IL 3298 Directed Study: Reading

Fall 2016

Wednesdays, 1:00-3:00

Room 5140

Linda Kucan

“And so to completely analyze what we do when we read

would almost be the acme of a psychologist’s achievements,

for it would be to describe

very many of the most intricate workings

of the human mind,

as well as to unravel the tangled story

of the most remarkable specific performance

that civilization has learned in all its history.”

The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading

Edmund Burke Huey

Pittsburg, PA 1907

The purpose of this course is to provide a context for deepening your knowledge about reading processes. The course is framed by Perfetti and Stafura’s Reading Systems Framework (2014). The course readings direct your attention to the features of English orthography, phonology, and syntax, aspects of vocabulary development, linguistic analysis, and dimensions of comprehension.

Readings (in order of course presentation)

Perfetti, C., & Stafura, J. (2014). Word knowledge in a theory of reading comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18, 22-37.

Rayner K., Foorman, B. R., Perfetti, C. A., Pesetsky D., & Seidenberg, M. (2001). How

psychological science informs the teaching of reading. Psychological Science in

the Public Interest.

Perfetti, C. (2007). Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension. Scientific Studies

of Reading, 11(4), 357-383.

Brinchmann, E. I., Hjetland, H. N., & Lyster, S-A. H. (2016). Lexical quality matters:

Effects of word knowledge instruction on the language and literacy skills of third- and fourth-grade poor readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 51(2), 165-180.

Lesaux, N. K., Kieffer, M. J., Faller, S. E., & Kelley, J. G. (2010). The effectiveness and

ease of implementation of an academic vocabulary intervention for linguistically

diverse students in urban middle schools. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(2),

196-228.

Graesser, A. C., McNamara, D. S., & Louwerse, M. M. (2003). What do readers need to

learn in order to process coherence relations in narrative and expository text? In A. P. Sweet & C. E. Snow (Eds.), Rethinking reading comprehension (pp. 82-

98). New York: Guilford Press.

Schleppegrell, M. J., Achugar, M., & Oteiza, R. (2004). The grammar of history:

Enhancing content-based instruction through a functional focus on language. TESOL Quarterly, 38(1), 67-93.

Graesser, A C., & McNamara, D. S. (2011). Computational analyses of multilevel

discourse comprehension. Topics in Cognitive Science, 3, 371-398.

Pearson, P. D., & Cervetti, G. (2013). The psychology and pedagogy of reading

processes. In W. Reynolds & G. Miller (Eds.), Educational psychology, V. VII of

Handbook of Psychology (2nd Ed.) (pp. 507-554). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Pearson, P. D., & Cervetti, G. N. (2015). Fifty years of reading comprehension theory

and practice. In P. D. Pearson & E. H. Hiebert (Eds.), Research-based practices for teaching Common Core literacy (pp. 1-24). New York: Teachers College Press.

Assignments

Unless otherwise specified, assignments are due the day before the next scheduled class meeting. You will have an opportunity to submit a revision of an assignment based on feedback. Revisions must be submitted one week after feedback.

Grading

Final grades will be based upon your participation in discussions and the quality of your responses to assignments.

1

The first three readings and related class sessions focus your attention on critical aspects of reading processes.

Class Meetings / Topics of Discussion / Assigned Reading / Assignment
August 31 /
  • Edmund Burke Huey
  • Charles Perfetti
  • Reading Systems Framework
/ Perfetti & Stafura (2014) / Respond to these questions in a 1-page essay:
  • What does the Reading Systems Framework explain?
  • What does it not explain?
  • Why is it useful?

September 7 /
  • Reading development
/ Rayner et al. (2001), pp. 29-43 / Imagine that you are preparing to teach a reading methods course focusing on beginning reading. What key concepts related to beginning reading would you introduce to preservice teachers? List the concepts and explain each. Provide examples.
September 14 /
  • Cognitive models of reading
  • Insights from cognitive neuroscience
/ Rayner et al. (2001), pp. 43- 68 / Select one of the following to explain in a 2-page essay:
  • eye-movements in reading
  • word identification processes

The next 4 class sessions and related readings focus your attention on the pivotal role of vocabulary knowledge in reading.

Class Meeting / Topics of Discussion / Assigned Reading / Assignment
September 21 /
  • Lexical Quality Hypothesis (LQH)
/ Perfetti (2007), pp. 357-362 / Respond to the following question in a 1-page essay:
  • What is the Lexical Quality Hypothesis?

September 28
You will work on the assignment together (Karen and Hyeju) during the scheduled class meeting.
I am not able to attend this meeting because of a prior commitment. /
  • Experimental evidence for claims about LQH
/ Perfetti (2007), pp. 363-377 / Select and analyze 2 of the following studies by describing the hypotheses, procedures, results, and claim(s) based on the results for each study:
  • Perfetti & Hart (2001)
  • Perfetti, Wlotko, & Hart (2005)
  • Yang & Perfetti (2006)
  • Landi (2005)

October 5
There will be no class meeting this week as I have a prior commitment. You should complete the assignment and submit it to me before October 12. / Vocabulary interventionbased on LQH / Brinchman, Hjetland, & Lyster (2015) / Analyze the investigation described in Brinchman, Hjetland, & Lyster (2015).
Prepare a chart with the following information:
  • theoretical perspectives
  • research questions
  • procedures/intervention activities
  • measures
  • results
  • conclusions/claims

Class Meeting / Topics of Discussion / Assigned Reading / Assignment
October 12 / Vocabulary intervention based on research-based principles / Lesaux et al. (2010) / Analyze the investigation described in Lesaux et al. (2010).
Prepare a chart with the following information:
  • theoretical perspectives
  • research questions
  • procedures/intervention activities
  • measures
  • results
  • conclusions/claims

The next 3 class sessions and related readings focus your attention on linguistic features of texts, the function of specific word choices and rhetorical frames in cuing readers to the meaning of information.

Class Meeting / Topics of Discussion / Assigned Reading / Assignment
October 19 /
  • Linguistic perspectives on comprehension
  • The impact of coherence relations
/ Graesser , McNamara, & Louwerse (2003) / Collect interesting examples of the following and bring copies of your examples to the next class session:
  • coreferents
  • deixis
  • conjunctive relations
  • verb tense and chronology
  • punctuation marks
  • signals of rhetorical structures

October 26 /
  • Linguistic challenges in comprehending history accounts
/ Schleppegrell, Achugar, & Oteiza (2004) / Select a passage from a history textbook and analyze it using a framework of your choiceas presented in Figures 1, 2, or 3 in Schleppegrell, Achugar, & Oteiza (2004).
November 2 /
  • Computer programs to analyze text
/ Graesser & McNamara (2011) / Respond to the following question in a 2-page essay:
  • What is Coh-Metrix?
  • Why was it developed?
  • Does it work?

The last class sessions and related readings focus your attention on comprehension processes and theory and practice related to reading comprehension.

Class Meeting / Topic of Discussion / Assigned Reading / Assignment
November 9/November 16
We will not meet as a group during these two weeks.
Use this time to prepare to lead us in a discussion of your assigned chapter. / Hyeju: Pearson & Cervetti (2013)
Karen: Pearson & Cervetti (2015) / Prepare to lead us in a discussion of your assigned reading. Imagine that you are leading a seminar with reading masters students.
Select the information that would be most important for those students in building their specialized knowledge about reading processes or reading theory and practice.
You can use PowerPoint, handouts, and activities to engage your audience.
November 23
Thanksgiving Recess
November 30
LRA
Class Meeting / Topic of Discussion / Assigned Reading / Assignment
December 7 / Reading processes / Pearson & Cervetti (2013)
December 14 / Reading comprehension theory and practice / Pearson & Cervetti (2015)

1