Unlike alphabetic languages, Chinese text marks no word demarcation. Previous research inserted word-demarcating spaces into Chinese text but found inconsistent effects on reading efficiency. To address the potential trade-off effects of the additional length caused by inserted spaces, this study introduces color-and-font formatting as a word…

This study addressed the concept of reading instructional level. First, we reviewed the history of the concept, including some recent criticisms of its validity (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2017; Shanahan, 2014). Next, we examined, from an instructional-level perspective, the oral reading performance of 248 third graders. We divided the sample…

Purpose: The study was designed primarily to determine if the use of hearing aids (HAs) in individuals with hearing impairment in China would affect their speechreading performance. Method: Sixty-seven young adults with hearing impairment with HAs and 78 young adults with hearing impairment without HAs completed newly developed Chinese…

Rate and comprehension are two components related to broad reading abilities (i.e., phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, comprehension). The purpose of this study was to examine the unique contribution of three curriculum-based measures (CBM)-comprehension assessments compared to a CBM-oral reading rate assessment through diagnostic…

In the current study we used the gaze-contingent moving window paradigm to directly compare the second language (L2) English perceptual span of two groups that speak languages with essentially the same lexicon and grammar but crucially with different writing directions (and scripts): Hindi (read left to right) and Urdu (read right to left). This…

Extensive reading (ER) research has suggested that completing the equivalent of 7,200 standard words of extensive reading per week facilitates substantial reading rate gains. Research has also suggested that 100 minutes per week is sufficient to complete this goal for most English language learners (Beglar & Hunt, 2014). However, experimental…

The present study investigates third language (L3) learners' processing of Chinese subject and object relative clauses in a supportive context. Using a self-paced reading task, we tested native Italian L3 learners of Mandarin Chinese and native Chinese speakers. The results showed that the L3 learners read significantly more slowly than the native…

The difficulties in learning skills that deaf and hard of hearing students encounter stem from morphology and syntactic morphology (morpho-syntax) and it is clear that there are limited studies related to these. In this study, it is aimed at examining hearing and deaf and hard of hearing students' morpho-syntactic actions which are compatible with…

Twenty participants who were deaf and 20 chronological age-matched participants with typical hearing (TH) (mean age: 12 years) were asked to judge the correctness of written sentences with or without a grammatically incongruent word while their eye movements were registered. TH participants outperformed deaf participants in grammaticality judgment…

We report the results of three tasks of two-dimensional pictures, letters and symbols mental rotation (MR) among 9-11 years aged Arabic readers with dyslexia, in order to examine a potential stimulus type effect on MR ability in terms of accuracy and speed. Results showed that readers with dyslexia (n = 32) performed significantly lower and were…

Native speakers understand familiar idioms (e.g., "over the moon") and conventional metaphors (e.g., describing time as a doctor) quickly and easily. In two eye-tracking studies we considered how native speakers are able to make sense of fundamentally "unfamiliar" figurative expressions. In Experiment 1 compared with literal…

This study examined the relationships between reading assistant (RA) software usage, reading comprehension ability, and post-TOEIC reading scores among Thai EFL university students. Seventy-six students from a private international university in central Thailand participated. Data were collected from students' pre- and post-TOEIC reading scores…

The current study explores the effects of processing demands and proficiency on second language (L2) learners' acceptability judgment of wh-island sentences. A total of 65 adult Korean learners of English and ten native speakers (NSs) of English participated in an experiment that combined self-paced reading and acceptability judgment. They were…

This paper examines learners' fluency development in L2 silent reading rate and comprehension. In both L1 and L2 readings, a positive relationship between readers' silent reading rate and comprehension has not been as firmly established as theories might propose. Based on Wallot et al. (2014), the paper indicates the need to look at readers'…

After reading, "few of the juniors were accepted," focus is on the students not accepted, the complement set. According to the Presupposition Denial Account, negative quantifiers, such as "few," convey a denial of expectation, or shortfall, which leads to complement set focus. In six experiments, we explored the role of the…