Background: Research on prior knowledge activation has consistently shown that activating learners' prior knowledge has beneficial effects on learning. If learners activate their prior knowledge, this activated knowledge serves as a framework for establishing relationships between the knowledge they already possess and new information provided to…

This piece is framed by questions we are often asked when we talk about online reading assessments and instruction with teachers. We begin with some of the lessons we have learned in our own experiences with designing measures of online reading comprehension. Then we share our thoughts about key design considerations as well as some of the biggest…

Two perspectives of the term "Venn diagram" reflect the typical differences in the uses of Venn diagrams in the subject areas of mathematics and language arts. These differences are subtle; nevertheless, they can potentially be confusing. In language arts, the circles in a Venn diagram typically represent things that can be compared and…

Native speakers of English are sensitive to the likelihood that a verb will appear in a specific subcategorization frame, known as "verb bias." Readers rely on verb bias to help them resolve temporary ambiguity in sentence comprehension. We investigate whether deaf sign-print bilinguals who have acquired English syntactic knowledge…

We investigated whether and how standardized behavioral measures of reading and electrophysiological measures of reading were related in 72 typically developing, late elementary school children. Behavioral measures included standardized tests of spelling, phonological processing, vocabulary, comprehension, naming speed, and memory.…

The purpose of this study is to carry out differential item functioning (DIF) analysis for content areas of a reading comprehension subtest using four area indices within Item Response Theory (IRT) framework. The differences in the magnitudes of the area indices were compared based on the subject areas. The DIF analysis was carried out across…

Much educational neuroscience research investigates connections between cognition, neuroscience, and educational theory and practice without reference to the body. In contrast, proponents of embodied cognition posit that the bodily action and perception play a central role in cognitive development. Some researchers within the field of Mind, Brain,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the differential impact of a computer-based comprehension training programme according to second graders' comprehender profiles. These profiles differed in the children's abilities to process three types of textual information: literal information, text-connecting inferences and gap-filling…

The aim of this study is to explore adult students' descriptions and understandings of their reading and writing difficulties, and to describe the ways they are copying with them. In higher level studies, information is typically gained by reading and giving evidence of knowledge acquisition in writing. When students have difficulties with these…

Reading comprehension and three aspects of working memory--general, visuospatial and phonological--was assessed in 41 children with hearing loss: 23 with cochlear implants and 18 with hearing aids. Performance on these tests was compared between the two groups of children with hearing loss and also related to that of 55 children with typical…

Cut-scores were set by expert judges on assessments of reading and listening comprehension of English as a foreign language (EFL), using the bookmark standard-setting method to differentiate proficiency levels defined by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Assessments contained stratified item samples drawn from extensive item…

This case study examined the effectiveness of three fluency interventions (i.e., repeated reading, audio listening passage preview and teacher modeled listening passage preview) with a fifth grade student struggling with fluency skills. When compared to baseline, each intervention increased oral reading fluency by the end of the 7 weeks of…

The present study explores the longitudinal development between Grade 3 word level reading skills and higher level semantic skills to Grade 10 reading comprehension for 3,157 students. In particular, this work focused on how the developmental relations varied for subsamples of students who are English learners (EL; N = 308), students identified as…

Our paper aims at analysing the linguistic "features" produced by Arabic learners of Italian as a foreign language. There are published studies of common errors for Arab students of Italian (Della Puppa, 2006; Giacalone Ramat et al., 2001). However, this study introduces the standardized language assessment, namely the CILS test of…

"Reading in Pairs" is a peer tutoring program designed to improve oral fluency and reading comprehension in English as a Foreign Language. In this program students work in pairs, using an established relationship framework and the support of their teacher. This article outlines the main conceptual foundations of the program: peer…