Wittgenstein: Meaning and Judgement

Books reviewed:
Michael Luntley, Wittgenstein: Meaning and Judgement , Blackwell Publishers, 2003, ix + 187, price £16.99 p.b. Reviewed by Daniel Whiting, University of Reading Department of Philosophy University of Reading Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AA danieljwhiting@hotmail.com     

How Psychological Science Informs the Teaching of Reading

Contents:
Introduction, p.31
Writing Systems and the Alphabetic Principle, p.32
The Development of Reading Skills, p.34
Development Dyslexia, p.43
Skilled Reading, p.45
Using Connectionist Models to Understand Reading and Dyslexia, p.52
Methods of Teaching Reading, p.55
What Happens in Classrooms During Reading Instruction?, p.57
Reading Instruction Is a Politically Charged Issue, p.61
Research Findings on Teaching Reading, p.63
Summary and Conclusions, p.68     

Is Reading Recovery an Effective Intervention for Students with Reading Difficulties? A Critique of the i3 Scale-Up Study

The recently reported i3 Scale-Up of Reading Recovery (May et al., 2015) found an effect size of + 0.69 in favor of Reading Recovery compared to the control group. We discuss four issues: (a) many of the lowest achieving students were excluded from participation in Reading Recovery; (b) the control group received a range of different experiences; (c) the successful completion rate of students in the program was modest; and (d) no data supported the claim that Reading Recovery leads to sustained literacy learning gains. We question the value of this study as the basis for widespread implementation of Reading Recovery.     

Rethinking Middle School Reading Instruction: A Basic Literacy Activity

Reading fluency has been identified as a key component in effective literacy instruction (National Reading Panel, 2000). Instruction in reading fluency has been shown to lead to improvements in reading achievement. Reading fluency instruction is most commonly associated with guided repeated oral reading instruction. In the present retrospective study we examine the effects of a computer-based silent reading fluency instructional system called Reading Plus (Taylor Associates, Winooski, Vermount, USA) on the reading comprehension and overall reading achievement of a large corpus of students in an urban school setting. Findings indicate that the program resulted in positive, substantial, and significant improvements in reading comprehension and overall reading achievement on a criterion referenced reading test for Grades 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 and on a norm-referenced test of reading achievement for Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Moreover, mean gains made by students in the Reading Plus intervention were greater than mean gains for all students at the state and district level. The findings were generally positive for all subpopulations studied, including special education and regular education students. Qualitative reports from teachers who participated in the study were also supportive of the program. Implications for the study are explored for particular subgroups of students and for the role of fluency instruction with struggling adolescent readers.     

Learning to read changes children's phonological skills: evidence from a latent variable longitudinal study of reading and nonword repetition

Individual differences in nonword repetition are associated with language and literacy development, but few studies have considered the extent to which learning to read influences phonological skills as indexed by nonword repetition performance. We explored this question using a latent variable longitudinal design. Reading, oral language and nonword repetition were assessed in 215 children at age 6 years and one year later at age 7. Reading at 6 years predicted growth in nonword repetition between 6 and 7 years, independent of the effects of oral language skills and the autoregressive effect of nonword repetition at 6 years, but nonword repetition was not a longitudinal predictor of the growth of reading. These findings demonstrate that learning to read has a powerful effect on children's language processing systems. We consider how learning to read might influence speech processing, and discuss the implications of our findings for theoretical accounts of reading disorder.     

曾国藩读《易》风格

曾国藩易学精蕴,尤以其读《易》风格显著,它贯融于读《易》致思和读《易》致用之中。究其至要有八个方面以读《易》为正业,朗诵《周易》得义生情,读幕僚《易》作品、与其幕友切磋探《易》．切已读《易》有点评,读《易》把握是心经,读《易》有悟感人生,人文境之美,占卦。由此可以看出,曾国藩其人其事其思想,与《周易》甚有渊源。     

Examining the Construct Validity for the Multiple-Content Testing Programs

The primary objective of this study was to examine the construct validity for the 2 multiple-content testing programs-the multiple-choice Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS/5) together with the performance-based Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP)-by evaluating the true-score longitudinal associations among multiple-content scores in 1 school district. Each content area measure in the 2 testing programs was closely examined by the following criterion: The true-score correlation between 2 time-period measures of the same content area is higher than its longitudinal true-score correlations with other content areas. This criterion was achieved in 2 (Reading and Mathematics) of 5 CTBS/5 content subtests, as well as 1 (Language) of 6 MSPAP content subtests. The structural equation modeling has been conducted on a multitrait-multimethod correlation dataset, where the traits of Reading and Mathematics were assessed by MSPAP and the old version of CTBS/4. Although convergent validity existed in these 2 measures, there was little evidence to support discriminant validity in both measures.     

The Relationships among Reported Strategy Use,Metacognitive Awareness,and Reading Achievement of High School Students

The metacognitive awareness and reading strategy use of high school students enrolled in two high schools were investigated. The correlations between reading scores and strategy use were examined as well as the variation in strategy use by self-rated reading proficiency and academic grades. The factor analysis revealed four factors on the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory: Metacognitive Awareness Strategies, Text-Based Strategies, Reading Process Strategies, and Predicting Strategies. Reading Process Strategies were most preferred by participants, whereas Text-Based Strategies were least preferred. A statistically significant difference in strategy use was found for reading achievement, self-rated reading proficiency, and grade level.     

Revisiting the simple view of reading

Background Reading component models such as the Simple View of Reading (SVR; Gough & Tunmer, 1986 ; Hoover & Gough, 1990 ) provide a concise framework for describing the processes and skills involved when readers comprehend texts. According to the Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading ( Rose, 2006 ) strong evidence for the SVR comes from Factor Analysis of datasets on different measures of reading showing dissociation between decoding skills and comprehension. To the best of our knowledge, only two such published studies exist to date. Of these, only one of is in English and this explores children between the age of 7 and 10 years. Aims To explore the SVR in English‐speaking children aged 4 and 6 using Factor Analysis. Samples 116 4 ‐year‐olds and 116 6 ‐year‐olds in the US; 103 6 ‐year‐olds in Canada. Methods All children were administered a battery of decoding and comprehension related measures. Results Factor Analysis of the diverse measures undertaken independently by two research teams in different countries demonstrated that listening comprehension and decoding measures loaded as distinct factors in both samples of young English‐speaking children. Conclusions The present findings provide important support for the generality and validity of the SVR framework as a model of reading.     

Rapid Word Recognition as a Measure of Word-Level Automaticity and its Relation to Other Measures of Reading

The present study investigated the relationship between rapid recognition of individual words (Word Recognition Test) and two measures of contextual reading: (1) grade-level Passage Reading Test (IRI passage) and (2) performance on standardized STAR Reading Test. To estabilish if time of presentation on the word recognition test was a factor in predicting contextual reading performance, four computerized presentation times were used: 300 msec, 650 msec, 1000 msec, adn 2000 msec. Regression analyses revealed that, for both third- and fourth-grade students, there was evidence that presentation times of less than 1 second better approximated performance on the two contextual reading measures.     

阅读疗法:概念、机理及运用中应把握的几个问题

阅读疗法是指人们通过默读或朗读书面文本或电子文本,提高人的心理素质的一种心理治疗方法,它具有治疗、预防、发展三种功能.阅读通过从外界摄入"负熵",提高人的认知能力,使人获得高峰体验,改变人的气质多种途径来实现其心理治疗上的目的.运用好阅读疗法,必须注意把握好阅读材料、时机、方法、习惯等几个环节.     

Advances in dyslexia research

Dyslexia: Advances in theory and practice, Dyslexia Research Foundation and Center for Reading Research, 20-23 November 1997, Stavanger, Norway.     

A review of: “Constructing the self,constructing america: A cultural history of psychotherapy”

P. Cushman (1995) Constructing the Self, Constructing America: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy, Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, pp. 430, $23.99     

Philosophy and the Maternal Body: Reading Silence

Book Information Philosophy and the Maternal Body: Reading Silence. By Michelle Boulous Walker. Routledge. London and New York. 1998. Pp. x + 235.     

The Challenges and Responsibilifies of Contextual Theology

Reading from this Place: Social Location and Biblical Interpretation , Fernando F. Segovia and Mary Ann Tolbert (eds)
Local Theology: Church Community in Dialogue , John Reader
Models of Contextual Theology , Stephen B. Bevans     

Decolonizing Josiah: Toward a Postcolonial Reading of the Deuteronomistic History – Uriah Y. Kim

Book reviewed:
Decolonizing Josiah: Toward a Postcolonial Reading of the Deuteronomistic History , Uriah Y. Kim, Sheffield Phoenix Press 2005 (1-905048-13-0), xii + 265 pp., hb £50.00/$85.00     

Solidarity and Difference: A Contemporary Reading of Paul's Ethics – David G. Horrell

Book reviewed:
Solidarity and Difference: A Contemporary Reading of Paul's Ethics , David G. Horrell, T&T Clark International 2005 (0-5670-4322-3), xvi + 338 pp., pb £49.95     

Effects of reading span and textual coherence on rapid-sequential reading

Subjects’ Comprehension and Memory of Conventional Presentations (Pages) And Rapid, Serial Visual Presentations (Rsvps) Of Text Were Investigated With A Statement-Recognition Test. Texts Were Presented With Sentences in An Intact Or A Scrambled Order At Rates Of 300 And 600 Words Per Minute (Wpm). Subjects’ Memory for Text Meaning And Surface Structure Was Better In 300-Than In 600-Wpm Conditions, And Subjects Retained More Textual Meaning From Coherent than Incoherent Texts Regardless of Display Rates. These Findings Are Inconsistent With the Idea That Rapid Reading Disrupts the Intersentence Integration Processes of Comprehension, but are Consistent With The Hypothesis of Consolidation Limitation: Furthermore, Subjects Were Separated Into Two Groups Based on Their Performance on the Reading Span Test of Daneman And Carpenter (1980). Low-Span Subjects Retained Significantly Less Text Meaning than High-Span Subjects with Pages, But They Did Almost As Well With RSVPs. This Interaction Suggests that the RSVP Technique Could Be Useful For Improving the Reading Abilities of Less Efficient Readers.     

阅读障碍学生创造力特征的研究

本研究采用问卷测量的方法,对76名阅读障碍学生的创造力特征以及教师对其创造力评价的客观性进行了研究,结果表明:(1)阅读障碍学生的创造力总分与正常学生并无显著差异,但阅读障碍学生创造力的独特性和抽象性成绩显著优于正常学生。(2)对阅读障碍学生而言,流畅性、精细性和创造力总分存在性别差异;创造力总分亦存在年级差异;独特性与创造力总分在年级与性别因素上均存在交互作用。(3)不同学科教师对正常学生的创造力评价显著高于阅读障碍学生,他们对正常学生的创造力评价基本客观,对阅读障碍学生创造力的评价则与测验成绩呈显著负相关。     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Psychology in Contemporary China . L.B. Brown Evaluating the Quality of Learning: The SOLO Taxonomy (Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome) . J.B. Biggs and K.F. Collis. The Psychology of Reading and Spelling Disabilities . A.F. Jorm. The Process of Reading: A Cognitive Analysis of Fluent Reading and Learning to Read . D.C. Mitchell. The Psychological Basis of Handwriting Analysis: The Relationship of Handwriting to Personality and Psychopathology . David Lester. Access to Privilege: Patterns of Participation in Australian Post-Secondary Education . D.S. Anderson and A.E. Vervoorn. The Special Child. The Education of Children with Special Needs (3rd ed.). Barbara Furneaux. Sex Equity in Education . Jean Stockard, Patricia A. Schmuck, Ken Kempner, Peg Williams, Sakre K. Edson and Mary Ann Smith. Educating Adolescent Girls . E.M. Chandler. Organizational Effectiveness: A Comparison of Multiple Models . Kim S. Cameron and David A. Whetten (Eds.). The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and the Self . Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Eugene Rochberg-Halton. Aliens and Alienists . Ethnic Minorities and Psychiatry. Roland Littlewood and Maurice Lipsedge. Basic Processes in Helping Relationships . Thomas A. Wills (Ed.) The Pathogenesis of Alcoholism: Psychosocial Factors . Benjamin Kissin and Henry Begleiter (Eds.). Drug Problems, People Problems . Jara A. Krivanek. Adjustment: The Development and Organization of Human Behavior . R. Douglas Whitman. Caring for Mentally Ill People . Alexander H. Leighton. The Psychotherapeutic Impasse . Myron F. Weiner.