Effects of Reading Task on Attentional Span During Reading

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna K. Kaakinen ◽  
Jukka Hyona
Keyword(s):  
Reading Task

A Unique Asymmetrical Stroop Effect in Absolute Pitch Possessors

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 272-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilach Akiva-Kabiri ◽  
Avishai Henik
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Congruency Effect ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Color Naming ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Pitch Processing ◽  
Reverse Pattern

The Stroop task has been employed to study automaticity or failures of selective attention for many years. The effect is known to be asymmetrical, with words affecting color naming but not vice versa. In the current work two auditory-visual Stroop-like tasks were devised in order to study the automaticity of pitch processing in both absolute pitch (AP) possessors and musically trained controls without AP (nAP). In the tone naming task, participants were asked to name the auditory tone while ignoring a visual note name. In the note naming task, participants were asked to read a note name while ignoring the auditory tone. The nAP group showed a significant congruency effect only in the tone naming task, whereas AP possessors showed the reverse pattern, with a significant congruency effect only in the note reading task. Thus, AP possessors were unable to ignore the auditory tone when asked to read the note, but were unaffected by the verbal note name when asked to label the auditory tone. The results suggest that pitch identification in participants endowed with AP ability is automatic and impossible to suppress.

Performance-Based Measurement of Speech Quality with an Audio Proof-Reading Task

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Huckvale ◽  
Gaston Hilkhuysen ◽  
Deizom Frasi
Keyword(s):  
Speech Quality ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Proof Reading

Processing subject focus across two Spanish varieties

Probus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-127
Author(s):  
Bradley Hoot ◽  
Tania Leal
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
New Information ◽  
Basic Facts

AbstractLinguists have keenly studied the realization of focus – the part of the sentence introducing new information – because it involves the interaction of different linguistic modules. Syntacticians have argued that Spanish uses word order for information-structural purposes, marking focused constituents via rightmost movement. However, recent studies have challenged this claim. To contribute sentence-processing evidence, we conducted a self-paced reading task and a judgment task with Mexican and Catalonian Spanish speakers. We found that movement to final position can signal focus in Spanish, in contrast to the aforementioned work. We contextualize our results within the literature, identifying three basic facts that theories of Spanish focus and theories of language processing should explain, and advance a fourth: that mismatches in information-structural expectations can induce processing delays. Finally, we propose that some differences in the existing experimental results may stem from methodological differences.

The role of immersion learning in the acquisition and processing of L2 gender agreement

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Klassen ◽  
Aline Ferreira ◽  
John W. Schwieter
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Morphological Variability ◽  
Selection Task ◽  
Gender Agreement ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Short Term Study

Abstract In this paper, we examine the effects of learning environment on second language (L2) gender agreement. English speakers learning L2 Spanish participated in a self-paced reading task and a picture selection task prior to and after a short-term study abroad experience. The results from the self-paced reading task showed that their reliance on the masculine article as the default (e.g., McCarthy, Corrine. 2008. Morphological variability in the comprehension of agreement: An argument for representation over computation. Second Language Research 24(4). 459–486) was reduced over time abroad. Findings from the picture selection task showed that the learners did not attend to the gender of articles unless it was their only cue, but that after the study abroad experience they began to use gender as an anticipatory cue for lexical selection. We interpret these results as support for an adapted version of the Shallow Structures Hypothesis (Clahsen, Harald & Claudia Felser. 2006a. Grammatical processing in language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics 27(1). 3–42; Clahsen, Harald & Claudia Felser. 2006b. How native-like is non-native language processing? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 10(12). 564–570) and the notion that in immersion contexts L2 learners shift their parsing strategy to be more communicatively focused (Schwieter, John W. & Gabrielle Klassen. 2016. Linguistic advances and learning strategies in a short-term study abroad experience. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 1(2). 217–247).

Measuring the effects of repeated exposure to children’s graded readers

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110366
Author(s):  
Àngels Llanes ◽  
Elsa Tragant
Keyword(s):  
Primary Education ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Repeated Exposure ◽  
Test Design ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Common Procedure ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Grammar Learning ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Graded Readers

The present study presents an instructional procedure developed in an attempt to enhance incidental learning through graded readers in class, the Multiple Incidental Exposures (MIE) procedure, and compares it to a more common procedure involving reading and doing the exercises, which is referred to as Traditional Explicit Practice (TEP). Participants were 44 Catalan/Spanish students (aged 10–11 years) taking the fifth course of primary education in a school in Catalonia. Participants belonged to two intact classes that were randomly assigned a condition: MIE group ( n = 23, n = 15 males, n = 8 females) and the TEP group ( n = 21, n = 12 males, n = 9 females). The MIE group was first told the story by their teacher, then read and listened to the graded readers twice (first collectively and later on individually), to be followed by a True/False activity and a jigsaw reading task. The TEP group read and listened to the story collectively once and then performed a series of traditional explicit exercises very similar in format to those included at the end of the graded reader. Participants were administered a vocabulary test, a grammar test and a perception of pronunciation test following a pre- post-test design. A questionnaire on the participants’ attitudes was also administered on the post-test. The results show that while the TEP procedure is more effective for grammar learning, the MIE and TEP procedures are equally effective in terms of vocabulary and pronunciation. In terms of enjoyment and perception of learning, both groups showed comparable results.

scholarly journals Testing young foreign language learners’ reading comprehension: Exploring the effects of working memory, grade level, and reading task

2021 ◽  
pp. 026553222199148
Author(s):  
Tineke Brunfaut ◽  
Judit Kormos ◽  
Marije Michel ◽  
Michael Ratajczak
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Reading Test ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Comprehension Accuracy

Extensive research has demonstrated the impact of working memory (WM) on first language (L1) reading comprehension across age groups (Peng et al., 2018), and on foreign language (FL) reading comprehension of adults and older adolescents (Linck et al., 2014). Comparatively little is known about the effect of WM on young FL readers’ comprehension, and even less within testing contexts. Young FL readers are still developing their L1 reading skills and general cognitive skills (e.g., attentional regulation abilities). Completing FL reading tests might be particularly taxing on their WM, and differences in WM capacity – as well as other learner and task characteristics – might create construct-irrelevant variance in test performance. In this study we investigate the effects of WM, grade level, and reading task on young learners’ FL reading test performances. Ninety-four young English language learners (Grades 6–7) in Hungary completed the TOEFL® Junior™ Comprehensive’s reading test and a WM test battery. Our mixed-effects model predicted significantly higher comprehension accuracy among learners with higher WM capacity, and among learners in Grade 7 compared to learners in Grade 6. Reading task differences were not associated with significant comprehension accuracy differences. We discuss the implications of our findings for testing young learners’ FL reading comprehension.

scholarly journals Assessing undergraduate students' reading process: insights from questionnaire and reading task data

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 723-746
Author(s):  
Claudia Finger-Kratochvil ◽  
Rosane Silveira
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Reading Process ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Reading Abilities ◽  
Time Reading

Many institutions have been studying the construction of different aspects of the reading process and the reader (e.g. OECD, INEP), and they have revealed a gap in the process of building reading abilities at all levels of education. The present study focuses on entry-level college students and analyzes data from thirty-three students, collected by means of (a) two questionnaires assessing the participants' views of the reading process, purposes of reading, and their reading practices, and (b) three reading units designed to measure the participants' reading ability in their native language. The results revealed that a large number of students spend little time reading, although they report that reading is a rewarding activity. Moreover, for most of them, reading is a bottom-up process, and the consequences of this view can be observed in their performance on the reading tasks.

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