Reading Comprehension‎

The purpose of the study was to formulate a model to predict the performance of Iranian high school third-graders on the End of the Course Achievement (ECA) tests through their performance on the vocabulary tests, which were administered throughout the course. To meet this end, thirty two learners – aging seventeen to nineteen, all male – participated in the study which took nine months to complete. Their linguistic abilities were approximately at Intermediate-Mid level according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines (1998). The sampling procedure was the intact group method. 333 lexical items were taught to the learners in the decontextualized paired-associate translation method. The classes were held two hours a week in a nine-month course of time. Six sets of vocabulary tests were administered and every learner's average was calculated. The learners' scores on the ECA tests and their average scores on the vocabulary tests were analyzed through the regression analysis procedure to derive a model that could reliably predict the learners' ECA scores through their average performance on the vocabulary scores. The analysis yielded the following formula: (AVERAGE VOCABULARY × 0.713) + 2.871± [3.1].

A large number of variables influence the way a learner comprehends a reading passage, one of which is vocabulary size. The studies which have focused on this seemingly important aspect, in some settings, are few and far between. This indicates the importance of running more research in this respect. The present study endeavored to examine this variable to discover its effect on reading comprehension ability of Iranian EFL learners. In so doing, 83 Iranian first-year university students (22 males and 61 females) were given a vocabulary size test (Nation 1990) and a reading comprehension test (TOEFL version 2004). The results showed a very significant correlation between vocabulary size and reading comprehension (r = .84, p < .05), which points out the necessity of improving the learners' vocabulary size in coping with reading passages. However, the high correlation found in this study calls for more replications to add to the precision of such a relationship.

Comprehension involves thinking.  To improve comprehension, improve students' thinking.  This is done by teaching cognitive processes.  This paper describes and includes a variety of examples of activities and graphic organizers that can be used toward this end.

The purpose of the present study is to determine the viewpoints of primary school teachers on difficulties experienced by 3rd and 4th grade primary school students in reading comprehension. The study was planned in Phenomenology Design, which is one of the Qualitative Research Methods. The study group consisted of 25 primary school teachers working at 7 primary schools in the city center of Bayburt. The sampling of the study was determined with the Criterion Sampling Method, which is one of the Purposeful Sampling Methods. Semi-structured Interview Forms were used for data collection. The Descriptive Analysis Methods were used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the study, it was concluded that difficulties in reading comprehension appeared in the form of difficulties in answering questions after reading a text; the cause of the difficulty in reading was students’ not focusing on the meaning; and teachers conducted plenty of activities suitable for the levels of students to overcome the difficulties in reading.

The study was aimed at determining the effect of vocabulary instruction on students’ performance in reading comprehension in junior secondary schools in Kaduna State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design was used for the study. The target population of the study consisted of 39,227 JS II students in public junior secondary schools in Kaduna State. A sample size of 117 JS II students was used in the study. The sample size was arrived at using purposive sampling technique. Sixty seven (67) JS II students were sampled for experimental group while fifty (50) students were used as control group. Both groups were taught for six weeks. A pre-test was administered to both groups prior to the six weeks of teaching to establish the homogeneity of the two groups. A close reading comprehension test was used to assess students’ performance in the reading comprehension task. Data collected in the study was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. At descriptive level, mean and standard deviation were used to respond to the research question while t-test was used at inferential level to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that the experimental group performed better than the control group. The study concluded that it takes fairly intensive vocabulary instruction to guarantee measurable gains in reading comprehension. It was therefore recommended that teachers should include vocabulary instruction in teaching reading comprehension to facilitate more understanding. Curriculum planners should equally include vocabulary instruction as one of the teaching techniques in the basic education curriculum.

This chapter excerpt describes activities the classroom teacher can use to enhance comprehension.  The pre-reading activity should generally be 2-5 minutes in duration (with informational text, it is sometimes longer than this).  Here you want to provide the structure or scaffolding necessary to enable students to read the text independently.  Keep this as short as possible while still providing the structure necessary for independent reading.

Knowing how to speed read could save time and increase comprehension and retention of the subject. When you learn how to speed read, which is focusing on important words, the fluency of reading is developed. With this come better understanding, better comprehension and pleasure of reading.

This study investigates the impact of motivation on reading comprehension ability of Iranian foreign language learners receiving reciprocal teaching and cooperative grouping intervention program. To this aim, 80 students took part in the TOEFL test as the pre-test. Then, the participants were distributed in four groups: experimental A, experimental B, control A and control B and were asked to fill out the motivation questionnaire. Control groups received the typical instruction while the experimental groups received the intervention program. At the end of the course, all the students took part in a post-test. Meanwhile, the students were also asked to fill out the motivation questionnaire. The results were analyzed by the use of a two-way ANOVA and MANOVA. The results showed that the experimental groups outperformed the control ones and the intervention changed motivation for reading efficacy, reading challenge, reading curiosity, competition in reading, recognition for reading, reading for grades, social reasons for reading and compliance.

In this article, we discuss the approach adopted within the Vanderbilt University Learning Disabilities Innovation Hub, which focuses on students with higher-order comorbidity: students with concurrent difficulty with reading comprehension and word-problem solving. The aim of the Hub' s Research Project is to test what we refer to as the higher-order comorbidity hypothesis: that language comprehension plays a critical role in reading comprehension and word-problem solving. In the Hub' s study, we test the hypothesize that language comprehension offers a coordinated approach for improving both outcomes and that this approach thus provides direction for understanding higher-order comorbidity and support for the validity of reading comprehension and word-problem solving

The study aimed at investigating the impact of teachers use of folktales on the performance of pupils in reading comprehension in primary schools in Kaduna, Nigeria. The sample of the study consisted of forty (40) primary four pupils from two randomly selected primary school, tagged, school " " and school " " in Kaduna North Local Government " rea. School " " was assigned as the experimental group while school " " was assigned as the control group. " oth groups were taught reading comprehension for eight weeks. A pre-test post-test experimental design for equivalent groups was used. Pupils were tested using reading comprehension test called retelling test. Results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group. This indicates that the use of folktales by teachers in reading comprehension may have a significant positive effect on pupils reading comprehension. " ased on the findings, it was recommended among others, that teachers should use folktales to enrich their reading comprehension lessons and to make such lessons more lively, interesting and meaningful. The reading component of the English Language Curriculum should be organized around stories that are deeply rooted in core values of the society. The curriculum should include reading comprehension passages that are based on folktales that teach moral lessons. Such moral lessons should be deeply rooted in the core values of the society.

This study is purposely undertaken to prove the effectiveness of Parental Involvement with Reading Material in addressing the poor word recognition and comprehension skill of the identified Grade 1 pupils who are at risk in failing. The researcher employed the descriptive-comparative design and purposive sampling technique. The data collected were then analyzed using mean, & SD, T-test, and Eta 2. Results exhibited a significant difference between the pre-assessment and post assessment scores on the respondents' word recognition and comprehension skill after being subjected to the Parental Involvement with Reading Material strategy. Thus, the use of Parental Involvement with Reading Material strategy is strongly recommended as an effective intervention in improving word recognition and comprehension skill of a pupil who is particularly at risk in failing.

The supplementary materials aim to provide reading support for a BCS learner with (at least) intermediate level proficiency so that s/he would be able to understand and appreciate a longer piece of Croatian literature without adaptation. The support comes in the form of extensive glossing and annotation as well as elucidation of language, stylistic devices, and the sociocultural context of the story.

Nehe, Lipus, 2011. Increasing the Students' Ability in Reading Comprehension by Using Problem Based Instruction at the Seventh Class of SMP Negeri 2 Fanayama. Thesis Advisors (1) Drs. Desman Telaumbanua, M.Pd, and (2) Yasminar Amaerita Telaumbanua, S.Pd., M.Pd.

This qualitative study examines a reading comprehension strategy use in English as a second language in upper-secondary schools one year after teachers participated in a professional development course. The data comprises observations, teacher narratives, and student interviews. A key finding is that the teachers used a repertoire of strategies from the course, suggesting an impact of the course. A second finding was a clear difference between how students in general and vocational programmes used the strategies taught: the vocational students used them in ways that indicated their relevance to them as learners, while the students in general programmes did not. The findings also suggest how and why students employ strategies. The article discusses implications for strategy instruction and how to enhance the reading proficiency of adolescent readers.

This study investigated the effects of the 'Student Teams-Achievement Divisions' (STAD) and 'Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition' (CIRC) cooperative learning models on reading achievement and vocabulary learning of Iranian learners of English. 132 female Language learners of EFL participated in the study at National Iran English Language (NIEL) institute in Takestan. The four experimental groups were taught in cooperative learning for one semester with methods of the 'Student Teams-Achievement Divisions' (STAD) and 'Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition' (CIRC), the control groups were taught in a non-cooperative method. Data collected through reading comprehension and vocabulary post-tests were analyzed using four one-way ANOVA procedures. The results indicated that the cooperative learning model CIRC had statistically significant effects on reading comprehension and vocabulary learning, particularly for elementary EFL learners.

A tremendous amount of works have been conducted by psycholinguistics to identify hemisphere processing during second/ foreign language learning, or in other words to investigate the role of the brain hemisphere dominance in language performance of learners. Most of these researches have focused on single words and word pairs (e.g., Anaki et al., 1998; Arzouan et. al., 2007; Faust & Mahal, 2007) or simple sentences (Rapp et al., 2007; Kacinik & Chiarello, 2007), and it has been discovered that there is an advantage of right hemisphere for metaphors and an advantage of left hemisphere for literal text. But the present research was designed to study Iranian EFL learners' performance in different reading tasks, so there could be differences between the consequences of the former research and the results of the present study due to the context. Here left-brain and right-brain dominance was investigated in 60 individuals (20 right-handed and 10 left-handed male, 20 right-handed and 10 left-handed female) via the Edinburg Handedness Questionnaire (EHQ). The research results suggested that the right-handed learners who are supposed to be left-brain outperformed the left-handed ones; and regarding participant's gender, male learners outperformed female learners on reading comprehension test tasks.

This paper reports a study which examines how students perceived the effects of the implementation of the summarizing strategy on English as a foreign language (EFL) reading comprehension at a Vietnamese university. Using a descriptive design, a survey and interviews were undertaken with students who were learning English at a vocational school of law at a province in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The findings indicated how students recognized the role of the summarizing strategy although there were some problems they had to encounter while reading, namely vocabulary and grammar. The findings of this study give rise to pedagogical implications for teachers with regard to designing timely and effective techniques for optimizing students’ text comprehension ability over time.

This study examined the influence of vocabulary development on reading comprehension of secondary school students in Basic Science in Ekiti State, Nigeria. This study adopted a quasi-experimental of pre-test, post-test control group research design on 150 JSS 2 students selected from six secondary schools using purposive sampling technique. The instruments used for this study are: vocabulary test and reading comprehension test and the participants pre-test were used to measure students' prior knowledge. The findings of the study revealed that vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension and students' prior knowledge are related to students' achievement in Basic Science. The findings also showed that the combined influence of vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, students' prior knowledge and students' achievement in Basic Science was found to be statistically significant. The study therefore suggested that teachers should make concerted efforts to embark on rigorous and explicit teaching of vocabulary as it has a potential of supporting students' reading comprehension.

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between reading motivation and inference generation while reading.  Undergraduate participants (N = 69) read two science articles while thinking aloud, completed a standardized reading comprehension assessment, and self reported their habitual reading motivation.  Findings indicate that overall reading motivation, one component of intrinsic motivation (reading as a sense of self) and one component of extrinsic motivation (reading to do well in other realms) were positively associated with text-connecting inference generation independent of reading comprehension skill.  These findings are discussed in the context of standards of coherence.

Η παρούσα εργασία περιγράφει την ανάπτυξη και την ψυχομετρική επικύρωση μιας κλίμακας αυτοαναφοράς για την εκτίμηση της χρήσης στρατηγικών αναγνωστικής κατανόησης από δίγλωσσους μαθητές ηλικίας 9 έως 12 ετών. Ο ψυχομετρικός έλεγχος του εργαλείου που κατασκευάστηκε περιλάμβανε εξέταση της εγκυρότητας της εννοιολογικής του κατασκευής και αξιοπιστίας σε δείγμα 247 δίγλωσσων μαθητών δημοτικού σχολείου με τα Ελληνικά ως δεύτερη γλώσσα. Από τους παραπάνω ελέγχους προέκυψε μια αξιόπιστη και αξιολογήσιμη δομή δεκαεννιά ερωτήσεων και τεσσάρων παραγόντων, η οποία περιλαμβάνει ως συστατικά στοιχεία το κριτήριο των γνωστικών στρατηγικών, των μεταγνωστικών, των κοινωνικών και των συναισθηματικών στρατηγικών αναγνωστικής κατανόησης. Τέλος, παρέχονται οδηγίες για τη βαθμολόγηση του εργαλείου και προτείνονται τρόποι ερμηνείας των αποτελεσμάτων του. This paper describes the development and validation of a self-report scale to assess the use of reading strategies by bilingual students aged 9 to 12. The instrument’s validity was tested through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on the data collected from a sample of 247 bilingual primary school students who speak Greek as a second language. From these tests a reliable and evaluable structure of nineteen questions and four factors emerged, which includes the criteria of cognitive strategies, metacognitive, social and emotional strategies in reading comprehension. Finally, instructions for scoring the instrument are given, as well as suggestions on how to interpret its results.

This is a recording of a webinar describing ideas for addressing comprehension when working with struggling and reluctant readers at home and at school.  Topics include:
• how the brain creates meaning with print
• eye movement and reading
• word identification and comprehension
• strategies for comprehending information text
• strategies for comprehending narrative text (stories)
• strategies for assessing and documenting comprehension

Metacognitive reading strategies play a significant role in reading comprehension and educational success. Being noticeably absent from many Iranian classrooms and largely unknown to many language learners and teachers, metacognitive reading strategies have fallen into oblivion in English language teaching, research, learning, and assessment. Therefore, the present study was an attempt to measure the metacognitive reading strategy (MRS) awareness among Iranian university students majoring in English Translation Studies. It also aimed at determining whether gender and learners' different academic levels would make any difference in using various types of MRS. Furthermore, it investigated the relationship between Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' awareness of MRS and their reading comprehension performance. A sample of 45 EFL university students majoring in English Translation at Chabahar Maritime University participated in this study. They were asked to complete the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) questionnaire and to take a TOEFL Junior Standard Reading Comprehension Test. The results were analyzed through descriptive statistics, paired-samples t-test, independent-sample t-test, and ANOVA. The results revealed that although the overall strategy use among these students was low (M =2.42), support reading strategies were used the most and problem-solving strategies were the least frequently used ones. Additionally, no significant difference was found between males and females as well as different academic levels in the use of MRS. No significant relationship was also found between students' overall use of metacognitive reading strategies and their reading comprehension achievement. The study concludes with a number of pedagogical implications and lists several guidelines for future research.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted to find out if the instruction of a question generating strategy would help to enhance university EFL freshmen’s English reading comprehension and their ability to use English tenses. A pre-and post-test with control group design was employed. The samples, purposively selected, were 40 undergraduate students who registered for
Foundation English I course during the first semester of academic year 2010. They were divided into an experimental group (n = 20) and a control group
(n = 20). The data collection tools used included a pre-and post-English reading comprehension test and a pre-and post-test of English tenses. The two groups were administered the pre-tests before the experiment which lasted two weeks, and then the post-tests, upon completion of the experiment. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequency, mean, and standard deviation. An independent samples t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The results were that the experimental group gained statistically higher scores
from the post-tests of both reading comprehension and use of English tenses than the control group (p<.01).

Reading is an important part of learning. No one can deny its importance. The importance of reading aloud strategies has increased. Reading aloud strategies are very important, especially for low proficiency students and for those who use the English language as a second language. It is vital for low proficiency students at the national and international levels. This study examines the effectiveness of the read-aloud strategies on low proficiency students at the secondary school level in Multan city. The study was conducted at the higher secondary school of Multan city in Pakistan; data were collected from students of the first year through a questionnaire, and pre-test post-test instruments were also used. The study is based on an experimental research design, and the target sample was 20 students of humanities group and five teachers from the English department. The study found that the reading aloud strategies help low proficiency students at the college level in Pakistan.

Freshman students learning English as foreign language have problems in comprehending English texts such as inability to identify main ideas, paragraph topics, supporting details and the organizational structure of a text. They have difficulty writing a summary or making an outline of the main ideas and important supporting details in a single, or multiple paragraphs. Numerous studies in the literature have shown the positive effects of using mind maps in teaching and learning a variety of subjects. Since many EFL instructors are unfamiliar with mind maps and mind-mapping software, this study proposes the integration of mind maps in reading instruction and the utilization of mind-mapping software to help the students relate a central idea or topic in a text to related subtopics or details, help them understand the organizational structure of a text, identify the text structure type (classification, chronology, enumeration, compare contrast and others) and locate signaling devices. Making reading mind maps using the mind-mapping software begins with a word or image that symbolizes the topic of the reading text in the middle of the screen. While reading the text paragraph by paragraph, main branches are added for each paragraph topic. Sub-branches are added for each important detail related to a particular topic (main branch). Colors are used for the main and minor branches. Constructing reading mind maps can be used as a reading or a post-reading activity. Reading test results showed that the mind-mapping software was effective in enhancing reading comprehension among EFL freshman students. The students also had positive attitudes towards mind mapping and reading English texts. Students found the mind mapping software to be fun and helpful in comprehending and organizing ideas in a text. The study recommends the integration of mind-mapping software in other language skills courses offered by the college.

This study aims to determine effects of the use of Cooperative Integrated Reading And Composition (CIRC) methods to enhance reading comprehension ability of visually impaired students in the 3 rd grade of SLB A YKAB Surakarta. This research used experiment method with one group posttest pretest design. The subject is given treatment in the form of the application CIRC method in reading comprehension learning for four sessions, with duration for 60 minutes for each session. The effectiveness of CIRC method will be proved by the differences of the test result between pretest and posttest of reading comprehension. The population in this research are 5 visually impaired students in the 3 rd grade of SLB A YKAB Surakarta. The entire population was also sampled simultaneously. The data collection technique is test by using short answer question. The data was analyzed using a statistical analysis nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test through SPSS program version 20. Based on statistical analysis, the mean score of the posttet is higher than the mean score of pretest, namely 81,316 for posttest and 68,656 for pretest. Non-parametrik statistical analysis also indicated that score of Z =-2,032 and P = 0,042. Thus, the hypothesis CIRC method was effective to improve reading comprehension ability of visually impaired students in the 3 rd grade of SLB A YKAB Surakarta can be accepted. It can be concluded that CIRC method has positive effect on reading comprehension ability of visually impaired students in the 3 rd grade of SD SLB A YKAB Surakarta.

This paper provides criteria and methodology for an evaluation of graded readers following a review of the cognitive and affective aspects of L2 reading material, offering a different perspective on their readability and entertainment value as perceived by proficient English readers. Cognitive strengths are evaluated considering the degree to which they encourage the automatization of reading, dual coding and generative use. Affective strengths are evaluated considering comprehensibility, interest to readers, and reading support, in line with the recommendations of Hill (1997) and Claridge (2012). The author feels that native English speakers and proficient non-native speakers are unable to assess the level of interest that graded readers, especially easier ones, may provide. As a result, the degree to which books are considered interesting was established through Japanese readers’ opinions, which follows Hill’s (1997) recommendation that when assessing readers’ enjoyment of graded readers, we should simply ask: Are they a good read? The Foundations Reading Library series was found to be highly suitable for Japanese university students with little or no extensive reading experience.

Most research on reading strategy instruction has employed quantitative methods to evaluate the impact of strategy instruction. But quantitative evaluation offers only a partial picture, and it must be complemented by qualitative evaluation. The predominant use of quantitative methodology may be attributed to the absence of established qualitative assessment criteria. There is a need for developing qualitative assessment criteria to evaluate the effect of strategy training on reading progress. Therefore, the present study aims to develop potential criteria for qualitative evaluation of the impact of strategy instruction. The study proposes five criteria: conditional knowledge, use of clusters, responsive actions, specificity in strategy description and fluent verbal-isation. These five criteria emerged from the evaluative analysis and interpretation of data collected through reflective journals. The journals were maintained by 38 ninth-grade students for reflecting on their reading strategy use and reading process as part of strategy instruction. The five criteria can be useful for designing and evaluating strategy instruction.

The study was carried out to determine the effect of stop, think and talk activities on the performance of students in reading comprehension in junior secondary schools in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. The study was carried out using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design. The target population of the study comprised of 16,925 JSII students. A sample size of 100 JSII students from two secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, were purposely sampled in the study. Sixty five (65) students from Government Junior Secondary School, Apo and thirty five (35) from Government Junior Secondary School, Garki were used for the study. Both groups of students were taught for six (6) weeks. Government Junior Secondary School, Apo was assigned as the experimental group while Government Junior Secondary School, Garki was assigned as the control school. Students were pre-tested to establish their homogeneity before the commencement of the treatment. They were taught for six (6) weeks and were tested using retelling test as an instrument. Data collected from students’ test scores was analysed using mean and standard deviation, while t-test was used to test the formulated null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that “stop, think and talk” activities had significant effect on students’ performance in reading comprehension. In fact, the experimental group which was exposed to stop, think and talk activities had better understanding of the reading comprehension passages given to them. The result further revealed that students in experimental group were more active, responsive and paid more attention to details concerning the main ideas in the passages read. Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers should be encouraged to use “stop, think and talk” activities in reading comprehension lessons. Such activities should be provided before, during and after every reading comprehension passage to enhance and facilitate students’ reading abilities. Curriculum planners should provide activities that would encourage students to “stop, think and talk” to make reading comprehension lesson more purposeful and meaningful.

En esta comunicación, a partir de un entorno cada día más complejo, se quiere analizar cómo la tecnología ha intentado apoyar varios procesos educativos, sociales y comunicativos que hasta ahora se habían desarrollado sin la necesidad de utilizar los medios electrónicos. El siglo XXI se define como lo de la sociedad líquida según Bauman  y de la conectividad en Siemens, pero sigue siendo una realidad desconocida que cada día necesitamos explorar cómo nos indicó Freire. Muchos años se han dedicado a las competencias del nuevo siglo que aún se intentan conseguir y por esta razón el método de la investigación que se propone se caracteriza por ser de tipo comparativo. A partir de la cotidianidad de las acciones educativas estamos obligados a reflexionar, mirar más allá de unos términos, averiguar la existencia diacrónica y sincrónica de cada persona, y sobre todo entender si aún tenemos el interés en ser personas globales, holísticas, y no individuos parciales o solipsistas. La tecnología con su difusión masiva mezclando la realidad con la virtualidad nos ha ayudado, ahora reconocemos los límites de nuestras formas de comunicar,  también de relacionarse con los otros y expresarnos a través de las emociones, necesitamos de nuevas alfabetizaciones hacia la humanidad de las personas.