Executive functioning (EF) refers to a set of higher order, core cognitive processes that facilitate planning, problem solving, and the initiation and maintenance of goal-directed behavior. Although recent research has established the importance of EF for word reading development in early childhood, few studies have investigated the role of EF in…

This study examined whether morphological analysis may be a mechanism underlying the relationship of morphological awareness to vocabulary and comprehension. Eighty-eight fifth- and 74 eighth-grade students completed a task designed to assess whether students use morphological analysis to infer meanings of low-frequency, presumably unfamiliar,…

This review of research examines the constructs of reading motivation and synthesizes research findings of the past 20 years on the relationship between reading motivation and reading behavior (amount, strategies, and preferences), and the relationship between reading motivation and reading competence (reading skills and comprehension). In…

This study explored the relationship between the reading ability and science achievement of students in grades 5, 8, and 9. Reading ability was assessed with four measures: word recognition, vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and comprehension (23% of all passages were on science topics). Science achievement was assessed with state…

The study of second-language (L2) reading comprehension and instruction has become the focus of increasing attention in the past few decades. Two recent publications, "Reading in a Second Language: Moving From Theory to Practice" by William Grabe and "Second Language Reading Research and Instruction: Crossing the Boundaries" edited by ZhaoHong Han…

A yearlong classroom-based intervention was designed to explore the reading-writing connection in second-language literacy by examining whether the development of reading improves writing and vice versa. Middle school learners of English as a foreign language (N = 300) in South Korea were assigned to three treatments that involved extensive…

Reading comprehension is a highly demanding task that involves the simultaneous process of extracting and constructing meaning in which working memory's executive processes play a crucial role. In this article, a training program on working memory's executive processes to improve reading comprehension is presented and empirically tested in two…

We investigated the roles of classroom supports for multiple motivations and engagement in students' informational text comprehension, motivation, and engagement. A composite of classroom contextual variables consisting of instructional support for choice, importance, collaboration, and competence, accompanied by cognitive scaffolding for…

The use of texts in science classrooms has waned significantly over the past two decades. However, recently, researchers have shown renewed interest in the use of refutation texts as a tool for promoting conceptual change and science learning. In this article, we examine the intersection of conceptual change and reading comprehension research in…

Although a considerable amount of evidence has been amassed regarding the contributions of lower-level word processes, higher-level processes, and working memory to reading comprehension, little is known about the relationships among these sources of individual differences or their relative contributions to reading comprehension performance. This…

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content acquisition and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth-grade social studies teachers. Using a within-teacher design, the eighth-grade teachers' social studies classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison conditions. Teachers (n = 5) taught the same instructional…

In this conceptual essay, we offer rationales and evidence for critical components of a working model of text complexity for the early grades. In the first three sections of the article, we examine word-level, syntax-level, and discourse-level features of text, posing questions for future research. In the fourth section, we address elements of…

An experiment compared the impact of more and less semantically connected sentence contexts on vocabulary learning. Third graders (N = 40) were taught the definitions and meanings of six unfamiliar verbs: "anticipate," "attain," "devise," "restrain," "wield," and "persist." The verbs were…

In two studies, we investigated how skilled readers use contextual and morphemic information in the process of incidental vocabulary acquisition during reading. In Experiment 1, we monitored skilled readers' eye movements while they silently read sentence pairs containing novel and known English compound words that were either semantically…

There is now compelling evidence that children's early vocabulary development is essential to their long-term reading comprehension. Findings from experimental studies have indicated that vocabulary knowledge influences the development of conceptual knowledge and comprehension, suggesting a causal relationship among these fundamental language…