scholarly journals How to Do Things With Texts: A Functional Account of Reading Comprehension

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-294
Author(s):  
Eileen Pfeiffer Flores ◽  
Jorge Mendes de Oliveira-Castro ◽  
Carlos Barbosa Alves de Souza

AbstractWe offer an account of reading comprehension that we believe will help clarify some common conceptual confusions in the relevant literature, as well as contribute to existing functional accounts. We argue that defining texts qua texts as stimulus classes, on the one hand, and equating “comprehension” with behavior (covert or otherwise), on the other, are not useful conceptual moves, especially when behavioral settings go beyond basic literacy skills acquisition. We then analyze the structure of the contingencies that usually evoke talk of “comprehension” using techniques from analytic philosophy. We show how keeping the results of this analysis in mind can help avoid the conceptual bafflement that often arises, even among behavior analysts, when defining or assessing behavioral phenomena related to reading comprehension. Using two contrasting cases (legal texts and stories), we argue that what counts as comprehension depends, not peripherally but crucially, on the shared social practices of which texts are a part. Finally, we propose a new framework for classifying reader–text contingencies by combining two dimensions: openness of setting and embeddedness of reinforcement.

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-122
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Bulajić ◽  
Miomir Despotović ◽  
Thomas Lachmann

Abstract. The article discusses the emergence of a functional literacy construct and the rediscovery of illiteracy in industrialized countries during the second half of the 20th century. It offers a short explanation of how the construct evolved over time. In addition, it explores how functional (il)literacy is conceived differently by research discourses of cognitive and neural studies, on the one hand, and by prescriptive and normative international policy documents and adult education, on the other hand. Furthermore, it analyses how literacy skills surveys such as the Level One Study (leo.) or the PIAAC may help to bridge the gap between cognitive and more practical and educational approaches to literacy, the goal being to place the functional illiteracy (FI) construct within its existing scale levels. It also sheds more light on the way in which FI can be perceived in terms of different cognitive processes and underlying components of reading. By building on the previous work of other authors and previous definitions, the article brings together different views of FI and offers a perspective for a needed operational definition of the concept, which would be an appropriate reference point for future educational, political, and scientific utilization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Konrad Simon ◽  
Jörn Behrens

AbstractWe introduce a new framework of numerical multiscale methods for advection-dominated problems motivated by climate sciences. Current numerical multiscale methods (MsFEM) work well on stationary elliptic problems but have difficulties when the model involves dominant lower order terms. Our idea to overcome the associated difficulties is a semi-Lagrangian based reconstruction of subgrid variability into a multiscale basis by solving many local inverse problems. Globally the method looks like a Eulerian method with multiscale stabilized basis. We show example runs in one and two dimensions and a comparison to standard methods to support our ideas and discuss possible extensions to other types of Galerkin methods, higher dimensions and nonlinear problems.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Sarah Teo

Abstract Differentiation is a foundational premise in the study of middle powers, as evident in the way that the relevant literature distinguishes these states from the great powers and smaller states. Despite the underlying assumption of differentiation, the middle power literature has rarely engaged theoretically with the concept. This paper seeks to make more explicit this basis of differentiation in the study of middle powers, by advancing a new framework for middle power behavior that draws on differentiation theory. The framework makes the case that it is the differentiated structure in international politics – a departure from the dominant neorealist understanding of structure – that enables the behavior of middle powers. The effects of this differentiated structure are activated by the relative, relational, and social power politics that middle powers engage in, in a particular time and place. Through this process, middle powers are able to leverage their ‘middlepowerness’ in international politics by weakening stratification particularly where the great powers are concerned, and strengthening functional differentiation through taking on key and distinctive roles. By putting differentiation at the core of a framework for middle power behavior, the paper strives to make a constructive contribution to the theorizing of middle powers.


2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (03) ◽  
pp. 879-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nader Ebrahimi

Nanosystems are devices that are in the size range of a billionth of a meter (1 x 10-9) and therefore are built necessarily from individual atoms. The one-dimensional nanosystems or linear nanosystems cover all the nanosized systems which possess one dimension that exceeds the other two dimensions, i.e. extension over one dimension is predominant over the other two dimensions. Here only two of the dimensions have to be on the nanoscale (less than 100 nanometers). In this paper we consider the structural relationship between a linear nanosystem and its atoms acting as components of the nanosystem. Using such information, we then assess the nanosystem's limiting reliability which is, of course, probabilistic in nature. We consider the linear nanosystem at a fixed moment of time, say the present moment, and we assume that the present state of the linear nanosystem depends only on the present states of its atoms.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2006 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Beltrán ◽  
Natalia Santamaría

One not-so-intuitive result in auction theory is the revenue equivalence theorem, which states that as long as an auction complies with some conditions, it will on average generate the same revenue to an auctioneer as the revenue generated by any other auction that complies with them. Surprisingly, the conditions are not defined on the payment rules to the bidders but on the fact that the bidders do not bid below a reserve value—set by the auctioneer—the winner is the one with the highest bidding and there is a common equilibrium bidding function used by all bidders. In this paper, we verify such result using extensive simulation of a broad range of auctions and focus on the variability or fluctuations of the results around the average. Such fluctuations are observed and measured in two dimensions for each type of auction: as the number of auctions grows and as the number of bidders increases.


2021 ◽  
pp. 004005992110255
Author(s):  
Whitney Sommers Butler ◽  
Casey Hord ◽  
Susan Watts-Taffe

In spite of the prevailing assumption that formal reading instruction is no longer needed once adolescents reach high school, students at the secondary level still benefit from explicit reading instruction to continue developing advanced literacy skills enabling them to access complex narrative texts. This article argues for the importance of teachers to scrutinize the texts they plan to teach to determine what instruction and supports are needed to promote reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities. Specifically, this article examines how nonlinear text structures can challenge adolescent reading comprehension and illustrates explicit text structure instruction with three exemplar texts which use unconventional narrative patterns. The article emphasizes the importance of considering the qualitative features of texts to inform instruction to support reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 57-84
Author(s):  
Rosita Capurro ◽  
Raffaele Fiorentino ◽  
Stefano Garzella ◽  
Rosa Lombardi

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to investigate the role of boundary management when firms should implement open innovation.Design/methodology/approachThe relevant literature on strategic management, firm boundaries and open innovation fields is revised and critically assessed. An interpretive-qualitative methodology is applied to analyse empirical data obtained from a questionnaire and subsequent interviews of a sample of Italian listed firms. By critically integrating literature review and empirical analysis, a framework is provided with the objective of supporting open innovation implementation.FindingsThe study shows that on the one hand, open innovation and many modern paths of growth are connected to a firm's boundaries and that on the other hand, boundary management plays a key role in the implementation of open innovation.Practical implicationsThe paper has implications for practitioners by driving them to shift the focus of open innovation implementation towards the management of boundaries, in which boundary capabilities and activities play a key role.Originality/valueThis paper sheds light on the advantages and risks that can jeopardize a successful opening up innovation processes without the effective management of boundary studies. Thus, the authors identify and propose causes for reflection and tools maximizing potentiality and reducing risks in the implementation of such processes.


Author(s):  
Achim Stephan

Having introduced situated affectivity, I locate the contributions to this section within this new framework: Carr and colleagues argue that embodied emotional processes strongly (though not indispensably) influence cognitive and motivational tasks. Bypassing the debate on causal dependency (embeddedness) and co-constitution (extendedness), I propose the category of environmental affective scaffolding as the one Hobson’s contribution fits in. He stresses the essential impact an infant’s capacity for social-affective relatedness has on her cognitive development. The enactive approach, as introduced by Colombetti, accounts well for the dynamical couplings between two or more emoters (or an emoter and her environment). If more persons are involved, they constitute a case of distributed rather than extended affectivity, since no single individual is the hub of such an affective process. The contribution of Zahavi and Michael promises to apply the 4E approach to empathy. Considering environmental scaffolds to empathy might enrich it.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Magán-Hervás ◽  
Felipe Gértrudix-Barrio

 Pre-school education period is the foundation for children development. Teachers must reinforce students’ knowledge in this stage since all the contents covered will impact throughout their lives. Due to its educational value and influence on the different aspects of children development, music should be regarded as an essential resource in these early learning stages. In this regard, this work aims to analyze if the activities including music, hearing, and sound have a positive influence on the unfolding of literacy skills on five-year-old children. To accomplish such objectives, qualitative, quantitative, and triangulation methodologies have been used by taking the content analysis from the literature review related to the topic of this investigation and then after, by using the experimental design technique (pre-test/experiment/post-test) with two design types (experimental and controlled class) from the research-action paradigm. Considering the results of this research, it can be asserted that audio-musical activities significantly influence reading and writing skills acquisition without noteworthy differences between boys and girls.


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