This study presents a quantitative analysis of pre-emptive strategies used by first language speakers in talk addressed to second language speakers with moderate proficiency. The strategies identified in the conversations are reformulation, simplification, left-dislocation, and decomposition. The data come from simulated emergency calls in which…

Diversity of vocabulary knowledge and quantity of language exposure prior to literacy are key predictors of reading development. However, diversity and quantity of exposure are difficult to distinguish in behavioural studies, and so the causal relations with literacy are not well known. We tested these relations by training a connectionist…

Rate and comprehension are two components related to broad reading abilities (i.e., phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, comprehension). The purpose of this study was to examine the unique contribution of three curriculum-based measures (CBM)-comprehension assessments compared to a CBM-oral reading rate assessment through diagnostic…

Direct Instruction (DI), commercially marketed by McGraw-Hill as Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading, is a bundle of highly scripted reading programs emphasizing phonics and phonemic awareness. This assessment considers 40 recently published studies on DI in order to consider the program's aims and efficacy as a means of teaching reading. Our…

The present study primarily aims to investigate the relationship between Pakistani students' receptive vocabulary growth and their reading development at two different points: at the beginning and the end of English course. The standardized vocabulary size test (VST) and reading comprehension test (TOEFL) were administered to 123 first year…

The benefits of studying topics accompanied by adjunct displays are well established in the literature; however, less is understood about the durability of these learning benefits. Therefore, in the current study, we investigate the cognitive benefits of causal diagrams over time. Undergraduate participants (N = 194) recruited from teacher…

This dissertation examines investment in language learning, especially how that investment looks over the entirety of a learner's target language-related journey. It investigates investment, in terms of positive and negative relationships and experiences, both at one point in time and over time, as well as how investment may be linked to a measure…

This study is a review of the impact of learning style and/or cognitive strategy on math, science and higher order thinking skills needed for STEM success. A meta-analysis and descriptive statistics were performed. Important variables such as gender, ability level, anxiety, etc. were addressed. Suggestions for future research and diagnostic…

The data of this descriptive correlational-study revealed that there is no significant difference in the level of comprehension in silent reading, between males and females. Moreover, in terms of the level of comprehension in oral reading, there is gender difference with females outperforming the males. In the first language, no significant…

In this position paper, we advocate that advancements made in other disciplinary areas such as neurolinguistics should be included into contemporary reading comprehension courses and programs. We present findings from neurobiology of reading that suggest explanation of certain reading behaviors: (1) the differences between reading disability and…

America's educational system is graduating high school students who are unable to meet the literacy demands of the 21st Century. To be successful, a student must be able to gain knowledge, act as a problem solver, and possess the ability to make informed decisions in all aspects of life (Goldman, 2012). A deficit in reading comprehension can…

Based on the Simple View of Reading model, this study examines the relationships among Chinese reading comprehension and its two componential processes, Chinese character reading and listening comprehension, in young learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL) using a longitudinal design. Using relevant measures, a sample of 142 senior primary…

This study examines the contribution of print exposure to oral language (expressive vocabulary and listening comprehension) and reading (word reading and reading comprehension) in first and second grade in Chile, and tests whether the contribution of print exposure to reading comprehension is mediated by language and word reading skills.…

We investigated the dimensionality of inference making in samples of 4- to 9-year-olds (Ns = 416-783) to determine if local and global coherence inferences could be distinguished. In addition, we examined the validity of our experimenter-developed inference measure by comparing with three additional measures of listening comprehension. Multitrait,…

Syllabification by hyphens (e.g., hy-phen-a-tion) is a standard procedure in early Finnish reading instruction. However, recent findings indicate that hyphenation slows down children's reading already during the first grade (Häikiö, Hyönä, & Bertram, 2015, 2016). In the present study, it was examined whether this slowdown is indicative of…