What textbooks offer and what teachers teach: an analysis of the Dutch reading comprehension curriculum.

In the Netherlands, the quality of the reading curriculum is currently under debate because of disappointing results on national and international assessments of students' reading skills and motivation. In a mixed-method study, we analyzed the content of Dutch textbooks for reading comprehension instruction (i.e., the implemented curriculum) and teachers' evaluation and use of these books (i.e., the enacted curriculum). A materials analysis of reading comprehension lessons (N = 80) in eight textbooks for grades 4 and 5 was complemented with semi-structured teacher interviews (N = 29) and lesson observations (N = 11), with a focus on the quality of reading strategy and text structure instruction in the curriculum. Main findings are (1) a lack of alignment between lesson goals, theory, and assignments, (2) a strong focus on practicing strategies, (3) limited declarative knowledge about strategies and text structure, (4) little opportunities for self-regulated strategy application. The teachers that were interviewed mention similar problems, but still hardly deviate from the textbook's content and pedagogical guidelines. We make recommendations to improve the quality of the curriculum. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11145-021-10244-4.

The Effect of Structure on the Memory for Procedural Text.

The present study examined how the structure of procedural texts affected recall of those texts. Past research has found that procedural text is comprehended best when readers expend a moderate amount of effort in processing it; the amount of effort may depend on the structure of the procedural text. Sixty-three participants read six procedural texts describing how to construct simple machines. One group of participants read texts that contained a diagram of the object, whereas the other group read texts with no diagram. Two types of texts were presented: Narrative and list-like procedural texts. Results showed that rereading increased recall of the list-like text, but had little effect for the narrative text. The elaboration hypothesis explains the recall differences after a single reading, but it is still unclear why the list-like texts were recalled better than the narrative texts after a second reading.

The role text structure inference skill plays for eighth graders' expository text comprehension.

The present study investigated whether text structure inference skill (i.e., the ability to infer overall text structure) has unique predictive value for expository text comprehension on top of the variance accounted for by sentence reading fluency, linguistic knowledge and metacognitive knowledge. Furthermore, it was examined whether the unique predictive value of text structure inference skill differs between monolingual and bilingual Dutch students or students who vary in reading proficiency, reading fluency or linguistic knowledge levels. One hundred fifty-one eighth graders took tests that tapped into their expository text comprehension, sentence reading fluency, linguistic knowledge, metacognitive knowledge, and text structure inference skill. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that text structure inference skill has no unique predictive value for eighth graders' expository text comprehension controlling for reading fluency, linguistic knowledge and metacognitive knowledge. However, text structure inference skill has unique predictive value for expository text comprehension in models that do not include both knowledge of connectives and metacognitive knowledge as control variables, stressing the importance of these two cognitions for text structure inference skill. Moreover, the predictive value of text structure inference skill does not depend on readers' language backgrounds or on their reading proficiency, reading fluency or vocabulary knowledge levels. We conclude our paper with the limitations of our study as well as the research and practical implications.

Habilidades metatextuais: uma intervenção na produção escrita de textos narrativos / The metatextual skills: an intervention in the written production of narrative texts / Habilidades metatextuales: una intervenciónen la producción de escritura de textos narrativos

As habilidades metatextuais constituem um aspecto da metacognição, referindo-se ao conhecimento e controle sobre a organizaçãoestrutural dos diferentes tipos textuais. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a eficácia de sessões de intervenção visando ao desenvolvimento das habilidades metatextuais, sobre a produção escrita de histórias eo conhecimento explícito da estrutura narrativa, de alunos do ensino fundamental. Participaram do estudo 97 alunos do 4º e 5º ano de uma escola pública, os quais foram divididos em grupo experimental e controle. Os instrumentos utilizados foram produções de texto com tema livre e questionário sobre o conhecimento da estrutura narrativa, aplicados antes e após a intervenção. Os resultados indicaram efeito significativo favorável à intervenção referente ao conhecimento da estrutura narrativa, porém essa melhora se refletiu apenas parcialmente nas produções escritas.Discute-se a diferença entre os processos de conhecimento e controle envolvidos no conceito de metacognição.

The metatextual skills are an aspect of metacognition, referring to knowledge and control over the structural organization of different textual types. The objective of this study was to verify the effectiveness of intervention sessions aiming at the development of metatextual abilities, on the written production of stories and the explicit knowledge of the narrative structure of students of elementary school. The participants were 97 students from the 4th and 5th grade of a public school, which were divided into experimental and control groups. The instruments that have used were the production of texts about free theme and a questionnaire on the knowledge of narrative structure, applied before and after the intervention. The results indicated a significant favorable effect on the intervention concerning the knowledge of the narrative structure, but this improvement was reflected only partially in the written productions. The difference between the knowledge and control processes involved in the concept of metacognition is discussed.

Las habilidades metatextuales son un aspecto de la metacognición, relativo al conocimiento y control sobre la organización estrutural dedistintos tipos de texto. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la eficacia de una intervención, destinada a desarrollar las habilidades metatextuales,sobre la producción escrita de historias y lo conocimiento de la estructura narrativa de 97 estudiantes de 4º y 5º cursos de una escuela pública, los cuales fueron divididos en grupo experimental y control. Como instrumentos se utilizaran la producción de texto con tema libre y cuestionario sobre el conocimiento de la estructura narrativa, aplicados antes y después de la intervención. Los resultados indicaron un efecto significativo favorable a la intervención relacionado con el conocimiento de la estructura narrativa, pero esta mejora se reflejó sólo en parte en las historias escritas. Se discute la diferencia entre los procesos de conocimiento y de control envueltos en el concepto de metacognición.

Effects of planning strategies on writing dynamics and final texts.

Expert writing involves the interaction among three cognitively demanding processes: planning, translating, and revising. To manage the cognitive load brought on by these processes, writers frequently use strategies. Here, we examined the effects of planning strategies on writing dynamics and final texts. Before writing an argumentative text with the triple-task technique, 63 undergraduates were asked either to elaborate an outline with the argumentative structure embedded (structure-based planning condition), to provide a written list of ideas for the text (list-based planning condition), or to do a non-writing-related filler task (no planning condition). Planning showed no effects on the length of the pre-writing pause and cognitive effort, but influenced writing processes occurrences. Compared to participants in the no-planning condition, those in the planning conditions showed a later activation of revising. Moreover, participants in the structure-based condition were mainly focused on translating in the beginning and middle of composition, whereas their peers tended to distribute their attention among all processes. Planning ahead of writing also resulted in texts with longer words, produced at a higher rate. Only the structure-based planning strategy led to an increase in the number of argumentation elements as well as in essays' persuasiveness and overall quality. There was, however, no indication that these improvements in final texts were associated with changes in the dynamics of writing. Overall, the use of structure-based plans seems to be an effective and efficient way of improving undergraduates' argumentative writing.

Combined Training of One Cognitive and One Metacognitive Strategy Improves Academic Writing Skills.

Academic writing is a challenging task. Expert writers apply various writing skills as they anticipate the reader's view of their text while paying attention to structure and content. Research in the high school setting shows that the acquisition of writing skills can be supported by single-strategy training. However, research in higher education is scarce. We tested whether the development of academic writing skills can also be effectively supported by training single strategies or even combined strategies. As metacognition is an important skill for advanced and adult learners, we focused in this study on the benefit of combined cognitive strategies with and without a metacognitive strategy. An experiment including three conditions was conducted (N = 60 German-speaking psychology undergraduates, M = 22.8, SD = 4.4), which lasted for three hours. Each group received a modeling intervention of a basic cognitive strategy on the application of text structure knowledge. Two groups received an additional modeling intervention with either a cognitive strategy treatment on text summarization or a metacognitive strategy treatment on self-monitoring the writing process. One group received no further strategy treatment. Prior knowledge and learning outcomes were measured with a specially developed test on academic writing skills. In addition, all participants wrote an abstract of an empirical article. We found that learners who received the additional self-monitoring strategy intervention benefited significantly more in terms of acquisition of academic writing skills and the quality of their texts than learners who did not receive this intervention. Thus, the results underline the importance of self-monitoring strategies in academic writing. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed.

EFL Learners' Levels of Comprehension Across Text Structures: A Comparison of Literal and Inferential Comprehension of Descriptive and Enumerative Expository Texts.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between text structure and two levels of reading comprehension, namely literal and inferential, in Iranian EFL learners. Studies have generally found that learners perform differently after they have read different text structures (Amiri et al. in Proc Soc Behav Sci 66:402-409, 2012). The text structures in focus were descriptive and enumerative expository texts. One hundred eighty upper-intermediate EFL learners were assigned four reading passages, two including descriptive and the other two enumerative text structure, followed by both literal and inferential multiple-choice items. A number of paired-samples t tests were run to provide answers to the research questions of this study. The results indicated that the participants meaningfully outperformed on the descriptive texts at both levels of literal and inferential comprehension. The findings also revealed that in both text structures of description and enumeration, literal comprehension significantly outweighed inferential comprehension. Implications were made for L2 materials developers, language teachers, and language testers regarding the consideration of text typical features in their practice.

The Interplay of Reader Goals, Working Memory, and Text Structure During Reading.

In the current study we examined the complex interactions of instructional context, text properties, and reader characteristics during comprehension. College students were tasked with the goal of reading for study versus entertainment (instructional context) while thinking-aloud about four different expository text structures (text properties). Working memory also was assessed (reader characteristics). Reading goals and working memory interacted to influence paraphrasing and non-coherence processes when thinking aloud. Reading goals, working memory, and text structure all interacted to influence text-based inferences. Text structure also influenced knowledge-based inferences. Post-reading recall was highest for those with the instructional goal of reading for study (compared to entertainment), as well as for problem-response and compare-contrast texts (compared to descriptive and chronological texts). Implications of the findings are discussed.

Comprensión y producción textual narrativa en preescolares / Text narrative comprehension and production in pre-kindergarten

Este estudio buscó identificar y describir las habilidades de comprensión y producción textual narrativa de 158 estudiantes de transición de estrato 1 y 2 de colegios públicos de la ciudad de Barranquilla (Colombia). Para evaluar esta capacidad se les pidió a los niños que narraran un texto que se les había leído anteriormente. Las muestras de lenguaje se analizaron utilizando el software SALT y posteriormente se utilizó el software SPSS para realizar los análisis descriptivos. Se consideró la estructura organizativa microestructura, macroestructura y superestructura desde el nivel de comprensión literal e inferencial. Se encontró que la mayoría de los niños tienen un desarrollo narrativo acorde con su edad, sin embargo, la elaboración inferencial fue escasa, lo que posiblemente afectó la comprensión de la historia por parte de los mismos.

This study aimed to identify and describe the skills of textual narrative comprehension and production in pre-kindergarten students belonging to 1st and 2nd social strata of public schools of the city of Barranquilla (Colombia). To evaluate this capability, the children were asked to narrate a text that had been narrated to them; the language samples were analyzed using the software SALT. The organizational structure of microstructure, macrostructure and superstructure was considered from the level of literal and inferential comprehension, finding that most children have a narrative development according to their age, however the inferential elaboration was low, what possibly affected the understanding of story by children.

Contexto de produção e o estabelecimento da coerência na escrita de histórias por crianças / Contexts of textual production and the construction of coherence in stories written by children

O presente artigo examina a influência da escolaridade e do contexto de produção textual na escrita de histórias por crianças das primeiras séries do Ensino Fundamental. Na primeira condição, as crianças produziram uma história inventada por elas. Na segunda, as crianças foram orientadas a reproduzirem por escrito um conto clássico infantil. As histórias foram classificadas segundo níveis distintos e crescentes de complexidade narrativa e de coerência. A escolaridade e as condições de produção influenciaram o estabelecimento da coerência textual, sendo que o efeito do contexto de produção sobre a escrita de história não foi o mesmo para todas as crianças. A sensibilidade ao contexto de produção estaria relacionada ao grau de domínio de um esquema narrativo de histórias apresentado pela criança. (AU)

This study examines the influence of schooling and the context of textual production on stories written by 1st and 2nd graders. In the first condition, children were asked to write original stories. In the second condition, they were asked to reproduce in writing a classical tale for children. The stories were classified according to the complexity and coherence of the narrative. Results indicate that schooling and condition of text production influenced the establishment of textual coherence. However, the effect of the contexts of textual production on children's writing was not the same for all children. Sensitivity to the contexts of text production seemed to have been related to children's awareness of narrative schema. (AU)

Contexto de produção e o estabelecimento da coerência na escrita de histórias por crianças

O presente artigo examina a influência da escolaridade e do contexto de produção textual na escrita de histórias por crianças das primeiras séries do Ensino Fundamental. Na primeira condição, as crianças produziram uma história inventada por elas. Na segunda, as crianças foram orientadas a reproduzirem por escrito um conto clássico infantil. As histórias foram classificadas segundo níveis distintos e crescentes de complexidade narrativa e de coerência. A escolaridade e as condições de produção influenciaram o estabelecimento da coerência textual, sendo que o efeito do contexto de produção sobre a escrita de história não foi o mesmo para todas as crianças. A sensibilidade ao contexto de produção estaria relacionada ao grau de domínio de um esquema narrativo de histórias apresentado pela criança.(AU)

This study examines the influence of schooling and the context of textual production on stories written by 1st and 2nd graders. In the first condition, children were asked to write original stories. In the second condition, they were asked to reproduce in writing a classical tale for children. The stories were classified according to the complexity and coherence of the narrative. Results indicate that schooling and condition of text production influenced the establishment of textual coherence. However, the effect of the contexts of textual production on children's writing was not the same for all children. Sensitivity to the contexts of text production seemed to have been related to children's awareness of narrative schema.(AU)