Reading and Writing最新文献

Language is essential for making meaning in written communication, and argument writing is a key genre of schooling to which language contributes rich resources for constructing different types of arguments. Despite being a challenging language practice, argument writing research lacks investigation into the language demands of this writing genre. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, the present study explored the role of language in adolescent students’ argument writing through the lens of the relationship between argumentation features (reasons, counterarguments, rebuttals) and students’ use of epistemic modality devices (EMDs) - linguistic tools that express the author’s knowledge of and belief about the possibility of whether a state of affairs is true (e.g., ‘must’, ‘maybe’). Argument writing samples from 115 upper elementary students were analyzed to explore the relationship between EMDs and written argumentation. Descriptive analysis showed that reasons and modal auxiliaries that indicated certainty (‘will’, ‘would’) were most frequently employed by the students. Multiple regression analyses revealed a positive, significant relationship between number of reasons in students’ writing and their EMD usage. Subsequent qualitative content analysis identified two salient patterns of how EMDs assisted with reason construction, (1) predicting consequences, and (2) speculating causes of behaviors. The findings emphasize the close relation between language and argumentation and hence highlight the importance of the explicit instruction of language features pertinent to argumentative discourse.

This study assessed the effect of adjectives and noun premodifiers on L2 noun phrase comprehension and error types among English Language Learners. We also examined the correlation between L2 noun phrase comprehension and L2 reading comprehension, as well as the contribution of L2 noun phrase comprehension to L2 reading comprehension. One hundred and one Hebrew-speaking 11th graders were tested on the English noun phrase comprehension task, indexing cross-language effects (from L1 to L2). The task included sentences in four conditions, each representing a different noun phrase structure at the syntactic subject position: NN, NNN, AdjNN, and AdjNNN. Participants also completed L1 reading comprehension and L2 vocabulary tests that were controlled for in the correlation and regression analyses. Overall, the results indicate that sentences with noun premodifiers and no adjective premodifiers were more challenging and more susceptible to L1 interference. Partial correlation analyses showed that participants’ performance on all four conditions of the noun phrase comprehension test was significantly and positively correlated with their L2 reading comprehension. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher accuracy and low error rates in the NN and AdjNNN conditions made a unique contribution to L2 reading comprehension, when we controlled for L1 reading comprehension and L2 vocabulary. This study confirmed the significant effects L1 has on L2 syntactic knowledge, which relates significantly and contributes to L2 reading comprehension abilities among adolescent students.

The relative importance of phonological versus morphological processes in reading varies depending on the writing system's orthographic consistency and morphological complexity. This study investigated the interplay between phonology and morphology in Hebrew reading acquisition, a language offering a unique opportunity for such examination with its rich, complex Semitic morphological system and dual writing versions differing in orthographic consistency—transparent-pointed and deep-unpointed versions. Ninety-eight second graders and 81 fourth graders participated in pseudoword-reading tasks designed to distinguish between the different processes: pointed morphologically based pseudowords (pointed MPW), reflecting phonological and morphological processing; unpointed morphologically based pseudowords (unpointed MPW), reflecting only morphological processing; and pointed non-words (pointed NW), with no internal morphological structure, reflecting only phonological processing. Real pointed-word reading accuracy and fluency were also assessed. Results showed the highest accuracy in reading unpointed MPW, with a similar accuracy level observed between unpointed MPW and pointed MPW in second grade, while a significant difference emerged in fourth grade. An age-by-processing type interaction revealed decreasing accuracy in pointed MPW and increasing accuracy in unpointed MPW with age. Additionally, morphological processing significantly enhanced the accuracy and fluency of reading pointed words beyond phonological processing, despite the comprehensive phonological information provided by the transparent, pointed script. These findings suggest that the contribution of morphology exceeds that of phonology as early as second grade, with this trend strengthening through fourth grade, emphasizing children's early prioritization of morphological transparency over orthographic consistency in learning to read Hebrew Semitic orthography.

A growing number of primary school students experience difficulties with grapho-motor skills involved in handwriting, which impact both form and content of their texts. Therefore, it is important to assess and monitor handwriting skills in primary school via standardized tests and detect specific grapho-motor parameters (GMPs) which impact handwriting legibility. Multiple standardized tools are available to assess grapho-motor skills in primary school, yet little is known on between-test agreement, on impact of specific GMPs on children’s overall performance and on which GMPs may be specifically hard to tackle for children that are starting to consolidate their handwriting skills. These data would be extremely relevant for clinicians, therapists and educators, who have to choose among different assessment tools as well as design tailored intervention strategies to reach adequate performance on different GMPs in cases of poor handwriting. To gain better understanding of currently available standardized tools, we compared overall performance of 39 Italian primary school children (19 second graders and 20 third graders) experiencing difficulties with handwriting on three standardized tests for grapho-motor skills assessment and explored the impact of individual GMPs on child performance. Results showed some agreement between tests considering all children in our sample, but no agreement in second grade and only limited agreement in third grade. Data also allowed highlighting significant correlations between some GMP scores and children’s overall performance in our sample. Finally, children in our sample appeared to experience specific difficulties with some GMPs, such as letter joins and alignment.

Orthographic knowledge (i.e., the knowledge of conventions of a written language) has been identified as a predictor of both basic and higher-level reading processes, however, mostly examined in a cross-sectional design. It remains unclear, whether and how orthographic knowledge contributes uniquely in explaining differences in the acquisition of reading skills. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the effects of orthographic knowledge on basic (word-reading) and higher level (sentence- and text-comprehension) reading development in German third graders over the course of a schoolyear. 325 German speaking children (mean age = 8.35 years, standard deviation = 0.57; 49% girls) participated in the study, 100 of whom also provided data on vocabulary and naming speed. Data were analyzed via multiple regression in hierarchical models with random intercepts, since the children were nested in classes. The longitudinal analyses showed that orthographic knowledge contributes to the development of reading on the word- and text-level, over and above vocabulary knowledge and naming speed. These findings support and extend previous results, showing that orthographic knowledge not only supports reading processes, but also plays an important role in reading development over the course of a schoolyear. The fact that no significant interaction between orthographic knowledge and reading comprehension could be found implies that orthographic knowledge is relevant for reading development in German third graders, independent of the level of reading proficiency. The present findings suggest that orthographic knowledge should be considered in reading instruction at school as well as during reading related interventions.

Reading engagement is a strong predictor of students’ reading outcomes, but its consistent positive effects across diverse student groups remain unclear. Research on the reading engagement of multilingual adolescents is notably limited. We investigated the interactions of affective and cognitive dimensions of reading engagement in relation to reading achievement among multilingual and English-dominant students. Specifically, we explored how reading motivation is related to reading achievement through metacognitive strategies. For a nuanced understanding of reading engagement, we further examined whether these relationships are distinct for students with different language backgrounds. We conducted multi-group structural equation modeling using data from the U.S. Programme for International Student Assessment 2018. Our analyses included 2,928 students: 2,407 English-dominant, 359 Spanish-speaking, and 162 other-language-speaking multilingual students. We found differential relationships between reading engagement and reading achievement across language groups. For English-dominant and Spanish-speaking students, reading motivation had both a direct and indirect effect on reading achievement through metacognitive strategies. In contrast, for other-language-speaking students, motivation was only linked to achievement through metacognitive strategies, with no direct contribution from motivation. Our results suggest that metacognitive reading strategies were a critical explanatory mechanism for translating reading motivation into reading achievement. For effective reading instruction, integrated instructional practices that support both metacognitive strategies and motivation are necessary, with a tailored approach that adapts responsibly to linguistic differences among students.