汉、英工作记忆的加工和储存对中学生英语阅读理解的影响

本研究采用"视空间和言语交替"任务范式分离言语工作记忆的加工和储存两个成分,分别探讨了英语工作记忆的加工和储存成分对我国中学生英语阅读理解的作用及其途径,以及汉语工作记忆的加工和储存成分对中学生英语阅读理解是否具有跨语言影响。98名初中二年级学生完成了一般认知能力、英语阅读理解、汉语和英语工作记忆任务。结果表明:(1)英语工作记忆的加工和储存成分对英语阅读理解均有显著的独立预测作用;(2)英语工作记忆的储存成分对英语阅读理解的作用部分是由加工成分引起的;(3)汉语工作记忆的加工成分对英语阅读理解没有显著的直接预测作用,但却以英语工作记忆的加工成分为中介间接作用于英语阅读理解;汉语工作记忆的储存成分对英语阅读理解没有显著的预测作用。可见,言语工作记忆是一个多成分系统,加工和储存两个成分是相对分离的,并且它们具有不同的跨语言特性,加工存在跨语言一般性,而储存则具有语言特异性。     

A Comparison of Phonological Awareness Skills in Early French Immersion and English Children

This 2-year study examined the effects of early second language exposure on phonological awareness skills. Syllable, onset-rime and phoneme awareness skills of 72 anglophone children attending English or French immersion programs in primary and grade 1 were investigated. Three-way mixed ANOVAS revealed the following effects and interactions. In terms of grade effect, grade 1 students performed significantly better than primary students on phoneme and onset-rime tasks. A stimulus language effect was observed for the three levels of phonological awareness. All children performed better on English tasks than on French ones. Interaction effects of stimulus language by program were revealed for phoneme as well as syllable tasks. Posthoc analyses revealed that French students performed better on English phoneme and syllable tasks than on French, while English students performed better than French immersion students on French syllable tasks. Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between reading and phoneme and onset-rime phonological awareness tasks regardless of program of instruction (English, French immersion) or language of reading test (English, French). Syllable awareness was only significantly correlated with the French non-word reading task for the French immersion students.     

Phonological Awareness and Beginning Reading in Spanish-Speaking ESL First Graders: Research into Practice

In the first study, 30 Spanish-speaking English-as-a-second language (ESL) first graders whose families were Latino immigrants and who received all their school instruction in English completed an assessment battery with both Spanish and English measures of phonological awareness, Verbal IQ (VIQ), oral language proficiency, and single-word reading (real words and pseudowords); they also named English alphabet letters. Phonological awareness in Spanish predicted (a) phonological awareness in English and (b) English word reading; thus, phonological awareness may transfer across first and second languages and across oral and written language. English VIQ and oral language proficiency predicted both English and Spanish word reading, but Spanish VIQ and oral language proficiency did not predict English word reading. In the second study, the 4 males and the 4 females with the lowest reading achievement participated in an instructional design experiment in which empirically supported instructional components for teaching beginning reading to monlingual English speakers were included. These components were phonological awareness training (in both Spanish and English), explicit instruction in alphabetic principle (in English), and repeated reading of engaging English text with comprehension monitoring (in English). Both individual students and the group as a whole increased in real-word reading and pseudoword reading beyond the level expected on the basis of their Spanish or English VIQ or oral proficiency. Implications of this research for school psychology practice are discussed, especially the importance of early reading intervention and progress monitoring for Spanish-speaking ESL first graders.     

Cross-Language Transfer of Early Literacy Skills: An Examination of Young Learners in a Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Elementary School

The present study investigates the relationship between first-language literacy skills and the acquisition of second-language reading skills for K–2 grade students enrolled in a Spanish–English two-way bilingual immersion program. Students received literacy instruction in their first language and oral language support in their second language. One hundred seventy-four students were administered subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson (Woodcock-Munoz) in English and Spanish. Findings support the theory of cross-linguistic transfer from the first language to the second language across both constrained and unconstrained literacy skills for both monolingual and bilingual students included in this study. However, findings also suggest interesting differences across language groups.     

Examining the role of time and language type in reading development for English Language Learners

The purpose of this study was to examine the development of English reading achievement among English Language Learners (ELLs) and to determine whether the time that an ELL's family was in the United States and the type of native language spoken affected their reading development. Participants were 300 third-grade ELLs from two different native language backgrounds (93 Somali-speaking and 207 Spanish-speaking students) who attended a large Midwestern urban school district. Students' reading achievement was assessed using curriculum-based measurement and a statewide reading assessment. Moderated multiple regression and multiple-group latent growth curve analyses were conducted. Results indicated that the time an ELL's family had been in the U.S. was an important factor in understanding the development of ELLs' reading achievement, whereas language type did not appear to be as important. Implications for research and practice associated with understanding and promoting English reading development among ELLs are discussed.     

Cognitive Mechanism Underlying the Relationship Between Rapid Automatized Naming and Reading: A Longitudinal Study on Bilingual Children

Rapid automatized naming has been demonstrated as an important correlate of various reading outcomes. However, the cognitive mechanism underlying the RAN–reading relationship is not well understood. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate three major theoretical accounts for the RAN–reading relationship: phonological processing account, orthographic processing account, and speed of processing explanation. Each theoretical account would lead to different predictions on cross-language transfer of RAN to reading. One-hundred twenty nine Chinese–English bilinguals were followed from Age 4 to Age 5. They were assessed at two time points for their word reading and RAN in Chinese and English. Both concurrent and longitudinal cross-language transfers of RAN to reading were examined. The cross-language transfers from English RAN to Chinese reading were found both concurrently and longitudinally but no transfer from Chinese RAN to English reading. Our results supported the orthographic processing account. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

中国香港双语儿童初步阅读能力与语音、文字加工关系的研究

采用音节检测、短时言语记忆、快速命名等语音加工任务和汉字、字母、数字等方向加工任务,探讨语音和文字加工在儿童初步阅读中的作用,116名6岁左右的香港双语儿童参加了测试。结果表明：语音加工能力是跨语言的比较稳定的因素,是预测汉语和英语阅读的较好指标;文字加工具有特异性．即汉字方向加工只能预测汉语阅读,字母方向加工则预测英语阅读。     

The effects of special reading time in Spanish on the reading abilities and attitudes of Hispanic junior high school students

The purpose of this study is to determine whether providing special reading time with a wide variety of reading materials in Spanish affects the reading abilities, reading attitudes and academic self-concepts of Hispanic junior high school students. Common reading measures in both English and Spanish, and related attitude tests, were given to 400 experimentally accessible Hispanic students. On most of the measures, the difference between the E and C groups was not statistically significant. On the 4 measures for which significance (=0.10) was attained (and on the other tests not achieving statistical significance) there was a trend for the E group to perform better on the Spanish reading tests and the C group to do better on the English reading tests. Differences on the reading attitude and academic self-concept tests did not approach statistical significance. The pattern of results was consistent for both sexes, and for students who were, and who were not, taking a Spanish language course, and for students whose teachers taught in both the E and C situations. E teachers who were conscientious in implementing the treatment tended to have significantly greater gains in both English and Spanish reading achievement. Within the E group gains in English and Spanish reading abilities were positively correlated.The authors wish to acknowledge and express gratitude to the administrators and teachers in the Tempe Elementary School District, Tempe, Arizona, who contributed much time and effort to this study; to the Division of Bilingual Education, Arizona Department of Education; and to the Department of Educational Technology and Library Science, Arizona State University, which made this study possible.     

Effects of phonological awareness and morphological awareness on blind students' reading comprehension

The exploration of blind students' reading skills is needed not only for further understanding their reading development but also for providing targeted suggestions for practical education. This study aims to examine the relations among phonological awareness (PA), homograph awareness (HA), compounding awareness (CA) and reading comprehension (RC), and explore the mediating effect of listening comprehension (LC) in Chinese blind students from elementary school. A total of 148 blind and 302 sighted elementary school students completed assessments of PA, HA, CA, LC and RC. The results found that PA, HA and CA were important variables that predicted Chinese blind and sighted students' RC not only directly but also indirectly through LC, which varied across different grades. The findings suggest that there were many similarities that exist in the influencing mechanism of RC between Chinese blind and sighted students.     

不同文章难度条件下文化特征类型熟悉度对阅读理解的影响

该研究考察了非英语专业具有不同英语语言水平学习者在不同难度条件下两种文化特征熟悉度对阅读理解的影响。研究发现：（1）语言水平高,或对材料背景熟悉的学习者可通过调用熟悉的文化背景知识帮助阅读理解,其得分均高于低水平,或对材料不熟悉的学习者;（2）在熟悉的文化背景条件下,当材料难度与学习者语言水平基本一致时,语言水平低的学习者也可较好地运用熟悉的文化背景知识帮助阅读理解。实验结果表明：文化特征的内容熟悉度和英语语言水平（或文章难度）对阅读理解起着重要作用,语言水平越高,作用越大。     

阅读教学在大学英语中作用

英语阅读教学对大学生综合能力的培养有着至关重要的作用。由于英语阅读教学的现状,我们有必要对英语阅读教学进行研究并且提出阅读的策略,原则和阅读技巧,以提高学生的英语阅读能力。     

Alphabetic and nonalphabetic L1 effects in English word identification: a comparison of Korean and Chinese English L2 learners

Different writing systems in the world select different units of spoken language for mapping. Do these writing system differences influence how first language (L1) literacy experiences affect cognitive processes in learning to read a second language (L2)? Two groups of college students who were learning to read English as a second language (ESL) were examined for their relative reliance on phonological and orthographic processing in English word identification: Korean students with an alphabetic L1 literacy background, and Chinese students with a nonalphabetic L1 literacy background. In a semantic category judgment task, Korean ESL learners made more false positive errors in judging stimuli that were homophones to category exemplars than they did in judging spelling controls. However, there were no significant differences in responses to stimuli in these two conditions for Chinese ESL learners. Chinese ESL learners, on the other hand, made more accurate responses to stimuli that were less similar in spelling to category exemplars than those that were more similar. Chinese ESL learners may rely less on phonological information and more on orthographic information in identifying English words than their Korean counterparts. Further evidence supporting this argument came from a phoneme deletion task in which Chinese subjects performed more poorly overall than their Korean counterparts and made more errors that were phonologically incorrect but orthographically acceptable. We suggest that cross-writing system differences in L1s and L1 reading skills transfer could be responsible for these ESL performance differences.     

Is the Chinese number-naming system transparent? Evidence from Chinese-English bilingual children.

Chinese-speaking children have been shown to have an advantage over English-speaking children in a variety of mathematical areas, including counting. One possible explanation for the advantage in counting is that the Chinese number-naming system is relatively transparent, compared to English, in that number names typically are directly indicative of base-10 structure (e.g., 12 is named "ten-two" rather than "twelve"). To determine whether the transparency of the Chinese number-naming system influences counting in bilingual children, we tested 25 Chinese-English bilingual children between the ages of 3 and 5 years, both in English and in Chinese. Children were asked to count as high as they could (abstract counting) and also to count objects in small, medium, and large arrays (object counting). No evidence was found for transparency or for transfer from one language to the other. Instead, relative proficiency in the two languages influenced counting skill. These results are discussed in terms of linguistic and cultural variables that might account for cross-linguistic differences in counting.     

双语儿童语音意识与词汇认读关系的研究

通过平行语音和词汇加工任务。对64名双语儿童英汉两种语言语音意识和词汇认读能力进行了双向测查。结果表明：双语儿童在两种语言不同语音意识和词汇认读之间存在跨语言的多重相关;在对其英语和汉语词汇认读能力的预测中,汉语音节辨认和英语音素识别均为重要的指标,表明语音意识对词汇认读能力具有跨语言的双向预测作用。     

Grade differences in reading motivation among Hong Kong primary and secondary students

Background Most previous studies in Western societies have demonstrated a general decline in school motivation. However, it is not clear whether motivational decline occurs uniformly for all students. The moderating effects of individual and cultural differences on students' motivational decline need to be further explored. Aims This study aimed to examine the grade differences in students' reading motivation, including self‐efficacy, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and social motivation, in a Chinese educational context. Grade by gender and grade by school‐average achievement interactions were also checked to explore the role of individual differences in students' motivational changes. Sample A total of 1,794 students (860 boys and 934 girls) volunteered to take part in this study, of whom 648 were Grade 4–6 students from 11 primary schools, 627 were Grade 7–9 students from 12 junior secondary schools, and 519 Grade 10–11 students from 6 senior secondary schools. Method A Chinese version of the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (CRMQ) was administered to all participants during regular class periods by their teachers. Reliability analyses and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were first undertaken to assess the psychometric quality of the CRMQ. Then, multisample CFA was conducted to examine whether the factor structure of the CRMQ was equivalent across students at different grade levels. Grade differences in various reading motivation constructs as well as grade × gender and grade × school‐average achievement interactions were examined using multiple‐indicator‐multiple‐causes modelling. Results The findings of this study supported the reliability and the factor structure of the CRMQ in measuring the reading motivation of Chinese students at different grade levels. The factor pattern of the CRMQ was invariant across primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary students in multisample CFA. As far as the scores on the four reading motivation constructs were concerned, students scored most highly on intrinsic motivation, followed by self‐efficacy, extrinsic motivation, and social motivation. Significant grade differences were found in all reading motivation constructs whereas only a few grade by gender and grade by school‐average interactions were found. Conclusion Consistent with previous studies in Western countries, the findings suggest that motivational decline is also a common phenomenon among Chinese students in Hong Kong. In addition, the pattern of motivational differences is generally consistent among students with different genders and from schools with different achievement levels. The implications of these findings for understanding Chinese students' reading motivation and for planning effective reading instruction to enhance their motivation are discussed.     

Subjective wellbeing and its relationship with academic achievement and multilinguality among Lebanese university students

The study investigated three subjective wellbeing (SWB) components, namely positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and life satisfaction (LS), along with optimism and self-esteem and their association with academic achievement and multilinguality in a sample of 1401 Lebanese university students. As predicted, optimism and self-esteem correlated positively with LS and PA, and negatively with NA. Optimism, self-esteem and each of the SWB components jointly predicted academic achievement (GPA), with PA being an individually significant positive predictor. There were differences in the five key variables across language groups, specifically between Arabic-only speakers and some other groups: Compared Arabic-only speakers, bilingual speakers of Arabic and either English or French scored higher on self-esteem, PA and optimism, and lower on NA, while trilingual speakers of Arabic, English, and French scored higher on self-esteem, PA and LS. Language grouping was a significant predictor of the SWB components, optimism, and self-esteem even when controlling for GPA, socioeconomic status (SES), and religion. Lastly, the relevance of SES and religion for the prediction of SWB is discussed, and implications and future research questions are advanced.     

Generalizability in the Mediation Effects of Parental Expectations on Children’s Cognitive Ability and Self-concept

Previous research involving Hong Kong Chinese parents and their children showed that parental home involvement, beliefs of their children’s cognitive ability and their expectations for academic achievement mediated the relationship between their children’s cognitive ability and school achievement scores. This mediation effect was interpreted as the cognitive-affect model of academic achievement. The current research confirms the generalizability of the findings and tests the hypothesis that there are cultural differences in the mediation effects with the inclusion of non-Chinese students and their parents as a comparison group. The responses from 103 Chinese speaking (CS) and 163 non-Chinese speaking (NCS) primary students and parents from two schools in Hong Kong were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Student measures included self-concept, cognitive ability and academic achievement in mathematics, English and Chinese. Parent measures included home involvement, beliefs of their child’s cognitive ability and expectations of academic success. Initial model showed that parental expectations mediate the link between cognitive ability and academic achievement for both CS and NCS groups, with parental involvement predicting English achievement for only the NCS group. After the inclusion of academic self-concept, the model showed that CS parental expectations also mediate the link between self-concept and academic achievement. However, the model showed that the parental expectations of NCS play a lesser role in mediating the link between academic self-concept and their children’s academic achievement. Despite the differences, the results provide evidence for the generalizability of the cognitive-affect model.     

Visual-Syntactic Text Formatting: Developing EFL Learners’ Reading Fluency Components

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - Developing English reading fluency (ERF) is challenging due to cross-linguistic differences between L1 and L2. This study replicated, with modifications,...     

大学生英语语篇重复阅读的眼动研究

采用眼动追踪技术,考察重复阅读对母语为汉语的大学生阅读英语语篇的作用。研究采用2（目标词词频：高频、低频）×5（阅读遍数：1遍、2遍、3遍、4遍、5遍）的两因素被试内设计。结果发现：（1）随着阅读遍数的增加,读者的阅读理解正确率呈上升趋势,总阅读时间、注视次数、回视次数和平均注视时间显著降低,平均眼跳幅度显著增加;（2）阅读遍数与目标词词频的交互作用显著,表现为重复阅读对低频词识别的促进作用要显著大于对高频词识别的促进作用。研究表明重复阅读能够有效提高大学生对英语语篇的阅读效率。     

Stress Judgment and Production in English Derivation,and Word Reading in Adult Mandarin-Speaking English Learners

For monolingual English-speaking children, judgment and production of stress in derived words, including words with phonologically neutral (e.g., -ness) and non-neutral suffixes (e.g., -ity), is important to both academic vocabulary growth and to word reading. For Mandarin-speaking adult English learners (AELs) the challenge of learning the English stress system might be complicated by cross-linguistic differences in prosodic function and features. As Mandarin-speakers become more proficient in English, patterns similar to those seen in monolingual children could emerge in which awareness and use of stress and suffix cues benefit word reading. A correlational design was used to examine the contributions of English stress in derivation with neutral and non-neutral suffixes to English word and nonword reading. Stress judgment in non-neutral derivation predicted word reading after controlling for working memory and English vocabulary; whereas stress production in neutral derivation contributed to word reading and pseudoword decoding, independent of working memory and English vocabulary. Although AELs could use stress and suffix cues for word reading, AELs were different from native English speakers in awareness of non-neutral suffix cues conditioning lexical stress placement. AELs may need to rely on lexical storage of primary stress in derivations with non-neutral suffixes.