an English-medium university in Northern Thailand. The participants consisted of 120 undergraduate students enrolled in the EAP writing…

  3. Visuomotor Integration and Executive Functioning Are Uniquely Linked to Chinese Word Reading and Writing in Kindergarten Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Kevin Kien Hoa; Lam, Chun Bun; Cheung, Ka Chun

    2018-01-01

    This cross-sectional study examined the associations of visuomotor integration and executive functioning with Chinese word reading and writing in kindergarten children. A total of 369 Chinese children (mean age = 57.99 months; 55% of them were girls) from Hong Kong, China, completed tasks on visuomotor integration, executive functioning, and…

  4. Reading and Writing as Scientists? Text Genres and Literacy Practices in Girls' Middle-Grade Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faller, S. Elisabeth

    2018-01-01

    Science teachers are often charged with providing discipline-specific literacy instruction. However, little is known about the reading and writing genres, or text types, typically found in these classrooms. In particular, there is a lack of knowledge about what opportunities adolescents have to engage with the genres privileged in science to learn…

  5. Linguistic Audacity: Shakespeare's Language and Student Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Barbara A.

    2011-01-01

    Shakespeare molded language to meet his needs. Can students learn from his example? In this article, the author suggests studying Shakespeare's creative use of functional shift, spelling, and vocabulary to help students develop greater control of their own writing. The author is advocating that teachers approach Shakespeare as descriptive…

  6. Lectura y Vida: Revista Latinoamericana de Lectura, 2000 (Reading and Life: Latin American Reading Magazine, 2000).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lectura y Vida: Revista Latinoamericana de Lectura, 2001

    2001-01-01

    Articles in this volume, written in Spanish, focus on the following: reading and writing assessment: Some characteristics of new assessment practices; how to support active participation in the reading of expository texts; argumentative writing as a problem in the written composition of students in teacher training; reading in a workshop…

  7. Multimedia Glosses and Their Effect on L2 Text Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iñigo Yanguas

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available The present study investigates the effects that different types of multimedia glosses, namely textual, pictorial, and textual + pictorial, have on text comprehension and vocabulary learning when the goal is exclusively comprehension of a computerized text. This study is based on the theoretical framework of attention, which maintains that attention is critical in the acquisition process of an L2 (Robinson, 1995; Schmidt, 1995, 2001; Tomlin and Villa, 1994. Ninety-four participants read a text under one of four gloss conditions while asked to think aloud. This study investigated whether any of the conditions promoted noticing and whether this noticing led to better comprehension of the text and learning of the target vocabulary words. Reading comprehension, recognition, and production measures were utilized in a pre-post test design. Results of quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data gathered showed first that all multimedia gloss groups noticed and recognized significantly more of the target words than the control group. Second, no significant differences were found among any of the groups in production of the target vocabulary items. Finally, regarding comprehension, results showed that the combination gloss group significantly outperformed all other groups. These results confirm that the multimedia glosses under investigation have a different effect on comprehension and vocabulary learning respectively.

  8. Reading and Abstracting Journal Articles in Sedimentology and Stratigraphy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conrad, Susan Howes

    1991-01-01

    An assignment centered on reading journal articles and writing abstracts is an effective way to improve student reading and writing skills in sedimentology and stratigraphy laboratories. Each student reads two articles and writes informative abstracts from the author's point of view. (PR)

  9. Effects of creative writing on adolescent students’ literary response

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Janssen, T.; Braaksma, M.; Burke, M.; Fialho, O.; Zyngier, S.

    2016-01-01

    This chapter examines whether creative writing prior to reading influences students’ reading process and appreciation of short stories. Participants were 53 fifteen year old students, assigned to two conditions. In the writing condition students composed their own stories, and then read the authors᾽

  10. Achieve3000®. Adolescent Literacy. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    What Works Clearinghouse, 2018

    2018-01-01

    "Achieve3000®" is a supplemental online literacy program that provides nonfiction reading content to students in grades preK-12 and focuses on building phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills. "Achieve3000®" is designed to help students advance their nonfiction reading skills…

  11. Acquisition of Literacy Skills by Young Children Who Are Blind: Results from the ABC Braille Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emerson, Robert Wall; Holbrook, M. Cay; D'Andrea, Frances Mary

    2009-01-01

    The Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study examined the reading and writing skills of young braille-reading students. Students who were introduced to more contractions earlier in instruction performed better on reading measures, such as vocabulary, decoding, and comprehension, but all students did well in spelling. Thus, the authors…

  12. The association between visual, nonverbal cognitive abilities and speech, phonological processing, vocabulary and reading outcomes in children with cochlear implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Lindsey; Anderson, Sara

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to explore the possibility that specific nonverbal, visual cognitive abilities may be associated with outcomes after pediatric cochlear implantation. The study therefore examined the relationship between visual sequential memory span and visual sequential reasoning ability, and a range of speech, phonological processing, vocabulary knowledge, and reading outcomes in children with cochlear implants. A cross-sectional, correlational design was used. Sixty-six children aged 5 to 12 years completed tests of visual memory span and visual sequential reasoning, along with tests of speech intelligibility, phonological processing, vocabulary knowledge, and word reading ability (the outcome variables). Auditory memory span was also assessed, and its relationship with the other variables examined. Significant, positive correlations were found between the visual memory and reasoning tests, and each of the outcome variables. A series of regression analyses then revealed that for all the outcome variables, after variance attributable to the age at implantation was accounted for, visual memory span and visual sequential reasoning ability together accounted for significantly more variance (up to 25%) in each outcome measure. These findings have both clinical and theoretical implications. Clinically, the findings may help improve the identification of children at risk of poor progress after implantation earlier than has been possible to date as the nonverbal tests can be administered to children as young as 2 years of age. The results may also contribute to the identification of children with specific learning or language difficulties as well as improve our ability to develop intervention strategies for individual children based on their specific cognitive processing strengths or difficulties. Theoretically, these results contribute to the growing body of knowledge about learning and development in deaf children with cochlear implants.

  13. Playing Their Way into Literacies: Reading, Writing, and Belonging in the Early Childhood Classroom. Language & Literacy Series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wohlwend, Karen E.

    2011-01-01

    Karen Wohlwend provides a new framework for rethinking the boundaries between literacy and play, so that play itself is viewed as a literacy practice along with reading, writing, and design. Through a variety of theoretical lenses, the author presents a portrait of literacy play that connects three play groups: the girls and, importantly, boys,…

  14. A REVIEW OF ENGLISH TEXTBOOK ENTITLED "SKILLFUL: READING AND WRITING, STUDENT'S BOOK 1" BY DAVID BOHLKE AND DOROTHY ZEMACH

    OpenAIRE

    Thunyalak Polsuk; Nutprapha K. Dennis, Ph.D

    2017-01-01

    This study aims to evaluate the usefulness of a commercial textbook entitle “Skillful: Reading & Writing, Student’s Book 1”, written by David Bohlke with Dorothy E. Zemach as a series consultant, published by Macmillan publisher. The study also explores the appropriateness for considering to teaching university EFL students. The result of this study assists English teachers in choosing textbooks which will be most appropriate to the learners at various level to develop their reading and writi...

  15. English Language, Linguistics and Literature. : Selected Readings of Classical Writings for Linguistic Theory, Literature History, and Applications of the English Language.

    OpenAIRE

    Haase, Fee

    2009-01-01

    This collection contains selected readings of Ccassical writings for linguistic theory, literature history, and applications of the English language in documents from the early beginnings to the 20th century.

  16. Preschoolers' vocabulary acquisition in Chile: the roles of socioeconomic status and quality of home environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lohndorf, Regina T; Vermeer, Harriet J; Cárcamo, Rodrigo A; Mesman, Judi

    2018-05-01

    Preschoolers' vocabulary acquisition sets the stage for later reading ability and school achievement. This study examined the role of socioeconomic status (SES) and the quality of the home environment of seventy-seven Chilean majority and Mapuche minority families from low and lower-middle-class backgrounds in explaining individual differences in vocabulary acquisition of their three-and-a-half-year-old children. Additionally, we investigated whether the relation between SES and receptive and expressive vocabulary was mediated by the quality of the home environment as the Family Investment Model suggests. The quality of the home environment significantly predicted receptive and expressive vocabulary above and beyond ethnicity, SES, parental caregiver status, and quantity of daycare. Furthermore, the quality of the home environment mediated the relation between SES and expressive and receptive vocabulary acquisition.

  17. Modeling the Nature of Grammar and Vocabulary Trajectories From Prekindergarten to Third Grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Hui; Logan, Jessica A; Jia, Rongfang

    2018-04-17

    This study investigated the longitudinal development of 2 important contributors to reading comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary skills. The primary interest was to examine the trajectories of the 2 skill areas from preschool to 3rd grade. The study involved a longitudinal sample of 420 children from 4 sites. Language skills, including grammar and vocabulary, were assessed annually with multiple measures. Multivariate latent growth curve modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectories of grammar and vocabulary, to test the correlation between the 2 domains, and to investigate the effects of demographic predictors on language growth. Results showed that both grammar and vocabulary exhibited decelerating growth from preschool to Grade 2. In Grade 3, grammar growth further flattened, whereas vocabulary continued to grow stably. Growth of vocabulary and grammar were positively correlated. Demographic characteristics, such as child gender and family socioeconomic status, were found to predict the intercept but not the slope of the growth trajectories. Children's growth in grammar skills is differentiated in a number of important ways from their growth in vocabulary skills. Results of this study suggest the need to differentiate these dimensions of language when seeking to closely examine growth from preschool to primary grades.

  18. Early productive vocabulary predicts academic achievement 10 years later

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bleses, Dorthe; Makransky, Guido; Dale, Philip

    2016-01-01

    comprehension, can be predicted from an early vocabulary measure as early as 16 months with effect sizes (in proportion of variance accounted for) comparable to one year’s mean growth in reading scores. The findings confirm in a relatively large population based study that late talkers are at risk for later...

  19. [Reading aloud as rehabilitation method for children with dyslexia detected at the first grade in their primary school].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koeda, Tatsuya; Uchiyama, Hitoshi; Seki, Ayumi

    2011-09-01

    We provided reading aloud instructions to a child who was diagnosed with dyslexia in a regular class of 69 first graders, comprising 33 boys and 36 girls, during a test of reading sentences aloud. The instructions consisted of a 2-step approach, i.e., decoding instruction and vocabulary instruction. First, a decoding instruction, which emphasized an important point in effortless decoding, was presented to the child. Next, a vocabulary instruction, which aimed to facilitate word-form recognition, was provided. We found that, the decoding instruction was effective in decreasing the number of reading errors, and that the vocabulary instruction was effective against reducing the time taken to read aloud.

  20. "Artinha de Leitura" by João Simões Lopes Neto (1907: a project for teaching reading and writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eliane Peres

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of this article was to analyze the primer composed in 1907 by João Simões Lopes Neto, natural of Pelotas, Brazil, one of the most important regional writers. We understand it as an artifact capable of revealing not only the author’s assumptions about early teaching reading and writing, but also a broader social project he conceived. Therefore, even though it was not published at the time it was produced, Artinha de leitura is a singular and important document that displays João Simões’ ideas on the teaching of reading and writing, as well as his civic and educational project. It also shows his adherence to the Spelling Reform of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, the main reason Artinha de leitura was not approved by the Council on Public Instruction of the State of Rio Grande do Sul.

  1. 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.

  2. Engaging in vocabulary learning in science: the promise of multimodal instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Townsend, Dianna; Brock, Cynthia; Morrison, Jennifer D.

    2018-02-01

    To a science 'outsider', science language often appears unnecessarily technical and dense. However, scientific language is typically used with the goal of being concise and precise, which allows those who regularly participate in scientific discourse communities to learn from each other and build upon existing scientific knowledge. One essential component of science language is the academic vocabulary that characterises it. This mixed-methods study investigates middle school students' (N = 59) growth in academic vocabulary as it relates to their teacher's instructional practices that supported academic language development. Students made significant gains in their production of general academic words, t(57) = 2.32, p = .024 and of discipline-specific science words, t(57) = 3.01, p = .004 in science writing. Results from the qualitative strand of this inquiry contextualised the students' learning of academic vocabulary as it relates to their teacher's instructional practices and intentions as well as the students' perceptions of their learning environment. These qualitative findings reveal that both the students and their teacher articulated that the teacher's intentional use of resources supported students' academic vocabulary growth. Implications for research and instruction with science language are shared.

  3. Guia didactica para la ensenanza de la lectura-escritura (Guide to the Teaching of Reading and Writing).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Instituto Nacional de Pedagogia (Mexico).

    This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a guide prepared by the National Pedagogic Institute for the teaching of reading and writing. The general principles in the guide will tend to unify first grade teaching methods. A brief presentation gives a description of the parts in which the guide is divided. (1)…

  4. An Investigation of Learner-Control Variables in Vocabulary Learning Using Traditional Instruction and Two Forms of Computer-Based Instruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balajthy, Ernest

    1988-01-01

    Investigates college students' ability to monitor learner-controlled vocabulary instruction when performed in traditional workbook-like tasks and in two different computer-based formats: video game and text game exercises. Suggests that developmental reading students are unable to monitor their own vocabulary development accurately. (MM)

  5. Academic Vocabulary Learning in First Through Third Grade in Low-Income Schools: Effects of Automated Supplemental Instruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Howard; Ziolkowski, Robyn A; Bojczyk, Kathryn E; Marty, Ana; Schneider, Naomi; Harpring, Jayme; Haring, Christa D

    2017-11-09

    This study investigated cumulative effects of language learning, specifically whether prior vocabulary knowledge or special education status moderated the effects of academic vocabulary instruction in high-poverty schools. Effects of a supplemental intervention targeting academic vocabulary in first through third grades were evaluated with 241 students (6-9 years old) from low-income families, 48% of whom were retained for the 3-year study duration. Students were randomly assigned to vocabulary instruction or comparison groups. Curriculum-based measures of word recognition, receptive identification, expressive labeling, and decontextualized definitions showed large effects for multiple levels of word learning. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that students with higher initial Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition scores (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) demonstrated greater word learning, whereas students with special needs demonstrated less growth in vocabulary. This model of vocabulary instruction can be applied efficiently in high-poverty schools through an automated, easily implemented adjunct to reading instruction in the early grades and holds promise for reducing gaps in vocabulary development.

  6. 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.

  7. Peek, Peak, Pique: Using Homophones to Teach Vocabulary (and Spelling!).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pryle, Marilyn Bogusch

    2000-01-01

    Argues that regular homophone practice enhances vocabulary knowledge, spelling skills, pronunciation ability, and overall reading proficiency. Describes how card games played with decks of homophones helped to accomplish these things. Notes particular benefits of homophone games to English-as-a-second-language students, and outlines key advantages…

  8. Writing, Asperger Syndrome and Theory of Mind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Heather M.; Klein, Perry D.

    2011-01-01

    This research compared the written compositions of 16 adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders and 16 neurotypical control participants, and examined the influence of theory of mind on their writing. Participants ranging in age from 17 years to 42 years, matched on Vocabulary subtest scores from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale…

  9. Kelime Hazinesinin Zihinsel Boyutu

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet Kurudayıoğlu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Bir kişinin, topluluğun ya da bütün bir dilin sahip olduğu söz ya da kelimeler bütünü olarak tanımlanan kelime hazinesine söz varlığı da denilmektedir. İnsanların Vocabulary, which is defined as the entire collection of words a person, a community, or a language has, is also referred to as lexicon. When vocabulary that individuals possess is discussed, the personal dictionaries they have in their minds are referred to. Briefly stated, the term vocabulary is the mental dictionary of the human brain. Mind, which is the mechanism that is responsible for human behavior, enables the complex processes at work in our brain for the language skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills to function in a harmonious manner. Vocabulary is classified into two groups in terms of language skills related to comprehension and production as receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary refers to the part of the lexicon used by individuals in the comprehension process as they are engaged in reading and listening while productive vocabulary refers to the part individuals make use of in the production process in speaking and writing activities. This qualitative study which is based on document analysis aims to dwell on the mental dimension of vocabulary and to describe the relationship of the vocabulary to memory within that context.

  10. A Study of the Relationship between Persian and English Writing Skills among Adult EFL Learners in Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azim Javadi-Safa

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This research aims at investigating the relationship between writing skill and sub-skills of first language (Persian and foreign language (English. Therefore, 50 upper-intermediate EFL learners in Iran who were majoring in the English language were asked to write on two different topics in Persian and English. Then, the compositions were evaluated based on ESL Composition Profile. Subsequently, using Pearson product-moment correlation, the correlation between the compositions overall scores in L1 and L2, as well as the correlations between each of five major components of writing, including content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics in the two languages were examined. The results displayed large correlations between the compositions overall scores as well as between the four writing sub-skills in L1 and L2. The highest correlations were observed between writing sub-skills of vocabulary, mechanics, language use, and content respectively. These findings entail some pedagogical implications for effective language learning in both L1 and L2, utilizing the enhancing effect of cross-linguistic transfer of writing.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  12. An Investigation of the Role of Guided Reading in Proficient First Grade Reader's In-School Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Jolene B.

    2011-01-01

    This participant observation research study explored relationships between the role of guided reading and in-school writing of three proficient first-grade literacy learners during the first eight months of the 2007-08 school-year. Portraits of each student as a literacy learner were developed through case studies. Those individual case studies…

  13. An analysis of reading profiles of first-year students at Potchefstroom ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    An analysis of reading profiles of first-year students at Potchefstroom University: a cross-sectional study and a case study. ... South African Journal of Education ... that these students experienced problems across all aspects of the reading process (i.e. vocabulary, fluency, reading comprehension, and reading strategy use).

  14. It's Story Time!: Exploring the Potential of Multimodality in Oral Storytelling to Support Children's Vocabulary Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lwin, Soe Marlar

    2016-01-01

    Although many studies have been done on the benefits of parent/teacher-child interactions during shared storybook reading or read'aloud sessions, very few have examined the potential of professional storytellers' oral discourse to support children's vocabulary learning. In those storytelling sessions conducted by professional storytellers, the…

  15. Don't Buy a Lemon!: Smart Shopping with Used Car Ads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertholf, Rod; Conderman, Gregory J.

    1996-01-01

    Advertisements for used cars can be an aid in teaching adolescents with mild disabilities reading, writing, vocabulary, and study skills. A lesson is presented that teaches students how to interpret the abbreviations and vocabulary associated with used car advertisements, to develop car ads, and to role play the appropriate way of responding to an…

  16. Seeing, Hearing, Reading, Writing, Speaking and Things: On Silences, Senses and Emotions during the "Zero Hour" in Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Priem, Karin

    2016-01-01

    This article focuses on senses, emotions and cultural practices such as writing, reading and speaking in West Germany after 1945. The period immediately following the end of the Second World War--the so-called "Stunde Null", or "zero hour"--has generally been seen as a time of new beginnings, also with regard to cleansing the…

  17. Build Your Child's Vocabulary! Ten Fun and Easy Tips.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998

    This booklet presents parents with 10 tips for helping their children expand their vocabulary. The 10 tips in the booklet are: read and use context; look for synonyms and antonyms; rhyming and homophones; compound words; look for related words; prefixes and suffixes; word maps; see how words are formed; mine the wealth of other languages; and use…

  18. Speaking My Mind: Why I No Longer Teach Vocabulary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heverly, Jerry

    2011-01-01

    It's one of those assumptions of the English teaching game that students must learn and store up vocabulary as a precondition of tackling literature or history or any of those fields that feature big words. How, some ask, could a child read a challenging passage if he or she didn't understand those key, usually multisyllabic, words often sprinkled…

  19. Morphology and Vocabulary Acquisition: Using Visual Cues from Word Parts to Enhance Recall and Decode Newly Encountered Words

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellomo, Tom

    2012-01-01

    An enhanced replication of an original quasi-experiment (Tom Bellomo, 2009b) was conducted to quantify the extent of long term retention of word parts and vocabulary. Such were introduced as part of a vocabulary acquisition strategy in a developmental reading course at one southeast four-year college. Aside from incorporating changes to the test…

  20. The Impact of Teachers' Commenting Strategies on Children's Vocabulary Growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, Erica M.; Dickinson, David K.

    2017-01-01

    We examined the relations between teachers' use of comments during book reading sessions in preschool classrooms and the vocabulary growth of children with low and moderately low language ability. Using data from a larger randomized controlled trial, we analyzed comments defined as utterances that give, explain, expand, or define. Comments were…

  1. Writing in the air: A visualization tool for written languages.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoshihiro Itaguchi

    Full Text Available The present study investigated interactions between cognitive processes and finger actions called "kusho," meaning "air-writing" in Japanese. Kanji-culture individuals often employ kusho behavior in which they move their fingers as a substitute for a pen to write mostly done when they are trying to recall the shape of a Kanji character or the spelling of an English word. To further examine the visualization role of kusho behavior on cognitive processing, we conducted a Kanji construction task in which a stimulus (i.e., sub-parts to be constructed was simultaneously presented. In addition, we conducted a Kanji vocabulary test to reveal the relation between the kusho benefit and vocabulary size. The experiment provided two sets of novel findings. First, executing kusho behavior improved task performance (correct responses as long as the participants watched their finger movements while solving the task. This result supports the idea that visual feedback of kusho behavior helps cognitive processing for the task. Second, task performance was positively correlated with the vocabulary score when stimuli were presented for a relatively long time, whereas the kusho benefits and vocabulary score were not correlated regardless of stimulus-presentation time. These results imply that a longer stimulus-presentation could allow participants to utilize their lexical resources for solving the task. The current findings together support the visualization role of kusho behavior, adding experimental evidence supporting the view that there are interactions between cognition and motor behavior.

  2. Vocabulary Learning in Collaborative Tasks: A Comparison of Pair and Small Group Work

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobao, Ana Fernández

    2014-01-01

    This study examined the opportunities that pair and small group interaction offer for collaborative dialogue and second language (L2) vocabulary learning. It compared the performance of the same collaborative writing task by learners working in groups of four (n = 60) and in pairs (n = 50), focusing on the occurrence of lexical language-related…

  3. The role of phonological awareness in reading comprehension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Silvia Cárnio

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose: to characterize the performance of 4th grade-Elementary School students with and without signs of reading and writing disorders as for phonological awareness and reading comprehension, and also verify possible correlations between them. Methods: 60 children enrolled in the 4th grade of Elementary School from two public schools, whose parents signed the Informed Consent Form, participated in the present study. They were selected and organized in groups, with and without signs of reading and writing disorders. All students were individually assessed regarding their phonological awareness and reading comprehension of sentences and texts through standardized tests. The data underwent statistical analysis. Results: those with signs of reading and writing disorders showed the lowest performance in the reading comprehension of sentences and texts. A correlation was found between phonological awareness and reading comprehension of sentences and texts in both groups. Conclusion: students with no signs of reading and writing disorders had a higher performance in the skills assessed. The correlation found between phonological awareness and reading comprehension of sentences and texts shows not only the importance of metaphonological skills for a proficient reading, but also for a comprehensive one.

  4. Assessment of the Vocabulary Learning and Strategies Used by Teacher Education Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esperanza F. Carranza

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available One way to assess a person’s communicative competence is through his ability to express his thoughts and ideas in appropriate words and meaningful sentences. Vocabulary learning then is critical to learning a language – be it the first, second or even foreign. However, test results, daily communication and English proficiency exams show that students have difficulty in learning vocabulary. This descriptive-evaluative study assessed the vocabulary learning and the strategies used along context clues, word analysis and dictionary skills of the 100 randomly selected second-year education students of the Sorsogon State College. The study utilized survey-questionnaire, teacher- made test and unstructured interview in gathering data. The study revealed that most of the Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED and Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED students oftentimes used strategies in learning vocabulary such as reading books and other materials, looking for clues in sentences and use the dictionary to unlock the unfamiliar words. The students attained nearly competent vocabulary performance along context clues, word analysis and dictionary skills. The context clues and word analysis skills are significantly related to the use of learning strategies when tested at 0.05 level. The developed vocabulary module to enhance the skills of the students can be validated and utilized for instruction.

  5. Using reading to teach a world language strategies and activities

    CERN Document Server

    Spangler, Donna

    2015-01-01

    To help your students learn a world language, don't forget the power of reading! In this practical book from Donna Spangler and John Alex Mazzante, you'll gain a variety of strategies and activities that you can use to teach students to read in a world language, boosting their comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. Perfect for any age or proficiency level, these classroom-ready activities can easily be adapted to suit your needs! Special features: A discussion of the challenges to teaching reading in the world language classroom A variety of adaptable pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading strategies and activities for students across grade levels and languages Essential tips for cultivating vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension Reader's Theater - a special chapter of strategies for implementing this exciting technique A list of helpful websites and apps for world language teachers Useful appendices, including reproducible material for your classroom Busy world language teachers will love this book's...

  6. Literacy Cafe: Making Writing Authentic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniels, Erika

    2007-01-01

    The "Literacy Cafe," a celebration of genre study and student writing, offers students (and visitors!) a positive environment in which to engage in reading and discussion of writing without self-consciousness or fear of criticism. It works because students learn to recognize writing as a learning tool and a relevant, authentic skill in the real…

  7. Learning history by composing synthesis texts: Effects of an instructional programme on learning, reading and writing processes, and text quality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martínez, I.; Mateos, M.; Martín, E.; Rijlaarsdam, G.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to improve learning from texts via strategies that train students how to process synthesis texts. Processing such texts requires goal-oriented interaction between reading and writing activities. The participants were 62 sixth-grade students, 33 in the experimental

  8. 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

  9. A highly symmetrical 10 transistor 2-read/write dual-port static random access memory bitcell design in 28 nm high-k/metal-gate planar bulk CMOS technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishii, Yuichiro; Tanaka, Miki; Yabuuchi, Makoto; Sawada, Yohei; Tanaka, Shinji; Nii, Koji; Lu, Tien Yu; Huang, Chun Hsien; Sian Chen, Shou; Tse Kuo, Yu; Lung, Ching Cheng; Cheng, Osbert

    2018-04-01

    We propose a highly symmetrical 10 transistor (10T) 2-read/write (2RW) dual-port (DP) static random access memory (SRAM) bitcell in 28 nm high-k/metal-gate (HKMG) planar bulk CMOS. It replaces the conventional 8T 2RW DP SRAM bitcell without any area overhead. It significantly improves the robustness of process variations and an asymmetric issue between the true and bar bitline pairs. Measured data show that read current (I read) and read static noise margin (SNM) are respectively boosted by +20% and +15 mV by introducing the proposed bitcell with enlarged pull-down (PD) and pass-gate (PG) N-channel MOSs (NMOSs). The minimum operating voltage (V min) of the proposed 256 kbit 10T DP SRAM is 0.53 V in the TT process, 25 °C under the worst access condition with read/write disturbances, and improved by 90 mV (15%) compared with the conventional one.

  10. Morpho-Phonemic Analysis Boosts Word Reading for Adult Struggling Readers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Susan H.; Ehri, Linnea C.; Locke, John L.

    2018-01-01

    A randomized control trial compared the effects of two kinds of vocabulary instruction on component reading skills of adult struggling readers. Participants seeking alternative high school diplomas received 8 h of scripted tutoring to learn forty academic vocabulary words embedded within a civics curriculum. They were matched for language…

  11. Using Concept Mapping to Teach Young EFL Learners Reading Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teo, Adeline; Shaw, Yun F.; Chen, Jimmy; Wang, Derek

    2016-01-01

    Many English as a foreign language (EFL) students fail to be effective readers because they lack knowledge of vocabulary and appropriate reading strategies. We believe that teaching proper reading strategies can help second-language learners overcome their reading problems, especially when the instruction begins in elementary school. Effective…

  12. Learning How to Improve Vocabulary Instruction through Teacher Study Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimino, Joseph; Taylor, Mary Jo

    2009-01-01

    Professional development with proven positive effects on vocabulary instruction and student achievement: that's what reading teachers are looking for, and that's what the Teacher Study Group (TSG) model delivers. With the nine complete TSG sessions in this book, K-8 teachers will form dynamic in-school learning groups with their fellow educators…

  13. The effect of vocabulary notebooks on vocabulary acquisition

    OpenAIRE

    Bozkurt, Neval

    2007-01-01

    Ankara : The Department of Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Bilkent University, 2007. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 2007. Includes bibliographical references leaves 82-87 This study investigated the effectiveness of vocabulary notebooks on vocabulary acquisition, and the attitudes of teachers and learners towards keeping vocabulary notebooks. The study was conducted with the participation of 60 pre-intermediate level students, divided into one treatment ...

  14. The pace of vocabulary growth helps predict later vocabulary skill

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowe, Meredith L.; Raudenbush, Stephen W.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

    2011-01-01

    Children vary widely in the rate at which they acquire words—some start slow and speed up, others start fast and continue at a steady pace. Do early developmental variations of this sort help predict vocabulary skill just prior to kindergarten entry? This longitudinal study starts by examining important predictors (SES, parent input, child gesture) of vocabulary growth between 14 and 46 months (n=62), and then uses growth estimates to predict children's vocabulary at 54 months. Velocity and acceleration in vocabulary development at 30 months predicted later vocabulary, particularly for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Understanding the pace of early vocabulary growth thus improves our ability to predict school readiness, and may help identify children at risk for starting behind. PMID:22235920

  15. Reading: Focus for Enjoyment. Proceedings of the Annual Reading Conference (10th, Terre Haute, Indiana, June 12-13, 1980). Studies in Curriculum Development No. 1, 1981.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waterman, David C., Comp.; Gibbs, Vanita M., Comp.

    Focusing on reading for enjoyment, the seven articles in this collection were drawn from the Tenth Annual Reading Conference held at Indiana State University. Topics discussed in the articles are: (1) reading aloud to students, (2) how to have fun while teaching vocabulary, (3) the enjoyment and affective dimensions of "EAS into Reading," (4)…

  16. Self-awareness moderates the relation between maternal mental state language about desires and children's mental state vocabulary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taumoepeau, Mele; Ruffman, Ted

    2016-04-01

    In this intervention study, we tested the differential effect of talking about children's desires versus talking about others' thoughts and knowledge on children's acquisition of mental state vocabulary for children who did and did not have mirror self-recognition. In a sample of 96 mother-toddler dyads, each mother was randomly assigned a specially constructed, interactive lift-the-flap book to read to her child three times a week for 4 weeks. In the child desire condition the story elicited comments regarding the child's desires, and in the cognitive condition the story elicited the mother's comments about her own thoughts and knowledge while reading the story. Children's mirror self-recognition and mental state vocabulary were assessed at pre- and post-test. Children in the condition that focused on the child's desires showed a significantly greater increase in their mental state vocabulary; however, this effect was moderated by their levels of self-awareness, with children benefitting more from the intervention if they also showed self-recognition at pre-test. We argue that the combination of specific types of maternal talk and children's prior insights facilitates gains in children's mental state vocabulary. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. VIDEO TO AMPLIFY BANKING STUDENT’S WRITING PERFORMANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fenny Thresia -

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: Writing is activity to mix between the idea, vocabulary and also grammar. By looking at the problems, the teacher should make the proper method in teaching writing in order to increase the students writing skill and also make the writing be an interesting activity to them. One of the good methods is using video as a media of learning. Video can stimulates the student’s to makes them easier to find the ideas in writing process, because video included 3D and also the complex media. This research was aimed at detecting the influence of using video as a media toward student's writing performance.This research was quantitative research form and the sampling technique was random sampling. The data collection method in this research used the documentation and test that consist of pre-test and pos-test. The data analysis technique of this research used T-test as the hypothetical statistic calculation. Based on the research analysis, there is any positive and significant influence of using video as a media toward students’ writing performance of banking students.

  18. Effective Strategies for Turning Receptive Vocabulary into Productive Vocabulary in EFL Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faraj, Avan Kamal Aziz

    2015-01-01

    Vocabulary acquisition has been a main concern of EFL English teachers and learners. There have been tons of research to examine the student's level of receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary, but no research has conducted on how turning receptive vocabulary into productive vocabulary. This study has reported the impact of the teaching…

  19. Lexical inference as an obstacle to reading comprehension at senior ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The first utilised twenty-five Multiple Choice questions to test vocabulary out of context. Before the students attempted the second test they read three different passages of text after which they were tested on the same vocabulary items as in Test 1. They also answered twenty-five Short Answer comprehension questions ...

  20. Modeling the Process of Summary Writing of Chinese Learners of English as a Foreign Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jiuliang

    2016-01-01

    In language learning contexts, writing tasks that involve reading of source texts are often used to elicit more authentic integrative language use. Thus, interests in researching these read-to-write tasks in general and as assessment tasks keep growing. This study examined and modeled the process of summary writing as a read-to-write integrated…

  1. Direct measurement of the field from a magnetic recording head using an InAs Hall sensor on a contact write/read tester

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gokemeijer, N.J.; Clinton, T.W.; Crawford, T.M.; Johnson, Mark

    2005-01-01

    At 1 Tbit/in 2 areal density magnetic recording dimensions, reliable magnetic field metrology does not exist. One technique to map the spatial profile of the magnetic field of a write head is to use a contact read/write tester. A magnetic recording head is brought into contact with a Hall sensor, and is subsequently scanned with nm resolution. For a 300 nm track width longitudinal recording head, the magnetic field of the head was mapped. Measurements include the down track field gradient and cross-track field profile and the current-field transfer curve. These results suggest this technique offers a viable write field metrology

  2. Reading Skills of Students With Speech Sound Disorders at Three Stages of Literacy Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skebo, Crysten M.; Lewis, Barbara A.; Freebairn, Lisa A.; Tag, Jessica; Ciesla, Allison Avrich; Stein, Catherine M.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose The relationship between phonological awareness, overall language, vocabulary, and nonlinguistic cognitive skills to decoding and reading comprehension was examined for students at 3 stages of literacy development (i.e., early elementary school, middle school, and high school). Students with histories of speech sound disorders (SSD) with and without language impairment (LI) were compared to students without histories of SSD or LI (typical language; TL). Method In a cross-sectional design, students ages 7;0 (years; months) to 17;9 completed tests that measured reading, language, and nonlinguistic cognitive skills. Results For the TL group, phonological awareness predicted decoding at early elementary school, and overall language predicted reading comprehension at early elementary school and both decoding and reading comprehension at middle school and high school. For the SSD-only group, vocabulary predicted both decoding and reading comprehension at early elementary school, and overall language predicted both decoding and reading comprehension at middle school and decoding at high school. For the SSD and LI group, overall language predicted decoding at all 3 literacy stages and reading comprehension at early elementary school and middle school, and vocabulary predicted reading comprehension at high school. Conclusion Although similar skills contribute to reading across the age span, the relative importance of these skills changes with children’s literacy stages. PMID:23833280

  3. Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Early Literacy, Language, and Fine Motor Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bindman, Samantha W.; Skibbe, Lori E.; Hindman, Annemarie H.; Aram, Dorit; Morrison, Frederick J.

    2014-01-01

    The current study examines the nature and variability of parents' aid to preschoolers in the context of a shared writing task, as well as the relations between this support and children's literacy, vocabulary, and fine motor skills. In total, 135 preschool children (72 girls) and their parents (primarily mothers) in an ethnically diverse, middle-income community were observed while writing a semi-structured invitation for a pretend birthday party together. Children's phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, vocabulary, and fine motor skills were also assessed. Results revealed that parents provided variable, but generally low–level, support for children's approximation of sound-symbol correspondence in their writing (i.e., graphophonemic support), as well as for their production of letter forms (i.e., print support). Parents frequently accepted errors rather than asking for corrections (i.e., demand for precision). Further analysis of the parent-child dyads (n = 103) who wrote the child's name on the invitation showed that parents provided higher graphophonemic, but not print, support when writing the child's name than other words. Overall parental graphophonemic support was positively linked to children's decoding and fine motor skills, whereas print support and demand for precision were not related to any of the child outcomes. In sum, this study indicates that while parental support for preschoolers' writing may be minimal, it is uniquely linked to key literacy-related outcomes in preschool. PMID:25284957

  4. Various Models for Reading Comprehension Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  5. Some Notes About Medical Vocabulary in 18th Century New Spain: Technical and Colloquial Words for the Denomination of Illnesses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Luis RAMÍREZ LUENGO

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Whereas the 18th Century medical vocabulary is something that has been studied during recent years in Spain, the situation is very different in Latin America, where papers on this subject are very limited. In this case, this paper aims to study the denominations for illnesses that were discovered in a 18th Century New Spain document corpus: to do so, the corpus will be described and then the vocabulary used in the documents will be analysed; the paper will pay special attention to questions such as neologisms, fluctuating words and the presence of colloquial vocabulary. Thus, the purposes of the paper are three: 1 to demonstrate the importance of official documents for the study of medical vocabulary; 2 to provide some data for writing the history of this vocabulary; and 3 to note some analyses that should be done in the future. 

  6. [Agraphia and preservation of music writing in a bilingual piano teacher].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Assal, G; Buttet, J

    1983-01-01

    A bilingual virtuoso piano teacher developed aphasia and amusia, probably due to cerebral embolism. The perfectly demarcated and unique lesion was located in the left posterior temporoparietal region. Language examinations in French and Italian demonstrated entirely comparable difficulties in both languages. The linguistic course was favorable after a period of auditory agnosia and global aphasia. Language became fluent again 3 months after the onset, with a marked vocabulary loss and phonemic paraphasias with attempts at self-correction. Repetition was altered markedly with a deficit in auditory comprehension but no remaining elements of auditory agnosia. Reading was possible, but with some difficulty and total agraphia and acalculia persisted. Musical ability was better conserved, particularly with respect to repetition and above all to writing, the sparing of the latter constituting a fairly uncommon dissociation in relation to agraphia. Findings are discussed in relation to data in the literature concerning hemispheric participation in various musical tasks.

  7. Getting Ready to Read: Promoting Children´s Emergent Literacy Through Shared Book Reading in a German Context

    OpenAIRE

    de Brito Castilho Wesseling, Patricia

    2016-01-01

    The present study investigated the effects of two methods of shared book reading on children´s emergent literacy skills, such as language skills (expressive vocabulary and semantic skills) and grapheme awareness, i.e. before the alphabetic phase of reading acquisition (Lachmann & van Leeuwen, 2014) in home and in kindergarten contexts. The two following shared book reading methods were investigated: Method I - literacy enrichment: 200 extra children's books were distributed in kindergartens a...

  8. Nonword Repetition and Vocabulary Knowledge as Predictors of Children's Phonological and Semantic Word Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adlof, Suzanne M; Patten, Hannah

    2017-03-01

    This study examined the unique and shared variance that nonword repetition and vocabulary knowledge contribute to children's ability to learn new words. Multiple measures of word learning were used to assess recall and recognition of phonological and semantic information. Fifty children, with a mean age of 8 years (range 5-12 years), completed experimental assessments of word learning and norm-referenced assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge and nonword repetition skills. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses examined the variance in word learning that was explained by vocabulary knowledge and nonword repetition after controlling for chronological age. Together with chronological age, nonword repetition and vocabulary knowledge explained up to 44% of the variance in children's word learning. Nonword repetition was the stronger predictor of phonological recall, phonological recognition, and semantic recognition, whereas vocabulary knowledge was the stronger predictor of verbal semantic recall. These findings extend the results of past studies indicating that both nonword repetition skill and existing vocabulary knowledge are important for new word learning, but the relative influence of each predictor depends on the way word learning is measured. Suggestions for further research involving typically developing children and children with language or reading impairments are discussed.

  9. Golden Mountain Reading Series. Level 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sung, Robert

    This reading series was developed as a means to educate Chinese-American elementary school children in Chinese reading, writing, and culture. The text covers the following topics: Chinese literature, Chinese and American history, famous people, general knowledge, Chinese letter writing, the four seasons, and the major Chinese and American…

  10. Can Explaining Less Be More? Enhancing Vocabulary through Explicit versus Elaborative Storytelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaahtoranta, Enni; Suggate, Sebastian; Jachmann, Cornelia; Lenhart, Jan; Lenhard, Wolfgang

    2018-01-01

    Shared reading represents an established practice to foster preschool vocabulary development, particularly when coupled with explicit instruction in word meanings. However, a question remains as to whether explicit word definitions detract from story delivery and hence language learning. Accordingly, this study compared explicit versus…

  11. The Relationship between SES and Reading Comprehension in Chinese: A Mediation Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yahua Cheng

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available An increasing body of research provides evidence that socioeconomic status (SES was significantly related to children’s reading development; however, the psychological mechanism underlying the association between them remained an open question. The present study is designed to test the hypothesized three-path effect of vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness as mediators between SES and sentence reading comprehension in Chinese first-graders. Results of mediation model showed that SES exerted its effect on sentence reading comprehension through the indirect path via the simple mediating effect of morphological awareness and the three-path mediating effect of vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness. The findings highlight a previously unidentified mechanism of the relationship between SES and reading comprehension in Chinese young children.

  12. 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.

  13. Socio-cultural predictors of reading literacy in fourth graders in Lima, Peru

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Morales Silva, S.L.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.; Leeuwe, J.F.J. van

    2008-01-01

    This study investigates socio-cultural cognitive literacy predictors for reading literacy (RL), tested in 314 fourth graders from two different levels of social economic status in Lima, Peru. The following variables were tested as predictors: word decoding, vocabulary, motivation to read, reading

  14. Analysis of Lexical Quality and Its Relation to Writing Quality for 4th Grade, Primary School Students in Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez Vera, Gabriela; Sotomayor, Carmen; Bedwell, Percy; Domínguez, Ana María; Jéldrez, Elvira

    2016-01-01

    Few studies have addressed vocabulary quality in developing writing skill in Spanish. Even less addressed it within the Chilean educational system. The specific objective of this study was to characterize, using a comprehensive set of indicators, the quality of the vocabulary produced by Chilean 4th grade students. Based on a national writing…

  15. Evaluating the performance of Iraqi EFL undergraduates in Writing Reading Comprehension Précis تقييم أداء الطلاب الجامعيين EFL العراقي في الكتابة القراءة الاستيعابية التلخيصية

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed A .Hamza

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The study aims at evaluating the performance of the grammatical and lexical abilities of Iraqi EFL undergraduates in writing précis for reading comprehension passages . (64 male and female second- year students from English Dep. College of Education-of Babylon University were chosen as the sample of the study during the academic year (2012-2013. A written test form was constructed to be the tool for the research study. The test form consisted of an unseen passage followed by a question to write a précis for the presented passage. The testees were provided with instructions to determine the starting and the end points of the précis. The testees were required to mention the steps to be followed to write their précis including the key words of the ideas to be included in their précis, their grammatical devices used in formulating their précis and their own vocabulary used the précis. The respodents showed low frequency use of the grammatical devices for reduction which indicates that the testees were not adequately trained to utlize their grammatical knowledge in such a productive peice of writing whereby garmmar is utilized to compress sentences for reduction. The respondents also showed low succeeeded scores in using cohesive devices to join the sentences of the required precis due to The inability of the testees to utilze their grammatical knowledge to choose the correct conjunction to join sentences and misunderstanding the ideas in the presented passage which causes the inability to discover the shared meaning among them when joining is done accordingly. Above all, the respondents showed very low succeeded results in utlizing their vocabulary store to achieve word economy which clearly indicates that the testees have poor vocabulary store that makes them less felixable to express the ideas of the presented passage in their own words.

  16. Oral vocabulary training program for Spanish third-graders with low socio-economic status: A randomized controlled trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clara Gomes-Koban

    Full Text Available Although the importance of vocabulary training in English speaking countries is well recognized and has been extensively studied, the same is not true for Spanish-few evidence based vocabulary studies for Spanish-speaking children have been reported. Here, two rich oral vocabulary training programs (definition and context, based on literature about vocabulary instruction for English-speaking children, were developed and applied in a sample of 100 Spanish elementary school third-graders recruited from areas of predominantly low socio-economic status (SES. Compared to an alternative read-aloud method which served as the control, both explicit methods were more effective in teaching word meanings when assessed immediately after the intervention. Nevertheless, five months later, only the definition group continued to demonstrate significant vocabulary knowledge gains. The definition method was more effective in specifically teaching children word meanings and, more broadly, in helping children organize and express knowledge of words. We recommend the explicit and rich vocabulary instruction as a means to fostering vocabulary knowledge in low SES children.

  17. The Writing Suitcase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rich, Susan J.

    1985-01-01

    Discusses one teacher's method for encouraging young children's literacy developemnt. Offers practical suggestions for involving parents in stimulating their child's early reading and writing skills. (DT)

  18. Emergent Writing in Preschoolers: Preliminary Evidence for a Theoretical Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

    2014-01-01

    Researchers and educators use the term emergent literacy to refer to a broad set of skills and attitudes that serve as foundational skills for acquiring success in later reading and writing; however, models of emergent literacy have generally focused on reading and reading-related behaviors. Hence, the primary aim of this study was to articulate and evaluate a theoretical model of the components of emergent writing. Alternative models of the structure of individual and developmental differences of emergent writing and writing-related skills were examined in 372 preschool children who ranged in age from 3- to 5-years using confirmatory factor analysis. Results from a confirmatory factor analysis provide evidence that these emergent writing skills are best described by three correlated but distinct factors, (a) Conceptual Knowledge, (b) Procedural Knowledge, and (c) Generative Knowledge. Evidence that these three emergent writing factors show different patterns of relations to emergent literacy constructs is presented. Implications for understanding the development of writing and assessment of early writing skills are discussed. PMID:25316955

  19. Elementary Science and Reading Activities for Teacher Educators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rezba, Richard J.

    The author suggests ways reading can be integrated with science and describes the reading activities in an elementary science methods course. The activities include: (1) selecting a science tradebook for children to review and for the teacher to analyze vocabulary; (2) helping children review science tradebooks; and (3) encouraging independent…

  20. The Collision of Two Lexicons: Librarians, Composition Instructors and the Vocabulary of

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toni M. Carter

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective – The study has two aims. The first is to identify words and phrases from information literacy and rhetoric and composition that students used to justify the comparability of two sources. The second is to interpret the effectiveness of students’ application of these evaluative vocabularies and explore the implications for librarians and first-year composition instructors’ collaborations. Methods – A librarian and a first-year composition instructor taught a class on source evaluation using the language of information literacy, composition, and rhetorical analysis (i.e., classical, Aristotelian, rhetorical appeals. Students applied the information learned from the instruction session to help them locate and select two sources of comparable genre and rigor for the purpose of an essay assignment. The authors assessed this writing assignment for students’ evaluative diction to identify how they could improve their understanding of each other’s discourse. Results – The authors’ analysis of the student writing sample exposes struggles in how students understand, apply, and integrate the jargon of information literacy and rhetoric and composition. Assessment shows that students chose the language of rhetoric and composition rather than the language of information literacy, they selected the broadest and/or vaguest terms to evaluate their sources, and they applied circular reasoning when justifying their choices. When introduced to analogous concepts or terms between the two discourses, students cherry-picked the terms that allowed for the easiest, albeit, least-meaningful evaluations. Conclusion – The authors found that their unfamiliarity with each other’s discourse revealed itself in both the class and the student writing. They discovered that these miscommunications affected students’ language use in their written source evaluations. In fact, the authors conclude that this oversight in addressing the subtle