A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Reading Comprehension

Steffensen, Margaret S.; Joag-dev, Chitra; Anderson, Richard C.

doi:10.2307/747429

Cited by 317 publications

(162 citation statements)

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“…A reader's background knowledge and perspective while reading serve to highlight particular elements and increase their memorability (Pichert & Anderson, 1977;Steffensen, Jogdeo, & Anderson, 1978). An element occupies a particular position in the logical hierarchy of ideas in a text.…”

Section: Elements In Text Can Derivementioning

confidence: 99%

Serial position and rated importance in the recall of text

Freebody

Anderson

1986

Discourse Processes

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Multiple regression was used to examine the relationship between the serial position and the rated importance of a proposition and the probability of its appearance in free recall protocols.A total of eight passages were each read and recalled by about 60 sixthgrade students. It was found that both rated importance and position predict recall.In addition, the quadratic of serial position is a significant predictor, indicating a recency effect. Neither the interaction term nor the quadratic of importance were significant, nor was there a significant correlation between importance and the linear or quadratic of position. Texts showing strong effects are discussed in some detail. Why have these discrepant results been found? Meyer and McConkie (1973) argued that the height of a proposition in the logical or ideational structure of a passage critically affects the probability of a proposition's appearance in a recall protocol.Authors tend to put higher-order information, it is argued, at the beginnings and ends of passages as introductions and conclusions--hence, the advantage of early-and late-appearing propositions.In this account, primacy and recency might be thought of as somewhat misleading terms in that they suggest that the temporal It has been consistently demonstrated in prose research that there is a positive relation between the importance of an element in the text and the probability of that element's being recalled (Gomulicki, 1956; Johnson, 1970). Elements in text can deriveimportance from a number of sources. A reader's background knowledge and perspective while reading serve to highlight particular elements and increase their memorability (Pichert & Anderson, 1977;Steffensen, Jogdeo, & Anderson, 1978). An element occupies a particular position in the logical hierarchy of ideas in a text.Elements high in the hierarchy are perceived as important and are more likely to be recalled (Meyer & McConkie, 1973; Meyer, 1975).Authors can signal important elements with underlinings, headings, etc., resulting again in increased probability of recall (Rothkopf & Bisbicos, 1967). There is also a category of elements that might be The data to be reported here arises from a compilation of findings from three experiments reported separately elsewhere , and in press). Materials and scoring procedures are described more fully in these reports. Method SubjectsIn total, 228 sixth-grade students from a small city in central Illinois participated in the study.As assessed by nationally normed achievement tests, these students were, on the average, one-half of one standard deviation above the mean achievement level. MaterialsEight passages of about 250-300 words each were used in this study. Four were adapted from the Scott Foresman Social Studies program for Grade 6. Four were written for the study in a similar vein and of the same length as the social studies passages. Students read Position, Importance, and Text Recall 5 either three (n = 146) or two (n = 82) of these passages, such that on the average each pa...

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Section: Elements In Text Can Derivementioning

confidence: 99%

Serial position and rated importance in the recall of text

Freebody

Anderson

1986

Discourse Processes

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“…In the study by Steffensen et al (1979) only overall reading times were recorded. Analyses of total reading times can mask differences in reading time within a passage (e.g., Reynolds et al, 1979), and it is possible that within a passage, schema-governed selective attention was functioning.…”

Section: Reading In Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Reading in perspective: What real cops and pretend burglars look for in a story.

Goetz¹,

Schallert²,

Reynolds³

et al. 1983

Journal of Educational Psychology

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Abstractattention-focusing hypothesis, readers spent more time on sentence information important to their perspective. Readers' existing knowledge structures (their schemata) influence the comprehension, recall, and perceived importance of elements that make up a text (e.g., Pichert & Anderson, 1977). In this study, two explanations of how schemata might function during encoding were tested. The selective attention hypothesis makes the prediction that activated schemata would lead the reader to identify certain text elements as important and cause an increase in processing for those schema-relevant ideas. The slot-filling hypothesis, by contrast, posits that a schema provides a ready structure into which relevant information can be easily assimilated with no more processing required. Both hypotheses predict that subjects, given different perspectives to take while reading a story, will identify appropriate text elements as most important and will recall more ideas relevant to their assigned perspective. The hypotheses differ in that only the selective attention hypothesis predicts that readers will spend more time reading perspectiverelevant ideas. Two experiments were performed. In both, subjects were assigned to three perspective conditions (burglar, homebuyer, control), and were chosen to represent three naturally occurring perspectives (police, real estate, and education students). In the first experiment, it was found that subjects rated text elements relevant to their assigned perspective as more important than perspective-irrelevant ideas. In the second study, the text was presented via a computer-assisted instruction system that permitted the measurement of reading time for individual sentences. The results confirmed the powerful role of assigned, as opposed to naturally occurring, perspective in determining the likelihood of recall. Consistent with the ,s containing Reading in PerspectiveReading in Perspective

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“…Perhaps the most popular approach to including the culture of language-minority students is the use of culturally familiar reading materials. Comprehension has been enhanced in both young and adult readers when the texts they read contained culturally familiar content (e.g., Rigg, 1986;Steffenson, Joag-dev, & Anderson, 1979).…”

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Linking Reading Comprehension Instruction to Language Development for Language-Minority Students

Anderson¹,

Roit²

1996

The Elementary School Journal

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Despite suggestions from research to the contrary, developing oral-language proficiency in languageminority students often takes precedence over reading comprehension. This report explores the use of reading comprehension instruction as a gateway for developing oral language in language-minority students. Based on classroom observations, analyses of videotapes of literacy teaching sessions, conversations with teachers and administrators, and analyses of demonstration lessons, six prevalent instructional issues, defined as competencies, were identified that could be developed in students to increase both reading comprehension and language development. These include the ability to use the English language with flexibility, to use less-imageable basic vocabulary, to consider larger contexts, to determine importance and unimportance of aspects of text, to elaborate responses, and to engage in natural conversations. A discussion of these competenicies is followed by a set of suggestions for teaching them that draw upon the primary language, cognitive strengths, and social skills of languageminority students. Although these teaching suggestions focus on the development of reading comprehension, they also provide natural opportunities for students to increase their understanding and use of English. Suggested teaching activities include: shared reading; vocabulary networking; expanding contexts; predicting; encouraging the use of imagery; teaching about text structures; questioning, identifying problems, and sharing strategies; text explaining; arranging for conversational opportunities; and using culturally familiar informational texts. Recommendations for implementing these instructional activities by grade level are included.Anderson & Roit Linking Reading Comprehension Instruction -2

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A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Reading Comprehension

Cited by 317 publications

References 13 publications

Serial position and rated importance in the recall of text

Serial position and rated importance in the recall of text

Reading in perspective: What real cops and pretend burglars look for in a story.

Linking Reading Comprehension Instruction to Language Development for Language-Minority Students

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