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Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos 2-os klasės mokinių ir jų tėvų įsitikinimų apie lietuvių kalbos mokymąsi sąsajos su mokinių pasiekimais. Nustatyta, kad mokinių įsitikinimai apie savo gebėjimus, susidomėjimas lietuvių kalba, tėvų lūkesčiai bei 2-os klasės pasiekimai tarpusavyje siejasi teigiamais ryšiais. Kontroliuojant vaiko lytį, tėvų išsilavinimą bei 1-os klasės pasiekimus, geresnius pasiekimus 2-oje klasėje prognozuoja aukštesni tėvų lūkesčiai ir geresni vaikų savų gebėjimų vertinimai. Esminiai žodžiai: įsitikinimai apie gebėjimus, užduoties vertė, tėvų lūkesčiai, lietuvių kalbos pasiekimai. Previous studies have shown that as early as elementary school, children’s language skills are determined not only by cognitive factors, but also by their learning motivation. According to Expectancy-Value theory (Eccles et al., 1983), children’s motivation is a function of two motivational beliefs, that is, ability self-concept and subjective values, that are shaped by various social influences, such as their parents’ expectations. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationships between Lithuanian language achievement in second grade and students’ and their parents’ beliefs in Lithuanian language, that is, students’ ability beliefs, interest, and parents’ expectations. 536 Grade 2 children (285 boys and 251 girls) as well as 536 of their parents participated in the study. Children’s motivational beliefs about Lithuanian language were measured by Self-Concept of Ability scale (Viljaranta et al., 2016) and Task-Value Scale for Children (TVS-C; Aunola et al., 2006); parents’ expectations were measured by Parental Beliefs scale (Aunola et al., 2002); children’s first and second grade end-of-year marks in Lithuanian language were used as a measure of their Lithuanian language achievement. Results showed that children’s ability beliefs, interest, parents’ expectations, and Grade 2 achievement were positively related to each other. Lithuanian language achievement in Grade 2 was predicted by Grade 1 achievement, parents’ expectations, beliefs about one’s ability, child’s gender, and parents’ education level. Keywords: ability beliefs, task value, parents’ expectations, Lithuanian language achievement.

Purpose: The present study investigated whether the number of syllables affects developing readers’ word recognition when controlling for word length and word frequency and, if so, whether the effect is dependent on reading fluency. The target language was Finnish, a language with a transparent orthography and a simple syllable structure. Method: Eye movements of 142 third and fourth graders were recorded during silent reading of two stories. Reading fluency was assessed separately. For analyses, a data subset containing words of a certain length (6,7,9 letters) and varying syllable number (2,3,4 syllables) was extracted from the data set. Using linear mixed-effects modeling, the effect of the syllable number on various eye-tracking measures across different levels of reading fluency was studied. Results: Results revealed a statistically significant, impeding number of syllables effect in first fixation duration but non-significant effects in the later reading measures. Furthermore, fluent and dysfluent readers did not differ regarding the number of syllables effect. Conclusion: These findings suggest that in Finnish developing readers, syllabic parsing is a highly rapid and automatized process, which predominantly takes place during the early holistic orthographic processing of a word, and that qualitatively similar orthographic processing occurs in fluent and dysfluent beginning readers. peerReviewed

Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelemme kirjallisuuden lukijoiden suhtautumista äänikirjoihin. Aineistona on kyselytutkimuksen vastaukset äänikirjoja koskeviin kysymyksiin. Verkkokyselyyn osallistuneista 955 vastaajasta noin 60 prosenttia ilmoittaa kuuntelevansa äänikirjoja joko silloin tällöin tai aktiivisesti. Suurkuluttajiksi katsoimme ne, jotka kuuntelevat yli 50 kirjaa vuodessa; heitä on kuuntelijoista noin viidesosa ja koko vastaajaryhmästä noin kymmenesosa. Sekä aktiivisia kuuntelijoita että niitä, jotka eivät kuuntele lainkaan, on melko tasaisesti kaikissa ikäryhmissä. Äänikirjaan myönteisesti suhtautuvissa kommenteissa korostetaan kirjojen kuuntelun ja digitaalisuuden mahdollistamia tilanteita ja käyttötapoja. Kielteisissä kommenteissa korostuu äänikirjan vertaaminen painetun kirjan tarjoamaan lukukokemukseen ja kirjan materiaalisiin ominaisuuksiin. Äänikirjatallenteen lukijan äänellä ja lukutavalla on suuri merkitys valtaosalle kuuntelijoista, joskin niitäkin on, joiden on helppo tottua ääneen kuin ääneen. Kirjallisuuden harrastajina äänikirjojen suurkuluttajat ovat monipuolisia, ja voidaankin nähdä, että he ovat sekä sisältöjen että formaattien suhteen kaikkiruokaisia. Lukutavat ovat eriytyneet laji- ja tilannekohtaisesti, joten äänikirjojen kuuntelun rinnalla useimmilla säilyvät myös tekstimuotoiset formaatit. Kaiken kaikkiaan aineistossa voidaan nähdä merkkejä yleisestä äänikirjoja koskevasta keskustelusta ja reagoinnista siihen. Vastaukset myös kuvastavat käynnissä olevaa lukemiskulttuurin murrosta, jossa osa on omaksunut uuden tavan nauttia kirjallisuudesta, osa suhtautuu siihen uteliaasti tai neutraalisti ja osa jyrkän torjuvasti.

This study quantified the possible learning losses in reading and math skills among a sample of Finnish Grade 3 children (n = 198) who spent 8 weeks in distance learning during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. We compared their reading and math skill development trajectories across Grades 1, 2, and 4 to a pre-COVID sample (N = 378). We also examined if gender, parental education, maternal homework involvement, and child’s task-avoidant behavior predict children’s academic skills at Grade 4 differently in the pre-COVID sample compared with the COVID sample. Children’s reading and math skills were tested, mothers reported their education and homework involvement, and teachers rated children’s task-avoidant behavior. The results showed, on average, lower reading skills in the COVID sample than in the pre-COVID sample but there were no differences in math skills. Although the COVID sample had lower levels in reading, their developmental trajectories in reading and math skills were not different from the pre-COVID sample before the pandemic in Grades 1 and 2. From Grade 2 to 4, however, the development was slower in reading fluency and comprehension in the COVID sample, but not in math. The predictors of change from Grade 2 to 4 in reading and math skills were not different in the samples. The results showed that the development of reading skills in particular may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin suomalaisten koulujen kirjavalikoimien monikielisyyttä sekä opettajien kokemuksia koulujensa luokka- ja koulukirjastojen laadusta. Kyselyyn vastasi ala- ja yläkoulujen opettajia ympäri Suomea (N = 83). Opettajat olivat koulukirjastoihin enemmän tyytyväisiä kuin luokkakirjastoihin: puolet alakoulun opettajista ja yli puolet yläkoulun opettajista oli tyytyväisiä koulukirjastoonsa. Opettajat, jotka pitivät koulu- tai luokkakirjastoaan hyvinä, kokivat, että heidän koulussaan arvostettiin kirjallisuutta ja lukemista. Ero oli tilastollisesti merkittävä opettajiin, jotka olivat tyytymättömiä koulunsa kirjavalikoimiin. Opettajat mainitsivat luokka- ja koulukirjastojen puutteiksi kirjojen vähyyden ja niiden vanhan iän, sekä sen, ettei koululla ole resursseja ylläpitää koulukirjastoa. Lisäksi havaittiin, että koulujen kirjavalikoimissa on tarjolla vähän monikielistä kirjallisuutta. Hieman alle puolet opettajista vastasi koulukirjastostaan löytyvän kirjallisuutta vain yhdellä kielellä. Yleisimmät kielet suomen lisäksi olivat englanti ja ruotsi, joiden jälkeen venäjä, ranska ja arabia. Noin viidesosa alakoulun opettajista mainitsi koulustaan löytyvän kirjallisuutta oppilaidensa kotikielillä. Book selections in schools as part of language awareness in literature education Abstract In this study we investigated multilingualism in the book selections of school libraries in Finland and teachers’ experiences of the quality of their classroom and school libraries. Our research survey was participated by teachers around Finland in basic education (N = 83), including teachers both in the primary and lower secondary levels. Teachers were more satisfied with their school libraries than individual classroom libraries: half of the primary school teachers and over half of the lower secondary school teachers were satisfied with their school libraries. Those teachers who found their school and classroom libraries satisfactory thought that literature and reading were valued in their schools. There was a statistically significant difference compared to the teachers who were dissatisfied with the book selection in their schools. Teachers mentioned as demerits of classroom and school libraries the shortage of books in general and the lack of recently published books. Also, the lack of resources to maintain a school library was mentioned as a defect. Teachers noted that book selections in their schools offered very little multilingual literature. A little less than half of the teachers said that their school library housed literature written in one language only. In addition to the literature in Finnish, school libraries most commonly offered books in English and Swedish. In addition, books in Russian, French, and Arabic were found in some libraries. Approximately 20 per cent of the primary school teachers mentioned that their school library offered literature in the first language of their students. Keywords: reading, multilingualism, school libraries, linguistic and cultural awareness in libraries

Children who like to read and write tend to be better at it. This association is typically interpreted as enjoyment impacting engagement in literacy activities, which boosts literacy skills. We fitted direction-of-causation models to partial data of 3690 Finnish twins aged 12. Literacy skills were rated by the twins' teachers and literacy enjoyment by the twins themselves. A bivariate twin model showed substantial genetic influences on literacy skills (70%) and literacy enjoyment (35%). In both skills and enjoyment, shared-environmental influences explained about 20% in each. The best-fitting direction-of-causation model showed that skills impacted enjoyment, while the influence in the other direction was zero. The genetic influences on skills influenced enjoyment, likely via the skills -> enjoyment path. This indicates an active gene-environment correlation: children with an aptitude for good literacy skills are more likely to enjoy reading and seek out literacy activities. To a lesser extent, it was also the shared-environmental influences on children's skills that propagated to influence children's literacy enjoyment. Environmental influences that foster children's literacy skills (e.g., families and schools), also foster children's love for reading and writing. These findings underline the importance of nurturing children's literacy skills. Highlights It's known that how much children enjoy reading and writing and how good they are at it correlates similar to 0.30, but causality remains unknown. We tested the direction of causation in 3690 twins aged 12. Literacy skills impacted literacy enjoyment, but not the other way around. Genetics influence children's literacy skills and how much they like and choose to read and write, indicating genetic niche picking.

Signum siirtyi pääosin verkkoon ja lakkasi tulemasta kotiin kannettuna vuonna 2022. Samana vuonna otettiin käyttöön lehden uutiskirje. Toimiiko seuran lehti verkkolehtenä vai kaikkosivatko lukijat ja jäsenet muutoksen myötä? Tilastojen perusteella muutos vaikuttaa lupaavalta.

Tämä essee on skenaarioajatteluun perustuva luotaus suomalaisen tietokirjallisuuden mahdollisesta tulevaisuudesta 2020-luvulla. Tulevaisuusvaihtoehdot ovat: 1) Nykykäytäntöjen hiominen ja tekninen uudistaminen, 2) tietokirjallisuutta, kaunokirjallisuutta ja mediaesityksiä yhdistävien hybridien luominen sekä tietokirjallisuuden alalajien risteyttäminen, 3) sivistysvaltion edellyttämän valistavan tiedon tuottaminen ja 4) tietokirjallisuuden loppu. Skenaariosta kolme ensimmäistä ennakoivat tietokirjallisuuden säilymistä ja yksi (kolmas skenaario) jopa sen merkittävyyden nousua digiajan Suomessa.

Background Adapting instruction to individual students' needs is known to be effective, but there is a lack of evidence whether students' reading skills are associated with literacy instruction activities at classroom-level. Both the content of the literacy instruction and teachers' instructional support through instructional management are considered. Methods The data were collected in the context of Finland where first graders' reading skills show great variation at school entry but rapid progress. Students (n = 616) were individually tested on their reading skills, and literacy lessons in 35 classrooms were video recorded in the autumn of first grade. Multilevel path analyses were conducted to examine the classroom-level associations between reading skills (accuracy and fluency) and three types of literacy instruction activities (coded from the video recordings). The number of students present and the teachers' work experience were controlled in the analyses. Results The results indicated that, at classroom-level, lower average reading skills were associated with more lesson time allocated to code-focused activities such as decoding and spelling tasks in which instructional management was directed for the whole group. In turn, higher average reading skills in classrooms were associated with more lesson time allocated to individual or small group assignments. The reading skills were not associated with meaning-focused activities such as text-level reading activities and class discussions with the whole group. Conclusions In early literacy lessons, students' reading skills were associated with teachers' implementation of different literacy instruction activities at classroom-level. In classrooms with more students having already acquired basic decoding skills, teachers provided more classroom time for independent practice and individual support, which is likely to support consolidation of students' literacy skills. peerReviewed

This study examined students’ ability to select relevant ideas from multiple online texts and integrate those ideas in their written products. Students (N = 162) used a web-based platform to complete an online inquiry task in which they read three texts presenting different perspectives on computer gaming and wrote an article for a school magazine on the issue based on these texts. Students selected two snippets from each text during reading and wrote their article with the selected snippets available. The selected snippets were scored according to their relevance for completing the task, and the written products were scored according to their integration quality. The results showed that most students performed well on the selection task. However, nearly half of the written products were characterized by poor integration quality. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that students’ selection of relevant ideas from the texts contributed to their integration of information across texts over and above both reading fluency and reading comprehension skills. The study provides new evidence on the relationship between selection and integration when younger students work with multiple texts, and both theoretical and educational implications of these findings are discussed.

Purpose We aim to identify the most accurate model for predicting adolescent (Grade 9) reading difficulties (RD) in reading fluency and reading comprehension using 17 kindergarten-age variables. Three models (neural networks, linear, and mixture) were compared based on their accuracy in predicting RD. We also examined whether the same or a different set of kindergarten-age factors emerge as the strongest predictors of reading fluency and comprehension difficulties across the models. Method RD were identified in a Finnish sample (N ≈ 2,000) based on Grade 9 difficulties in reading fluency and reading comprehension. The predictors assessed in kindergarten included gender, parental factors (e.g., parental RD, education level), cognitive skills (e.g., phonological awareness, RAN), home literacy environment, and task-avoidant behavior. Results The results suggested that the neural networks model is the most accurate method, as compared to the linear and mixture models or their combination, for the early prediction of adolescent reading fluency and reading comprehension difficulties. The three models elicited rather similar results regarding the predictors, highlighting the importance of RAN, letter knowledge, vocabulary, reading words, number counting, gender, and maternal education. Conclusion The results suggest that neural networks have strong promise in the field of reading research for the early identification of RD. peerReviewed

Purpose: This longitudinal study investigated the simple view of reading (SVR) model and its cognitive basis in a transparent orthography of the Lithuanian across the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1. Method: The language and early literacy skills of 229 children (Mage = 6.79, SD = .47) were tested at the end of kindergarten (vocabulary, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and RAN); listening comprehension and word reading fluency were tested at the start of Grade 1; and reading comprehension was measured at the end of Grade 1. Results: Together with parental education, word reading fluency and listening comprehension predicted reading comprehension (R2 = 43.2%). The second model, which also included language and early literacy skills, showed that vocabulary and phonological awareness indirectly predicted reading comprehension via listening comprehension, while phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) indirectly predicted reading comprehension via word reading fluency (R2 = 43.6%). However, after allowing the direct paths from language and early literacy skills in kindergarten to reading comprehension, listening comprehension and word reading fluency were no longer significant predictors of reading comprehension, whereas vocabulary and letter knowledge were (R2 = 58.9%). Conclusion: The results provided support for the SVR model in transparent Lithuanian orthography in that linguistic and decoding components are important for early reading comprehension. However, the results also suggested that, in the Lithuanian context, kindergarten vocabulary and letter knowledge are stronger measures in predicting reading comprehension than listening comprehension and word reading fluency in Grade 1. peerReviewed

Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena oli selvittää, mitä kirjallisuutta yläkouluikäiset nuoret lainaavat ja millaista kirjallisuutta nuoret ajattelevat lukevansa sekä tarkastella sosio-ekonomisen aseman mahdollista vaikutusta lainattuun aineistoon. Tutkimus oli kvantitatiivinen tutkimus ja aineistona käytettiin Helsingin kaupunginkir-jaston lainausjärjestelmästä saatuja lainatietoja yhdeltä päivältä. Aineisto analysoitiin tilastollisia analyysimenetelmiä hyödyntäen. Tutkielman teoriaosuudessa pohjana on käytetty laajasti kirjallisuutta, kuten vuoden 2016 PIRLS kansainvälistä lukutaitotutkimusta sekä vuoden 2018 PISA-tutkimusten tuloksia. Lainaamista analysoitaessa voitiin todeta, että eniten lainattiin aikuisten kirjallisuutta, toiseksi lastenkirjallisuutta ja vähiten nuortenkirjallisuutta. Lukusisältöjä analysoitaessa voitiin todeta, että tytöt lainasivat kirjallisuutta, jossa on enemmän sivuja ja joka on suunnattu 13–15-vuotiaille, pojat taas lainasivat enemmän lastenkirjallisuutta ja erityisesti mangaa. Tytöt ja pojat lainasivat mielellään sellaista kirjallisuutta, josta on tehty tv- tai elokuva-adaptaatio. Lisäksi tutkielmassa havaittiin tarkasteltaessa lainaamista sukupuolittain, että tämän tutkielman tulokset olivat linjassa aiempien tutkimusten tulosten kanssa, joissa oli todettu, että tytöt lukivat enemmän kuin pojat. Tytöillä oli lainoja yli kaksinkertainen määrä kuin pojilla eli tytöt ainakin ajattelivat lukevansa merkittävästi enemmän kuin pojat. Tarkasteltaessa sosioekonomisen aseman vaikutusta lainojen määriin voitiin todeta, että alueilla, joilla on korkeampi tulotaso ja korkeakoulutettujen määrä on suuri, lainataan enemmän kuin matalamman tulo- ja koulutustason alueilla.

Suomalaisten lasten ja nuorten lukutaito on PISA-tutkimusten mukaan heikentynyt 2000-luvun ajan, mikä voi vaikuttaa heikentävästi myös oppilaiden suoriutumiseen ja motivoitumiseen koulussa. Tutkimuksissa onkin havaittu, että oppilaan vaikeudet lukemisessa ja kirjoittamisessa ovat yhteydessä heikentyneeseen koulumenestykseen ja oppimismotivaatioon. Hyvä oppimismotivaatio on sen sijaan tutkimusten perusteella yhteydessä parempaan opintomenestykseen. Toistaiseksi tiedetään kuitenkin melko vähän siitä, millainen lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen vaikeuden eli lukivaikeuden ja oppimismotivaation yhteys koulumenestykseen on, kun ne huomioidaan yhtä aikaa. Aiemmissa tutkimuksissa ei myöskään ole juurikaan eritelty lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen osataidoissa eli teknisessä lukutaidossa, oikeinkirjoituksessa ja luetun ymmärtämisessä ilmeneviä vaikeuksia, ja tutkittu niiden yhteyksiä oppimismotivaatioon ja koulumenestykseen. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena olikin tarkastella, miten lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen osataidoissa ilmenevät vaikeudet ovat yhteydessä oppimismotivaatioon 9. luokalla. Lisäksi tavoitteena oli tutkia, miten lukivaikeus ja oppimismotivaatio ovat yhteydessä 9. luokan koulumenestykseen, kun ne huomioidaan samanaikaisesti ja lukivaikeutta tarkastellaan yksittäisissä osataidoissa ilmeneviä vaikeuksia yleisemmällä tasolla. Lopuksi tarkoituksena oli selvittää, millainen lukivaikeuden ja oppimismotivaation yhteys koulumenestykseen on, kun lukivaikeutta tarkastellaan lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen osataidoissa ilmenevien vaikeuksien kautta. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin keväällä 2019 osana Niilo Mäki Instituutin DigiLukiseula – Luku- ja kirjoitustaidon arviointimenetelmä nuorille ja aikuisille -hanketta. Tutkimukseen osallistui yhteensä 1173 9.-luokkalaista. Nuorten lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen taitoja mitattiin DigiLukiseulalla, oppimismotivaatiota CAST-testiin perustuvalla kyselyllä ja koulumenestystä itseraportoiduilla arvosanoilla. Lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen osataidoissa ilmenevien vaikeuksien yhteyttä oppimismotivaatioon tutkittiin riippumattomien otosten t-testeillä, ja lukivaikeuden ja oppimismotivaation yhteyksiä koulumenestykseen regressioanalyyseilla. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat, että teknisen lukutaidon, oikeinkirjoituksen ja luetun ymmärtämisen vaikeudet olivat yhteydessä oppimismotivaatioon 9. luokalla. Lisäksi havaittiin, että ero lukivaikeusnuorten ja ikätoverien oppimismotivaatiossa oli suurin, kun vaikeudet ilmenivät luetun ymmärtämisessä tai teknisen lukemisen sujuvuudessa, ja pienin, kun vaikeudet ilmenivät teknisen lukemisen tarkkuudessa. Hyvä oppimismotivaatio oli yhteydessä koulumenestykseen lukivaikeudesta huolimatta sekä silloin, kun lukivaikeutta tarkasteltiin yleisellä tasolla, että silloin, kun lukivaikeutta tarkasteltiin lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen osataidoissa ilmenevien vaikeuksien kautta. Tulokset osoittivat lisäksi, että lukivaikeuden ja koulumenestyksen välinen yhteys oli samankaltainen riippumatta oppilaan oppimismotivaation tasosta. Oppimismotivaatio oli kaikissa analyyseissa koulumenestyksen tärkein yksittäinen selittäjä, ja lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen osataidoissa ilmenevistä vaikeuksista tärkeimpiä koulumenestyksen selittäjiä olivat luetun ymmärtämisen ja tarkan teknisen lukemisen pulmat. Jatkossa heikosti motivoituneiden oppilaiden tukemiseen tulisi kiinnittää yhä enemmän huomiota. Erityisen olennaista on tukea nuoria, joilla sekä lukivaikeus että heikko motivaatio vaikuttavat koulumenestykseen. Oppimismotivaation tukemisen ohella lukivaikeusnuorten luetun ymmärtämisen ja teknisen lukemisen taitojen kehittäminen on tärkeää, kun tavoitteena on oppimismotivaation ja koulumenestyksen kohentaminen.

Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tarkoituksena oli selvittää, miksi ihmiset lukevat. Tarkastelun kohteena olivat aikuiset, paljon lukevat ihmiset, jotka kertoivat itsestään lukijana elämänsä eri vaiheissa. Halusin saada selville, miten vastaajien lukuhalu on syntynyt ja pysynyt yllä tai muuttunut aikuisuudessa. Halusin myös tietää, mitä merkityksiä ihmiset antavat lukemiselle, kirjallisuudelle ja kirjoille omassa elämässään. Aineistona käytin Suomen Kirjahistoriallisen Seuran ja Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran vuonna 2014 järjestämän Elämää lukijana -keruun vastaustekstejä. Valitsin analysoitavaksi 44 tekstiä, joiden kirjoittajat olivat syntyneet 1930-1990-luvuilla. Vastauksista 34 oli naisten ja 10 miesten kirjoittamia. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena viitekehyksenä oli fenomenologis-hermeneuttinen lähestymistapa ja analyysi suoritettiin laadullisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Analyysi paljastaa, että yksilön lukuhalun syntyyn vaikuttavat erityisesti se, että hänelle on luettu ääneen lapsena sekä se, että hän on saanut lukemisen mallin lähipiirinsä aikuisilta. Myöhemmin elämässä lukuhaluun vaikuttavat esimerkiksi ajanpuutteen aiheuttamat haasteet sekä yhteisön vaikutus yksilön lukemiseen. Lisäksi tutkielmassa havaittiin, että ihmiset lukevat kirjallisuutta, koska se on mukavaa. Kirjojen avulla he voivat paeta arkielämän haasteita, rentoutua ja viihtyä. Kirjoista ihmiset saavat vertaistukea ja lohtua oman elämänsä karikoissa. Lukeminen myös muokkaa ihmisen identiteettiä niin kasvuiässä kuin myöhemmin aikuisena. Kirjallisuus haastaa ihmisten ennakkoluuloja ja näkemyksiä asioista ja ihmisistä. Lukeminen lisää yksilön ymmärrystä itsestään, muista ihmisistä ja maailmasta, ja voi siten kasvattaa suvaitsevaisuutta ja empatiaa erilaisia elämisen tapoja kohtaan.

This study examines longitudinal associations among reading skills, math skills and emotional well-being in a Finnish sample (n = 586) followed from the end of comprehensive school (Grade 9, age 15–16) to age 20. In particular, we determine whether the associations between skills and well-being are mediated by self-concept beliefs. In Grade 9, the participants’ reading fluency, PISA reading comprehension and math skills were assessed in classrooms, and questionnaires were used to assess self-concept (global and skill-specific) and internalising problems. At age 20, questionnaires were used to self-report emotional well-being and educational attainment. The results showed no direct predictive association between academic skills and age-20 emotional well-being, while indirect effects from academic skills on emotional well-being were found for reading skills through reading comprehension self-concept belief and educational attainment and for math skills through global self-concept belief. In addition, adolescent global self-concept and internalising problems predicted age-20 emotional well-being. The results suggest that adolescent self-concept beliefs and internalising problems, rather than academic skills per se, can predict emotional problems in young adulthood. peerReviewed

Possibly some of the most important skills that one can have are those needed to become fully literate. We all wish our children to reach such a goal. Unfortunately, the focus of attention in reading research has been on acquiring readiness to sound out written language, i.e., the basic reading skills. Full literacy is the readiness to learn knowledge by reading. Thus, one has to be able to take two steps to reach full literacy. Indications related to both of these steps can be observe in the brain. This may be easiest when we observe the brain activity of a learner who faces difficulties in taking these steps. In fact, the serious difficulty of taking the first step can be observed soon after birth, shown below as a summary of relevant details from the paper published earlier in this journal. The step from a basic reading skill to reading comprehension requires that one must learn to read for the mediating meanings of the text, i.e., its morphological information, on top of the phonological one. This can also be approached using brain-related observations, as we show here, too. Taking these steps varies between orthographies. Here, we illustrate the learning of these steps in the context of transparently written alphabetic writings by choosing it as our concrete example because its readers form the majority of readers of alphabetic writings. After learning these facts, we had to be able to help those who face difficulties in these steps to overcome her/his bottlenecks. We summarize how we have tried to do that. Each step can be taken using a digital game-like training environment, which, happily, is now open to be distributed for the use of (almost) all in the world. How we have already tried that concerning the first step is illustrated below. Additionally, how we plan to do that concerning the second step, the final goal, completes our present story.

This study investigated how single and co-occurring difficulties in reading and arithmetic fluency developed among Finnish children across Grades 1–9 (N = 2151). Latent profile analysis among 391 children who had reading and/or arithmetic fluency difficulties in Grade 9 revealed profiles that followed three distinct patterns: reading difficulties (N = 121), mathematical difficulties (N = 94), and comorbid difficulties (N = 176). The profiles and typical performers were compared on parental reading and mathematical difficulties, parental education, the early home learning environment, and parental assistance with school homework across Grades 1–9. Results showed that although parents whose children had difficulties provided them with domain-specific support across all grades, the amount of support gradually declined and the performance gap between the profiles increased. peerReviewed

In this longitudinal study, we examined what kind of profiles of reading fluency and spelling skills could be identified among pupils (N = 467) and how stable these profiles were during the first three years of school. We also investigated how monolingual (Swedish) and simultaneously bilingual (Finnish-Swedish) pupils and gender were distributed within the profiles. Three profiles of reading fluency and spelling skills were found among the pupils through latent profile analysis: low, average, and high performing. Latent transition analysis confirmed stable and identical profiles throughout the first school years. The distributions of monolingual and bilingual pupils and gender were equal in all profiles throughout the grades. These findings have implications on a pragmatic level in school, confirming the importance of early identification and support for low performing pupils. peerReviewed

Reading skills were part of Christian education in early modern Finland. According to the church law (1686), it was a task of parents to teach their children to read. If they were unable to do it, for example because they were illiterate themselves, they could receive help from their parish. It was important for a Christian to acquaint him/herself with the basics of Christianity by reading the Catechism. The ability to read was not sufficient. People were also supposed to understand the text they read. If they did not understand it, they were not motivated to read. Among the understanding strategies memorising was used most frequently. It was based on repetitive reading, which was a common reading strategy in early modern Finland – not least because the amount of books in vernacular was still small. The same texts were read again and again. The strategy is also called intensive reading. Better readers even used observation strategies. They estimated their knowledge and understanding during the reading process. According to Deci and Ryan (Motivation, Personality and Development within Embedded Social Contexts: An Overview of Self-Determination Theory, 2012), there are three fundamental psychological needs, which bring not only well-being but also motivation to people. They are competence, autonomy and relationship. In early modern Finland these needs were satisfied in various ways. In general, those who were more familiar with religious speech and reading, as a result of their family background or because of their friends, learnt quickly, made better progress and proved their competence and autonomy in reading. Others, who had less support from their family or community, had poorer religious vocabulary, more difficulties to understand what they read and less motivation to read. They were afraid of the examinations in the Catechism and of the social pressure in such circumstances. They also felt inadequacy in reading.

Naturalistic reading paradigms and stimuli consisting of long continuous texts are essential for characterizing the cortical basis of reading. Due to the highly dynamic nature of the reading process, electrophysiological brain imaging methods with high spatial and temporal resolution, such as magnetoencephalography (MEG), are ideal for tracking them. However, as electrophysiological recordings are sensitive to electromagnetic artifacts, data recorded during naturalistic reading is confounded by ocular artifacts. In this study, we evaluate two different pipelines for removing ocular artifacts from MEG data collected during continuous, naturalistic reading, with the focus on saccades and blinks. Both pipeline alternatives are based on blind source separation methods but differ fundamentally in their approach. The first alternative is a multi-part process, in which saccades are first extracted by applying Second-Order Blind Identification (SOBI) and, subsequently, FastICA is used to extract blinks. The other alternative uses a single powerful method, Adaptive Mixture ICA (AMICA), to remove all artifact types at once. The pipelines were tested, and their effects compared on MEG data recorded from 13 subjects in a naturalistic reading task where the subjects read texts with the length of multiple pages. Both pipelines performed well, extracting the artifacts in a single component per artifact type in most subjects. Signal power was reduced across the whole cortex in all studied frequency bands from 1 to 90 Hz, but especially in the frontal cortex and temporal pole. The results were largely similar for the two pipelines, with the exception that SOBI-FastICA reduced signal in the right frontal cortex in all studied frequency bands more than AMICA. However, there was considerable interindividual variation in the effects of the pipelines. As a holistic conclusion, we choose to recommend AMICA for removing artifacts from MEG data on naturalistic reading but note that the SOBI-FastICA pipeline has also various favorable characteristics.

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) focuses on the reading proficiency of students mostly in the fourth year of schooling. A wide selection of studies has shown that family background and early literacy activities at home have substantial associations with student achievement in reading literacy. However, research focusing on teacher qualities and teaching processes is inadequate. In this study, we focus on associations of teacher quality (formal qualifications and professional identity) and instructional quality (classroom management, cognitive activation and teacher support) with cognitive and affective-motivational student outcomes (variables Reading Achievement, Students Confident in Reading, and Students Like Reading). We analyzed PIRLS 2016 data from four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), consisting altogether of 923 teachers and 17,161 students. Using path analysis, we considered selected background variables from teacher and student questionnaires in relation to the outcomes. Overall, the associations of student outcomes with teacher quality and instruction quality were found to be weak in all the countries, and there was little variation between the countries. The strongest association observed in all countries was the positive relation between Teacher Support Perceived by Students and Students Like Reading. Further, a positive Working Atmosphere in the Classroom tended to promote Reading Achievement and Students Confident in Reading. Teacher’s Specialization in reading and the language of the test was positively associated with Teacher’s Self-Efficacy in teaching reading, which in turn was related to measures of instructional quality. The implications for practice are discussed.

This study examined developmental profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension in Grades 1 to 9 (ages 7 to 15) in a large Finnish sample (N = 2,518). In addition, early predictors of the profiles were analyzed with respect to kindergarten cognitive skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automized naming [RAN], number counting, word reading, vocabulary, and listening comprehension), parental factors (level of education, reading difficulties), and gender. Four different profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension development were identified using latent profile analysis. These comprised one profile with persistent reading difficulties across the grades, one with early poor reading skills but with a resolving tendency, one with average reading skills, and one with good readers who started with very high reading fluency but scored average over time. Of the kindergarten measures, parental reading difficulties, being male, low paternal level of education, slow RAN, difficulty in reading easy words, and low scores in phonological skills, letter knowledge, number counting, and vocabulary predicted reading difficulties. The children belonging to the profile with the resolving tendency showed an increased rate of family risk and multiple cognitive deficits but managed to resolve their reading difficulties. Being female, and good number counting and vocabulary skills predicted a tendency to resolve early reading difficulties. The results confirm the previous findings on the early predictors of reading difficulties and add to the literature by identifying skills that predict resolving patterns. peerReviewed

Augmented reality (AR) picturebooks combine printed children's literature with augmented reality. This study examines the shared reading of the Finnish AR picturebook Mur, eli karhu (2016) by Kaisa Happonen and Anne Vasko. The main aim of the study is to explore the playful reading experience of three Finnish families with children between the ages of 4 and 6. Three main categories of engagement with the book are discussed in the article: interpretation, negotiation, and play. The findings of the study suggest that children are skilled users of mobile digital media but may not understand the content of AR without parental mediation. In addition, parents and educators are required to have substantial pedagogical and aesthetic knowledge to successfully support children’s engagement with hybrid and multimodal literary works. This knowledge involves understanding both children’s literature and the digital medium.

Background In 2018, it was found that only a quarter of Grade 3 children in India were reading at grade level. A growing demand for English education has further limited children's literacy achievement. Despite a strong evidence base in favour of using systematic phonics for building English literacy skills, many teachers in India continue to use rote-methods of literacy instruction. Objectives We aimed to examine the efficacy of GraphoLearn (GL) English Rime, a computer-assisted reading intervention, in improving the foundational literacy skills of 1st and 2nd grade students who were attending an English medium school in India. Methods A total of 136 students across 6 classrooms were randomly allocated to play either GL or a control math game over a 5-week intervention period. Students were pre- and post-tested on various English literacy skills using tasks built into the GL software as well as through oral and paper-based tasks. Results and Conclusions Students who played GL showed significantly greater and faster development on in-game measures of letter-sound knowledge, rime unit recognition, and word recognition as compared to students who did not play GL. In addition, GL resulted in greater effects on these measures for students with stronger English literacy skills prior to the start of the intervention. No differences were found between groups on the oral and paper-based tasks. Implications GL was able to quickly and effectively teach critical sub-skills for reading. However, a lack of effects on the out-of-game measures opens the door for further discussion on the successful implementation of such interventions. peerReviewed

The aim of the study was to examine which predictor variables are related to literacy skills among monolingual Swedish (n = 269) and bilingual Finnish–Swedish (n = 229) children at the first grade in the Swedish-speaking schools in Finland. The participants were assessed in phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automatized naming (RAN), word recognition, reading fluency, and spelling. The results showed that RAN was the most significant predictor of reading and spelling skills in both language groups, and monolingual children performed significantly better in RAN. Moreover, letter knowledge predicted reading and spelling skills in both groups. However, no significant differences between language groups in reading and spelling skills were observed. The results emphasize the importance of interpreting the pre-literacy screening, especially with bilingual children. peerReviewed

Published August 23, 2022 The use of spoken and written language is a fundamental human capacity. Individual differences in reading- and language-related skills are influenced by genetic variation, with twin-based heritability estimates of 30 to 80% depending on the trait. The genetic architecture is complex, heterogeneous, and multifactorial, but investigations of contributions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were thus far underpowered. We present a multicohort genome-wide association study (GWAS) of five traits assessed individually using psychometric measures (word reading, nonword reading, spelling, phoneme awareness, and nonword repetition) in samples of 13,633 to 33,959 participants aged 5 to 26 y. We identified genome-wide significant association with word reading (rs11208009, P = 1.098 × 1028) at a locus that has not been associated with intelligence or educational attainment. All five reading-/language-related traits showed robust SNP heritability, accounting for 13 to 26% of trait variability. Genomic structural equation modeling revealed a shared genetic factor explaining most of the variation in word/nonword reading, spelling, and phoneme awareness, which only partially overlapped with genetic variation contributing to nonword repetition, intelligence, and educational attainment. A multivariate GWAS of word/nonword reading, spelling, and phoneme awareness maximized power for follow-up investigation. Genetic correlation analysis with neuroimaging traits identified an association with the surface area of the banks of the left superior temporal sulcus, a brain region linked to the processing of spoken and written language. Heritability was enriched for genomic elements regulating gene expression in the fetal brain and in chromosomal regions that are depleted of Neanderthal variants. Together, these results provide avenues for deciphering the biological underpinnings of uniquely human traits. We thank all the children, twins, families, and participants who took part and are taking part in the 22 cohorts whose data contributed to these GWAS meta-analyses; the staff working on the different cohorts, including volunteers, study coordinators, interviewers, teachers, nurses, research scientists, general practitioners, midwives, psychologists, psychometrists, computer and laboratory technicians, and colleagues who assisted in the quality control and preparation of the imputed GWAS data; and the pharmacies and hospitals that were involved. B.M., B.M.-M., B.S.P., C.F., E.E., E.V., G.A., M.v.D., and S.E.F. are supported by the Max Planck Society. A.G. and T.F.M.A. were supported by the Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), and A.G. was supported by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. A.T.M. is supported by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) Grants 1105008 and 1195955 and Centre of Research Excellence Grant 1116976. A.J.O.W. is supported by NHMRC Grant 1173896. B.S.P. is supported by Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative Grant 514787. C.Y.S. works in the Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol (MC_UU_00011/3). D.I.B. acknowledges Royal Netherlands Academy of Science Professor Award PAH/6635. E.E. is supported by NIH Grant R01DC016977. E.G.W. and J.R.G. are supported by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Grant P50 HD 27802. F.R. is supported by Agence Nationale de la Recherche Grants ANR-06-NEURO-019-01, ANR-17-EURE-0017 IEC, ANR-10-IDEX-0001-02 PSL, and ANR-11-BSV4-014-01 and European Commission Grant LSHM-CT-2005-018696. H.T. is supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW) Grant VICI 016.VICI.170.200. J.C.D. was supported by NICHD Grant P50 HD 27802. J.J.M., J.B.To., and T.K. were supported by NIH Grant R01 DC014489. K.M.P. was supported by the Hospital for Sick Children Research Training Program (Restracomp). K.R. is supported by a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship (213514/Z/18/Z). M.J.S. is supported by Wellcome Trust Grant WT082032MA. S.P. and F.A. are supported by Royal Society Grants UF150663 and RGF\EA\180141. T.B. is supported by Institut Pasteur, the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation, and Université de Paris. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study is supported by the NIH and additional federal partners (NIH Grants U01DA041048, U01DA050989, U01DA051016, U01DA041022, U01DA051018, U01DA051037, U01DA050987, U01DA041174, U01DA041106, U01DA041117, U01DA041028, U01DA041134, U01DA050988, U01DA051039, U01DA041156, U01DA041025, U01DA041120, U01DA051038, U01DA041148, U01DA041093, U01DA041089, U24DA041123, and U24DA041147). The Aston Cohort was supported by funding from European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 Programme 641652 and Waterloo Foundation Grant 797/17290. The St. Andrews Bioinformatics Unit is funded by Wellcome Trust Grants 105621/Z/14/Z and 204821/Z/16/Z. ALSPAC is supported by UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome Grant 217065/Z/19/Z and the University of Bristol. A comprehensive list of grant funding is available on the ALSPAC website (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/external/documents/grant-acknowledgements.pdf). The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) cohort was supported by the Basque Government through the Basic Excellence Research Centre program and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación through BCBL Severo Ochoa excellence accreditation. The Brisbane Adolescent Twin Sample was supported by Australian Research Council Grants A7960034, A79906588, A79801419, DP0212016, and DP0343921, with genotyping funded by the NHMRC Grant 389891. The Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center cohort was supported by NICHD Grant P50 HD 27802. The Early Language in Victoria Study was supported by NHMRC Grant 436958. The Familial Influences on Literacy Abilities cohort is supported by the University of Amsterdam, the Max Planck Institue Nijmegen, and NWO Grants Rubicon 446-12-005 and VENI 451-15-017. The GRaD study was funded by the Manton Foundation, NIH Grants P50-HD027802 and K99-HD094902, and the Lambert Family. NeuroDys was funded by an EU Sixth Framework Program grant to the NeuroDys Consortium, Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 32-108130, and Austrian Science Fund Grant 18351-B02. The Netherlands Twin Register is funded by NWO Grants 480-04-004, 481-08-011, 056-32-010, 024.001.003, 480-15-001/674, 184.021.007, 184.033.111, and 56-464-14192; ZonMW Grants 911-09-032 and 912-10-020; the Amsterdam Public Health and Amsterdam Reproduction and Development Research Institutes; European Science Council Grant ERC Advanced 230374; EU Seventh Framework Program (FP7) Grant FP7/2007-2013: 602768; National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grants U24 MH068457-06, R01 MH58799-03, and 1RC2 MH089995; and the Avera Institute for Human Genetics. The Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition, and Genetics cohort is funded by NIH Grant RC2DA029475, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD. The Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort is funded by NIH Grants RC2MH089983 and RC2MH089924, an institutional development award to the Center for Applied Genomics from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a donation from Adele and Daniel Kubert and thanks the NIH data repository. The Raine study was supported by long-term funding from NHMRC Grants 572613, 403981, and 1059711 and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Grant MOP-82893. Funding was also provided by the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, the Women and Infants Research Foundation, the Telethon Kids Institute, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, the University of Notre Dame Australia, and the Raine Medical Research Foundation. The Raine study analyses were supported by the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre with funding from the Australian Government and the Government of Western Australia. The Saguenay Youth Study is supported by the CIHR, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Quebec, and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. The SLI Consortium was funded by Wellcome Trust Grant 076566 and UK Medical Research Council Grant G1000569. The Twins Early Development Study is supported by UK Medical Research Council Grants MR/V012878/1 and MR/M021475/1, NIH Grant AG046938, and the EU FP7 grant FP7/2007-2013/: 602768. Toronto was supported by CIHR Grant MOP-133440. UK Dyslexia was supported by Wellcome Trust Grants 076566/Z/05/Z and 075491/Z/04, Waterloo Foundation Grant 797–1720, EU Grant 018696, and Royal Society Grant UF100463. The York cohort was funded by Wellcome Trust Grant 082036/B/07/Z. We acknowledge iPSYCH for sharing their summary statistics. The iPSYCH team was supported by Lundbeck Foundation Grants R102-A9118, R155-2014-1724, and R248-2017-2003; NIMH Grant 1U01MH109514-01; and the Universities and University Hospitals of Aarhus and Copenhagen. The Danish National Biobank resource was supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. High-performance computer capacity was provided by the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine and the Centre for Integrative Sequencing, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Äänikirjojen suosio räjähti Suomessa koronapandemian alkumetreillä kirjastojen sulkiessa ovensa. Tarjolla olevien nimikkeiden määrä on valtava, ja formaatin kerrontatapoja kehitellään. Suoratoistopalvelujen helppous ja ohjaava logiikka ovat jo muuttaneet lukutapoja. Tämä vaatii tutkimukselta uusia teoreettisia lähestymistapoja sekä vanhojen lukemiseen liittyvien oletusten ja uusien käyttöliittymiin nivoutuvien normatiivisuuksien kriittistä tarkastelua.

The aim of the study was to analyse literacy instruction activities and their associations with the reading performance of first graders in Estonia and Finland, two countries that share similar orthographies and educational systems but differ in the onset of formal reading instruction. The contents of 33 Literacy lessons in first grade spring were analysed and students’ (NEST = 415, NFIN = 154) reading performance was assessed in first grade autumn and spring. The results showed that there were more similarities than differences between the countries in literacy instruction activities, but some country-specific interaction effects were found between students’ reading performance and contents of the instruction. Especially the slopes of reading performance development among Finnish beginning readers differed from the other readers in both countries with respect to the content of literacy instruction. The results highlight the importance of responsiveness to students’ needs in early school years literacy instruction. peerReviewed

Tutkielmassani vastaan videomuotoisia Pixar- ja Harry Potter -faniteorioita esimerkkeinä käyttäen kolmeen kysymykseen faniteorioista: mitä ne ovat, millaisia ne ovat ja mitä merkitystä niillä on. Näihin kysymyksiin vastaamalla sekä esittelen faniteoriat omaleimaisena tekstilajina ja ilmiönä, että nostetaan esiin niiden potentiaali akateemisen tutkimuksen kohteena. Apuna faniteorioiden tarkastelussa käytän useita teoriakenttiä sekä kulttuurintutkimuksen, fanitutkimuksen että kirjallisuudentutkimuksen alueelta. Tutkielma alkaa sen vähiten kirjallisuustieteellisellä osalla, jossa pääasiallinen tarkoitus on esitellä faniteoriat. Faniteoriat ovat pääasiassa netissä leviäviä, keskustelu-, kirjoitus-, tai videomuotoisia fanien kehittämiä ajatusleikkejä, jotka koskevat olemassa olevia fiktiivisiä tekstejä. Niiden ytimessä on näihin olemassa oleviin teksteihin, pohjateksteihin liittyvä perusteltu spekulointi. Tarkastelen faniteorioita aluksi ilmiönä ja diskurssina, jossa on nähtävissä sekä modernin tietoyhteiskunnan vaikutus, että myös selvä sukulaisuus vanhempien fanitoiminnan muotojen kanssa. Peilaan niitä ennen kaikkea salaliittoteorioihin ja fanifiktioon. Esittelyn jälkeen siirryn faniteorioiden retoriikkaan. Osoitan, miten faniteoriat käyttävät hyväkseen sekä fiktionaalista että faktuaalista retoriikkaa, tehden sisällöstään samalla sekä mahdollisimman viihdyttävän että vakuuttavan. Faniteoriat käyttävät faktuaalista retoriikkaa perustellakseen pohjateksteihinsä kohdistuvat spekulaationsa, sekä piilottaakseen oman fiktiivisyytensä, mutta ovat kaiken kaikkiaan vaihteleva sekoitus sekä fiktionaalista että faktuaalista retoriikkaa. Retoriikasta jatkan kohti lukemisen ja tulkinnan teorioita. Nostan esiin useita eri näkemyksiä erityisesti siitä, millaisen tulkinnan on yleisesti katsottu olevan ns. oikeaa tulkintaa. Faniteorioiden avulla havainnollistan luentoja ja tulkintoja, joissa suureen osaan itsestään selvistä fiktion lukemisen konventioista suhtaudutaan vastakkaisella tavalla kuin on alun perin tarkoitettu. Eläytyvän lukutavan sijaan faniteorioiden tapa lukea pohjatekstejään on analyyttinen. Ne lukevat taiteellisia tuotoksia tarkoituksenaan etsiä informaatiota omien teorioidensa tueksi, keskittyvät epäoleellisilta vaikuttaviin yksityiskohtiin kiinnittämättä suurta huomiota teosten syvempiin merkityksiin, tai jopa lukevat uusia merkityksiä näiden löytämiensä yksityiskohtien pohjalta. Ne ovat kiinnostuneet tekijän intentiosta vain silloin, jos sen huomioiminen palvelee kehitteillä olevan teorian perustelua. Merja Polvisen (2012, 2017) ajatusta mukaillen esitän, että tiukan lukutapojen joko/tai -jaon sijaan tekstejä on mahdollista lukea sekä immersiivisesti että rationaalisesti, ja että juuri näin faniteoreetikot pohjatekstejään lukevat. Väitän, että syvä immersio pohjatekstien maailmaan on sekä syy faniteorioiden tekoon, että niistä nauttimiseen. Lopuksi näkökulma liukuu immersiosta spekulatiiviseen maailmanrakennukseen, jossa tarkasteluni pohjaa erityisesti Hanna-Riikka Roineen (2016) jakoon maailmasta prosessina ja maailmasta konstruktiona. Osoitan, kuinka faniteoriat hyödyntävät fiktiivisen maailman konstruktiotasoa rakentaakseen uutta sisältöä sen prosessitasolle, mutta aiemmin mainittua faktuaalista retoriikkaa käyttäen piilottavat tekemänsä maailmanrakennuksen lukijoiltaan. Tutkielman edetessä eri näkökulmat tukevat toisiaan ja tarjoavat useamman tavan tarkastella faniteorioita, ja näin muodostuu käsitys faniteorioista perustavanlaatuisesti kaksijakoisena tekstilajina, sekä mielenkiintoisena kohteena tuleville akateemisille tutkimuksille.

Purpose This study examines the developmental interplay between silent reading fluency and reading comprehension from Grade 1 to Grade 9 (age 7 to 15) in a large Finnish sample (N = 2,518). Of particular interest was whether the associations are bidirectional or unidirectional. Methods Children’s silent reading fluency and reading comprehension skills were assessed using group-administered tests, at seven time points, in Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model with latent factors was used to identify between- and within-person associations between silent reading fluency and reading comprehension. The use of latent factors allowed for the controlling of measurement error. Results The model showed that silent reading fluency and reading comprehension correlated at the between-person level, indicating that those who were proficient in one reading skill were typically good at the other also. At the within-person level, however, only some developmental associations emerged: in the early reading acquisition phase (Grade 1–2), silent reading fluency predicted reading comprehension, and in adolescence, reading comprehension weakly predicted silent reading fluency (Grade 7–9). Conclusions The results thus suggest only weak developmental within-person associations between silent reading fluency and comprehension, although some unidirectional associations emerged with a change in the direction of the associations over time. peerReviewed

The study investigated young learners of Finnish as L2 from Russian-speaking families mostly in grades 3–6 in Finnish-medium schools. 169 pupils completed language tests in Finnish and Russian, and psycholinguistic measures of basic linguistic processes related to phonological awareness, retrieval of words from memory, and working memory. The study examined to what extent linguistic and psycholinguistic skills predict learners’ Finnish L2 reading and writing. Regression analyses indicated that psycholinguistic factors (particularly processing Finnish phonemes) accounted for about 34% of variance in L2 reading and 38% in writing, whereas measures of language skills, mostly L2 skills (e.g., dictation, vocabulary) explained 45% of the variance in L2 reading and 51% in writing. Even when both types of measures were combined in the analyses, psycholinguistic factors explained a proportion of variance in L2 reading and writing. The study contributes to developing research-based diagnostic measures for Finnish L2 reading and writing. peerReviewed

Jenni Ruotsalaisen kasvatustieteen väitöskirja "Literacy instruction and reading performance in first grade classrooms" tarkastettiin Jyväskylän yliopiston kasvatustieteiden ja psykologian tiedekunnassa 20.5.2022. Vastaväittäjänä toimi professori Krista Uibu Tarton yliopistosta ja kustoksena professori Anna-Maija Poikkeus Jyväskylän yliopistosta. nonPeerReviewed

Neural correlates in reading and speech processing have been addressed extensively in the literature. While reading skills and speech perception have been shown to be associated with each other, their relationship remains debatable. In this study, we investigated reading skills, speech perception, reading, and their correlates with brain source activity in auditory and visual modalities. We used high-density event-related potentials (ERPs), fixation-related potentials (FRPs), and the source reconstruction method. The analysis was conducted on 12–13-year-old schoolchildren who had different reading levels. Brain ERP source indices were computed from frequently repeated Finnish speech stimuli presented in an auditory oddball paradigm. Brain FRP source indices were also computed for words within sentences presented in a reading task. The results showed significant correlations between speech ERP sources and reading scores at the P100 (P1) time range in the left hemisphere and the N250 time range in both hemispheres, and a weaker correlation for visual word processing N170 FRP source(s) in the posterior occipital areas, in the vicinity of the visual word form areas (VWFA). Furthermore, significant brain-to-brain correlations were found between the two modalities, where the speech brain sources of the P1 and N250 responses correlated with the reading N170 response. The results suggest that speech processes are linked to reading fluency and that brain activations to speech are linked to visual brain processes of reading. These results indicate that a relationship between language and reading systems is present even after several years of exposure to print. peerReviewed

By investigating children whose parents have dyslexia, family risk (FR) studies are expanding our understanding of the intergenerational transmission of dyslexia. These studies, however, vary in their identification of FR, and how the use of different identification methods influences research findings and conclusions is yet to be systematically investigated. This study aims to evaluate the association between two FR identification methods—parental self-reports and direct skill assessments—and their unique contributions in the prediction of children's reading. The study employed two datasets: a prospective FR sample (half of the parents in the sample had dyslexia and the remaining half did not) and an unselected sample. Parental self-reports and direct skill assessments correlated strongly (.60) in the prospective FR sample and moderately (.42) in the unselected sample. Moreover, both FR identification methods were almost equally predictive of children's reading (explaining 5%–9% of the variance at different time points) in the prospective FR sample only. In the prediction of the children's skills, the two methods complemented each other only for some of the measures. At the same time, in the unselected sample, parental skills were not predictive of children's reading, whereas self-reports were. The two FR identification methods seem to have equally high predictive power when the variability in parental data is high. However, they lose their predictive power when either the lower or higher end of the parental reading distribution is underrepresented. peerReviewed

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to study the effectiveness of two readers’ theater (RT) programs in promoting reading skills and motivation of dysfluent readers in Grades 3–4. One program (RT Goal) included a goal of preparing a performance for an audience (n = 50), while another program (RT Practice) did not include such a goal (n = 49). A group of dysfluent readers receiving traditional oral reading intervention (Control group; n = 59) and a group of classroom peers (Mainstream group; n = 159) served as controls. The results indicate that both RT groups and the Control group developed at a higher rate in oral reading speed during the intervention period than the Mainstream group. The RT Goal program was associated with higher engagement ratings and a temporary reduction in reading errors and oral reading anxiety. RT had no effects on silent reading skills or reading self-efficacy. peerReviewed

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tarkastella ja vertailla alakoulun loppuvaiheessa ja yläkoulun loppuvaiheessa olevien nuorten lukutottumuksia sekä lukusisältöjä. Erityisenä kiinnostuksenkohteena ovat äänikirjat ja niiden suosio vastaajien keskuudessa. Tutkimus on vertaileva tutkimus ja se on toteutettu sähköisenä kyselytutkimuksena kuudes- ja yhdeksäsluokkalaisille pirkanmaalaisille nuorille. Materiaali sisältää sekä kvantitatiivista että kvalitatiivista materiaalia. Kyselytutkimuksista saaduista vastauksista on tehty pylväs- ja ympyräkuvioita havainnollistamaan vastauksia ja erityisesti helpottamaan ikäluokkien välistä vertailua. Tutkimuksessa on kyse itseraportoinnista eli vastauksista voimme ainoastaan päätellä, mitä kuudes- ja yhdeksäsluokkalaiset itse raportoivat lukevansa. Tavoitteena oli ymmärtää, miten alakoulun ja yläkoulun loppuvaiheessa olevat nuoret mieluiten kirjallisuutta kuluttavat ja kuinka paljon, sekä millaista kirjallisuutta nämä ikäryhmät mieluiten kuluttavat. Lopussa olen lisäksi avannut hieman yleisimpiä perusteluja lukemiselle tai lukemattomuudelle. Tämän tutkielman otsikko on suora lainaus erään kuudesluokkalaisen vastaajani vastauksesta, ja se kuvastaa mielestäni hyvin sitä, miten suuri tekijä mieluinen lukeminen on omaehtoisen lukemisen syntymisessä. Tämän tutkimuksen pohjana on käytetty laajasti kirjallisuutta aiheeseen liittyen. Teoriaosuudessa on käytetty muun muassa vuoden 2016 PIRLS kansainvälistä lukutaitotutkimusta sekä Tilastokeskuksen lukututkimusta vuodelta 2017. Näiden lisäksi äänikirjaa on käsitelty omassa kappaleessaan käyttäen pohjana Kira Anderssonin tutkimusta äänikirjasta mediatuotteena sekä pohjaamalla Suomen kustannusyhdistyksen vuonna 2019 julkaisemiin tilastoihin äänikirjojen suosion noususta. Näiden lisäksi teoriaosuudessa on pohjattu Herkmanin ja Vainikan kirjaan lukemisesta sosiaalisen median aikakaudella, Hiidenmaan artikkeliin yhä moniulotteisemmasta lukutaidosta, Clarkin ja Hawkinsin teokseen vanhempien vaikutuksesta nuorten lukemiseen sekä opetussuunnitelmaan vuodelta 2014. Tämän tutkimuksen vastaukset olivat hyvin linjassa Tilastokeskuksen 2017 teettämän lukukyselyn kanssa. Tilastokeskuksen (2017) mukaan 10–14-vuotiaat nuoret ovat kaikista aktiivisimpia lukijoita, kun taas 14-ikävuoden jälkeen lukemisen määrä vähenee merkittävästi. Tämän tutkimuksen mukaan puolestaan 15–16-vuotiaista yhdeksäsluokkalaisista jopa 46 % ilmoitti, ettei lue painettuja kirjoja eikä kuuntele äänikirjoja. 12-vuotiaista kuudesluokkalaisista vastaava luku puolestaan oli vain 24 %. Vastauksista on myös nähtävissä, että kuudesluokkalaisissa niin kutsuttuja “himolukijoita” tai äänikirjojen “himokuuntelijoita” on jopa noin 10–15 %, kun taas yhdeksäsluokkalaisissa himolukijoita ja -kuuntelijoita on enää vain pari prosenttia. Tutkimuksen mukaan painettuja kirjoja kuunnellaan edelleen huomattavasti enemmän kuin äänikirjoja. Kyselyn mukaan moni suhtautuu kuitenkin hyvin positiivisesti äänikirjoihin. Tässä yhteydessä täytynee mainita, että äänikirjasovellukset ovat aina maksullisia, kun taas painettuja kirjoja saa kirjastosta ilmaiseksi. Myös tämä tekijä saattaa osaltaan selittää tuloksia. Kaiken kaikkiaan kuudesluokkalaiset ovat aktiivisempia kirjallisuuden kuluttajia kuin yhdeksäsluokkalaiset. Tämä pätee sekä painettujen kirjojen että äänikirjojen kohdalla. Lisäksi mielekkyydessä on nähtävissä merkittävää eroa; kuudesluokkalaisista jopa neljäsosa ilmoittaa pitävänsä kirjallisuuden kuluttamisesta, kun taas yhdeksäsluokkalaisista luku on vain 17 %. Lukusisältöjä kartoittaessa saatoimme huomata, että yhdeksäsluokkalaiset lukevat jo huomattavasti enemmän aikuisten kirjallisuutta kuin kuudesluokkalaiset, mikä on tietysti odotettu tulos. Kyselyn vastausten mukaan sekä kuudes- että yhdeksäsluokkalaiset lukevat nuorten kirjallisuutta, fantasiaa sekä aikuisten kirjallisuutta. Kuudesluokkalaiset lukevat lisäksi vielä paljon sarjakuvia, kun taas yhdeksäsluokkalaisista yksikään ei vastannut lukevansa sarjakuvia. Yhdeksäsluokkalaisilla puolestaan elämänkerrat nousivat yhdeksi isoksi genreksi. Mielekkyyden puolesta genret olivat samat, vaikkakin joidenkin genrejen sisällä oli variaatiota. Kaiken kaikkiaan jännityskirjat, fantasiakirjat sekä tietokirjat olivat mielekkyyden kannalta kaikista suosituimpia sekä kuudes- että yhdeksäsluokkalaisilla.

Tämän tutkielman aiheena on lukutaidon opettaminen suomea toisena kielenään käyttäville oppilaille alkuopetuksessa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, millaista lukutaidon opettaminen alkuopetuksen S2-oppilaille on opettajien kokemusten ja käsitysten perusteella, millaisia opetusmenetelmiä opettajat kertovat hyödyntäneensä opettaessaan lukutaitoa alkuopetuksen S2-oppilaille, sekä millaisia haasteita opetuksessa opettajien kertoman mukaan saattaa ilmetä. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena viitekehyksenä on käytetty tutkimustietoa lukutaidosta ja sen perustasta sekä kehittymisestä, lukemaan opettamisesta ja suomi toisena kielenä -opetuksesta. Tutkimusta peilataan myös opetussuunnitelmaan (Opetushallitus 2016). Kyseessä on pääasiassa laadullinen tutkimus, jonka analyysimenetelmiin sisältyy sovelletun keruumenetelmän vuoksi myös määrällisen tutkimuksen piirteitä. Tutkimuksen aineistonkeruu toteutettiin sähköisen kyselylomakkeen avulla lokakuussa 2021. Aineisto koostuu 39 opettajan vastauksista kyselylomakkeeseen. Lomakkeen avointen kysymysten vastaukset on analysoitu laadullisen sisällönanalyysin avulla, ja suljettujen kysymysten tarkasteluun on aineiston analyysissa hyödynnetty määrällisiä analyysimenetelmiä. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että alkuopetuksen S2-opetuksessa opettajalta vaaditaan hyvää oppilaantuntemusta: opettajan on kyselyyn vastanneiden mukaan huomioitava esimerkiksi oppilaiden kotikielen vaikutus oppimiseen, oppilaiden suomen kielen valmiuksien taso ja yksilölliset kielelliset valmiudet, oppilaiden aiempi kouluhistoria ja toiminnanohjauksen taidot sekä mahdolliset oppimisvaikeudet, joiden tunnistaminen on opettajien kertoman perusteella S2-oppilaiden kohdalla vaikeampaa verrattuna äidinkielenään suomea puhuvien oppilaiden oppimisvaikeuksien tunnistamiseen. Kyselyyn vastanneiden opettajien hyödyntämistä opetusmenetelmistä aineistossa korostuivat KÄTS-menetelmä, sekamenetelmät, kuvatuki, toiminnallinen opetus sekä sellaisten sanojen opettelu, joita oppilaat muutenkin tarvitsevat arjessaan. Aineistossa nousi esille monia aiemmissakin tutkimuksissa ja opetussuunnitelmassa mainittuja opetuksen keskeisiä periaatteita, kuten eriyttäminen sekä oppilaille merkitykselliset ja hyödylliset tekstilajit opetuksen perustana, autenttisten tekstien hyödyntäminen opetuksessa sekä kielitietoisuuden merkityksen huomioiminen opetuksessa. Opetukselliset haasteet alkuopetuksen S2-opetuksessa liittyvät aineiston perusteella muun muassa oppilaantuntemuksen tarpeen korostumiseen, opetusmateriaalien ja toimivien opetustilojen puutteeseen, vaikeuteen eriyttää opetusta isossa oppilasryhmässä sekä vuorovaikutus- ja yhteistyöhaasteisiin, joita ilmenee oppilaiden perheiden kanssa. S2-opetus on joidenkin kyselyyn vastanneiden opettajien mielestä haastavampaa kuin S1-opetus, mutta osa opettajista on sitä mieltä, ettei opetuksen haastavuus riipu siitä, opettaako suomea äidinkielenään vai toisena kielenään puhuvia oppilaita. Tutkimus tarjoaa ajankohtaista tutkimustietoa opettajien kokemuksista ja käsityksistä liittyen lukutaidon opettamiseen ja opetuksessa ilmeneviin haasteisiin alkuopetuksen S2-kontekstissa. Tulokset asettuvat vahvistamaan lukemaan opettamista ja S2-opetusta koskevaa aiempaa tutkimustietoa ja täydentämään lukutaidon ja suomi toisena kielenä -oppimäärän opetusta koskevaa keskustelua.

The insights emerging from embodied (or 4E) cognition (Newen, et al., 2018) hold considerable promise for education, but thus far have had little impact. The widespread implementation of digital technologies in classrooms presents a timely occasion to remedy this situation. The increasing abstraction entailed in the transition from pen and paper to keyboards, and from reading in print books to reading on screens, warrants supplementing extant perspectives on learning and technologies as they are currently represented in curricula and educational policy documents. This chapter helps educators to rethink and redefine the role and meaning of technology in education broadly speaking, and describes how the use of digital technologies in the acquisition of basic skills like reading and writing specifically impacts learning from an embodied perspective. Drawing on examples from Nordic school contexts, we illustrate how 4E cognition can be pursued to benefit the learning experience in our digital age. For us, as human beings, the skills of reading and writing are not innate — meaning, there is no genetic blueprint for reading or writing (Wolf et al., 2012). Whereas children normally develop the ability to speak and communicate by means of language socialization, both reading and writing require systematic training over an extended period of time to develop. Helping children learn to read and write is one of the major tasks of basic education. A recent study using functional magnetic resonance imaging found that both reading and writing are multisensory experiences (Smith et al., 2018). Yet the ongoing digitalization poses new challenges for researchers and schools concerned with students’ literacy skills. As advances in technology in classroom applications become more mainstream, the way in which children engage in reading and writing is changing. Therefore, we argue that the theory of embodied cognition (4E) should be acknowledged when considering the strengths and weaknesses of various technologies in supporting different aspects of reading (e.g., low-level processes such as letter-sound correspondences, and high-level processes such as inference-based comprehension skills) and writing. peerReviewed

his study investigated special educational needs (SEN) teachers’ (n = 29) assessment practices and the accuracy of their ratings of the students’ (M age = 12.75 years, n = 55) skill levels in reading fluency and reading comprehension. Teachers rated their sixth grade students’ fluency and comprehension on a three-point scale, and the students were also tested in group tests. Results showed that SEN teachers used several assessment practices simultaneously but mostly relied on observations. The correlations between the teacher ratings and the test scores were significant but moderate in fluency and weak in comprehension. Only two thirds of low-performing students having difficulties in fluency or comprehension were identified. Additionally, identification of students with typical reading comprehension was inaccurate. peerReviewed

Self-efficacious children are expected to be more task-focused in challenging achievement situations and consequently have better chances of overcoming learning difficulties than children who have lower self-efficacy. The present study investigates this presumption with Finnish-speaking first graders struggling with reading acquisition ( N = 285). The development of the children’s reading fluency, self-efficacy, and task avoidance was followed from the middle of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2, and a 6-week mobile game-based intervention was administered to those who exhibited the greatest risk for reading disabilities (≤ 5th percentile). Exploratory structural equation modeling was used to test the theoretical model. The results suggest that higher self-efficacy in the middle of Grade 1 predicted lower task avoidance and higher reading fluency at the end of Grade 1, but no support for the mediating role of task avoidance was found. The intervention benefited both self-efficacy and reading fluency.

Sanojen sinfoniaa Lounais-Suomessa oli Opetushallituksen rahoittama ja Lukuliikkeen Lukeva kunta -verkostoon kuuluva hanke. Tavoitteena oli konseptoida ja markkinoida alueen kunnissa lukemista edistäviä palveluita, toteuttaa Lukeva kunta -kokeiluja, kehittää kirjastohenkilökunnan osaamista sekä vahvistaa lasten ja nuorten osallisuutta. Mukaan ilmoittautui 20 kuntaa Lounais-Suomen alueelta. Sanojen sinfoniaa Lounais-Suomessa -hankkeeseen liitetyssä tutkimushankkeessa, joka sai Opetushallitukselta erillisen lisärahoituksen, haluttiin keskittyä vinkkaustoiminnan tarkasteluun erilaisista näkökulmista sekä saada välineitä kirjavinkkaustoiminnan kehittämiseen. Tutkimuksen toteuttivat tutkijat Juli-Anna Aerila Turun yliopistosta, Merja Kauppinen Jyväskylän yliopistosta sekä Anu Ojaranta vapaana tutkijana. Tutkimusaineiston keruussa avusti Sanojen sinfoniaa Lounais-Suomessa –hankkeen koordinaattori Suvi Sario. Tutkimusaineiston keruuseen ja analyysiin osallistui myös projektitutkija Mari Siipola Turun yliopistosta. nonPeerReviewed

The associations among readers’ cognitive skills (general cognitive ability, reading skills, and attentional functioning), task demands (easy versus difficult questions), and process measures (total fixation time on relevant and irrelevant paragraphs) was investigated to explain task-oriented reading accuracy and efficiency (number of scores in a given time unit). Structural equation modeling was applied to a large dataset collected with sixth-grade students, which included samples of dysfluent readers and those with attention difficulties. The results are in line with previous findings regarding the dominant role of general cognitive ability in the accuracy of task-oriented reading. However, efficiency in task-oriented reading was mostly explained by the shorter viewing times of both paragraph types (i.e., relevant and irrelevant), which were modestly explained by general cognitive ability and reading fluency. These findings suggest that high efficiency in task orientation is obtained by relying on a selective reading strategy when reading both irrelevant and relevant paragraphs. The selective reading strategy seems to be specifically learned, and this potentially applies to most students, even those with low cognitive abilities.