effect of age and font on reading ability

To inform our knowledge of the typographical variables of stroke weight, letter width, and letter spacing, and their effects on different age groups and reading scenarios, we used Radner Reading Chart, where we measured reading speed at different sizes, to compare the fonts KBH Text, KBH Display, and Gill Sans Light. The experiment showed that for older participants, reading Gill Sans resulted in faster reading speed compared to KBH Text. However, Gill Sans could not be recognized at small sizes by either the younger or older participants. For critical print size (CPS), older participants were better at reading small print sizes at a regular reading speed when the text was set in KBH Text than when it was set in Gill Sans. The findings indicate that older readers are more sensitive to font legibility differences than younger readers. We discuss the implications of different reading scenarios putting different demands on the fonts as well as the perspective of older readers benefitting from certain visual qualities of fonts.

The Application of Let's Read! in Extensive Reading Class: Integrating MALL and Task-based Learning

Doing national program so called School Literacy Movement (GLS), classes are expected to do 15-minute regular reading activity every day; including English classes in elementary schools. Witnessing that some classes are having limited English story books to read as well as ready-to-use follow-up activities, this article proposes reading activities using e-book application Let’s Read! that can be applied after the regular reading activities. Ranging from the low leveled-books to the advanced ones, the proposed activities in this extensive reading class are integrated; combining tasks that require children to experience Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) as well as having both individual and group offline work. This type of reading activity promotes L2 learner language development, increases their motivation in reading, and helps them build reading habits. At the same time, the alpha generation maximizes the use of technology to get themselves updated with the changing use of online applications such as Let’s Read!

First contact with language corpora: perspectives from students

Corpora are not the preserve of corpus linguists. In education, learners and teachers can analyse almost any collection of text for linguistic or non-linguistic purposes where regular reading is not efficient or feasible. This paper describes students’ first contact with corpora in a distance master’s degree where they are required to build a corpus on a topic of their choice and complete a short research report. Following a brief outline of the course, we turn to a description of 122 papers submitted over the last 5 years, with particular attention on the Personal Feedback sections of each among both high- and low-achievers. The opening sentences typically reveal bewilderment on initial encounter with corpus linguistics, which contrasts with growing mastery or sudden enlightenment. Further analysis of the 30k-word corpus suggests that a corpus approach may not be immediately easy, but most users can derive benefits with a little perseverance even in adverse conditions.

The Habits and Hermeneutics of Digital Bible Readers: Comparing Print and Screen Engagement, Comprehension, and Behavior

Christians in general and American evangelicals in particular are increasingly using digital media to access Scripture, but it is unclear how this shift is influencing the behaviors they value most: regular reading and in-depth study. Using survey data, assessments of comprehension, and daily reading progress, this study examines how engagement with the Bible varies between print and screens. Results indicated that American evangelicals use a combination of print and digital forms of Scripture based on the kind of engagement they want to carry out (devotional reading, in-depth study, prayer, etc.). The data also suggest readers have lower comprehension when reading the Bible on screens compared to print. Readers using mobile devices are more likely to engage scripture daily than those using printed Bibles, and these effects are more pronounced in male readers than female readers.

One page of text: Eye movements during regular and thorough reading, skimming, and spell checking.

Eye movements during regular reading, thorough reading, skimming, and spell checking of single pages of text were measured, to investigate how high-level reading tasks elicited by instructions affect reading behavior. Word frequency and word length effects were found. All results were compared to regular reading. Thorough reading involved longer total reading times and more rereading, and resulted in higher comprehension scores. Skimming involved longer saccades, shorter average fixation durations, more word skipping, shorter total reading times evenly distributed across the page, and resulted in lower comprehension scores. Spell checking involved shorter saccades, longer average fixation durations, less word skipping, longer total reading times evenly distributed across the entire page, and resulted in lower comprehension scores. Replicating local effects shows that paragraphs maintain sufficient experimental rigor, while also enabling reading analyses from a global perspective. Compared to regular reading, thorough reading was more elaborate and less uniform, skimming was faster and more uniform, and spell checking was slower and more uniform.

On Suggestions of Strategy Training in Reading Comprehension

This paper introduces the goals of strategy training and provides kinds of forms that are taken when designing strategy training. Models are firstly listed to make sense of general procedures of strategy training which ensue an approach to integrating strategy training into the regular reading classroom, as a blueprint for teachers to put it into practice.

Using Software to Analyse Patterns of Recurrence in the Poetry of the Psalms

This article shows that automated analysis of Hebrew poetry can reveal structural aspects of the thought of an ancient poet which are clear in the aural nature of the text but are not obvious through regular reading techniques of the modern world especially in translation.

Delving Deeper: Filling In the Gaps

Perhaps inspired by my regular reading of Mathematics Teacher's “Delving Deeper” department, I recently took another look at two sets of equations that I usually give to high school students for practice in discovering and then verifying patterns.