scholarly journals Knowledge-Empowered Representation Learning for Chinese Medical Reading Comprehension: Task, Model and Resources

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taolin Zhang ◽  
Chengyu Wang ◽  
Minghui Qiu ◽  
Bite Yang ◽  
Zerui Cai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Representation Learning ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Task Model

scholarly journals Strategies identification in an experimental reading comprehension task

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanda Stankovic ◽  
Dejan Lalovic
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Psychological Practice ◽  
Test Taking ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Comprehension Ability ◽  
Test Taking Strategies ◽  
Text Reading ◽  
Final Score ◽  
Ultimate Objective

Standardized reading comprehension tests (RCTs) usually consist of a small number of texts each accompanied by several multiple-choice questions, with texts and questions simultaneously presented. The score the common measure of reading comprehension ability in RCTs is the score. Literature review suggests that strategies subjects employ may influence their performance on RCT, however the score itself provides no information on the specific strategy employed. Knowledge of test-taking strategies could have impact on understanding of the actual purpose and benefits of using RCTs in pedagogical and psychological practice. With the ultimate objective of constructing a first standard RCT in Serbian language, the preliminary step we took was to conduct an experimental reading comprehension task (ERCT) consisting of 27 short texts displayed in succession, each followed by a single multiplechoice question. Using qualitative analysis of subjects? responses in semi-structured postexperimental interview, we identified four overall strategies used on ERCT. Our results show that groups of students who used specific strategies differed significantly from one another in text reading time, with no differences found regarding the question reading and answering time. More importantly, there were no significant between-group differences found in terms of ERCT score. These findings suggest that choice of strategy is a way to optimize the relation between one?s own potential and ERCT task requirements. RCT based on ERCT principles would allow for a flexible choice of strategy which would not influence the final score.

scholarly journals Towards Reading Comprehension for Long Documents

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanxing Zhang ◽  
Yangbin Zhang ◽  
Kaigui Bian ◽  
Xiaoming Li
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Exact Match ◽  
Attention Model ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Short Span ◽  
Machine Reading ◽  
The Relationship

Machine reading comprehension has gained attention from both industry and academia. It is a very challenging task that involves various domains such as language comprehension, knowledge inference, summarization, etc. Previous studies mainly focus on reading comprehension on short paragraphs, and these approaches fail to perform well on the documents. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical match attention model to instruct the machine to extract answers from a specific short span of passages for the long document reading comprehension (LDRC) task. The model takes advantages from hierarchical-LSTM to learn the paragraph-level representation, and implements the match mechanism (i.e., quantifying the relationship between two contexts) to find the most appropriate paragraph that includes the hint of answers. Then the task can be decoupled into reading comprehension task for short paragraph, such that the answer can be produced. Experiments on the modified SQuAD dataset show that our proposed model outperforms existing reading comprehension models by at least 20% regarding exact match (EM), F1 and the proportion of identified paragraphs which are exactly the short paragraphs where the original answers locate.

The effect of degrees of bilingualism on metacognitive linguistic skills

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1064-1086
Author(s):  
Salim Abu Rabia
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Linguistic Skills ◽  
Metacognitive Reading Strategies

Purpose and research question: The present study investigated whether there was any significant difference between balanced bilinguals, dominant bilinguals, limited bilinguals and monolinguals in the application of metacognitive linguistic skills while doing a reading comprehension task in the additional (English) language. Namely, how do different degrees of bilingualism affect metacognitive linguistic skills? Methodology: The present study examined three domains of metacognitive reading process (planning, monitoring and evaluating), as well as the overall use of metacognitive reading strategies. Four groups of participants (30 seventh grade students in each group) completed a Metacognitive Reading Strategies Questionnaire, aimed at measuring their metacognitive awareness in each domain after fulfilling a reading comprehension task in English. Data analysis: A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used in order to test the differences within groups and between groups. Findings and conclusions: Level of metacognitive reading awareness was affected by the degree of bilingualism. There was a positive influence of balanced (reading and writing skills in the second language) and imbalanced (oral skills in the second language) degrees of bilingualism on metacognitive linguistic abilities. A balanced degree of bilingualism exerted the greatest influence on most of the metacognitive reading domains (planning, monitoring and the total use of metacognitive strategies). Significance: A significant advantage of balanced bilinguals over all other groups was revealed. Level of metacognitive reading awareness was affected by the degree of bilingualism. Thus, bilingual education should be taken seriously due to its positive effect on all aspects of thinking and learning. Results provided additional support to the notion that bilingualism had a positive impact on the metacognitive linguistic skills. Moreover, the balance between the languages appeared to be a significant variable. Thus, balanced bilinguals, who possessed the highest competence in the second language, showed the best performance in the domains of planning, monitoring and overall use of metacognitive reading strategies. Limited bilinguals, on the contrary, demonstrated the lowest scores in the mentioned domains. The findings also revealed the absence of any considerable difference between the groups in the domain of evaluating.

Predicting the Extended Time Use of College Students With Disabilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-290
Author(s):  
Laura M. Spenceley ◽  
Whitney L. M. Wood ◽  
Marisa Valentino ◽  
Lawrence J. Lewandowski
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Test Accommodations ◽  
Extended Time ◽  
Group Setting ◽  
Test Taking ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
College Students With Disabilities

This study investigated the extent to which standardized reading performance, individual perceptions of reading and test taking skills, and test anxiety predict the amount of extended time needed to equalize test access for college students with disabilities. Thirty-seven college students with a specific learning disorder (LD) and/or an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis who received university test accommodations were recruited to participate in this study, along with 37 controls. All participants individually completed standardized reading tests and rating scales, and a timed reading comprehension task in a group setting. Results indicated that participants receiving test accommodations utilized approximately 14% more time than control participants to complete the timed reading task. Regression analyses indicated that the differences in time required to complete the reading comprehension task were related to participants’ reading fluency and decoding, as well as perceptions of the strength of their reading and test taking skills.

Children's understanding of pronouns that differ in scope of reference

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (05) ◽  
pp. 1012-1024
Author(s):  
Hakima MEGHERBI ◽  
Alix SEIGNEURIC ◽  
Jane OAKHILL ◽  
Steve BUENO
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Preceding Context ◽  
Linguistic Approaches

AbstractSome pronouns can refer to entities that vary widely in scope. In some cases, the referent might be a noun phrase, and in other cases it might be a whole proposition. In the cases of pronouns with a noun phrase antecedent, an already existing referent is reactivated from the preceding context. In the case of pronouns with a propositional antecedent, the referent must be reformulated. The interpretation and use of such pronouns was investigated in 150 eight-year-old children in a reading comprehension task. Experiment 1 used a referent specification task and Experiment 2 used a completion task. It was more difficult for children to process a pronoun when its antecedent was a proposition compared to a noun phrase. These results are in line with the linguistic approaches (e.g., Gundel et al., 2005) according to which processing of pronouns with a propositional antecedent is more complex and requires greater cognitive effort.

Effects of Music Information Load on a Reading Comprehension Task

1989 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 531-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derrick M. Kiger
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Information Load ◽  
School Students ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Female High School ◽  
Music Information ◽  
High Information

27 male and 27 female high school students read a passage of literature in the presence of silence, low information-load, or high information-load music. Comprehension was best in the first music condition, worst in the last condition.

The Effect of the Continuation Task on the Acquisition of the Chinese Spatial Phrase Structure by L2 Chinese Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeng Liyun ◽  
Mao Zhicheng ◽  
Jiang Lin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
L2 Chinese

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the effect of the continuation task (CT) on the acquisition of the Chinese spatial phrase structure (SPS) by learners of various L1 backgrounds learning Chinese as a second language (CSL). Two groups of participants were formed: a continuation group and a reading comprehension group. The former was required to continue in Chinese a text with its ending removed, while the latter needed to complete the Q&A questions after reading the same text. The effect of the tasks was measured by examining the CSL learners’ correct use of the Chinese SPS in three aspects — the circum-construction, the use of prepositions and the use of the locative. The study found that the continuation group made significant improvement from the pretest to the posttests while the reading comprehension group did not. Moreover, the continuation group outperformed the reading comprehension group significantly in the posttests, though there was no significant difference between them in the pretest. The results showed that CT can facilitate CSL learners’ acquisition of the Chinese SPS, with a better effect than the reading comprehension task.

scholarly journals Age, Language Difference and Proficiency as Determinant Factors in Learning Strategy Use

Lenguaje ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-197
Author(s):  
Feryal Cubukcu ◽  
Murat Bayalas
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
School Students ◽  
Language Difference ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency ◽  
Learning Strategy Use

This study examines how language difference, age, and proficiency are related to the choice and use of learning strategies by students completing a reading comprehension task. The aim of this study is to determine the learning strategies employed by two groups of students of different ages and with different foreign language proficiency levels. Participants of the study were 94 university students and 105 secondary school students. Participants were given a reading comprehension task in their native language, Turkish, and another in English, with the learning strategies they employed in the two languages categorized according to the Learning Strategies Determining Scale. It was observed that language difference, age and proficiency were influential factors in determining which learning strategies individuals used.

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