Two technologies to help adults with reading difficulties improve their comprehension
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Arthur C. Graesser
Abstract
A proficient reader is skilled at interpreting and comprehending text at multiple levels of language and discourse. This chapter describes two technologies that are designed to help adult readers who have reading difficulties at various levels. One technology (called AutoTutor) has two computer agents (a tutor and peer) that engage the adult reader in conversational trialogues designed to improve reading comprehension skills at multiple levels of language and discourse. A second technology (called Coh-Metrix) automatically scales texts on discourse formality as well as more specific levels, such as word abstractness, syntactic complexity, discourse cohesion, and narrativity (versus informational discourse). Scaling texts on difficulty is important for adults to read texts at an appropriate level of difficulty – not too easy or difficult.
Abstract
A proficient reader is skilled at interpreting and comprehending text at multiple levels of language and discourse. This chapter describes two technologies that are designed to help adult readers who have reading difficulties at various levels. One technology (called AutoTutor) has two computer agents (a tutor and peer) that engage the adult reader in conversational trialogues designed to improve reading comprehension skills at multiple levels of language and discourse. A second technology (called Coh-Metrix) automatically scales texts on discourse formality as well as more specific levels, such as word abstractness, syntactic complexity, discourse cohesion, and narrativity (versus informational discourse). Scaling texts on difficulty is important for adults to read texts at an appropriate level of difficulty – not too easy or difficult.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
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Part I. Language and literacy development
- How neuroscience can inform education 3
- The neural basis for primary and acquired language skills 17
- Contributions from cognitive neuroscience to current understanding of reading acquisition and reading disability 29
- Lexical quality revisited 51
- The role of metalinguistic and socio-cognitive factors in reading skill 69
- Developing reading comprehension interventions 85
- Hunting for the links between word-level writing skills and text quality 103
- The development of Hebrew conjunct constructions in narration 119
- Motivation and engagement in language and literacy development 137
- Children’s hypertext comprehension 149
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Part II. Multilingual language and literacy development
- An updated review of cross-language transfer and its educational implications 167
- The influence of first language on learning English as an additional language 183
- Multilingual learners 199
- A comparison of phonological awareness and morphological awareness in reading Chinese across two linguistic contexts 219
- Development of qualifiers in children’s written stories 237
- Individual variation in syntactic processing in the second language 257
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Part III. Language and literacy development in special populations and its implications
- How to teach children reading and spelling 277
- Two technologies to help adults with reading difficulties improve their comprehension 295
- Can poor readers be good learners? 315
- The shift of the role of early intervention in the study of dyslexia 333
- Issues in diagnosing dyslexia 349
- Imagery in reading and reading disabilities 363
- Written narratives in children with autism 379
- Advancing interventions for children with motor restrictions 399
- Assessment of communicative competence in children with severe developmental disorders 413
- Index 441
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
-
Part I. Language and literacy development
- How neuroscience can inform education 3
- The neural basis for primary and acquired language skills 17
- Contributions from cognitive neuroscience to current understanding of reading acquisition and reading disability 29
- Lexical quality revisited 51
- The role of metalinguistic and socio-cognitive factors in reading skill 69
- Developing reading comprehension interventions 85
- Hunting for the links between word-level writing skills and text quality 103
- The development of Hebrew conjunct constructions in narration 119
- Motivation and engagement in language and literacy development 137
- Children’s hypertext comprehension 149
-
Part II. Multilingual language and literacy development
- An updated review of cross-language transfer and its educational implications 167
- The influence of first language on learning English as an additional language 183
- Multilingual learners 199
- A comparison of phonological awareness and morphological awareness in reading Chinese across two linguistic contexts 219
- Development of qualifiers in children’s written stories 237
- Individual variation in syntactic processing in the second language 257
-
Part III. Language and literacy development in special populations and its implications
- How to teach children reading and spelling 277
- Two technologies to help adults with reading difficulties improve their comprehension 295
- Can poor readers be good learners? 315
- The shift of the role of early intervention in the study of dyslexia 333
- Issues in diagnosing dyslexia 349
- Imagery in reading and reading disabilities 363
- Written narratives in children with autism 379
- Advancing interventions for children with motor restrictions 399
- Assessment of communicative competence in children with severe developmental disorders 413
- Index 441
