Improving Content Area Reading Comprehension with 4–6th Grade Spanish ELLs Using Web-Based Structure Strategy Instruction

This factorial quasi-experimental 22 study aimed to corroborate the effect of PRWR strategy compared to Translation and Reading Aloud on students’ academic content-area reading comprehension as observed from their English proficiency. The interaction between the strategy and English proficiency was also examined. Data were obtained from a reading comprehension test, a TOEFL PBT Equivalent test, and a questionnaire on students’ perception towards the PRWR strategy. Both the reading test and the questionnaire were expert validated and tried out, whereas the TOEFL PBT Equivalent test was conducted under the auspices of an English institute. 58 sophomore students at a state university in Malang, Indonesia, served as the subjects of the study. This turned out that first; students taught by the PRWR strategy have better reading comprehension than that of by Translation and Reading Aloud. Second, students with high English proficiency taught by the PRWR strategy have better reading comprehension than that of taught by Translation and Reading Aloud. Third, there was no interaction between reading strategy and English proficiency. All in all, the employment of the PRWR strategy was highly recommended in academic content-area reading comprehension.

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Effective Practices for Teaching Content Area Reading

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1209 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Stevens ◽

Sharon Vaughn

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Social Studies ◽

General Education ◽

Reading Instruction ◽

Reading Skills ◽

Content Area Reading ◽

Content Area ◽

Grade Levels ◽

Content Acquisition ◽

Social Studies Instruction

Adequate reading skills are necessary for college and career readiness and success in the work force, but many students do not have sufficient reading skills. The 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress demonstrated that fourth- and eighth-grade students had made little to no progress in reading since the previous report in 2017. Elementary level students often receive dedicated English language arts instruction during the day, but this is not always true for secondary level students . One way that educators can support students across the grade levels is by providing evidence-based reading instruction within content areas (i.e., science and social studies instruction). Researchers have investigated ways for teachers to provide high-quality content area reading instruction to support the reading comprehension and content acquisition of students in general education settings. Previous research suggests that paraphrasing and text structure instruction support readers’ identification of key ideas and the integration of those ideas across paragraphs and passages when reading content area texts. These practices align with reading comprehension theory in support of conscious text processing while reading. Teaching readers to generate main ideas during reading may improve the reading outcomes and content acquisition outcomes not only for typical readers but also for struggling readers and those identified for special education. Educators’ implementation of such practices within science and social studies instruction may improve students’ reading performance and content learning across grade levels.

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Content-area reading comprehension and teachers’ use of instructional time: effects on middle school students’ social studies knowledge

Reading and Writing ◽

10.1007/s11145-018-9925-7 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 32 (7) ◽

pp. 1705-1722

Author(s):

Jessica R. Toste ◽

Sharon Vaughn ◽

Leticia R. Martinez ◽

Danielle A. Bustillos-SoRelle

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Reading Comprehension ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Social Studies ◽

Content Area Reading ◽

Content Area ◽

Instructional Time ◽

School Students ◽

Time Effects

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The effects of web-based text structure strategy instruction on adult Chinese ELLs’ reading comprehension and reading strategy use

Language Teaching Research ◽

10.1177/13621688211022308 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 136216882110223

Author(s):

Zhihong Xu ◽

Kausalai (Kay) Wijekumar ◽

Qing Wang ◽

Robin Irey ◽

Hua Liang

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Academic Success ◽

Reading Strategies ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Strategy Instruction ◽

Reading Strategy ◽

Text Structure ◽

Control Group ◽

Control Group Design ◽

Web Based

Underdeveloped reading comprehension skills can limit academic success; a particular challenge for English language learners (ELLs). The current study investigated whether a web-based text structure strategy, delivered via the Intelligent Tutoring of Structure Strategy (ITSS) program to adult Chinese ELLs, improved students’ use of reading strategies and/or overall reading comprehension. Using a quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design, 207 adult Chinese ELLs from four classes were assigned to intervention or control groups. The intervention group utilized the ITSS to support their English reading instruction, whereas the control group was exposed to only traditional instruction. Our results indicate that the ITSS intervention had a statistically significant positive effect on adult Chinese ELLs’ reading comprehension ( β = 3.07, p < 0.001) with Cohen’s d = 0.43, as measured by the College English Test-4 (CET-4). Furthermore, we found that Chinese ELLs reported using more higher-order reading strategies ( p < 0.01) after the intervention and there was no significant change of reported reading strategy usage for the control group from pretest and post-test. However, the current study did not provide evidence that the change in use of reading strategies mediated the relationship between the intervention/control condition and Chinese ELLs’ reading comprehension.

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