scholarly journals Reading Comprehension of Subject-specific Texts in a Foreign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-124
Author(s):  
Alenka Umek
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Disciplinary Literacy ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Verbal Protocols ◽  
Local Approach ◽  
Think Alouds ◽  
Subject Specific

This study investigates the patterns used by economics and business students in reading comprehension (RC) of subject-specific texts in a foreign language (FL), particularly in relation to their use of background knowledge (BK). The think-aloud (TA) method was used and the data were derived from readers’ verbal protocols. The coding of protocols yielded seventeen coding categories. The results were analysed and compared between two groups: one with high and one with low knowledge as determined by a prior BK assessment. The coding data were linked to the reading comprehension test results and typical patterns were established. Readers with high BK used more correct paraphrasing, inferencing, elaboration, and evaluation. In contrast, readers with low BK took more of a local approach to reading by focusing more on individual words. They frequently used English in their Slovene think-alouds, produced wrong and approximate paraphrases, and signalled lack of understanding. The article closes by examining implications for FL reading instruction and developing disciplinary literacy.

scholarly journals Effect of Paper and E-Dictionaries on Iranian EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Shiva Grami ◽  
Mahmood Hashemian
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Treatment Design

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of paper and e-dictionaries on Iranian intermediate learners' reading comprehension. To this end, 90 female English Foreign language learners were randomly selected and assigned into 2 experimental groups (e-dictionaries and paper dictionaries groups) and 1 control group. All the groups took a pretest using no dictionaries. After 2 weeks of treatment design for the experimental groups, all the 3 groups took part in the posttest. The experimental groups did their task with their relevant dictionaries, whereas the control group did their task without using any kind of dictionary. Data were analyzed through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and paired samples t test. Results showed that the participants’ reading comprehension improved from the pretest to the posttest in both experimental groups. Results also indicated that the learners in the e-dictionaries group outperformed those in the paper dictionaries group. The outcome of study reveals that e-dictionaries could improve students’ reading comprehension by motivating them, shortening the time of searching words and reading a text, and increasing the number of look ups. 

scholarly journals Teaching Reading Comprehension In EFL Classroom: A Glance At Some Approaches And Activities

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Livianni Lambe
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Teaching Reading ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Comprehension Skills ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom

 English reading educators in English Foreign Language classroom in Indonesian are often mystified how to teach well reading comprehension to their students. This paper will propose about pedagogy of teaching reading comprehension in EFL classroom relating to the activities in reading instruction, comprehension skills focusing on primary and intermediate level ,and strategies in teaching reading comprehension  in order to become their students as effective readers and to improve their students’ reading comprehension suitable with students’ English reading proficiency.Key words: reading comprehension, activities in reading, primary, intermediate level, strategies.

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.

The Generalization of Instruction on Genitive Relative Clause in the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language

2006 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 99-113
Author(s):  
Akihiro Ito
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Special Instruction ◽  
Japanese Learners

This study examines the generalization of instruction in foreign language learning. A group of Japanese learners of English served as participants and received special instruction in the structure of genitive relative clauses. The participants were given a pre-test on combining two sentences into one containing a genitive relative clause wherein the relativized noun phrase following the genitive marker "whose" is either the subject, direct object, or object of preposition. Based on the TOEFL and the pre-test results, four equal groups were formed; three of these served as experimental groups, and one as the control group. Each experimental group was given instruction on the formation of only one type of genitive relative clause. The participants were then given two post-tests. The results indicated that the generalization of learning begins from structures that are typologically more marked genitive relative clauses to those structures that are typologically less marked, and not vice versa.

Promoting positive washforward through personalised test feedback and other benefits: Piloting a computer-based testing system

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-244
Author(s):  
Elena A. M. Gandini ◽  
Tania Horák
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Testing System ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Test Feedback ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Computer Based Testing ◽  
The University ◽  
Future Learning ◽  
Personalised Feedback

AbstractThis contribution reports on the developing and piloting of a computer-based version of the test of English as a foreign language produced by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), where it is currently used for the admission of international students and the subsequent evaluation of their language progress. Among other benefits, computer-based testing allows for better and individualised feedback to both teachers and students, and it can provide a more authentic test experience in light of the current digital shift that UK universities are undergoing. In particular, the qualitative improvement in the feedback available for test-takers and teachers was for us a crucial factor. Providing students with personalised feedback, that is, directly linked to their performance, has positive washforward, because it means we can guide their future learning, highlighting the areas they need to work on to improve their language skills and giving them suggestions on how to succeed in academia. Furthermore, explaining the meaning of test results in detail improves transparency and ultimately washback, as teachers can use the more accessible marking criteria, together with information on how their students performed, to review plans and schemes of work for subsequent courses.

scholarly journals Evidence for complementary effects of code- and knowledge-focused reading instruction

2021 ◽  
pp. 026565902110142
Author(s):  
Meghan Vollebregt ◽  
Jana Leggett ◽  
Sherry Raffalovitch ◽  
Colin King ◽  
Deanna Friesen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Nonsense Word ◽  
Dialogic Reading ◽  
Written Expression ◽  
Word Decoding ◽  
School Year ◽  
One Year

There is growing recognition of the need to end the debate regarding reading instruction in favor of an approach that provides a solid foundation in phonics and other underlying language skills to become expert readers. We advance this agenda by providing evidence of specific effects of instruction focused primarily on the written code or on developing knowledge. In a grade 1 program evaluation study, an inclusive and comprehensive program with a greater code-based focus called Reading for All (RfA) was compared to a knowledge-focused program involving Dialogic Reading. Phonological awareness, letter word recognition, nonsense word decoding, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, written expression and vocabulary were measured at the beginning and end of the school year, and one year after in one school only. Results revealed improvements in all measures except listening comprehension and vocabulary for the RfA program at the end of the first school year. These gains were maintained for all measures one year later with the exception of an improvement in written expression. The Dialogic Reading group was associated with a specific improvement in vocabulary in schools from lower socioeconomic contexts. Higher scores were observed for RfA than Dialogic Reading groups at the end of the first year on nonsense word decoding, phonological awareness and written expression, with the differences in the latter two remaining significant one year later. The results provide evidence of the need for interventions to support both word recognition and linguistic comprehension to better reading comprehension.

scholarly journals Reading comprehension and strategy awareness of Grade 11 English second language learners

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madoda Cekiso
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Strategy Instruction ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Group Design ◽  
English Second Language ◽  
Grade 11

The aim of this study was to examine the reading strategies used by Grade 11 English Second Language (ESL) learners and the possible effects of reading instruction on their reading comprehension and strategy awareness. A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test control group design was used. The participants included a total of 60 Grade 11 learners from a high school. The results of this study indicate that (1) learners who received reading strategy instruction scored both statistically and practically significantly higher marks on the reading comprehension test than those in the control group and (2) explicit instruction in the use of reading strategies was essential to bring about the increased use of reading strategies of learners in the experimental group. The study has implications for learners, teachers, university students and lecturers.

scholarly journals Applying Sight Translation as a Means to Enhance Reading Ability of Iranian EFL Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Moslem Fatollahi
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Comprehension Ability ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Iranian Context ◽  
Reading Comprehension Ability

<p>Sight translation is the oral translation of a written text and is a mixture of translation and interpreting. Sight translation is a widely-used activity in translation training programs. Yet, this mode of translation has rarely been applied as a reading instruction technique in Iranian EFL instruction context in spite of the growing interest in using sight translation in language teaching and learning. This study aims at investigating the effect of sight translation on the reading comprehension ability of Iranian undergraduate EFL students. This is a quasi-experimental study involving treatment. To this end, four reading comprehension classes involving 70 learners were divided into two groups, with the experimental one receiving reading instruction with sight translation exercises and the control group receiving reading instruction without sight translation exercises. The posttest results revealed that the experimental group performing sight translation exercises in classroom outperformed the control group who had not engaged in sight translation. This study has implications for ELT instructors and learners in an Iranian context as they can use sight translation exercises as an effective technique for improving the reading comprehension ability of their learners.</p>

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