The main result of this effectiveness study is that a reading program with a focus on students’ poetry reading processes, based on observational learning via eye movement modeling examples, can improve students’ reading comprehension for different text types. In a pretest-posttest design with an experimental group (ten classes) and a control group (five classes), students’ self-efficacy regarding their own reading process and their reading comprehension were measured. Over a six-week period, teachers of Dutch and their students worked with the six experimental lessons, instead of the regular reading program: students observed and evaluated contrasting peer reading processes, reflected on differences with their own reading process, and then they practiced aspects of a deep reading process. The program resulted in significant progress in the reading comprehension of “expository texts” (ES = .66), “short stories” (ES = .66), and especially “poetry” (ES = .81). Furthermore, the self-efficacy test results show that students in the experimental condition experienced significantly more learning effect after the intervention period than those in the control group. Moreover, based on the learning reports, evaluation tasks and interviews, it appears that the participants in the innovative program have become aware of their reading and how they improved their performance.
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Lecture on reading images (using semitiocs and discourse theory) and the theorization of 'affect' (what is it that images 'do' to us).
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BackgroundThere has been an increasing interest in negative or ‘undermining’ motivations for reading. In this study, we aimed to strengthen knowledge on the validity of the distinction between affirming and undermining motivations. First, we examined whether the structure of a questionnaire based on this distinction could be confirmed. Second, we examined the predictive value of undermining motivations for reading comprehension. Third, we studied moderator effects of gender and age.MethodsWe administered a reading motivation questionnaire and a reading comprehension test to 324 low-achieving adolescents. The questionnaire included items on affirming and undermining motivations for school and leisure time reading: intrinsic motivation and avoidance, self-efficacy and perceived difficulty.ResultsConfirmatory factor analyses supported the assumed structure of the questionnaire. Undermining motivations, particularly perceived difficulty, explained unique variance in reading achievement. Gender and age did not moderate effects of motivational variables.ConclusionsEducators need to be aware of the role of undermining motivations. Future research should examine if interventions can lead to the reduction of such motivations.
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Picture books with characters that promote healthy eating are increasingly being used to make this behavior more attractive. The first aim of this study was to investigate whether the effect of vegetable promoting picture books on toddlers' vegetable consumption differed according to the reading style and the use of a hand puppet during reading. The second aim was to investigate whether these effects were mediated by toddlers’ narrative involvement and character imitation. In a 2 (reading style: interactive vs. passive) x 2 (puppet use: with vs. without puppet) between-subjects design, 163 toddlers (2e3 years) were randomly assigned to one of the four reading conditions. The story was about a rabbit that loves to eat carrots. After the fourth reading day, the eating task was conducted in which children could eat freely from four different snacks, including carrots. The main finding was that interactive reading produced the greatest carrot consumption. The explanation for this effect was that interactive reading stimulated toddlers to imitate poses of the book characters, even more when interactive reading was supported by the use of a hand puppet. The findings underline that young children should be actively involved with health interventions in order for them to be effective.
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The relationship among students' reading performance, their behavior (task-focused behavior, emotional stability, and compliant behavior) in the classroom, and the teacher's skills was investigated in 66 third-grade classrooms. Results from this study showed the students' reading performance and their behavior in the classroom are all significantly interrelated. Better reading performance at the beginning of the school year goes with better behavior at the end of the school year. In turn, better behavior at the beginning of the school year goes with better reading performance at the end of the school year. The teacher can improve the behavior of the students by providing high-quality reading instruction. Some teacher skills have differential effects, however, on the various behavioral aspects. The implications for the educational practice as well as for future research are discussed.
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When reading literary narratives, we assume that readers can get absorbed in the story world and in the story's artifice. Since most absorption research focuses primarily on popular media, virtually no attention has been paid to the possibility that literary devices such as deviation could elicit absorption experiences or that absorption could be aesthetic in nature. This chapter takes an interdisciplinary approach combining insights from media psychology, literary studies, and aesthetics to present a theoretical framework for two different varieties of narrative aesthetic absorption during reading: story world absorption and artifact absorption. We propose that these varieties mirror the distinction made by narratologists between story and discourse and the distinction made by emotion psychologists between F and A emotions.
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A study of the improvement of the quality of student teachers’ lessons in interactive (story)book reading through the use of data-feedback on observed lessons. Variables regarding the optimal time use, the quality of instruction and the student teachers’ pedagogical relation with pupils were included in a one group pre-test post-test design.
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