Reading Skill Differences in Familiarity with Print Language
Location
Room 212
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
This study examined the link between skilled reading and efficient processing of print at the syntactic/phrasal level. College students with differing levels of reading ability were recruited from a large, urban university comprising struggling readers (n = 14) and non-struggling readers (n = 14). Phrases were identified with a high frequency of occurrence in print (e.g., “one of the most”) and in speech (e.g., “more or less”) from previous research. Regular, infrequent counterparts (controls) for each of the frequent phrases were created by changing one word of similar length and frequency: “one of the new” was created for “one of the most” and “three or less” for “more or less”. Response time data were collected during a single trial lasting 5-10 min. Results revealed faster responding to frequent phrases in print than to regular controls by non-struggling readers but not by struggling readers. Reading time data of struggling readers were nearly identical to frequent vs. control phrases. In speech, however, both groups responded to frequent phrases equally faster than the regular controls. Limitations and implications of these findings will be discussed for future research and instructional efforts to provide a framework for facilitating meaningful and efficient comprehension of text.
Keywords
Print exposure, Reading fluency, Phraseology
Recommended Citation
Ari, Omer, "Reading Skill Differences in Familiarity with Print Language" (2014). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 36.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2014/2014/36
Proposal
Reading Skill Differences in Familiarity with Print Language
Room 212
This study examined the link between skilled reading and efficient processing of print at the syntactic/phrasal level. College students with differing levels of reading ability were recruited from a large, urban university comprising struggling readers (n = 14) and non-struggling readers (n = 14). Phrases were identified with a high frequency of occurrence in print (e.g., “one of the most”) and in speech (e.g., “more or less”) from previous research. Regular, infrequent counterparts (controls) for each of the frequent phrases were created by changing one word of similar length and frequency: “one of the new” was created for “one of the most” and “three or less” for “more or less”. Response time data were collected during a single trial lasting 5-10 min. Results revealed faster responding to frequent phrases in print than to regular controls by non-struggling readers but not by struggling readers. Reading time data of struggling readers were nearly identical to frequent vs. control phrases. In speech, however, both groups responded to frequent phrases equally faster than the regular controls. Limitations and implications of these findings will be discussed for future research and instructional efforts to provide a framework for facilitating meaningful and efficient comprehension of text.
