ABSTRACT

Reading is fundamental to academic success, but international reading surveys indicate current pedagogy fails a fifth of adolescents, disproportionately from lower-socioeconomic groups. This UK, mixed-method study evaluated the impact of two whole-text reading approaches on comprehension, using standardised tests. Twenty teachers of English and 413 students (12–13 years) participated, 44% defined as ‘struggling readers’, in parallel classes per school, matched for reading ability. Both groups read two ‘challenging’ novels consecutively over 12 weeks. Ten teachers received no further treatment; ten teachers received training on reading-comprehension pedagogies. The mean comprehension for all students increased by 8.5 months with no significant differential effect of training condition. However, there was a significant differential effect between ‘struggling’ and ‘average+’ readers in both conditions: struggling readers’ mean comprehension improved by 16 months. Required to read whole texts, teachers in both groups altered practice, increasing print exposure, comprehension-strategies and supportive discourse-strategies, benefiting ‘struggling’ over ‘average+’ readers. This pilot study reframes understandings of ‘independent’ reading for struggling readers, indicating that the teaching of whole texts and extended reading must happen in classrooms, not outside.

摘要

阅读是学业成功的基础，但国际阅读调查显示，目前的教育方法对五分之一的青少年来说是失败的，其中大部分来自社会经济地位较低的群体。这项英国混合方法研究使用标准化测试评估了两种全文阅读方法对理解的影响。20 名英语教师和 413 名学生（12-13 岁）参加了每所学校的平行班级，其中 44% 被定义为“阅读困难”，并与阅读能力相匹配。两组人在 12 周内连续阅读两本“具有挑战性”的小说。十名教师没有接受进一步治疗；十名教师接受了阅读理解教学法培训。所有人的平均理解学生增加了8.5个月，训练条件没有显着差异影响。然而，在这两种情况下，“困难”读者和“平均+”读者之间存在显着的差异效应：困难读者的平均理解力提高了 16 个月。由于需要阅读全文，两组教师都改变了做法，增加了印刷品的曝光度、理解策略和支持性话语策略，使“挣扎”读者受益于“普通+”读者。这项试点研究重新构建了阅读困难者对“独立”阅读的理解，表明全文教学和延伸阅读必须在课堂上进行，而不是在外面。