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摘要：Children's spoken nonmainstream American English (NMAE) dialect use and their knowledge about phonological representations of word pronunciations were assessed in a sample of 105 children in kindergarten through second grade. Children were given expressive and receptive tasks with dialect-sensitive stimuli. Students who produced many NMAE features in speech nonetheless demonstrated considerable knowledge of 'standard' English forms on the tasks, and their phonological representations were not deficient. In regression analyses, an inverse relationship between NMAE use and reading skill was observed, but mediated by phonological awareness. The findings are inconsistent with the view that print-speech mismatches interfere with young NMAE speakers' reading acquisition, and instead suggest that dialect variation among beginning readers reflects metalinguistic differences that influence reading acquisition. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Using structural equation modeling analysis, this study examined the contribution of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge to second language reading comprehension among 190 advanced Chinese English as a foreign language learners. Vocabulary knowledge was measured in both breadth (Vocabulary Levels Test) and depth (Word Associates Test); grammatical measures focused on learners' implicit (timed grammaticality judgment task), as well as explicit knowledge (grammatical error correction task); reading comprehension had three indicators, namely, co-reference, textual inference, and gist. Vocabulary knowledge related significantly to reading comprehension; grammatical knowledge showed a weak contribution to reading comprehension after controlling for the effect of vocabulary knowledge. In addition, learners' implicit knowledge of grammar had a stronger relationship to reading comprehension than explicit knowledge, over and above the effect of vocabulary size. Adapted from the source document

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摘要：This study tested three hypotheses about the direct and indirect contributions of derivational morphological awareness to English reading comprehension in sixth-grade students from differing language backgrounds (n= 952). Students included Spanish-speaking, Filipino-speaking, and Vietnamese-speaking language minority learners as well as native English speakers. Multiple-group structural equation modeling indicated that morphological awareness made a significant direct contribution to reading comprehension, controlling for reading vocabulary and word reading fluency. Morphological awareness also made a significant indirect contribution to reading comprehension via reading vocabulary, but not via word reading fluency. Effects were similar across the four language groups. Findings suggest that morphological awareness may play multiple important roles in English reading comprehension for students from a variety of home language backgrounds. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Few second-language (L2) reading studies have examined the relationship between reading large amounts of text and fluency, and those studies that have tend to be problematic in terms of their designs and/or analyses. In order to address this lack of empirical L2 reading fluency research, this study investigates the effects of a 1-year pleasure reading program on the reading rate development of first-year Japanese university students (N= 97). The reading rates and reading comprehension of an Intensive Reading Group and three Pleasure Reading Groups were measured at the beginning and end of the academic year. All Pleasure Reading Groups made greater gains than the Intensive Reading Group, and the two Pleasure Reading Groups that read the most made greater reading rate gains than the Pleasure Reading Group that read the least. Reading one book every 2 weeks or more was the most effective means for promoting reading rate gains for the majority of learners. An additional finding was that reading comprehension was consistently high on both the pretest and posttest; thus, the increased reading rates did not come at the expense of passage comprehension. A final finding was that reading simplified rather than unsimplified texts resulted in greater reading rate gains. Adapted from the source document

摘要：In this article, we report the results of a study on the relationship between individual differences in language learning aptitude and the structural connectivity of language pathways in the adult brain, the first of its kind. We measured four components of language aptitude (vocabulary learning; sound recognition; sound-symbol correspondence; and grammatical inferencing) using the LLAMA language aptitude test. Spatial working memory, verbal working memory and IQ were also measured as control factors. Diffusion Tensor Imaging was employed to investigate the structural connectivity of language pathways in the perisylvian language network. Regression analysis suggested significant correlations between most of these behavioural measures and the structural connectivity of certain language pathways, that is, grammatical inferencing and the BA45- and BA46-Temporal pathway, sound-symbol correspondence and the interhemispheric BA45 pathway, vocabulary learning and the BA47-Parietal pathway, IQ and the BA44- and BA-47Parietal pathways, the BA47-Temporal pathway and interhemispheric BA45 pathway, spatial working memory and the interhemispheric BA6 pathway and the BA47-Parietal pathway, and verbal working memory and the BA47-Temporal pathway. These findings provide further insights into the neural underpinnings of the variation in language aptitude of human adults and are discussed in relation to relevant findings in the literature. Adapted from the source document

摘要：A limitation of extensive reading programmes is the time required for progress in vocabulary acquisition. This paper reports on a qualitative exploration of student perceptions of the value of non-compulsory comic books in ESL elementary and upper-intermediate level courses at a tertiary institution. We aimed to develop supplementary materials that students would find valuable, use, and enjoy without requiring classroom time. The results suggest the learners' views on the value of comic books and recordings can be broadly categorized into five themes: (1) helpful story characteristics, (2) perceived performance enhancement, (3) use of learning strategies, (4) enjoyment, and (5) areas for improvement. An interesting finding was the variety of uses to which the learners put the resources, in particular sharing them with their families. This study points to the importance of responding to learners' specific contexts and to creative ways English learners undertake autonomous learning when provided with appropriate resources. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study explores the impact of concept map strategy on the understanding of second language information texts. Sixty-nine adult learners of French as a second language (FSL) in a Montreal francophone university were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. After reading an information text, both groups answered a comprehension questionnaire as a pre-test survey. The experimental group then participated in four weekly preparation sessions. After each session, proper understanding of the text studied was assessed through a comprehension survey composed of literal and inferential questions. One week after the last session, both groups of learners were evaluated using the same comprehension questionnaire that had been used as a pre-test. Results show that the experimental group tend to obtain higher scores than the control group on the immediate post-tests, either for the global score (3 of the 4 texts), or for the literal questions score (2 of the 4 texts), or for the inferential questions score (2 of the 4 texts). Moreover, a comparison of the pre- and post-test results shows that students from the experimental group were able to transfer their literal comprehension skills, but they could not, however, transfer their inferential comprehension skills. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The past few decades have witnessed a growing interest in how second language (L2) learners come to read in languages employing non-alphabetic writing systems such as Chinese and Japanese and languages employing non-Roman alphabetic systems such as Arabic and Hebrew. Indeed, with efforts afoot to begin more programs in these languages at the K-12 and collegiate levels, in immersion and bilingual settings, and with stated goals for students to eventually attain high levels in reading proficiency, an understanding of this research is critical if program development is to go forward in a principled way. This article discusses some of the theoretical developments that have helped illuminate the cross-orthographic reading process and reports on the relevant research in L2 cross-orthographic reading that has shaped our understanding of the issues involved in learning to read in languages that employ non-Roman alphabetic, logographic, and syllabary systems of writing. The article will also discuss teaching implications, strategies, and classroom practice put forth by reading practitioners, many of which have yet to find consensus. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study focused on the relationship between percentage of vocabulary known in a text and level of comprehension of the same text. Earlier studies have estimated the percentage of vocabulary necessary for second language learners to understand written texts as being between 95% (Laufer, 1989) and 98% (Hu & Nation, 2000). In this study, 661 participants from 8 countries completed a vocabulary measure based on words drawn from 2 texts, read the texts, and then completed a reading comprehension test for each text. The results revealed a relatively linear relationship between the percentage of vocabulary known and the degree of reading comprehension. There was no indication of a vocabulary "threshold," where comprehension increased dramatically at a particular percentage of vocabulary knowledge. Results suggest that the 98% estimate is a more reasonable coverage target for readers of academic texts. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study examines the effects of working memory capacity and content familiarity on literal and inferential comprehension in second language (L2) reading. Participants were 62 Turkish university students with an advanced English proficiency level. Working memory capacity was measured through a computerized version of a reading span test, whereas content familiarity was achieved through nativization of a narrative, that is, textual and contextual modification to reflect the reader's own culture. After completing the reading span test, the participants were randomly divided into two groups, one being exposed to the original text and the other to the nativized version. They then answered multiple-choice comprehension questions aiming to check literal and inferential comprehension. The results revealed independent and additive effects of working memory capacity and content familiarity on inferential comprehension. No effects were observed on literal understanding. These findings have implications for the design of assessment instruments in L2 reading comprehension. Adapted from the source document

摘要：A number of studies claim that knowledge of 5,000-8,000 of the most frequent words should provide at least 95% coverage of most unsimplified texts in English, arguably enough to guess or ignore most unknown words while reading (Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Hu & Nation, 2000; Laufer, 1991; Nation, 2006). However, perhaps hidden in that 95% figure are other kinds of words -- multiword expressions -- not accounted for by current estimates based on frequency lists. Such expressions are often composed of highly frequent words, and therefore it is possible that such items may go unnoticed by learners reading in the second language. To test this assertion, a two-part test was taken by 101 adult Brazilian learners of English: One part contained short texts composed of the top 2,000 words in English; the second part contained the exact same words, however the arrangement of these same words constituted multiword expressions (e.g., large, and, by -> by and large). Tests of reading comprehension indicated that learners' comprehension not only decreased significantly when multiword expressions were present in text but students also tended to overestimate how much they understood as a function of expressions that either went unnoticed or were misunderstood. Adapted from the source document