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This study examined the relationships of 3 levels of reading fluency--the individual word, the syntactic unit. and the whole passage--to reading comprehension among 278 5th graders heterogeneous in reading ability. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that reading fluency at each level related uniquely to performance on a standardized reading comprehension test in a model including inferencing skill and background knowledge. The study supports an automaticity effect for word recognition speed and an automaticity-like effect related to syntactic processing skill. In addition, hierarchical regressions using longitudinal data suggest that fluency and reading comprehension have a bidirectional relationship. The discussion emphasizes the theoretical expansion of reading fluency to 3 levels of cognitive processes and the relations of these processes to reading comprehension. Keywords: reading comprehension, reading fluency, prosody, word recognition speed. syntactic processing

The authors examined the impact of elaborative interrogation on knowledge construction during expository text reading, specifically, the interactions among elaborative interrogation, knowledge, and interest. Three measures of learning were taken: recall, inference, and coherence. Elaborative interrogation affected all aspects of learning measured, with a significant interaction between elaborative interrogation and interest with regard to inference. The experimental effect on the measure of inference was larger for the students who had less interest than for the students who had more interest. There was also an interaction effect between knowledge and elaborative interrogation for coherence. The experimental effect on coherence was higher for students who had less knowledge than students who had more knowledge.

Based on an engagement perspective of reading development, we investigated the extent to which an instructional framework of combining motivation support and strategy instruction (Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction--CORI) influenced reading outcomes for third-grade children. In CORI, five motivational practices were integrated with six cognitive strategies for reading comprehension. In the first study, we compared this framework to an instructional framework emphasizing Strategy Instruction (SI), but not including motivation support. In the second study, we compared CORI to SI and to a traditional instruction group (TI), and used additional measures of major constructs. In both studies, class-level analyses showed that students in CORI classrooms were higher than SI and/or TI students on measures of reading comprehension, reading motivation, and reading strategies.

ABSTRACT Innovative use of standardized patients (SPs) in a telemedicine environment can improve learning outcomes and clinical competencies. This randomized, cross-over study examined the relationship of technology-based strategies and the [...]

Relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, amount of reading, past reading achievement on text comprehension were examined between the United States and Chinese students. Motivational influences on reading involvement and achievement were cross-culturally observed.

The authors define reading engagement as the mutual support of motivations, strategies, and conceptual knowledge during reading. To increase reading engagement, a collaborative team designed a year-long integration of reading/language arts and science instruction (Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction, CORI). The authors compared students who received this instruction to similar students who received traditionally organized instruction aimed toward the same objectives. A path analysis showed that CORI had a positive effect on strategy use and text comprehension for students at Grades 3 and 5 when accounting for past achievement and prior knowledge. CORI also had a positive, indirect effect on conceptual knowledge mediated by strategy use, and this instruction facilitated conceptual transfer indirectly through several paths simultaneously. The findings are discussed in relation to a growing literature on instructional contexts for motivated strategy use and conceptual learning from text.

Teacher perceptions of students' intrinsic motivation for reading were examined from the perspective of self-determination development and reading achievement. A sample of 68 teachers from randomly selected elementary schools that were representative of county characteristics rated 374 students on 6 aspects of motivation for reading, including individual, topical, activity-based, autonomy-supported, socially supported, and writing-related aspects. Quantitative and qualitative results showed that teachers perceived higher achievers to be relatively higher in intrinsic reading motivation (individual and topical) than in extrinsic reading motivation (activity-based and autonomy-supported). In contrast, teachers perceived lower achievers to be relatively more motivated by extrinsic contextual factors than by intrinsic factors. Teachers appear to possess implicit theories that are in accord with the self-determination perspective on the development of motivation and reading achievement.

The authors explored different aspects of children's reading motivation and how children's motivation related to the amount and breadth of their reading. The reading motives assessed included self-efficacy, intrinsic-extrinsic motivation and goals, and social aspects. Fourth- and 5th-grade children (N = 105) completed a new reading motivation questionnaire twice during a school year. Children's reading amount and breadth were measured using dimes and questionnaires. Children's reading motivation was found to be multidimensional. Their motivation predicted children's reading amount and breadth even when previous amount and breadth were controlled. An intrinsic motivation composite predicted amount and breadth of reading more strongly than did an extrinsic motivation composite. Some aspects of girls' reading motivation were more positive than boys'.

Effects of instructional context on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation have been examined with a variety of studies. This quasi experiment compared students receiving an instructional intervention designed to increase intrinsic motivation with students receiving traditional instruction. Concept-oriented reading instruction (CORI) integrated reading and language arts with science inquiry. It emphasized learning goals, real-world interaction (hands-on science activities), competence support (strategy instruction), autonomy support (self-directed learning), and collaboration. Traditional classrooms had the same content objectives and comparable teachers but different pedagogy. Children in CORI classrooms scored higher on motivation than did children in traditional classrooms, with effect sizes of 1.94 for curiosity and 1.71 for strategy use. Grade-level differences were found for recognition and competition. The results show that classroom contexts can be constructed to influence motivational outcomes positively.