Patterns in PIRLS performance: The importance of liking to read, SES, and the effect of test prep

Analysis of PIRLS data on liking reading and SES revealed five consistent patterns: (1) 'basline': locations with high PIRLS scores, high SES, and a high level of 'liking reading' among both children and their parents. (2) 'test-prep' locations, with high SES and PIRLS scores, but little interest in reading. Our conjecture is that these students achieved high scores through test-preparation (strategy instruction) and through diligently reading very hard texts. (3) 'late-bloomers' with high SES and high PIRLS scores, with parents but not children liking reading, In most of these locations, reading instruction starts late. (4) middle SES countries and locations; (5) Lower SES countries and locations, with children liking to read but adults much less. The problem in cases in category (5) is lack of access to reading material.published_or_final_versio

Do Efl Students Like Graded Readers?

Graded readers are widely used in English as a foreign language programs, but we have little information about whether students find them interesting. In this study, 14 to 16 year old students of English as a foreign language in Taiwan were asked to evaluate the readers they had read. Overall, 41% found the books to be interesting, and 24% did not, but only 4% strongly agreed that the books were interesting. This is an encouraging result, but if our goal is to help students find truly compelling reading material, we will have to look elsewhere for additional reading material

Do Efl Students Like Graded Readers?

Graded readers are widely used in English as a foreign language programs, but we have little information about whether students find them interesting. In this study, 14 to 16 year old students of English as a foreign language in Taiwan were asked to evaluate the readers they had read. Overall, 41% found the books to be interesting, and 24% did not, but only 4% strongly agreed that the books were interesting. This is an encouraging result, but if our goal is to help students find truly compelling reading material, we will have to look elsewhere for additional reading material

Reading In English By Children In Korea: Frequency, Effectiveness, And Barriers

A study of the English non-textbook reading of fourth graders in Korea revealed that about 80% had done at least some reading, confirming that there is enthusiasm for English reading. About half, however, had read only five books or fewer. Non-readers said that the reason they did not read in English was the difficulty of English texts. Those who read more did better on a test of English spelling and vocabulary

Notes and Comments: Do Young People in Japan Like to Read? Let's Take a Closer Look

As part of literacy instruction, teachers use reading programs that use rewards to motivate students to read (Kohn 1999). Underlying such programs is the assumption that young people are not interested in reading and need a system of reward and punishment interventions to motivate them to read. This assumption is not supported by us

The Effects And Efficiency Of Hearing Stories On Vocabulary Acquisition By Students Of German AS A Second Foreign Language In Japan

The usual approach to vocabulary learning is to present students with a list of words to be memorized, present them in the context of a text, and then provide exercises to “reinforce” the vocabulary. The purpose of these studies with beginning level German-as-a-foreign language university students in Japan was to determine whether beginning level students with limited vocabulary in German could sustain their interest in hearing a story for over 20 minutes, and to determine how much vocabulary could be gained just from hearing stories, without a list to memorize and supplementary vocabulary exercises. The first experiment showed that hearing a story had a higher acquisition/learning rate than a list method. The second and third experiments showed that supplementary focus on form activities were not worthwhile on vocabulary acquisition/learning, and that the rate of acquisition/learning was .10 words per minute during the seven weeks. It appears to be the case that students acquire six words per hour when they hear stories, while they learn 2.4 words per hour in traditional classes

Spanish Teachers\u27 Sense of Humor and Student Performance on the National Spanish Exams

Research suggests that second/foreign language teachers\u27 sense of humor is directly related to many outcomes for teachers and their students. This research investigates the relationship between the perceived sense of humor of in-service Spanish teachers\u27 (n = 102) and their students\u27 (n = 5,419) score on the National Spanish Exams using the affective filter hypothesis as a conceptual framework. Statistical analyses indicate that Spanish teacher sense of humor is related to student achievement on the exams. This research has implications for language teachers and teacher educators

Embodied Discourses of Literacy in the Lives of Two Preservice Teachers

This study examines the emerging teacher literacy identities of Ian and A.J., two preservice teachers in a graduate teacher education program in the United States. Using a poststructural feminisms theoretical framework, the study illustrates the embodiment of literacy pedagogy discourses in relation to the literacy courses’ discourse of comprehensive literacy and the literacy biographical discourses of Ian and A.J. The results of this study indicate the need to deconstruct how the discourse of comprehensive literacy limits how we, as literacy teacher educators, position, hear and respond to our preservice teachers and suggests the need for differentiation in our teacher education literacy courses