What slow and/or innacurate readers report on how they learn from text
Submitted by:
Martin Klimovič
Abstract:
Fast and accurate decoding of words during reading is a prerequisite for efficient text comprehension (Perfetti, 1985; Stanovich, 1991). Attention acts as a regulatory mechanism in processing text information. While poor readers switch their attention between decoding words and comprehending text, proficient readers are able to decode words automatically, so their attention is focused more on making meaning of the text (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974). Good readers thus have a capacity to employ reading strategies effectively when learning from text. The aim of the study is to analyze and interpret pupils' accounts on the strategies that they apply when reading textbooks (in Science and Homeland Studies school subjects). The data have been collected from interviews and standardized reading test scores. Pupils' reflections on their reading strategies were compared with their results achieved in the reading test (reading speed and reading accuracy). Preliminary comparison (the sample of 29 4th graders) indicated some variability in pupils' procedures and strategies applied when learning from text in relation to their reading test scores. The good readers, unlike their less proficient peers, reported a wider range of reading strategies employed. The projected sample size for this research is more than 100 pupils meeting the selection criteria, such as grade (4th graders), age (from 10- to 11-year-old children), executive functioning and self-regulation (measured by The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System). The data obtained will be instrumental in answering the question: Is reading speed a factor determining the range of reading strategies employed when learning from text? (The research is sponsored by APVV grant agency, No. APVV-15-0273).
Keywords: reading speed, reading accuracy, learning from text, 4th graders.
References:
LaBerge, D. & Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a Theory of Automatic Information Processing in Reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6 (2), pp. 293–323.
Perfetti, C. A. (1985). Reading Ability. New York: Oxford University Press.
Stanovich, K. E. (1991). Changing models of reading and reading acquisition. In L. Rieben & C. A. Perfetti (Eds.), Learning to read: Basic research and its implications (pp. 19-31). Hillsdale, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.