This study reports the perceptions and understanding of extensive reading (ER) of 259 ER practitioners in Japan, Thailand, Mongolia, and Vietnam. The majority of participants understood the core principles of ER, namely (a) the fluent reading of (b) a lot of (c) easy texts. However, about 25% of the participants in Thailand, Mongolia, and Vietnam…

English proficiency has become pivotal for university admission, particularly at the CEFR B2 level and IELTS band 6-6.5 across Europe. In Nordic universities, the substantial amount of assigned English reading materials requires a strong command of English reading skills, with vocabulary knowledge being a crucial component. This study explores 309…

This study employed a meta-analytic approach to examine the effectiveness of graphic organizers (GOs) in improving academic and behavioral outcomes for K-12 students with disabilities, drawing from the single-case special education literature. Moderators at participant and study level were analyzed in addition to the main effects. A comprehensive…

Purpose: We report the qualitative findings from a survey of elementary teachers regarding reading instruction. The purpose is to extend on quantitative findings in a previously described survey to gain a more in-depth understanding of Australian elementary teachers' approaches to the literacy block in their schools: how this is used, who makes…

Extensive reading (ER) has the potential to enhance academic writing proficiency by supporting vocabulary growth, syntactic development, and organizational clarity. Despite its benefits, ER remains underutilized in many EFL contexts. This study investigates the impact of ER on the academic writing skills of 80 undergraduate students at Mizan Tepi…

This paper examines the effect of COVID-19 on learning loss and learning inequality in South Africa using 2016 and 2021 Grade 4 PIRLS datasets. On average, South African Grade 4 reading achievement declined by 31 PIRLS points from 320 in 2016 to 288 in 2021, equivalent to a decline of 0.29 standard deviations or 50-60% of a year of learning. The…

This article addresses the challenge of teaching Jorge Luis Borges' complex literary texts in secondary school by focusing on students' global comprehension. It presents findings from classroom-based research in which students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds read Borges' story 'Theme of the Traitor and the Hero'. The research compares the…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the effect of storytelling in helping children read and comprehend English in primary schools. Design/methodology/approach: The study includes 44 eight-year-old students, being divided into two equal groups. They are Catalan/Spanish native speakers, and their English level is pre-A1 (CEFR). The two groups…

This paper discusses the role of scaffolded reading instruction in democratic education. Focusing on a case study of a high school civic unit on the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, it argues the importance of such reading instruction. Students noted the challenges they experienced when reading complex texts on the topic. Yet, scaffolded…

The purpose of the present study was two-fold: (a) First, it examined fairness of Special English Test (SET) of Iranian National University Entrance Exam (INUEE) by analyzing Differential Item Functioning (DIF) with reading comprehension section of this test (b) second, it explored test takers' attitudes towards possible sources of unfairness and…

For decades, educators have relied on readability metrics that tend to oversimplify dimensions of text difficulty. This study examines the potential of applying advanced artificial intelligence methods to the educational problem of assessing text difficulty. The combination of hierarchical machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) is…

The use of technology has now become an integral part of higher education in Malaysia because of its positive outcomes in teaching and learning. Despite its use, students are not able to fully benefit from its full potential. This study investigated the use of digital annotation tools in Interactive Reading for Academic Disciplines to facilitate…

Reading-while-listening has been shown to be advantageous in second language learning. However, research to date has not addressed how the addition of auditory input changes reading itself. Identifying how reading differs in reading-while-listening and reading-only might help explain the advantages associated with the former. The aim of the…

We explored potential profiles of interest, attitudes, and source evaluation by performing cluster analysis in a sample of Norwegian upper-secondary students. Differences among the profile groups with regard to multiple-document use were examined. The profile groups were partly consistent with the default stances described by the…

This study investigated the direct and indirect roles of verbal and visuospatial memory in Chinese reading comprehension. One hundred twenty-eight Cantonese-speaking children participated in the study at the end of their 3rd year of kindergarten in Hong Kong. Both verbal and visuospatial memory were found to be significantly associated with…