The purpose of this study was to systematically review literature on assistive technology (AT) used to develop literacy skills in students with physical disabilities. Primary databases were searched using search terms AT, disability, and literacy. Eight studies were eligible for inclusion. Six studies reported positive change to literacy…

The constructionist approach holds that an argument structure construction, a conventionalized form-meaning correspondence of a sentence, allows language users to efficiently access sentential information. This study investigated whether increased sensitivity to constructional information would enable second language learners to efficiently fuse…

The present paper puts under examination the effects of Genre Based Approach (GBA) on 9th grade students from a city in the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The purpose of the study is to analyze how GBA affects reading comprehension and writing by comparing the students' results before and after the execution of the approach. GBA was implemented in…

Task-based vocabulary learning has recently attracted lots of attention in the field of second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. This article compares the effects of input and output tasks on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' acquisition of vocabulary knowledge. Four intact classes of EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of…

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model that specified direct and indirect effects of textual and individual factors on readers' ability to integrate information about sources and content when reading multiple conflicting texts on a controversial socio-scientific issue. Using a path analytic approach with a sample of 140…

To better identify the distinctive characteristics of space representation in the radial dimension, we have proposed a new paradigm: the landmarks alignment task where two parallel aluminum bars were radially presented. Children had to move a landmark along one bar and place it at the same location as the reference landmark placed by the examiner…

This article presents a reflection on the educational scenario that permeates the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) in its political, methodological, didactic, curricular and investigative dimensions. A description of the current English reading comprehension level in the national context is presented. On the other hand, from a…

Elementary school teachers are expected to teach reading 'inclusively' to children with diverse learning needs. Yet, teachers face challenges in enacting inclusive practices that socially support children while academically engaging and challenging them. The purpose of this study was to examine the opportunities for engagement with reading…

Automated summary evaluation is proposed as an alternative to rubrics and multiple-choice tests in knowledge assessment. Inbuilt rubric is a recent Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) method that implements rubrics in an artificially-generated semantic space. It was compared with classical LSA's cosine-based methods assessing knowledge in a…

Early literacy skills are part of a larger set of skills, knowledge, and affective responses gained throughout childhood; however, emergent reading motivation has been neglected in research and practice. Theoretical models for reading motivation are available in the literature, but they were developed based on school-aged children and print-based…

Static reading labels are problematic not only because youths demonstrate varying reading skills and identities across secondary classrooms but also because being labeled as "struggling" can undermine literacy learning. Little research has investigated how "struggling" and "proficient" readers' interactions with…

The study reported here investigated reading among students from the perspective of how students choose to use their time and whether they self-ration it. A survey of undergraduate students found that their self-reported allocation of time to academic activities other than reading was positively correlated to the reading that they did and that…

Book retelling has been frequently used as an indicator of children's reading proficiency. However, how children's performance varies across retelling narrative and expository texts and whether that has different implications for reading proficiency remains understudied. The present study examined 85 high-poverty second- and third-graders'…

We introduce the Integrated Framework of Multiple Texts to understand how students use and form connections between multiple texts to accomplish personal or task goals. The Integrated Framework of Multiple Texts conceptualizes students' multiple text use as unfolding over the course of three stages--preparation, execution, and production. In the…

The effects of social annotation on critical literacy remain controversial, and little research has explained why some students can benefit from social annotation in critical literacy, and some cannot. This chapter investigates the effects of social annotation on critical literacy and the interactive patterns of social annotations. The…