Research Question: Could new vocabulary items be read by sight?
Methods:Low frequency nouns were taught to second graders and fifth graders. Students rehearsed the pronounciations and meanings of the words over several trials. During the initial study trial words were introduced. All of the following trials tested their knowledge of the words. After each recall, correct responses were provided. Meanings were taught through pictures, definitions and multiple sentences. This clarified their meanings and use. Trials continued until students had met a set number of trials. In the treatment setting, student were taught with the word visable, in the control, there were no words visable.
Findings: In second graders, it was easier for students to recall meanings of words than pronounciations of words. Recall was superior when spellings were seen. This worked for the recall of meanings as well as the recall of pronounciations.
Instructional Implications: When teaching new vocabulary, it is both crucial and beneficial to the student's learning to provide the spelling and visual of each vocabulary word in the lesson.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Daneman, M. & Carpenter, P. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450-466.
Research Question: What is the relationship between reading comprehension and working memory?
Methods: Twenty undergraduate students were given three tests including a reading span test to measure their working memory span, a traditional word span test, and a reading comprehension test that asked questions about facts and pronominal references. After reading the passage the subjects were asked two questions – one was about a fact in the passage and another was about the pronoun in the last sentence and its antecedent mentioned earlier in the passage. The distance between the pronoun and the antecedent varied among passages.
Findings: The traditional short term memory tests of digit and word span tasks do not tax the processing component of the working memory test. Studies using such measures do not find strong correlations with reading. If a short memory test was used with heavier demands on processing, poor readers would have less attention left to retain information. The reading span test was correlated significantly .90 with the pronominal reference test and .72 with the fact retrieval task. Its correlation with the global assessment reading comprehension (Verbal SAT) was also significant: r = .59. The word span task correlated non-significantly only .33, .37, and .35 with the reading tests respectively.
The results indicate that the reading span task is related to working memory capacity.
Instructional Implications: The good reader has more functional working memory capacity available for the demands of chunking. He is more likely to have more concepts and relations from preceding parts of the text still active in working memory. The good reader's chunks should be richer, and more coherent, and contain different information.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Working Memory
There are three main parts to Bladdely’s model of working memory.. The three main parts are the central executive, phonological loop, and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The central executive is a system responsible for the control and regulation of cognitive processes. The phonological loop deals with sound or phonological information. The visuo-spatial sketchpad holds information about what we see. It is used in the temporary storage and retrieval of spatial and visual information. The episodic buffer is the third part, it links information across domains to form integrated units of visual, spatial, and verbal information with time sequencing. The episodic buffer also forms links to long-term memory.
It amazes me how memory works not only for intellectual memorizations and learning techniques, but for everyday recall and emotional memories as well....
The central executive is a system responsible for the control and regulation of cognitive processes. The phonological loop deals with sound or phonological information. The visuo-spatial sketchpad holds information about what we see. It is used in the temporary storage and retrieval of spatial and visual information. The episodic buffer is the third part, it links information across domains to form integrated units of visual, spatial, and verbal information with time sequencing. The episodic buffer also forms links to long-term memory.
It amazes me how memory works not only for intellectual memorizations and learning techniques, but for everyday recall and emotional memories as well....
Vocabulary
Why is vocabulary instruction important to reading comprehension? According to the Joshi article, vocabulary is a means for beinning the understanding of comprehension. One study of 3rd graders showed that most students had mastered decoding skills and could comprehend grade level materials. But it has been noted that once they reach middle grades, while their decoding skills remained good, poor vocabulary interfered with comprehension on these grade levels. Some students do not have a large source of vocabulary or are not taught vocabulary that enriches their understanding while reading. According to the Adams article, direct vocabulary instruction has resulted in an increase in word knowledge and reading comprehension in all students that were studied.
What is the Matthew Effect?
The Matthew Effect states that poor readers tend to read easier materials and fewer books than good readers do. A poor reader’s vocabulary grows at a slower rate than students with a larger vocabulary because the books that they are being assigned have poorer quality vocabulary in them. Students with a larger vocabulary read more and better comprehend the material they read. A student’s vocabulary knowledge is affected by the amount of words they are exposed to. Children with a lower vocabulary tend to define words in terms of the context that they were read in, while children with a larger vocabulary were able to define words in more general terms and show examples of the word meanings.
What is the Matthew Effect?
The Matthew Effect states that poor readers tend to read easier materials and fewer books than good readers do. A poor reader’s vocabulary grows at a slower rate than students with a larger vocabulary because the books that they are being assigned have poorer quality vocabulary in them. Students with a larger vocabulary read more and better comprehend the material they read. A student’s vocabulary knowledge is affected by the amount of words they are exposed to. Children with a lower vocabulary tend to define words in terms of the context that they were read in, while children with a larger vocabulary were able to define words in more general terms and show examples of the word meanings.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Ehri and Goodman
1- How does Ehri’s view of grapho-phoneme awareness differ from the traditional notion of phoneme awareness. Briefly discuss the research evidence that she draws on in postulating grapho-phonemic awareness.
Grapho-phonemic awareness is the relationship between graphemes the symbols written to represent the sound phonemes make. Readers connect the spellings of words to their pronunciations. This view is different from traditional phoneme awareness because phonemic awareness refers to the smallest speech sounds. Phonemic awareness works for beginning readers when there is a one-to -one grapheme/phoneme relationship, however, there are countless words in which sounds are ambiguous phonetically.
Ehri’s research studied 1st and 2nd grader responses to spoken pseudowords. Students were shown letter prompts and the pseudoword was pronounced, students then saw the spellings of the pseudoword. Students were then shown misspellings of pseudowords.
This research discovered that when students saw correct spelling they remembered the pseudoword better than when they were shown no spellings. The visual representation produced a connection between spelling and pronunciations in their memory.
2- Describe briefly the reading process that Goodman suggests.
Goodman suggests during oral reading the reader is performing two tasks at the same time.; produce oral language determined by graphic input and make sense of what he is reading. He states proficient readers decode from the graphic stimulus and then encode from the deep structure. He feels readers are making their best attempts at reading text by utilizing graphic input as well as syntactic and sematic information. Readers then predict and anticipate using this information. Readers are sampling just enough text to confirm their guess of what is coming.
How would Adams respond to Goodman’s model of reading?
Adam’s model represents reading as a simultaneous process, all processors are working together. Adams says skilled readers rarely think about indivdual letters or words. While Goodman’s model, like Adams, involves the reader doing several things at one time, Goodman differs from Adams as he states eye movement does not work in reading.
Grapho-phonemic awareness is the relationship between graphemes the symbols written to represent the sound phonemes make. Readers connect the spellings of words to their pronunciations. This view is different from traditional phoneme awareness because phonemic awareness refers to the smallest speech sounds. Phonemic awareness works for beginning readers when there is a one-to -one grapheme/phoneme relationship, however, there are countless words in which sounds are ambiguous phonetically.
Ehri’s research studied 1st and 2nd grader responses to spoken pseudowords. Students were shown letter prompts and the pseudoword was pronounced, students then saw the spellings of the pseudoword. Students were then shown misspellings of pseudowords.
This research discovered that when students saw correct spelling they remembered the pseudoword better than when they were shown no spellings. The visual representation produced a connection between spelling and pronunciations in their memory.
2- Describe briefly the reading process that Goodman suggests.
Goodman suggests during oral reading the reader is performing two tasks at the same time.; produce oral language determined by graphic input and make sense of what he is reading. He states proficient readers decode from the graphic stimulus and then encode from the deep structure. He feels readers are making their best attempts at reading text by utilizing graphic input as well as syntactic and sematic information. Readers then predict and anticipate using this information. Readers are sampling just enough text to confirm their guess of what is coming.
How would Adams respond to Goodman’s model of reading?
Adam’s model represents reading as a simultaneous process, all processors are working together. Adams says skilled readers rarely think about indivdual letters or words. While Goodman’s model, like Adams, involves the reader doing several things at one time, Goodman differs from Adams as he states eye movement does not work in reading.
Cunningham, A. &Stanovich, K. (1993). Children's literacy environments and early word recognition subskills. Reading and Writing: An Interdiciplinary Journal , 5, 193-204
Cunningham and Stanovich’s research enhances Cassar’s by trying to separate phonological and orthographic processing skills in word recognition during the very earliest stages of reading acquisition. They also asked if print exposure predicted variance in orthographic knowledge.
Using several different measures, including the Stanford Achievement Test, phoneme deletion, phoneme transpostion, experimental spelling tasks, letter-string choice tasks, and Title Recongition Test, Cunningham and Stanovich proved there was a 40% correlation between exposure to print and orthographic knowledge for early readers.
Stanovich and Cunningham confirm that exposure to print will build orthographic conventions. Students should read high interest, easy material to help build their processing skills.
Using several different measures, including the Stanford Achievement Test, phoneme deletion, phoneme transpostion, experimental spelling tasks, letter-string choice tasks, and Title Recongition Test, Cunningham and Stanovich proved there was a 40% correlation between exposure to print and orthographic knowledge for early readers.
Stanovich and Cunningham confirm that exposure to print will build orthographic conventions. Students should read high interest, easy material to help build their processing skills.
Cassar, M. & Treiman, R. (1997). The beinnings of orthographic knowledge: Children’s knowledge of double letters in words. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 4, 631-644.
Cassar and Treiman conducted a research study on the knowledge of double letters in English. The study showed students from kindergarten through college. Their interest in the study was to find out how orthographic knowledge plays a role in the letter choices of young children’s created spelling.
Does the knowledge that young children have about the postitions in which double letters occur and about which letters are doubled help in their invented spelling, or is this type of orthographic understanding a late addition to the knowledge base?
The dependent variable was the accuracy when identifying if a word is real or not based on the position of the consonant or letters.
The independent variables were the position of the "doublet" or orthographic convention and the grade level of the student.
The methods for the experiments were based on whether students were shown nonwords with double consonants. Depending on the position of the consonants, the students were asked if the nonword could be an English word, not if it could be a word from another language.
The other experiment studied phonological environment, postiton, and identity of doubled consonants. The students were shown a nonword and given the pronunciation. They were then to choose the best spelling of the word based on what they had heard, not seen.
There are two categories of nonword pairs. The first group had a short vowel and the second had a long vowel. The correct answer was the nonword spelling that correleated to the correct pronunciation.
Results concluded that Kindergarteners were able to identify the correct spelling of the nonwords when the "doublet" was in the correct place. This shows that the students had generalized that words do not begin with "doublets" or contain double consonants that they are not familiar with, for example, kk or bb. As early as first grade, the students were able to identify the correct position of "doublets" in words.
Both sets of subjects conditions tended to choose single consonant spellings more often than the doublets, resulting in more long-vowel words than short-vowel words' spellings being chosen correctly.
This study shows us that with exposure to print, young children are able to generalize correct spellings. Even when students are unable to read independently, they are forming a knowledge of how letters work together and are ordered to form words. Exposing students to print is the key in the early grades in order to develop this understanding from the beginning.
Does the knowledge that young children have about the postitions in which double letters occur and about which letters are doubled help in their invented spelling, or is this type of orthographic understanding a late addition to the knowledge base?
The dependent variable was the accuracy when identifying if a word is real or not based on the position of the consonant or letters.
The independent variables were the position of the "doublet" or orthographic convention and the grade level of the student.
The methods for the experiments were based on whether students were shown nonwords with double consonants. Depending on the position of the consonants, the students were asked if the nonword could be an English word, not if it could be a word from another language.
The other experiment studied phonological environment, postiton, and identity of doubled consonants. The students were shown a nonword and given the pronunciation. They were then to choose the best spelling of the word based on what they had heard, not seen.
There are two categories of nonword pairs. The first group had a short vowel and the second had a long vowel. The correct answer was the nonword spelling that correleated to the correct pronunciation.
Results concluded that Kindergarteners were able to identify the correct spelling of the nonwords when the "doublet" was in the correct place. This shows that the students had generalized that words do not begin with "doublets" or contain double consonants that they are not familiar with, for example, kk or bb. As early as first grade, the students were able to identify the correct position of "doublets" in words.
Both sets of subjects conditions tended to choose single consonant spellings more often than the doublets, resulting in more long-vowel words than short-vowel words' spellings being chosen correctly.
This study shows us that with exposure to print, young children are able to generalize correct spellings. Even when students are unable to read independently, they are forming a knowledge of how letters work together and are ordered to form words. Exposing students to print is the key in the early grades in order to develop this understanding from the beginning.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Lenses on Reading
Gough’s Model:
Gough’s model became known as the “bottoms up” model. This also is known as the information processing model. It is made up of different stages. The focuses are on explaining unobservable cognitive processes during the reading process by the subject. The issue of validity with this model lies in that struggling readers can get stuck during the scanner stage due to the lack of vocabulary or word recognition. This model is similar to Adams’ model in that Gough believes that there are several stages and processes in the reading process. Gough’s model is different from Adams’ in that it works together more.
Automatic Information Processing Model:
This model contains five major parts. They are: the visual memory, phonological memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, and attention. In this model, it is believed that with exposure and practice, the visual features become perceived as a single unit. This model shows the cognitive processing perspective. Its main focus is on explaining underlying, unobservable, cognitive processes. This model is like Adams’ model because there are major stages in each of the models.
Interactive Model:
This model begins with visual text input, but the processors use visual information simultaneously. By processing syntactic, semantic, orthographic, and lexical information at the same time, both higher level and lower level processes can interact. The Interactive Information Processing Model is most similar to Adams’s model because it involves multiple processes occurring simultaneously. According to both, reading is not a linear process, but an interactive one involving both high and lower level processes. This model is considered interactive instead of the above mentioned “bottom-up.”
Gough’s model became known as the “bottoms up” model. This also is known as the information processing model. It is made up of different stages. The focuses are on explaining unobservable cognitive processes during the reading process by the subject. The issue of validity with this model lies in that struggling readers can get stuck during the scanner stage due to the lack of vocabulary or word recognition. This model is similar to Adams’ model in that Gough believes that there are several stages and processes in the reading process. Gough’s model is different from Adams’ in that it works together more.
Automatic Information Processing Model:
This model contains five major parts. They are: the visual memory, phonological memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, and attention. In this model, it is believed that with exposure and practice, the visual features become perceived as a single unit. This model shows the cognitive processing perspective. Its main focus is on explaining underlying, unobservable, cognitive processes. This model is like Adams’ model because there are major stages in each of the models.
Interactive Model:
This model begins with visual text input, but the processors use visual information simultaneously. By processing syntactic, semantic, orthographic, and lexical information at the same time, both higher level and lower level processes can interact. The Interactive Information Processing Model is most similar to Adams’s model because it involves multiple processes occurring simultaneously. According to both, reading is not a linear process, but an interactive one involving both high and lower level processes. This model is considered interactive instead of the above mentioned “bottom-up.”
Larson Article
A huge debate in the reading research world is which should be the unit of processing? According to Larson, it is the letter, not the word that should be the focus. Larson says that letter formation is key to recognizing words.
The parallel letter recognition model best explains the Word Superiority Effect, thus it is the best explanation for how letters are processed. This is based on the findings during eye movement studies that proved that words are processed as whole units rather than letter by letter.
Word-shape model reading instruction leaves many things to stake. If students are only taught to read using the word-shape model of words, they are more likely to make errors when similar spelled words are presented. They should be taught using letter-sound models, word families (rhymes), and spelling patterns (cvc, cvce, etc.). By teaching students how words work, not just how they look, we will be teaching them to be life long readers capable of new terms and text types.
If a student is struggling to read, then teaching eye movements is not going to do anything to help their reading skills. It would more than likely confuse them further and cause a frustration that would likely turn them off to reading in the long run.
The parallel letter recognition model best explains the Word Superiority Effect, thus it is the best explanation for how letters are processed. This is based on the findings during eye movement studies that proved that words are processed as whole units rather than letter by letter.
Word-shape model reading instruction leaves many things to stake. If students are only taught to read using the word-shape model of words, they are more likely to make errors when similar spelled words are presented. They should be taught using letter-sound models, word families (rhymes), and spelling patterns (cvc, cvce, etc.). By teaching students how words work, not just how they look, we will be teaching them to be life long readers capable of new terms and text types.
If a student is struggling to read, then teaching eye movements is not going to do anything to help their reading skills. It would more than likely confuse them further and cause a frustration that would likely turn them off to reading in the long run.
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