Although competent argumentative writing is important for academic success and daily life, it is difficult to teach, especially in middle schools where English is taught as a foreign language (EFL). Previous research has indicated that extensive reading or writing improves the descriptive writing skills of EFL students. However, it is not certain…

Reading is a core element in language education. Despite extensive research in second/foreign language (L2/FL) reading, relatively little is known about the differences between two common practices: Compulsory reading (i.e. reading assigned by teachers) and voluntary reading (i.e. self-initiated reading). This article reports two related…

This paper draws on Bakhtin's (1981) notions of discourse and ideological becoming to investigate how adolescents' experiences with young adult literature and other texts might inform their thinking around issues of social justice. We engaged in a number of activities with the young adolescent participants: thought maps, illustrations of poignant…

Building on work that brings literacy instruction and student science learner identity together, this study addresses a gap in research related to student experiences as readers in middle school science classrooms. To understand student perceptions of pedagogical approaches to reading in science, we asked 45 middle school students to reflect on…

Assessing Opportunities to Learn (OTL) implies the measurement of different aspects of the curricular implementation in the classrooms, such as the contents that the teacher selects for the course and the time of exposure and the frequency of the tasks proposed. Based on recent studies that demonstrate the influence of this curricular dimension on…

Previous work on seductive details has demonstrated that interesting but irrelevant messages hinder students' text learning. Considering that there is little evidence suggesting the relationship between seductive details and prior knowledge, the present study examined how seductive details affect learning in terms of prior knowledge to address the…

Helping struggling readers to learn history content in middle school can be difficult due to heavy reading demands. In this study, researchers taught poor readers with and without disabilities in eighth grade to generate main idea statements; create, compare, and contrast paragraphs; and identify cause and effect relations, along with relevant…

Helping struggling readers to learn history content in middle school can be difficult due to heavy reading demands. In this study, researchers taught poor readers with and without disabilities in 8th grade to generate main idea statements, create compare and contrast paragraphs, and identify cause and effect relationships, along with relevant…

Researchers have documented a "summer reading setback" where an achievement gap between proficient and struggling readers expands during the summer. This research focuses on 20 rising sixth graders who participated in a summer independent reading initiative using Nook digital readers. Using a qualitative exploratory design and content…

Prepared for school district and education leaders, "Checking In" is the first in the "Equity in Motion" series, which scrutinizes how issues of equity are translating into the daily activities of schools and educators. Nearly every state has adopted new, more rigorous standards for college and career readiness over the past…

This study explored the influence of an excessively challenging reading task on middle school students' motivation, attributions for failure, and persistence. In particular, the authors considered the possibility that relative topic interest might function as a buffer against the negative outcomes of excessive challenge. Students ranging from 10…

Student responses to Canadian realistic fiction for young adults were examined for four seventh grade girls and three seventh grade boys. Interview findings support the view that students should have a role in selecting what they read, should talk about reading informally, and should construct representations less influenced by teacher responses.…