scholarly journals The Four-Dimensional Model: Interaction of Schemata in the Process of FL Reading Comprehension

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adina Levine ◽  
Thea Reves
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
Model Interaction ◽  
Tentative Model ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Research Questions

This paper reports on a study which investigated the interactive effect of different types of schemata on successful text comprehension in a Foreign Language. The tentative model of the study is four-dimensional: the dimension of overall reading comprehension was assumed to be the result of an interaction of linguistic, content and formal schemata. The following research questions were specifically asked: What is the combined effect of the three types of schemata? What is the relative weight of each of the three types of schemata? What is the influence of schematainducing activities on FL reading comprehension? The results of the study confirm that all the three types of schemata contribute to overall text comprehension, both separately and cumulatively, although to differing extents. It can also be assumed that schematainducing activities may indirectly affect overall text comprehension by arousing the reader's appropriate schemata.

scholarly journals Item Types: Their Effect on the Sensitivity of Multiple-Choice Cloze Tests

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Abby Deng-Huei Lee
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Vocational College ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Item Types ◽  
Comprehension Tests

To evaluate the sensitivity of multiple-choice cloze (MCC) tests that use different types of items—syntactic, semantic, and connective—to assess reading ability, 170 English as a foreign language (EFL) students in a vocational college in Taiwan were recruited. The students were divided into two groups (level A and level B) based on their scores on 4 classroom reading comprehension tests. Both groups then took 9 MCC tests that included a total of 50 cloze questions. Connective items were most sensitive for assessing reading ability. Research results and pedagogical applications are discussed.

scholarly journals METHODS OF READING TEXTS IN THE FIELD IN UKRAINIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

2020 ◽  
pp. 32-34
Author(s):  
І. Milieva ◽  
М. Khodakivska
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
First Year ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Future ◽  
Grammatical Skills ◽  
Preparation Work ◽  
Positive Results

The article deals with issues related to communication activities taught by foreign citizens. Attention is drawn to the fact that there are many unresolved issues in the methodological literature concerning the passive types of communicative activity. This article is devoted to one of these types ‒ reading, and more specifically to problems related to different types of reading in classes from Ukrainian as a foreign language. After analyzing some of the issues surrounding the topic of the study, attention is drawn to this type of reading preparation work as a study. It is emphasized that professional texts that are of practical importance for foreign students play an important role in the study of reading, helping to master the future profession. The authors of the article provide a brief description of the types of work with texts and recommendations on the types of tasks to work with them. A set of tasks for working with the text "What is Architecture?" is offered. This text can be used in classes with students of the first year of architectural and construction specialties. The pre-reading tasks are described in detail and specific examples of their application are presented (tasks for eliminating lexical difficulties, tasks for working with keywords of the text, tasks for recognizing words on formal and semantic grounds, on learning grammatical constructions, as well as tasks for improving grammatical skills). Examples of tasks that are performed directly while reading are offered, as well as post-reading tasks that are limited to traditional tasks (complete sentences based on text, retype text, etc.). Attention is also paid to the organization of methodical work in which it is possible to achieve positive results, in the text should be relevant, the texts should be selected according to the speech level of foreign students, the tasks before the text should be aimed at overcoming lexical and grammatical difficulties, and after the text should be set by the purpose is to test reading comprehension and to prepare for reproduction of the text.

scholarly journals An investigation of Chinese university EFL learner’s foreign language reading anxiety, reading strategy use and reading comprehension performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongshe Lu ◽  
Meihua Liu
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
General Anxiety ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Foreign Language Reading ◽  
Reading Anxiety

The present study explored the interrelations between foreign language (FL) reading anxiety, FL reading strategy use and their interactive effect on FL reading comprehension performance at the tertiary level in China. Analyses of the survey data collected from 1702 university students yielded the following results: (a) Both Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and Foreign Language Reading Strategy Use Scale (FLRSUS) had important subcomponents, (b) more than half of the students generally did not feel anxious when reading English, and were confident in and satisfied with their English reading proficiency. Meanwhile, (c) more than half of them moderately used different types of reading strategies such as planning, checking and confirming, predicting and assessing, when reading English, (d) compared with their female peers, male students felt significantly more anxious when facing reading activities, less satisfied with their English reading proficiency, and used specific analyzing and planning strategies significantly less often during a reading activity, (e) FLRAS was significantly inversely related to FLRSUS, and both were significantly correlated with the students’ FL reading comprehension performance, and (f) FLRAS (overall FL reading anxiety), FLRAS1 (general anxiety about FL reading), and FLRSUS2 (predicting strategies) were good predictors of FL reading comprehension performance. Based on the findings, some implications are discussed.

Development of reading comprehension from middle childhood to adolescence

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dafna Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
School Students ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Impact

The study considers the impact of cognitive development and discourse-based factors on the ability to understand different types of written texts from middle childhood across adolescence. Reading comprehension was examined by responses to four types of questions — literal, inferential, integrative, and metatextual — based on narrative and expository texts assigned to monolingual Hebrew speakers at four age-schooling levels (4th, 7th, 11th graders, and adults). Distributional analyses revealed higher scores on comprehension of narrative compared with expository texts in the two younger groups, with comprehension continuing to improve in both genres up to 11th grade and responses of high-school students close to those of the adult participants. Qualitative evaluations of responses to the different types of questions revealed progression from a superficial grasp of basic information to in-depth interpretation of the text as a whole, with more advanced reading comprehension manifested by the ability to combine an integrative approach to text comprehension with attention to specific details and to process information from diverse points of view.

scholarly journals Purported use and self-awareness of cognitive and metacognitive foreign language reading strategies in tertiary education in Mozambique

Afrika Focus ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-47
Author(s):  
Manuel Cabinda
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Level

This paper explores the results of a Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS)-based questionnaire administered to 28 university student participants. The study is carried out in a post-colonial multilingual context, Mozambique. The main aims of the paper are to assess the degree of purported use and awareness of participants own use of reading comprehension skills and strategies in a foreign language (English). The participants were tested for their reading text comprehension using an IELTS comprehension test (Cabinda, 2013). The results revealed low reading comprehension levels. Results contrast with results from the SORS-based questionnaire (Cabinda, 2013) which revealed claims of use of a wide range of cognitive, metacognitive and supply strategies – aspects of high level reading ability and text comprehension. Conclusions show that the participants used or claimed to chiefly use metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies equally, matching the behaviour of good readers, but they also reported a high degree of supply strategies to construe meaning from text, mainly code-switching, translation and cognates. The latter confirms results from studies by Jimenez et al. (1995, 1996) and Zhang & Wu (2009), yet do not conclusively show a correlation between the participants’ degree of text comprehension and their effective use of reading skills and strategies to construe meaning. Further conclusions show that the reported high use of these L1 (Portuguese or other) related supply strategies (not used by English L1 readers) does not aid their reading comprehension.

scholarly journals Purported use and self-awareness of cognitive and metacognitive foreign language reading strategies in tertiary education in Mozambique

Afrika Focus ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Cabinda
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Level

This paper explores the results of a Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS)-based questionnaire administered to 28 university student participants. The study is carried out in a post-colonial multilingual context, Mozambique. The main aims of the paper are to assess the degree of purported use and awareness of participants own use of reading comprehension skills and strategies in a foreign language (English). The participants were tested for their reading text comprehension using an IELTS comprehension test (Cabinda, 2013). The results revealed low reading comprehension levels. Results contrast with results from the SORS-based questionnaire (Cabinda, 2013) which revealed claims of use of a wide range of cognitive, metacognitive and supply strategies – aspects of high level reading ability and text comprehension. Conclusions show that the participants used or claimed to chiefly use metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies equally, matching the behaviour of good readers, but they also reported a high degree of supply strate- gies to construe meaning from text, mainly code-switching, translation and cognates. The latter cofirms results from studies by Jimenez et al. (1995, 1996) and Zhang & Wu (2009), yet do not conclusively show a correlation between the participants’ degree of text comprehension and their effective use of reading skills and strategies to construe meaning. Further conclusions show that the reported high use of these L1 (Portuguese or other) related supply strategies (not used by English L1 readers) does not aid their reading comprehension. Key words : EFL, reading strategies, cognition, metacognition, awareness 

The Effect of Vocabulary Intervention on Text Comprehension: Who Benefits?

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawna Duff
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Classroom Instruction ◽  
Vocabulary Instruction ◽  
Clinical Intervention ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Intervention ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference

Purpose Vocabulary intervention can improve comprehension of texts containing taught words, but it is unclear if all middle school readers get this benefit. This study tests 2 hypotheses about variables that predict response to vocabulary treatment on text comprehension: gains in vocabulary knowledge due to treatment and pretreatment reading comprehension scores. Method Students in Grade 6 ( N = 23) completed a 5-session intervention based on robust vocabulary instruction (RVI). Knowledge of the semantics of taught words was measured pre- and posttreatment. Participants then read 2 matched texts, 1 containing taught words (treated) and 1 not (untreated). Treated texts and taught word lists were counterbalanced across participants. The difference between text comprehension scores in treated and untreated conditions was taken as a measure of the effect of RVI on text comprehension. Results RVI resulted in significant gains in knowledge of taught words ( d RM = 2.26) and text comprehension ( d RM = 0.31). The extent of gains in vocabulary knowledge after vocabulary treatment did not predict the effect of RVI on comprehension of texts. However, untreated reading comprehension scores moderated the effect of the vocabulary treatment on text comprehension: Lower reading comprehension was associated with greater gains in text comprehension. Readers with comprehension scores below the mean experienced large gains in comprehension, but those with average/above average reading comprehension scores did not. Conclusion Vocabulary instruction had a larger effect on text comprehension for readers in Grade 6 who had lower untreated reading comprehension scores. In contrast, the amount that children learned about taught vocabulary did not predict the effect of vocabulary instruction on text comprehension. This has implications for the identification of 6th-grade students who would benefit from classroom instruction or clinical intervention targeting vocabulary knowledge.

Text Comprehension: Graphic Organizers to the Rescue

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-89
Author(s):  
Janet L. Proly ◽  
Jessica Rivers ◽  
Jamie Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Graphic Organizers ◽  
Expository Text ◽  
Supporting Evidence

Abstract Graphic organizers are a research based strategy used for facilitating the reading comprehension of expository text. This strategy will be defined and the evolution and supporting evidence for the use of graphic organizers will be discussed. Various types of graphic organizers and resources for SLPs and other educators will also be discussed.

Reading Comprehension for ESL Students. Processes of Perceiving Texts

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-282
Author(s):  
Maria-Miruna Ciocoi-Pop
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Reading ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Esl Students ◽  
Unknown Words ◽  
Second Language Reading Comprehension ◽  
Esl Learners

AbstractIn an ever-increasing competitive academic setting, university students are striving for proficiency in their skills of foreign languages. This paper aims to highlight the significance of reading comprehension for students of English as a second language. Reading comprehension is a cognitive process, in other words, reading a text means processing and decoding it. Reading proficiency is linked to numerous aspects, such as age, cognitive processes, abilities, knowledge of the foreign language, etc. It goes without saying that the experience of reading a text, be it literary or non-literary, is more enjoyable without the need to constantly look up unknown words. This brief study also tries to show whether there is a direct connection between finding contentment in reading and comprehending the texts itself. Since reading is a key-skill verified in all major language exams, it is crucial for the ESL class, and not only, to include reading comprehension processes. Like any other skill, reading comprehension can be trained, as long as it is perceived as a procedure which requires the student’s commitment. Reading comprehension is a mechanism of phrase and concept identification, as well as of decoding meanings. Thus, this paper tries to emphasize the implications of reading comprehension and of teaching reading comprehension methods in the overall linguistic knowledge of ESL learners.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document