STRUCTURED STRATEGY INSTRUCTION: INVESTIGATING AN INTERVENTION FOR IMPROVING SIXTH-GRADERS' READING COMPREHENSION

ABSTRACT

The author assesses students’ understanding of several print‐related concepts toward the conclusion of one year of formal reading instruction. There may be some need for teachers to alter their language of instruction so as to eliminate specialized terms that create confusion among beginning readers.     

IMPROVING CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR IN MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN THROUGH CORRESPONDENCE TRAINING

Except for a few studies, most research investigating correspondence training procedures has been more analogue in nature. The purpose of the present set of studies was to examine whether a “say-do” correspondence training technique could be used with children in special education classes to improve classroom behavior. The specific behaviors targeted for change included: out-of-seat behavior (Experiment 1), sitting posture (Experiment 2), and on-task behavior (Experiment 3). The say-do procedure used in Experiment 1 resembled that of previous studies, whereas that in Experiment 2 was more elaborate in the specificity of verbal statements required from the children and the feedback given them. The training procedure in Experiment 3 used a format similar to the say-do approach, but stressed visual rather than verbal cuing because it was used with nonverbal children. All three studies used single-subject designs and examined maintenance and/or generalization questions. Experiments 2 and 3 also evaluated whether concomitant changes in performance on academic tasks occurred. The results of the three studies provide strong evidence that correspondence training can be effectively used with educationally handicapped children. Moreover, the successful modification of the “say-do” to a “show-do” procedure in Experiment 3 points out the flexibility of the correspondence training approach.     

PRAYING FOR UNDERSTANDING: READING ANSELM THROUGH WITTGENSTEIN1

If Wittgenstein is correct to assert that practice gives words their sense, then it is logically possible that an understanding of the ontological “argument” Anselm presents in Proslogion requires some level of practical participation in prayer. A close inspection of Anselm's historical context shows that the conceptual distance we stand from him may be too great to be overcome by mere spectatorship. Rather, participation in this case likely requires of the modern reader a reproduction of Anselm's conduct in prayer. If so, Anselm's case falsifies, and thus warrants our resistance of, the commonly presumed disconnect between knowledge and practice.     

阅读预期对快速阅读理解的影响的实验研究

探讨阅读预期对快速阅读的理解水平与进程的影响。实验１探讨阅读预期对快速阅读理解水平的影响。阅读文章前分别给予被试正确、中性与误导的标题提示,结果表明,不同类型的标题提示对快速阅读的理解成绩有显著的影响,而对正常速度阅读的理解成绩影响效果不显著。实验２探讨阅读预期对快速阅读过程的词句加工程度的影响。结果表明,对优生来说,正确标题提示组发现文章中锗字的成绩显著低于误导标题提示组,差生的不同标题提示组发现错字的成绩差异不显著。两个实验的结果初步表明,快速阅读文章过程会更多地利用概念推动,较少地需要材料信息。     

IMPROVING SOCIAL SKILLS AND DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM THROUGH SELF-MANAGEMENT

The literature suggests that children with autism typically are unresponsive to verbal initiations from others in community settings, and that such unresponsiveness can lead to problematic social interactions and severely disruptive behavior. The present study assessed whether self-management could be used as a technique to produce extended improvements in responsiveness to verbal initiations from others in community, home, and school settings without the presence of a treatment provider. The results showed that children with autism who displayed severe deficits in social skills could learn to self-manage responsivity to others in multiple community settings, and that such improvements were associated with concomitant reductions in disruptive behavior without the need for special intervention. The results are discussed in terms of their significance for improved development of social skills in children with autism.     

汉语句子阅读理解中的语境效应

采用计算机快速系列视觉呈现技术,以反应时为指标,利用命名法,考察了汉语句子阅读中的语境效应。该研究表明：语境的作用机制是灵活的,它会随语境条件的变化而变化。在启动词与目标词语义联结弱的情况下,如果语境对目标词是一种低干扰,那么各模块之间彼此独立,一个模块不受另一个模块的影响;如果句法关系改变后的语境对目标词形成高干扰,各模块相互作用,不同语境对词汇通达有不同的作用。当启动词与目标词间有较强的语义联结时,语境效应主要来源于词与词之间的联结启动,这时的语境作用机制符合模块化理论;而当启动词与目标词间有较弱的语义联结时,随语境干扰强度的增加,目标词的词汇通达也随之增加,这时的语境作用机制则符合相互作用理论。     

EFFECTS OF STRESSING ORAL READING ACCURACY ON COMPREHENSION

Abstract

Recently, authorities have argued that the traditional demand for accuracy in oral reading may in fact retard comprehension. This study investigates the validity of that argument. Thirty third‐grade students of average ability individually read aloud a 109‐word passage and immediately retold as much of it as they could remember. Half of the students (the high criterial group) were instructed to be very careful to pronounce individual words accurately, and half (the low criterial group) were instructed not to worry unduly about accurate pronunciation of individual words. Students’ readings and retellings were tape recorded. The dependent measures were comprehension (total propositions recalled), reading time, misses (hesitations of two or more seconds), and false alarms (words mispronounced). Results indicated significantly better comprehension (p < .05) and significantly faster reading times (p < .l) for the lower criterial group. The major implication for teaching is that overemphasizing accuracy in oral reading can actually retard comprehension. This implication and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

DIAGNOSTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING FOR READING/LEARNING DISORDERS IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

ABSTRACT

The assessment of preschool children who are at risk for having specific language/learning disorders when they enter school is a complex undertaking which must involve examining a wide variety of developmental processes. In addition to a thorough medical, developmental and academic history, the clinician should obtain data regarding perceptual‐motor functioning, language and cognitive development, nominal recall, cerebral dominance and directionality, sequential memory, and the integrity of basic sensory modalities. Although the diagnosis of potential learning disorders in preschool children 1s difficult because of the variability in developmental rate of young children, a systematic evaluation of the developmental functions which are classically associated with learning disabilities allows the psychologist to make a responsible and generally accurate statement of the child's current functioning and future potential     

THE INTERFERENCE OF SOME ANAPHORIC EXPRESSIONS ON READING COMPREHENSION

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interference of certain anaphoric expressions (pronouns) on eighth grade students’ reading comprehension. The subjects (n=103) were administered cloze .tests of anaphoric comprehension in which either 0%, 33%, 66% or 100% of the pronouns were replaced by appropriate referents. Analysis of covariance was utilized to analyze the resulting data, using passage form as the independent variable, and SRA reading achievement scores as the covariate. The null hypothesis was rejected, which stated there would not be significant differences among subjects’ cloze scores on reading the four different forms of the passages. The results suggest that use of anaphoric expressions in some instances will interfere with the reading comprehension of eighth graders. Practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed     

朗读与默读对初一学生識记和理解课文的影响

朗讀与默讀是閱讀的两种形式,在語文教学中有效地运用朗讀与默讀是提高閱讀效率的重要条件。据有些中学語文教师反映,初一学生只习慣于朗读,而不善于默讀。不論什么学科的課文,什么性貭的文章,一概誦讀。这些教师认为,朗读固有利于熟記成誦,但     

AN EXTENSION OF INCIDENTAL TEACHING PROCEDURES TO READING INSTRUCTION FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN

In an extension of incidental teaching procedures to reading instruction, two autistic children acquired functional sight-word reading skills in the context of a play activity. Children gained access to preferred toys by selecting the label of the toy in tasks requiring increasingly complex visual discriminations. In addition to demonstrating rapid acquisition of 5-choice discriminations, they showed comprehension on probes requiring reading skills to locate toys stored in labeled boxes. Also examined was postteaching transfer across stimulus materials and response modalities. Implications are that extensions of incidental teaching to new response classes may produce the same benefits documented in communication training, in terms of producing generalization concurrent with skill acquisition in the course of child-preferred activities.     

中、英文阅读理解之比较研究

本文在句法、语义和事实方面比较了中、英文的阅读过程,并发现中文读者在阅读加工中更多地采用分散的策略,而英文读者则更多地采用集中的策略。在中文中,语义违反所造成的朗读混乱大于句法违反所造成的混乱;而在英文中则句法违反所造成的混乱大于语义违反所造成的混乱。但是,由句法、语义和事实的违反所形成的曲线在中、英文中是相似的,这说明中、英文的阅读加工有其共同之处。