Less-skilled adult readers have been found to be limited in their awareness and use of effective reading strategies. In this study, we aimed to (a) identify the strategies used by less-skilled adult readers that best predict word reading performance on standardized reading tests and (b) identify the word reading strategies that less-skilled adult…

While debate on declines in children's literacy is ongoing in Aotearoa New Zealand, very little attention in research and policy is paid to reading enjoyment and its capacity to support the reading development of children. Developed alongside a series of studies on children's reading for pleasure this article makes a theoretically informed…

This research examined an evidence based dialogic shared reading strategy which incorporated aided language modelling and increased communication partner responsiveness with two children with complex physical, cognitive, and sensory needs (CPCSN) who use auditory plus visual partner assisted scanning (PAS) to access a Pragmatic Organised Dynamic…

Digital technologies have changed how people interact with information. PISA data shows that 15-year-olds increasingly read online to fulfil information needs (e.g. online news versus newspapers). At the same time, technological changes in the digitalisation of communication continue to reshape people's habits (e.g. chats online versus emails).…

This article considers whether reading on screen is the same as reading on paper, and specifically whether reading comprehension is the same in both media. After reviewing relevant research, the article describes and reports the results of an NZCER research project that compared data records from online and paper-based versions of PAT: Reading…

Previous surveys of university academic reading generally employed questionnaires and fell short of an in-depth analysis of students' skill needs and difficulties. Taking a qualitative approach, the current study interviewed 22 undergraduates and 7 language teachers from a New Zealand university. Together the participants highlighted a number of…

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of post-reading group discussions in both first (L1) and second (L2) languages on L2 reading comprehension. The participants were fifteen Japanese university students of intermediate-level English. Three cohorts read four English texts and produced individual written recalls. Group 1 (the control…

The increase in accessibility and demand for laptop computers and tablets has seen literacy in schools begin to transmogrify, due to the advances of modern digital technology. This is in part due (but not limited) to the growing need, acceptance and popularity, as the division between home use and that found in classroom learning environments is…

It has been 20 years since the Rainbow Reading programme was developed and trialled by its New Zealand creator, Meryl-Lynn Pluck. Rainbow Reading is an audio-facilitated reading programme, and is based on the method of assisted repeated reading. The programme is designed to provide older students reading below their chronological age with the…

This study investigates whether a common set of student attitudes and behavioral tendencies can account for academic achievement across different, especially high-performing, countries via analysis of the PISA 2009 international data set. The 13 countries examined are 5 of the top-performing Eastern countries/systems, namely Shanghai China, South…

Low levels of literacy engagement by Years 9 and 10 students impact on their achievement in curriculum subjects such as Social Studies in New Zealand secondary schools. The majority of students entering secondary school possess sufficient foundation skills for further scaffolded subject literacy instruction, but some consistently resist or refuse…