Reading is a complex act mediated by cognitive and sociocultural constructs that include classroom discourse and personal epistemology. This study explored the epistemic beliefs underpinning the discourse of four third-grade, male struggling readers and sought to understand how these beliefs unfolded during the critical-analytic reading…

The purpose of this study was to validate and extend the findings of an exhaustive literature search in Year 1 and a meta-analysis in Year 2 of a 3-year project in which nine (9) small-group discussion approaches were identified. Having identified parameters of discussion that were, to a greater or lesser extent, present in these nine discussion…

Investigates the effects of breakdowns in referential and factual coherence on text comprehension and reveals that the processing of factually inconsistent information hindered other information in passages. (FL)

Examines two texts showing that the relational propositions (frequently implicit) that arise out of a combination of independent clauses involve every clause and that they occur in a pattern of propositions that connects all of the clauses together. Shows how relational propositions are essential to the functioning of the text. (HTH)

Suggests two models of how readers create bridging inferences to resolve signals to textual cohesion. Evaluates reading times, verification accuracy, verification latency, and regressive eye fixations to support the model which views bridges as the result of a form of deduction in which the reader tacitly establishes premises that provide rational…

Describes a study contrasting hierarchical and causal approaches to story understanding indicating that when the number of causal connections increases, the likelihood of summarization for both goal and other statements increases. Suggests that the importance accorded to a statement in a story structure is the result of causal reasoning during…

Shows how the enthymeme can organize a reader's participation in the text, specifically, George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant." (SRT)

Outlines major research findings in cognitive-discourse-processing research on learning from text. Describes general characteristics of classrooms based on constructivist principles of learning and that support critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative learning. Argues that such classrooms raise a number of new issues for…

Noting that conceptions of the cognitive representations and processes involved in discourse comprehension and production recently have undergone an important shift in orientation, this paper points out the importance of the shift to the conception of the nature of texts, of text understanding, and of cognitive processes in knowledge creation and…