Some words in English are derived words, i.e., words with an affix that changes their part of speech, like know "(v)" [right arrow] "knowable (adj)," or meaning, like "pleasant (adj)" [right arrow] "unpleasant (adj)." As a reading teacher, Tom Cobb had always believed that derived words were not particularly…

When learners can comprehend 98% or more of the tokens within a text, the lexical difficulty of the text is unlikely to inhibit reading comprehension (Schmitt et al., 2011). This phenomenon will be referred to as the Coverage Comprehension Model (CCM). The CCM is present in countless articles that describe the percentage of tokens necessary to…

Studies of lexical coverage are valuable because they reveal the importance of vocabulary knowledge to comprehension. Lexical profiling research is also extremely useful because it indicates the vocabulary knowledge necessary to understand different text types such as novels, newspapers, academic lectures, television programs, and movies.…

In the late 1980s Batia Laufer worked with teachers who believed that to understand a text it was enough to understand 80% of the text's word tokens. In response, Laufer set out to calculate the minimal text coverage, i.e., percentage of running words in a text the reader should understand to comprehend it reasonably well. In 1992, she explored…

Considering the various classifications of L1 and L2 reading strategies in previous think-aloud studies, the present review aims to provide a comprehensive look into those various taxonomies reported in major L1 and L2 reading studies. The rationale for this review is not only to offer a comprehensive overview of the different classifications in…

There are three purposes of this paper, the first of which is to elucidate the theory and principles underlying extensive reading. Long-held principles will be discussed in light of practical classroom and contextual considerations. Secondly, a critical summary of current research on extensive reading that has been conducted in English as a Second…

In an exploration of methods to advance language acquisition without the inconvenience of participating in an immersion option, the authors discovered research on Free Voluntary Reading (FVR). FVR has made a recent resurgence, especially in the context of language acquisition. Krashen (2004) proposes FVR as the answer to building language…

The field of language teaching and learning is in dire need of replications of vocabulary and comprehension research with diverse populations of learners. We propose for replication one large-scale vocabulary intervention carried out successfully in a middle-school with monolingual and multilingual students. This study was carried out several…

The Extensive Reading Foundation's bibliography now boasts over 530 articles with "Extensive Reading" in the title. About 35% of this rich and diverse body of papers were published in the past decade. A meta-review of this literature shows it is quite fragmented as evidenced by considerable variability in the conceptualization of…

The study of second-language (L2) reading comprehension and instruction has become the focus of increasing attention in the past few decades. Two recent publications, "Reading in a Second Language: Moving From Theory to Practice" by William Grabe and "Second Language Reading Research and Instruction: Crossing the Boundaries" edited by ZhaoHong Han…

The ability to read written material is very important in the civilized world. In a society characterized by globalization and technological change, where knowledge is becoming increasingly important, reading ability is a key skill for active participation. The intent of the current study is to set out the nature of reading alongside express…

The aim of this review is to provide a critical analysis of language teacher research engagement. The term "research engagement" here covers both engagement IN teacher research (i.e. by doing it) as well as engagement "with" research (i.e. by reading and using it). Research engagement is commonly recommended to language teachers as a potentially…

Delivering high-quality reading instruction to English language learners (ELLs) in the early grades is one of the most challenging issues facing schools. The report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth (NLP; August & Shanahan, 2006) defined "English language learners" as students who come from language backgrounds…

Fluent reading is essential for successful comprehension. One dimension of reading fluency is reading rate, or reading speed. Because of the importance of reading fluency, fluency development activities should be incorporated into classroom practice. One activity that meets the fluency development conditions proposed by Nation (2007) is speed…

The author examines the rise in popularity of graphic novels, the sales of which have steadily increased as their influence expands into adolescent culture. This article also includes an overview of current research results supporting the use of graphic novels within the classroom and school library; graphic novels support English-language…