This article proposes an integrated cognitive theory of reading and listening that draws on a maximalist account of comprehension and emphasizes the role of bottom-up and top-down processing. The theoretical framework draws on the findings of previous research and integrates them into a coherent and plausible narrative to explain and predict the…

This research examined how four different animated pedagogical agent implementations, which focus on perceptual and inquiry arousal conditions of attention as defined in Keller's ARCS model of motivational design (Keller, 2009), impact English language learners' situational interest, cognitive load, and reading comprehension in online readings…

While attentional models of SLA postulate attention as crucial for learning to take place (e.g., Robinson, 1995b; Schmidt, 1990, 2001; Tomlin & Villa, 1994), the role that awareness or lack thereof plays remains debatable. Indeed, the studies that have empirically addressed the construct of unawareness reveal conflicting results (e.g.,…

Reading is defined operationally as the cognitive process of perceiving and ordering our environment. As such it is a psychomotor process involving the reorganization of experiences evoked by some stimulus. Thus defined, reading is equated with perception and has several primary functions, including concept building, which begins with perception…

While stimulus-response theories of learning maintain the reality and importance of the stimulus outside the perception of the person, a cognitive-field learning theory insists that, in order to make meaning, a person must perceive and react with the stimulus. Holding to this or any learning model has implications for the following: a definition…

In this study, 30 male college students from two weightlifting classes and 30 female college students enrolled in an educational psychology course designed specifically for music education majors were asked to read two ambiguous passages, each of which could be interpreted in two different ways. The first passage could be perceived as describing…

The preliterate child must acquire from reading instruction at least the following skills: (a) appropriate scanning behavior, (b) letter and word recognition, (c) letter-sound generalizations, and (d) comprehension of written materials, at least to the degree that the reader can comprehend the same message when received aurally. Almost all modern…

The two studies outlined in this report gauged college undergraduates' ability to learn and to recall the content of certain passages when provided with "directed perspectives" or context clues. In the first study, 63 subjects were divided into three groups, were asked to read two stories, and were assigned a perspective (home buyer,…

Contains suggestions from two contributors, the first discussing the importance of distinguishing opinion from fact and the second suggesting 12 activities parents can initiate to improve teenagers' reading skills, such as helping them develop resumes or autobiographies and reviewing important business forms together. (DF)

Students have been taught to recall specific details, but often are unable to read critically or to grasp the main ideas. (JH)

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores the nature of students' metacomprehension, or their awareness of their own understanding, and the implications of this awareness for reading instruction. After defining metacomprehension, the digest discusses why this awareness is important to the learning…

Examines some recent ERIC materials on comprehension processes and on how teachers can improve students' awareness of comprehension or metacomprehension. (HOD)

To determine how procedural instructions comprised of text and pictures are comprehended and executed, a research review focused on (1) differences in comprehension and performance attributable to variations in the information's organization, (2) the format of the information, (3) the metacognitive strategies employed by the readers, and (4) the…

The four papers in this collection discuss language perception and comprehension and report on experiments in those areas. The first paper, "The Influence of Non-Linguistic Knowledge on Perceiving and Verifying Sentences," discusses the reliance of language perception and comprehension on the interaction of linguistic and world…

This is a survey of techniques that have been used to test language comprehension. The study of research completed in this field points up the fact that there is no single technique that universally gives valid and reliable information. Various definitions of language comprehension are examined with special emphasis placed on implications for the…