Reading in the Content Area: Its Impact on Teaching in the Social Studies Classroom

This study focused on evaluating the sufficiency of research in reading in the content area used to instruct classroom teachers. The research used was conducted between 1970 and 2000 and incorporated into textbooks written between 1975 and 2005. Studies examined were those reported in the following journals: Review of Educational Research, Review of Research in Education, Social Education, Theory and Research in Social Education, Reading Research Quarterly, and Research in the Teaching of English. Some attention was also given to two major educational curriculum and issue journals- Educational Leadership and Phi Delta Kappan as these sources might identify relevant research studies for further investigation. References cited in more than one text helped identify and establish a baseline of those studies considered most significant by textbook authors. The findings of this study showed that the majority of citations looked at the following themes: -Learners acquire meaning from the printed page through thought. -Reading can and should be done for different purposes using a variety of materials. -A number of techniques can be used to teach reading skills. -Reading materials need to be selected according to changes in a child‘s interests. -Reading ability is the level of reading difficulty that students can cope with. It depends on ability rather than age or grade level. -Readability contributes to both the reader‘s degree of comprehension and the need for teacher assistance when reading difficulty exceeds the reader‘s capability. -Reading instruction, in some form, needs to be carried on into the secondary grades. Research findings from the 1970s were concerned with reading strategies, reading skills, reading comprehension, readability, attitudes towards reading, vocabulary, study skills, and content area reading programs. In the 1980s research cited in content area reading books looked at reading comprehension, reading skills, vocabulary, learning strategies, curriculum issues, purposes for reading and writing, content area reading programs, readability, schema theory, thinking skills, summarizing, comprehension strategies, and cooperative learning. By the 1990s more research cited in content area reading books focused on reading strategies, curriculum issues, how to read documents and graphs, reading skills, vocabulary, attitudes towards reading, reading comprehension, and activating background knowledge

Attention Restraint, Working Memory Capacity, and Mind Wandering: Do Emotional Valence or Intentionality Matter?

Attention restraint appears to mediate the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and mind wandering (Kane et al., 2016). Prior work has identifed two dimensions of mind wandering—emotional valence and intentionality. However, less is known about how WMC and attention restraint correlate with these dimensions. Te current study examined the relationship between WMC, attention restraint, and mind wandering by emotional valence and intentionality. A confrmatory factor analysis demonstrated that WMC and attention restraint were strongly correlated, but only attention restraint was related to overall mind wandering, consistent with prior fndings. However, when examining the emotional valence of mind wandering, attention restraint and WMC were related to negatively and positively valenced, but not neutral, mind wandering. Attention restraint was also related to intentional but not unintentional mind wandering. Tese results suggest that WMC and attention restraint predict some, but not all, types of mind wandering

An investigation of L2 reading comprehension of linear texts and hypertexts and working memory capacity

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.O objetivo desse estudo foi investigar a leitura em L2 (Inglês), em textos apresentados de formas distintas: como texto linear e como hipertexto, para verificar possíveis diferenças na compreensão resultante. A razão para tal escrutino reside no fato da divergência encontrada, na literatura, a respeito dos efeitos da não linearidade para o processamento das informações e, conseqüentemente, para a compreensão de textos (Dillon, 1996; Smith, 1994; Charney; 1994; McKnight, Dillon & Richardson, 1993). Para alcançar os objetivos propostos, dois textos, com características similares, foram elaborados e apresentados como hipertextos e como textos lineares. Quatro perguntas de pesquisa e quatro hipóteses foram criadas para essa investigação, e três diferentes instrumentos de coleta foram utilizados: (a) evocações das idéias principais, (b) questionários com perguntas de compreensão e (c) contradições. Além desses instrumentos de coleta, foi também utilizada uma versão do teste de leitura desenvolvido por Daneman e Carpenter (1980) e adaptado por Torres (2003), considerando-se a hipótese da relação direta entre a amplitude da memória e a performance em atividades envolvendo a compreensão (Tomitch, 2005; Torres, 2003, Engle, Kane, & Tuholsky, 1999; Daneman & Capernter, 1980). Quarenta e duas pessoas participaram do estudo: 21 brasileiros recrutados em duas universidades brasileiras (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina e Universidade Estadual de Maringá) e 21 chineses recrutados na Inglaterra (Loughborough University). Os resultados obtidos sinalizam para o fato de que os hipertextos podem comprometer a compreensão, principalmente para os leitores de baixa amplitude de memória. Dados inesperados foram obtidos em relação aos chineses que apresentaram uma amplitude de memória inferior a dos brasileiros, conseqüentemente, apresentando um pior desempenho. A conclusão fundamental obtida nesse estudo é que diferentes variáveis tais como a capacidade de memória do leitor, sua língua materna, e o modo de apresentação de um texto podem influenciar na leitura em L2, e cada uma dessas varáveis pode interferir, de modo diferente, na construção da representação mental do texto. The aim of this study was to investigate L2 reading (English) derived from texts presented in two different modes, as a linear text and as a hypertext, in order to verify possible differences in comprehension. The reason for such scrutiny resides in the fact that different standpoints can be found in the literature about the effects nonlinear texts can cause for processing, achieving coherence and thus, building a mental representation (Dillon, 1996; Smith, 1994; Charney, 1994, McKnight, Dillon & Richardson, 1993). In order to achieve the objectives proposed here, two texts, having similar characteristics, were designed and presented as hypertexts and as linear texts. Four research questions and hypotheses framed this investigation, and three different instruments were used to collect the data: recall of main propositions, comprehension questions and contradictions. In addition to these instruments, a modified version of the original Daneman and Carpenter's (1980) reading span test developed by Torres (2003) was applied, considering the assumption that there is a relationship between participants' performance and their working memory spans (Tomitch, 2005, Torres, 2003, Engle, Kane & Tuholsky, 1999; Daneman & Capenter, 1980). Forty-two participants from two nationalities (21 Brazilians and 21 Chinese) and from different universities (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Univerisdade Estadual de Maringá, and Loughborough University, UK) participated in this study. The results obtained signal to the fact that hypertexts might compromise comprehension, especially, for low-span participants. An unexpected outcome was obtained in relation to the Chinese participants who presented lower working memory spans compared to the Brazilian group, and therefore, presented lower performance. The broad conclusion achieved here is that different variables such as readers' working memory capacity, their first language, and the mode of text presentation may interfere in L2 reading, and each one of theses characteristics might hamper, in different ways, in the construction of a coherent mental representation