This study explored the effect of English language learners’ breadth and depth vocabulary knowledge on their understanding grades reading texts. Sixty-one Jordanian EFL undergraduates were assigned three tests, which Vocabulary Levels Test Version 2 (VLT), Word Associates (WAT), Academic International Language Testing System (IELTS). The collected data was analysed utilizing Pearson correlation...

Reading amount is decisive for individual students' academic success as well the general strength of democratic societies. Still, both leisure-time and school-related reading decreasing. To reverse this trend, more knowledge what drives school needed. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), study based structured interviews with 259 students in Grades 6 9 from 14 different schools. Descript...

Abstract Reading comprehension and fluency are crucial for successful academic learning achievement. Yet, a rather large percentage of children still have enormous difficulties in understanding written text at the end primary school. In this context, aim our study was to investigate whether simplification, process reducing complexity while keeping its meaning unchanged, can improve reading read...

This study investigates whether prior knowledge affects the processing of vague discourse in Mandarin Chinese. Vague discourse refers to the texts using vague references and neutral descriptors (e.g. 東西 dōngxī "thing", 事情 shìqíng "item", and 物件 wùjiàn "object"), rather than naming the referred to items at the basic level. Three conditions of discourse were tested: one was vague texts preceded b...

Debates continue in public and in educational policy forums about the ‘basics’ of literacy while many have not recognised that these basics may never be the same again. Rapid changes in digital communication provide facilities for reading and writing to be combined with various and often quite complex aspects of music, photography and film. At the same time, educational policy and national test...

This paper describes an extensive reading program conducted in three rural secondary or middle schools in Malaysia, aimed at motivating the students to read extensively in English and helping them overcome their problems in understanding English texts as a means towards increasing their proficiency in the language. The paper begins by discussing the rationale for extensive reading for students ...

This study explored the effect of text cohesion on reading comprehension of challenging science texts among students with little topic-relevant knowledge. Introductory level psychology students, considered to have a low level of knowledge on the topic, read high and low cohesion versions of biology texts. After reading the texts, their comprehension of the texts was assessed with text-based or ...

Despite the abundance of research investigating general and academic vocabularies and developing dozens of word lists, few studies have compared academic vocabulary with general service word lists such as conversation vocabulary. Many EAP researchers assume that university students need to know all the words in West’s (1953) General Service List (GSL) as a prerequisite to academic words (e.g., ...

Generally speaking, lexical items that enter our minds through reading a text commonly leave us with pictures, sounds, echoes, and feelings in the mind. While the ability to produce images in the mind in the process of reading appears to be vital for greater comprehension and recall of texts, research has indicated that many poor readers seemingly do not visualize as they read. On the contrary,...

Reading and understanding digital text that is organized in a non-linear hypertext format can be challenging for students as it requires a more self-directed selection of text pieces compared to reading linear texts. This study aims at investigating how individual differences in students’ skills in comprehending digital text can be explained by their navigation behavior and various underlying s...