Predictors of Word and Pseudoword Reading in Languages with Different Orthographic Consistency.

This study analyzes the impact of certain cognitive processes on word and pseudoword reading in languages with different orthographic consistency (Spanish and Arabic) in the first year of Primary Education. The study was conducted with a group of 113 pupils from Algeria and another group of 128 pupils from Ecuador, from a middle-class background and without any special education needs. The participants were assessed in terms of their reading ability of words and pseudowords, knowledge of letters, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and phonological memory. Using a correlational design, descriptive-exploratory, bivariate, and hierarchical multivariate regressions were applied to the different measures of reading in each language. The findings show that knowledge of letters, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and phonological memory contribute differently to the explanation of reading ability in each group at the start of compulsory schooling. These results have important implications for the teaching of reading skills and the prevention of specific learning disabilities, as well as the theory of reading acquisition.

Enseñanza recíproca y autoobservación del uso de estrategias: efectos sobre la comprensión de textos / Reciprocal teaching and self-monitoring of strategy use: effects on reading comprehension

La Enseñanza Recíproca (ER) es un procedimiento instruccional que enseña a los estudiantes estrategias cognitivas para incrementar la comprensión lectora. Por otro lado, la autoobservación (AO) del uso de estrategias puede incrementar los beneficios de la instrucción. Así, nos planteamos dos objetivos: (a) analizar la efectividad de la ER en aulas ordinarias; (b) determinar los beneficios de la AO del uso de estrategias a la instrucción mediante ER. Participaron 59 alumnos de 4º de E.P.: 19 fueron instruidos mediante ER; 18 mediante ER+AO y 22 recibieron la enseñanza tradicional. Se emplearon dos tipos de medidas: medidas de efectos específicos (idea principal, resumen y supervisión y regulación) y medidas de generalización (tests estandarizados, significado implícito y recuerdo). Los resultados demuestran que los grupos ER mejoraron en las medidas de efectos específicos y en algunas de las de generalización. Sin embargo, la AO no aporta ningún beneficio a la instrucción mediante ER (AU)

Reciprocal teaching (RT) is an instructional procedure to teach students cognitive strategies that might lead to improved reading comprehension. However, self-monitoring (SM) strategy use can optimize instruction of comprehension. Thus, the present study analyzed: (a) the efficacy of RT in regular classes and (b) the efficacy of RT + SM of strategy use. A sample of 59 students in the fourth year of primary education was selected: 19 children were selected as an RT condition, 18 as an RT + SM condition, while the remaining 22 made up the comparison group. Two types of comprehension measures were used: tasks of specific effects (getting the main idea, writing a summary, comprehension-monitoring test) and transfer effect measures (standardised tests, word meaning inference, and free recall). Thus, the results show that both the RT condition and the RT + SM condition benefited from the instruction, performing better than the comparison group in measures of specific effects and in some of the transfer effect measures. This result shows that SM is not a necessary component in the instruction of reading comprehension with RT (AU)

[Reciprocal teaching and self-monitoring of strategy use: effects on reading comprehension]. / Enseñanza recíproca y autoobservación del uso de estrategias: efectos sobre la comprensión de textos.

Reciprocal teaching (RT) is an instructional procedure to teach students cognitive strategies that might lead to improved reading comprehension. However, self-monitoring (SM) strategy use can optimize instruction of comprehension. Thus, the present study analyzed: (a) the efficacy of RT in regular classes and (b) the efficacy of RT + SM of strategy use. A sample of 59 students in the fourth year of primary education was selected: 19 children were selected as an RT condition, 18 as an RT + SM condition, while the remaining 22 made up the comparison group. Two types of comprehension measures were used: tasks of specific effects (getting the main idea, writing a summary, comprehension-monitoring test) and transfer effect measures (standardised tests, word meaning inference, and free recall). Thus, the results show that both the RT condition and the RT + SM condition benefited from the instruction, performing better than the comparison group in measures of specific effects and in some of the transfer effect measures. This result shows that SM is not a necessary component in the instruction of reading comprehension with RT.