This article presents evidence for a validity argument on the ACTFL Assessment of Performance Toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) tests (Interpersonal Listening/Speaking, Presentational Writing, Interpretive Listening, and Interpretive Reading) by summarizing an analysis of the 2014 test data from examinations administered in three languages…

This study aimed to investigate the impact of the electronic mind map (IMindMap) on the development of reading comprehension among the ninth grade students in Jordan. The sample of the study consisted of two ninth grade sections from two public schools in Irbid First Directorate during the academic 2016-2017. Each section consisted of (30)…

This study has two aims: one is to examine whether or not there are individual differences in motivation to read English as a Foreign Language (EFL) among Taiwanese adolescents, and the other is to scrutinize whether or not a gender gap exists among those readers. A total of 252 adolescents, half of them female and the other half male,…

For any student, middle and high school can be challenging. But for an English learner or striving reader--and the myriad words, phrases, syntax, texts, and concepts they must negotiate on a daily basis--the stakes seem a whole lot higher. Fortunately for content-area teachers, Margarita Calderón and Shawn Slakk make available in a single resource…

We explored the feasibility of using automated scoring to assess upper-elementary students' reading ability through analysis of transcripts of students' small-group discussions about texts. Participants included 35 fourth-grade students across two classrooms that engaged in a literacy intervention called Quality Talk. During the course of one…

Most adult English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States struggle with the basics of English literacy and reading comprehension. The lack of metacognitive awareness during reading prevents ELL students from engaging actively in the learning process. The CALLA method was used as a conceptual framework for explicit instruction. The problem…

The general purpose of this study is to increase, in a classroom environment, formal communication by using reading and writing. Our research focuses on reading as a means to develop the writing of a good précis, which in its turn contributes to improve: 1) memory, vocabulary and grammatical-syntactical structures, in brief, the organization of a…

Across one school year, in which I coached a fourth-grade teacher, she and I took an inquiry stance investigating how we could come to understand the reading identities kids held relative to Stephens' (2013) list of characteristics of effective and efficient readers. We also sought to understand how we could help kids develop, sustain, or extend…

In fall of 2019, the EdWeek Research Center set out to gain a clearer sense of nationwide teacher and teacher education perceptions and practices by sending out two surveys about topics related to early reading instruction, especially as it related to phonics. One survey was taken by 674 K-2 and elementary special education teachers who indicated…

The lives of middle school students are dynamic, and their needs and desires are always evolving. They experience more complicated lives as influences of the broader society including popular media and technology, immigration and cultural diversity, amplified political divisiveness, and bullying effect their daily lives both in and out of school.…

Negated words take longer to recognize than non-negated words following sentences with negation, suggesting that negated concepts are less active. The present experiments tested the possibility that this reduced activation would not persist beyond immediate testing. Experiment 1 used a probe task and materials similar to those used in previous…

Whether information is routinely and nonstrategically evaluated for truth during comprehension is still a point of contention. Previous studies supporting the assumption of nonstrategic validation have used a Stroop-like paradigm in which participants provided yes/no judgments in tasks unrelated to the truth or plausibility of the experimental…

This article exposes the problem of using declarative rather than procedural knowledge to help K--12 students recognize irony in stories. It offers commonplace procedures drawn from students' everyday language experience together with more abstract irony clues to help students recognize irony in stories and increase their story comprehension.…

During narrative comprehension, reading times increase for changes in time, space, characters, goals, and causation. This study examined the extent to which instructional manipulations modify dimension monitoring during reading and whether this affects comprehension. Sixty-seven participants read three narratives (pretest). Half of the…

We want all children to love reading, and Which Book and Why demonstrates how effective guided reading for children in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 can help teachers make this happen. Balancing theory and practice, this book explores how schools and teachers can implement guided reading more confidently and more effectively. Which Book and Why…