Examining The Text Demands Of High-interest, Low-Level Books

Abstract

This study analyzed the word-, sentence-, and passage-level demands of highinterest, low-level books in a manner consistent with an interactive model of reading comprehension. Cases consisted of three randomly selected passages from sixty different books. Cases were analyzed across five variables: highfrequency words, decodable words, sentences, T-units, and coherence. A cluster analysis was performed on the 180 cases. Resulting clusters were compared to hypothetical cluster profiles that were created a priori. The principal finding was that these books vary in their profiles of characteristics across the five variables in relation to different reading instructional approaches. Two clusters were found to be written in accordance with readability formulas, and three other clusters were found to support differing models of reading instruction. Implications for book selection, materials development, and instruction are discussed.By the time a struggling reader enters middle school, the impact of the inability to read at an appropriate level is magnified at every successive grade, while the opportunity to remediate the situation is lessened each year. Stanovich (1998) discussed ''Matthew-effects'' in reading instruction, where small differences in reading ability in the early grades grow to become large gaps by the middle and upper grades. Struggling readers in middle and secondary school are often placed in special education classes. Yet, Ysseldyke, Thurlow, Christenson, and Weiss (1987) found that special education students are receiving less literacy instruction than their regular education peers. If so, the appropriate emphasis needed to remediate these students' difficulties in reading is not provided, and the cycle perpetuates.

Matching second graders to text: The utility of a group‐administered comprehension measure

“…The search for quantitative measures of text difficulty began with correlations with comprehension scores on standardized reading tests (Dale & Chall, 1948;Flesch, 1948;Kincaid, Fishburne, Rogers, & Chissom, 1975). These formulas and others analyzed texts with reference to vocabulary and syntactic difficulty as measured by sentence length and word length (Fry, 1977;Raygor, 1977) or sentence length and word frequency (e.g., Dale & Chall, 1948;Harris & Sipay, 1975;Spache, 1953; see also, Chall & Dale, 1995) but none deal specifically with all four potential sources of text difficulty: word frequency, word decodability, sentence-level level comprehension demands and text-level comprehension demands (Spadorcia, 2005). Zakaluk and Samuels (1988) proposed an interactive formula, combining measures of reader skills in word recognition and comprehension with measures of text difficulty.…”

Modul Membaca Awal Prasekolah Menggunakan Nyanyian Berasaskan Teori Psikolinguistik Kognitif dan Aplikasi Kaedah Belajar melalui Bermain (Preschool Early Reading Module Using Songs Based on Cognitive Psycholinguistic Theory and Application of Learning through Play Method)

“…daerah Keningau menyumbangkan jumlah terbesar iaitu 803 kanak-kanak (57.4%). Jika permasalahan penguasaan kemahiran membaca yang wujud tidak ditanggulangi sejak dari awal lagi, hal ini dikhuatiri menjadi semakin serius dan akan menjejaskan pembelajaran ketika berada pada peringkat sekolah rendah atau menengah kelak (Spardocia 2005). Menurut US Department of Education (2002), pelajar yang gagal menguasai kemahiran membaca di gred Empat akan berhenti sekolah akibatnya kurang berjaya semasa peringkat dewasa (Tiong 2011).…”

Leveled Texts for Adults With Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities: A Pilot Study

“…Cunningham and colleagues (2005) found that the best predictor of increasing demands in a text is the number of words per terminable unit (an independent clause, all subordinate clauses, and all nonclausal phrases embedded therein). Spadorcia (2005) describes three types of leveled texts. First, sight-word texts require readers to automatically recognize written words.…”

“…Some educators hope to facilitate reading accuracy and comprehension by reducing the demands on the reader (e.g., Spadorcia, 2005). They employ manipulations of the text itself as well as factors that accompany the text (such as illustrations and the format of comprehension questions).…”

“…According to a summary of previous evidence by van Kraayenoord (1994), higher literacy skills are associated with benefits such as greater vocational opportunities, more independent living options, and higher self-confidence. However, there is little consensus regarding which variables are most helpful in promoting literacy skills (Spadorcia, 2005).…”