scholarly journals Text Complexity Modulates Cross-Linguistic Sentence Integration in L2 Reading

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibylla Leon Guerrero ◽  
Veronica Whitford ◽  
Laura Mesite ◽  
Gigi Luk
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Component Skills ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Linear Regression Modeling

Cross-linguistic influences (CLI) in first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) reading have been widely demonstrated in experimental paradigms with adults at the word and sentence levels. However, less is known about CLI in adolescents during naturalistic text reading. Through eye-tracking and behavioral measures, this study investigated expository reading in functionally English monolingual and Spanish (L1) - English (L2) bilingual adolescents. In particular, we examined the role of L1 (Spanish) sentence integration skills among the bilingual adolescents when L2 school texts contained challenging syntactic structures, such as complex clauses, elaborated noun phrases, and anaphoric references. Results of generalized multilevel linear regression modeling demonstrated CLI in both offline comprehension and online eye-tracking measures that were modulated by school text characteristics. We found a positive relationship (i.e., facilitation) between L1 sentence integration skills and L2 English text comprehension, especially for passages with greater clause complexity. Similar main, but not modulatory, effects of sentence integration skill were found in online eye-tracking measures. Overall, both language groups appeared to draw upon similar reading component skills to support reading fluency and comprehension when component skills were measured only in English. However, differential patterns of association across languages became evident when those skills were measured in both L1 and L2. Taken together, our findings suggest that bilingual adolescents’ engagement of cross-linguistic resources in expository reading varies dynamically according to both language-specific semantic knowledge and language-general sentence integration skills, and is modulated by text features, such as syntactic complexity.

scholarly journals Morphological awareness in L1 and L2 reading skills

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vassiliki Tsela ◽  
Georgia Andreou ◽  
Maria Liakou ◽  
Julie Baseki
Keyword(s):  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
First Language ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Reading Efficiency ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Student’S Performance ◽  
L1 And L2

The present study investigated the effect of morphological awareness on three measures of reading, namely decoding, fluency and comprehension, in Greek as a first language (L1) and in French as a foreign language (L2). Morphological awareness was assessed via two tasks, a verb inflection task and a word production task. The results of this study indicated that the student’s performance in the two morphological tasks was significantly associated with their performance in the reading tasks. Our results support our hypothesis that morphological awareness can be a significant predictor of the high or low performances in decoding, reading fluency and reading comprehension in both L1 and L2 and it plays a critical role in reading efficiency.

scholarly journals Reading in English as a Foreign language: Examining differences in reading speed, comprehension, efficacy and L1 cross-linguistic influence across grades

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Àngels Llanes Baró
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
First Language ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
L1 And L2

Reading in a second or foreign language (L2) is a more complicated process than reading in one's first language because it requires additional demands on the reader. Reading can be assessed from various domains. Reading fluency is known to be the most determining domain to identify reading problems (Rasinski, 2000). However, the goal of reading is comprehending a text, so comprehension should not be disregarded either. Despite the importance of reading in an L2, few studies have focused on examining its effects. The goal of the present study is threefold: first, to provide the estimates of L2 English reading rates of L1 Catalan/Spanish students of different ages and grades; second, to examine whether there are significant differences between participants of different grades in terms of reading rates, comprehension and efficacy; and third, to explore whether the students' reading rates in the L1 are correlated with their L2 reading rates and if so, the extent to which L1 reading rates explain L2 reading rates. 790 Catalan/Spanish learners of English participated in the present study. Participants were from 5th grade primary (age 12) to 2nd baccalaureate (age 18). They were asked to read two texts, one in English and the other one in their L1 (they could choose between Catalan or Spanish). They were asked to answer 7 multiple-choice comprehension questions after reading each text. Next, their scores on fluency (words read per minute), comprehension (percentage of comprehended text) and efficacy (a formula that integrates speed and comprehension) were obtained. Results show that reading fluency and comprehension are not linear and that they do not necessarily improve over time. Results also show that L1 and L2 reading fluency rates are highly correlated and that L1 reading rates explain a large percentage of L2 reading rates.

scholarly journals A STUDY OF FIELD GEOTHERMAL POWER POTENTIAL & THERMODYNAMIC CONCEPTS OF PROSPECTIVE BINARY POWER CYCLE BASED GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT FOR TATAPANI GEOTHERMAL FIELD.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-126
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Reading Development ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Geothermal Field ◽  
Geothermal Power

Dyslexia is a neuro developmental reading disorder that degrades the speed and accuracy of word recogni- tion, and as a consequence, impedes reading fluency and text comprehension. Between 5 and 10 percent of the population are normally affected by it. It has long been known that the eye movements of dyslexic readers differ from those of typical readers. The dataset for this study has been taken from the dataset used by a similar study (Benfatto et al., 2016). The experiments reported by the authors are based on eye tracking data from 185 subjects participating in the Kronoberg reading development project, a longitudinal research project on reading development and reading disability in Swedish school children running between 1989 and 2010. For our present study, we use eye movement recordings made while the subjects were reading a short natural passage of text adapted to their age. Recordings were available for 185 subjects, 97 High Risk (HR) subjects (76 males and 21 females) and 88 Low Risk(LR) subjects (69 males and 19 females Machine learning based predictive model developed in this study employ feature set based on eye fixations and saccades parameters and can be used to give individual level diagnosis with high sensitivity and specificity. Using statistical cross-validation techniques on a sample of 97 dyslexic and 88 control subjects, we achieve a classification accuracy of over 96% with balanced levels of sensitivity and specificity. Diagnostic follow-up of a screening result is always necessary so that intervention strategies can be personalized. Nevertheless, early identification of individuals in need of support is the first important step in this process and using eye tracking along with this system during reading may prove very useful. The system’s accuracy can be further enhanced by collecting a larger sample and then training these and other classification models.

scholarly journals L2 reading and vocabulary development after a short Study Abroad experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-55
Author(s):  
Judith Borràs ◽  
Àngels Llanes
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Vocabulary Skills ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Reading Text

This study explores the development of L2 reading and vocabulary as a result of a short (3-week) SA experience. Given the growing literature on Study Abroad (SA) research, this investigation attempts to shed some light on two rather under-researched areas such as L2 reading and vocabulary, and it does so with a group of adolescents (n= 52), a population often neglected by the SA research despite being one of the most common participants in SA programmes. The participants, Spanish learners of English (L2), were administered a placement test to determine their initial L2 level, a reading text (from which fluency and comprehension were calculated), the Updated Vocabulary Level Test to measure their receptive vocabulary knowledge, and a written essay to capture their productive vocabulary development in terms of lexical accuracy, fluency, density and sophistication. The results indicate that short SA experiences are positive for both reading fluency and comprehension as well as for receptive vocabulary development. Findings are not so positive in terms of productive vocabulary skills. Finally, results failed to show a direct relationship between gains in reading, and initial proficiency and vocabulary level.

scholarly journals Reading in English as a Foreign language: Examining differences in reading speed, comprehension, efficacy and L1 cross-linguistic influence across grades

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-49
Author(s):  
Àngels Llanes Baró
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
First Language ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
L1 And L2

Reading in a second or foreign language (L2) is a more complicated process than reading in one's first language because it requires additional demands on the reader. Reading can be assessed from various domains. Reading fluency is known to be the most determining domain to identify reading problems (Rasinski, 2000). However, the goal of reading is comprehending a text, so comprehension should not be disregarded either. Despite the importance of reading in an L2, few studies have focused on examining its effects. The goal of the present study is threefold: first, to provide the estimates of L2 English reading rates of L1 Catalan/Spanish students of different ages and grades; second, to examine whether there are significant differences between participants of different grades in terms of reading rates, comprehension and efficacy; and third, to explore whether the students' reading rates in the L1 are correlated with their L2 reading rates and if so, the extent to which L1 reading rates explain L2 reading rates. 790 Catalan/Spanish learners of English participated in the present study. Participants were from 5th grade primary (age 12) to 2nd baccalaureate (age 18). They were asked to read two texts, one in English and the other one in their L1 (they could choose between Catalan or Spanish). They were asked to answer 7 multiple-choice comprehension questions after reading each text. Next, their scores on fluency (words read per minute), comprehension (percentage of comprehended text) and efficacy (a formula that integrates speed and comprehension) were obtained. Results show that reading fluency and comprehension are not linear and that they do not necessarily improve over time. Results also show that L1 and L2 reading fluency rates are highly correlated and that L1 reading rates explain a large percentage of L2 reading rates.

scholarly journals Smart Reading Aid for Detecting Problems With Reading Fluency and Comprehension

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán Rusák ◽  
Niels van de Water ◽  
Bram de Smit ◽  
Imre Horváth ◽  
Wilhelm Frederik Van Der Vegte
Keyword(s):  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Brain Signals ◽  
Normal Reading ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Functional Prototype ◽  
Tracking Technology ◽  
Processing Difficulty

Brain signal and eye tracking technology have been intensively applied in cognitive science in order to study reading, listening and learning processes. Though promising results have been found in laboratory experiments, there are no smart reading aids that are capable to estimate difficulty during normal reading. This paper presents a new concept that aims to tackle this challenge. Based on a literature study and an experiment, we have identified several indicators for characterizing word processing difficulty by interpreting electroencelography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG) signals. We have defined a computational model based on fuzzy set theory, which estimates the probability of word processing and comprehension difficulty during normal reading. The paper also presents a concept and functional prototype of a smart reading aid, which is used to demonstrate the feasibility of our solution. The results of our research proves that it is possible to implement a smart reading aid that is capable to detect reading difficulty in real time. We show that the most reliable indicators are related to eye movement (i.e. fixation and regression), while brain signals are less dependable sources for indicating word processing difficulty during continuous reading.

The Effect of In-School Saccadic Training on Reading Fluency and Comprehension in First and Second Grade Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Dodick ◽  
Amaal J. Starling ◽  
Jennifer Wethe ◽  
Yi Pang ◽  
Leonard V. Messner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Second Grade Students ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Physical Foundation ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
And Control

Efficient eye movements provide a physical foundation for proficient reading skills. We investigated the effect of in-school saccadic training on reading performance. In this cross-over design, study participants (n = 327, 165 males; mean age [SD]: 7 y 6 mo [1y 1 mo]) were randomized into treatment and control groups, who then underwent eighteen 20-minute training sessions over 5 weeks using King-Devick Reading Acceleration Program Software. Pre- and posttreatment reading assessments included fluency, comprehension, and rapid number naming performance. The treatment group had significantly greater improvement than the control group in fluency (6.2% vs 3.6%, P = .0277) and comprehension (7.5% vs 1.5%, P = .0002). The high-needs student group significantly improved in fluency ( P < .001) and comprehension ( P < .001). We hypothesize these improvements to be attributed to the repetitive practice of reading-related eye movements, shifting visuospatial attention, and visual processing. Consideration should be given to teaching the physical act of reading within the early education curriculum.

scholarly journals Unique Screener of Reading Fluency and Comprehension for Adolescents and Adults

Psychology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 45-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry Mee Bell ◽  
Kelli Caldwell Miller ◽  
Ralph Steve McCallum ◽  
Michael Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Adolescents And Adults
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