Search Results (58)

Background/Objectives: Dyslexia, a learning disability affecting reading, has been extensively studied using eye movements. This study aimed to examine in the same design the effects of different psycholinguistic variables, i.e., grammatical category, lexical frequency, word length and orthographic consistency on eye movement patterns during reading in adults. Methods: We compared the eye movements of forty university students, twenty with and twenty without dyslexia while they read aloud a meaningful and a meaningless text in order to examine whether semantic context could enhance their reading strategy. Results: Dyslexic participants made more reading errors and had longer reading time particularly with the meaningless text, suggesting an increased reliance on the semantic context to enhance their reading strategy. They also made more progressive and regressive fixations while reading the two texts. Similar results were found when examining grammatical categories. These findings suggest a reduced visuo-attentional span and reliance on a serial decoding approach during reading, likely based on grapheme-to-phoneme conversion. Furthermore, in the whole text analysis, there was no difference in fixation duration between the groups. However, when examining word length, only the control group exhibited a distinction between longer and shorter words. No significant group differences emerged for word frequency. Importantly, multiple regression analyses revealed that orthographic consistency predicted fixation durations only in the control group, suggesting that dyslexic readers were less sensitive to phonological regularities—possibly due to underlying phonological deficits. Conclusions: These findings suggest the involvement of both phonological and visuo-attentional deficits in dyslexia. Combined remediation strategies may enhance dyslexic individuals’ performance in phonological and visuo-attentional tasks. Full article

This paper proposes the Digital Metacognitive Question–Answer Relationship (dmQAR) Framework, an adaptation of traditional QAR models for the complexities of digital reading environments. In response to the nonlinear, multimodal, and algorithmically curated nature of online texts, the dmQAR Framework scaffolds purposeful metacognitive questioning to support comprehension, evaluation, and critical engagement. Drawing on research in metacognition, critical literacy, and digital reading, the framework reinterprets “Right There,” “Think and Search,” “Author and Me,” and “On My Own” question categories to align with the demands of digital spaces. Practical instructional strategies, including think-alouds, student-generated questioning, digital annotation, and reflection journals, are detailed to support implementation across diverse educational contexts. The paper emphasizes that developing self-regulated questioning is essential for fostering critical literacy and resisting surface-level engagement with digital texts. Implications for instruction highlight the need for explicit metacognitive scaffolding and equitable access to digital literacy tools. Future research directions include empirical validation of the framework’s impact on digital reading comprehension and exploration of developmental differences in metacognitive questioning practices. In an era of widespread misinformation and algorithmic bias, embedding metacognitive questioning into literacy education is vital for preparing students to navigate digital landscapes critically and reflectively. Full article

This paper describes the development and testing of a classroom and complementary home-based intervention to build preschoolers’ spatial orientation skills, focusing on exploring implementation feasibility and initial child learning outcomes. Spatial orientation, one type of spatial thinking, involves understanding the relationship between spatial positions, using maps and models to represent and navigate through space, and using spatial vocabulary. Evidence continues to accumulate that gaining spatial skills helps overall mathematics achievement and that learning resources are needed in this field. This mixed-methods study is the third in a series of investigations that leverage a design-based implementation research approach to develop preschool resources to support spatial orientation with both hands-on and technology-based experiences. Through a quasi-experimental comparison study, treatment teachers implemented eight weeks of hands-on activities, read-aloud stories, and digital activities (including an augmented reality app) and a sample of families also engaged in complementary home-based activities. The findings suggest that the resources help teachers feasibly implement spatial lessons, and preschoolers improve their learning of spatial concepts with the use of the classroom and home-based intervention. Full article

This article presents early insights from a small-scale action research project designed to promote positive reading dispositions and expand reading repertoires among pre-service teachers at a regional Australian university. Building on Professor Teresa Cremin and colleagues’ seminal Teachers as Readers research in the U.K., the study highlights the critical role of teacher educators in fostering pre-service teachers’ knowledge and enthusiasm. It explores how the use of high-quality children’s literature alongside a reading-for-enjoyment (RfE) pedagogical approach can shape pre-service teachers’ identities as future reading role models. Strategies such as shared read-alouds, book talk, and enjoyment-centred reading practices were employed to strengthen connections with children’s literature. The study also modelled how children’s literature could be used as mentor texts to support curriculum-aligned instruction and develop pedagogical confidence. Wenger’s Communities of Practice theory provides a framework to demonstrate how a children’s literature-based approach and RfE pedagogical practices contribute to the formation of positive reader identities. Amid concerns about improving literacy rates and teacher preparedness for reading instruction, this study illustrates the transformative potential of integrating children’s literature and RfE pedagogy into initial teacher education to cultivate future Reading Teachers capable of inspiring a love of reading and building communities of readers in their classrooms. Full article

In this article, we analyse durational variation for inherently long consonants in Italian. Productions by 40 speakers of four regional varieties were elicited via a read-aloud task containing target words with inherently long consonants in the post-consonantal vs. intervocalic position. The analysis of acoustic durations revealed variation. Overall, we found that /ts/, /dz/ and /ʎ/ were considerably longer intervocalically than post-consonantally, although by smaller ratios than those reported in the literature for contrastive geminates; the effect was smaller for /ʃ/ and barely detectable for /ɲ/. We also detected a trend to lengthen /dz/ and /ʃ/ after a morphemic boundary. In terms of regional variation, north-eastern speakers were found to diverge from the others, with shorter durations and less consistent durational patterns. Additionally, we verified the existence of lengthening induced by double letters for /ts/ (vizi—vizzi) and /dz/ (Gaza—gazza), and only found it for /dz/, particularly for north-eastern speakers. We argue that this may originally have been an orthographic effect due to the acquisition of Italian at school via the written form by past generations, which has been lost for /ts/ but preserved for /dz/ under the influence of loanwords spelled with <z> and pronounced as short intervocalically. Full article

This study explores the use of a theatre project to enhance reading competencies among students with special educational needs (SENs) in inclusive classrooms. The project, titled “Stop Bullying! A Theatre Project”, aimed to improve students’ reading skills through dramatised engagement with texts, with a particular focus on promoting literacy and social interaction. Employing a Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology, the study involved iterative cycles of implementation and data collection. Participants, including students with varying reading abilities, engaged in theatrical activities that incorporated reading strategies such as reading aloud, paired reading, and choral reading—each designed to support comprehension, fluency, and reading confidence. Findings from multiple cycles indicated improvements in students’ social dynamics, including stronger peer interactions and increased group cohesion. While quantitative reading assessment data showed only modest gains in reading performance, qualitative observations revealed significant improvements in reading skills and social interactions during collaborative performances. The study concludes that a theatre-based approach can effectively support reading development while fostering a more inclusive and supportive classroom environment. Full article

Purpose: Patients with advanced glaucoma have visual field defects that impair mobility and quality of life (QoL). We aim to determine the effects of exploratory saccade training (EST) in such patients with bilateral overlapping scotomas that affect at least one visual field quadrant. Patients and Methods: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty of the University of Tuebingen, Germany, and was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS DRKS00031082, date of approval: 2 February 2023). We randomly assigned 27 patients to two groups, one of which trained with a computer-based EST (group 1). A control group (group 2) first used reading training (rapid serial visual presentation, RSVP, a single-word presentation to minimize eye movements) as placebo training (PRT) in regard to EST, which trains eye movements and, in a later phase, also used EST. Each training method required 6 weeks of home training. Main outcome variables were reaction time (RT) during the EST training sessions, RT during a natural search task (table test), reading speed (RS) during training on the screen, and during reading printed paragraphs aloud. QoL was assessed by a questionnaire. Results: Reaction times during EST and the table test improved significantly, which indicated transfer of the training effect to daily life. RS and QoL were reduced at baseline. Reading training improved RS significantly and reached normal median values. QoL improved significantly in the sub-categories regarding mobility problems in group 1. Patients with inferior field defects were more impaired and improved more than those without inferior field defects. Conclusions: As a supplement to the necessary treatment for glaucoma, EST is an effective home training method for rehabilitation by improving reaction time in daily living tasks for patients with advanced glaucoma. Reading training improved RS while reading from a screen as well as reading printed text. Full article

Mind wandering is a common issue among schoolchildren and academic students, often undermining the quality of learning and teaching effectiveness. Current detection methods mainly rely on eye trackers and electrodermal activity (EDA) sensors, focusing on external indicators such as facial movements but neglecting voice detection. These methods are often cumbersome, uncomfortable for participants, and invasive, requiring specialized, expensive equipment that disrupts the natural learning environment. To overcome these challenges, a new algorithm has been developed to detect mind wandering during reading aloud. Based on external indicators like the blink rate, pitch frequency, and reading rate, the algorithm integrates these three criteria to ensure the accurate detection of mind wandering using only a standard computer camera and microphone, making it easy to implement and widely accessible. An experiment with ten participants validated this approach. Participants read aloud a text of 1304 words while the algorithm, incorporating the Viola–Jones model for face and eye detection and pitch-frequency analysis, monitored for signs of mind wandering. A voice activity detection (VAD) technique was also used to recognize human speech. The algorithm achieved 76% accuracy in predicting mind wandering during specific text segments, demonstrating the feasibility of using noninvasive physiological indicators. This method offers a practical, non-intrusive solution for detecting mind wandering through video and audio data, making it suitable for educational settings. Its ability to integrate seamlessly into classrooms holds promise for enhancing student concentration, improving the teacher–student dynamic, and boosting overall teaching effectiveness. By leveraging standard, accessible technology, this approach could pave the way for more personalized, technology-enhanced education systems. Full article

Postmodern picture books offer valuable opportunities for children to engage with multiple perspectives and develop critical thinking skills. When used in pedagogical practices that prioritize children’s rights, agency, and voices, these books can effectively challenge dominant social norms and promote justice and equity. Within the framework of the SMOOTH project (Educational Common Spaces, Passing through Enclosures and Reversing Inequalities, Horizon 2020, EU), this qualitative study explores how children aged six to eight attending a public primary school in Lisbon, Portugal, make sense of gender through postmodern picture books. Grounded in the Educational Studies and Sociology of Childhood, the research analyses children’s understandings of gender and the meanings they construct concerning it. A six-month intervention program, consisting of read-aloud sessions, was conducted with children from diverse linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Data were collected through focus groups and observation. Qualitative content analysis highlights how picture books can stimulate critical discussions on the social construction of gender, providing children with opportunities to reflect on differences, power relations, and social change. These findings indicate that embedding a care perspective further strengthens the recognition of children’s lived experiences and enriches educational practices by fostering inclusiveness and deeper understanding. Full article

This paper examines the practice of ‘Bible Noise’, a group which I led at a Church of England evangelical church that explored creative ways of reading aloud the Bible through sound art practice. Biblical engagement is central to evangelicals and I wanted to expand biblical engagement by using sonic performances through the use of our voices, thereby facilitating a more bodily encounter with scripture. ‘Noise’ in the group name alludes to the disruption that sound can generate and also alludes to the ‘noise’ of multivocality, since the Bible has many voices in it from authors, narrative characters, editors, compilers, translators, interpreters and so on. The ‘noise’ is also a disruption of the visual primacy of our current culture. Bible Noise explores ways in which different voices can be brought in to enrich our aural engagement with scripture by exploring five different ‘pieces’ or readings of scripture. In doing so it establishes a communal idea of scripture where the different voices within scripture can be heard, paying attention to their particularities. Listening to these voices and our own embodied enactment of them can enrich and deepen our perception and engagement of scripture by appreciating the chorus of voices that is the Bible, the collection of texts that forms a core of British evangelical practice and belief. Full article

This paper reports on the affordances and constraints encountered in the case of an innovative project designed to support early literacy development in Arabic and English while enhancing father-child wellbeing in Abu Dhabi. The project sought to encourage Emirati fathers to engage in interactive shared book reading at home with their young children. In a context where adult–child home reading is not a traditional practice and where children’s reading proficiency in public schools is often below international standards, the project sought to support families with their children’s early literacy development and to develop positive dispositions towards reading. Fathers (N = 80) of kindergarten children (4–5 years) in state schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were invited to participate in interactive workshops about shared parent–child reading. Fathers were provided with selected, high-quality books in both Arabic and English to read aloud with their children at home and were given guidance on ways to read interactively. In this paper, which draws upon survey results, focus group recordings, and researcher field notes from the workshop sites, the affordances and constraints encountered in supporting early home reading and parent–child wellbeing are explored. Recommendations are made for similar reading and wellbeing programs in multilingual contexts. These include providing accessible information to both fathers and mothers on the importance of reading with their children at home, sharing tips and modelling parent–child interactive reading, and the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate books for families. Full article

Evaluating designed objects in real-world use cases enables usability optimization. For functional objects such as face masks, the mask must fit the user initially and continue to fit during movements such as talking. This paper describes methodology development for dynamic fit analysis of face masks using 3D head scans. Participants were scanned while wearing Basic, Cup, and Petal model masks before and after reading a passage aloud and completed surveys across eight fit dimensions. Face and mask measurements were virtually extracted from the head scans for quantitative fit analysis, and mask overlays were inspected for qualitative fit analysis. Four of eleven facial measurements changed significantly from closed to open-mouth posture while the nasal dorsum was identified as a stable landmark and served as a reference to define a mask shift metric. The mask shift was compared to the survey results for the model masks, with the Cup design fitting best and the Petal design rated as most comfortable. Poor fit modes identified from mask overlays were fabric buckling, compressed nose and ears, and gapping between the mask and facial features. This methodology can be implemented during the analysis stage of the iterative design process and complements static fit analyses. Full article

Book banning and laws against discussing so-called “divisive concepts” in the United States are limiting what is read to children in schools, even in places without specific legislation. Books by Black and LGBTQIA+ authors and/or about Black or LGBTQIA+ characters are specific targets of the book banning and censorship efforts. The research reported in this article used a case study approach to explore two teacher candidates’ responses to inclusive children’s picture books and their discussions of the books with students in their classrooms during their practicum. The results indicated that the teacher candidates strongly believed in the value of sharing inclusive children’s literature and effectively utilized open-ended questions to spark critical thinking. However, they found it challenging to follow their students’ leads and build on comments in ways that could have resulted in deeper thinking and understanding. More practice, feedback and reflective opportunities are needed during teacher preparation in actual classrooms to improve teacher candidates’ abilities to conduct interactive read-alouds about topics that feel risky. The findings also highlight the need for schools and mentor teachers to model discussions about inclusive children’s books. Full article

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024, published by the United Nations, highlights quality education as a priority goal, emphasising its essential role in facilitating the achievement of other goals. Although there has been modest progress since 2019, several areas require further advancement, including the development of reading skills. Extensive reading plays an important role in foreign language acquisition, as it not only significantly enhances students’ vocabulary, text comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing skills, but also fosters the development of sustainable learning and self-regulated learning skills. In order to substantially increase students’ reading opportunities, the ‘Reading Circle’ (RC) project was initiated, allowing teachers and their students to read five to eight graded readers during English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes throughout the school year. During the school year 2023/2024, 45 teachers and 1328 students of Grades 3–11 participated in the 9-month project. The aim of this study was to analyse teachers’ perceptions on the efficacy of the ‘Reading Circle’ project and the most common teaching techniques. The data indicate that the most commonly used teaching techniques across all levels of language learning were the text discussions and the completion of ready-made exercises, while a significant difference across the levels emerged in the techniques of students reading aloud versus reading silently. The findings of this study reveal that teachers highly evaluated the benefits of the project and observed positive improvements in students’ reading motivation, text comprehension, and advancements in their reading and speaking skills, and the outcomes imply that the ‘Reading Circle’ project is an effective method of enhancing sustainable learning and self-regulated learning skills. Full article

Standardized assessment tools are essential for informed, data-driven decision-making. Reading speedily is a crucial early skill that all students should have the opportunity to develop in inclusive classrooms. To facilitate classroom-based reading diagnostics in this area of reading, we developed a flash reading test that reliably measures the performance of students with and without learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities. This test can be administered in the classroom and completed independently by students, taking only a few minutes, without requiring them to read aloud. The test is designed to provide an accurate assessment of the speed of lexical recall for all students. To evaluate the difficulty-generating-item characteristics of the new instrument, 400 primary and special school students participated in the test. The results indicate that students with low abilities and disabilities are particularly differentiated by the combination of a short display duration and short words. We provide information for test developers interested in designing similar assessments and teachers who can use this instrument to make informed decisions in the classroom. Full article