Reducing the Complexities of Reading Comprehension: A Simplifying Framework

1. Reducing the Complexities of Reading Comprehension: A Simplifying Framework Charles Perfetti IES Research Conference 2009

2. Overview • Critical Preliminaries • The comprehension problem • What is comprehension? • Building mental models word by word • Comprehensive Comprehension • Processes, knowledge, and strategies • A medium-grain cognitive framework • Simplifying Frameworks • Pressure points • A simplified framework • Implications IES Research Conference 2009

3. The comprehension problem • National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): 1 of 3 fourth-graders and 1 of 4 eighth-graders cannot read at the basic level. That is, when reading grade appropriate material, these students do not understand what they read ---IES Reading for Understanding IES Research Conference 2009

4. Even adults can have trouble understanding written texts "By God, for a minute there it suddenly all made sense." IES Research Conference 2009

5. What do we mean by “comprehension”? • Comprehension is defined as “intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through interactions between text and reader” (Harris &Hodges, 1995). Thus, readers derive meaning from text when they engage in intentional, problem solving thinking processes. ---National Reading Panel 2000 IES Research Conference 2009

6. A simpler idea: learning to read with comprehension is learning to understand writing as well as one understands spoken language • “We can expect the comprehension of written language to approximate the comprehension of spoken language. When that happens, then reading comprehension has developed, for practical purposes, to its limiting or asymptotic level. …All other limitations are imposed by linguistic abilities, relevant knowledge, and general intelligence. If we make things more complex than this, we push onto the concept of reading comprehension all these other important aspects of cognition, with the muddle that results from conceptual conflation.” ----Perfetti, C. A., Landi, N., & Oakhill, J. (2005). The acquisition of reading comprehension skill. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 227-247). Oxford: Blackwell. IES Research Conference 2009

7. Too simple? • We accept, approximately and in an idealized form, the assumption that reading comprehension is the joint product of printed word identification and listening comprehension, an idea famously asserted by Gough and Tunmer (1986) as a simple view of reading. However, we also must assume that learning to read with comprehension brings … additional complexities… • ----Perfetti, C. A., Landi, N., & Oakhill, J. (2005). The acquisition of reading comprehension skill. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 227-247). Oxford: Blackwell. IES Research Conference 2009

8. The text and the mind • “…researchers working in the area of reading comprehension have shown repeatedly that meaning does not exist in text.” --Alvermann & Eakle, p. 14 (in Sweet & Snow, Rethinking reading comprehension 2003) IES Research Conference 2009

9. Well, yes but • The application of the symbolic principle (a language form is a symbol for meaning) is constrained by the language that implements it. • The dog bit the man • The man bit the dog • Likud members will not react favorably to the President’s speech. • Likud members will react favorably to the President’s speech IES Research Conference 2009

10. A definition that includes the text • Reading comprehension “the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through inter- action and involvement with written language. It consists of three elements: the reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading.” ---p.viii, Report of Rand Reading Study Group, 2002. IES Research Conference 2009

11. Building a mental model from a text • “Comprehension occurs as the reader builds a mental representation of a text message.” • ----Perfetti, C. A., Landi, N., & Oakhill, J. (2005). IES Research Conference 2009

12. Text messages are understood (and mental models are built) word by word Mental model Each word is fit into mental models (multiple structures) to the extent possible Word 1

13. Text messages are understood (and mental models are built) word by word Mental model Each word is fit into mental models (multiple structures) to the extent possible Word 2

14. Text messages are understood (and mental models are built) word by word Mental model Each word is fit into mental models (multiple structures) to the extent possible Word 3

15. Text messages are understood (and mental models are built) word by word Mental model Each word is fit into mental models (multiple structures) to the extent possible Word 4

16. 2. Comprehensive Comprehension: More than we need for some purposes? • The complex processes of comprehension: Three non-independent aspects • Processes • Knowledge • Strategies IES Research Conference 2009

17. What are reading comprehension strategies? • Reading Comprehension Strategies: Theories, Interventions, and technologies (Danielle McNamara, Ed.) Erlbaum/ Taylor & Francis, 2007) • Many interesting chapters on comprehension strategies • Definition of reading comprehension strategy: A cognitive or behavioral action that is enacted under particular contextual conditions with the goal of improving some aspect of comprehension. Art Graesser, page 6. IES Research Conference 2009

18. Making connections Questioning Visualizing Inferring Determining importance Synthesizing Monitoring Metacognition Answering questions Recognizing story structure Summarizing Comprehension Processes:Strategies IES Research Conference 2009

19. Strategies that can be taught effectively (according the NRP) • NRP report (2000) identified 16 categories of text comprehension instruction; 7 concluded to have a solid scientific basis • Comprehension monitoring • Cooperative learning (where children learn reading strategies together) • Graphic and semantic organizers • Question answering • Question generation • Story structure • Summarization IES Research Conference 2009

20. A possible advantage of strategies that focus attention on what the text says? • McKeown & Beck IES study(J Ed Psych, in press) • Strategies: • Predicting • Summarizing • Making inferences • Generating questions • Comprehension monitoring • Content focus: Questioning the Author • Content focus produced better comprehension IES Research Conference 2009

21. Frameworks for reading comprehension • Caveat: frameworks vs models • Grain size issues • Useful frameworks range between 3 and 20 components • Trade-offs of completeness with simplicity IES Research Conference 2009

22. One with 4 Components: Rand Ready Study Group Report (2002): A heuristic for thinking about reading comprehension IES Research Conference 2009

23. A cognitive framework • An (almost) consensual framework of medium grain size • Perfetti, C. A. (1999). Comprehending written language: A blueprint of the reader. In C. Brown & P. Hagoort (Eds.), The neurocognition of language (pp. 167-208). Oxford University Press. • Perfetti, C. A., Landi, N., & Oakhill, J. (2005). The acquisition of reading comprehension skill. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 227-247). Oxford: Blackwell. IES Research Conference 2009

24. Lexicon Meaning Morphology Syntax - argument structure - thematic roles Orthographic Units Visual Input Text Representation Phonological Units Situation model Linguistic and Writing System Knowledge Linguistic System Orthographic System Phonology, Syntax, Morphology Mapping to phonology Comprehension Processes Parser Meaning and Form Selection Word Identification Inferences NonLinguistic (conceptual) knowledge Perfetti (1999); Perfetti, Landi & Oakhill, 2005

25. Comprehension Processes Lexicon Meaning Morphology Syntax - argument structure - thematic roles Orthographic Units Parser Meaning and Form Selection Inferences Visual Input Text Representation Phonological Units Situation model Linguistic and Writing System Knowledge Linguistic System Orthographic System Phonology, Syntax, Morphology Mapping to phonology Word Identification NonLinguistic (conceptual) knowledge Perfetti (1999); Perfetti, Landi & Oakhill, 2005

26. Lexicon Meaning Morphology Syntax - argument structure - thematic roles Orthographic Units Visual Input Text Representation Phonological Units Situation model Linguistic and Writing System Knowledge Linguistic System Orthographic System Phonology, Syntax, Morphology Mapping to phonology Comprehension Processes Control Processes Attention Strategies Monitoring Parser Meaning and Form Selection Word Identification Inferences NonLinguistic (conceptual) knowledge Perfetti (1999); Perfetti, Landi & Oakhill, 2005

27. 3. Simplifying frameworks • To highlight broad components that are pressure points for comprehension problems IES Research Conference 2009

28. Processes Word Identification Word Meaning Selection Sentence meaning Text integration Successive sentences Global Text Meaning Gist; (summaries) Knowledge sources Word form Word meaning + local text meaning Word meaning + syntax Sentence meaning + referential word meaning All relevant knowledge from text Pressure Points IES Research Conference 2009

29. Comprehension Processes Lexicon Meaning Morphology Syntax - argument structure - thematic roles Parser Meaning and Form Selection Inferences Text Representation Situation model A focus on word meanings IES Research Conference 2009

30. 23% below median on comprehension component but above median on lexical component 9% had the reverse pattern: Above median on Comp, below on Lexical Word knowledge and Comprehension N. Landi dissertation (University. of Pittsburgh adult sample) N= 799 Lexical Component Comprehension Component Scatter Plot of subjects’ normalized component scores following factor analysis and rotation

31. Word knowledge • Lexical Quality and Comprehension (Perfetti & Hart, 2001; 2002; Perfetti 2007) • General relationships between comprehension and knowledge of both • Word meaning • Word form • Meaning: Word learning • Skilled comprehenders (ERPs) show stronger recognition of a word learning episode (Perfetti, Wlotko, & hart, 2005) • Meaning: Word to text integration • Skilled comprehenders (ERPs) show stronger integration of word meanings across sentences in text (Perfetti, Yang, Schmalhofer (2008) • Form: Stability of orthographic word representations

32. Spelling instability in adult readers Is this a correct spelling, yes or no? IES Research Conference 2009

33. Process Decoding Meaning selection Proposition extraction Mental model building Knowledge Orthography Linguistic Knowledge Word knowledge Nonlinguistic (Conceptual) knowledge Simplification Options Processes or Knowledge IES Research Conference 2009

34. Lexicon Meaning Morphology Syntax - argument structure - thematic roles Orthographic Units Visual Input Text Representation Phonological Units Situation model Linguistic and Writing System Knowledge Linguistic System Orthographic System Phonology, Syntax, Morphology Mapping to phonology Comprehension Processes Parser 2 Meaning and Form Selection Word Identification 1 Inferences 3 4 NonLinguistic (conceptual) knowledge

35. Lexicon Meaning Morphology Syntax - argument structure - thematic roles Orthographic Units Visual Input Text Representation Phonological Units Situation model Linguistic and Writing System Knowledge Linguistic System Orthographic System Phonology, Syntax, Morphology Mapping to phonology 1 2 Comprehension Processes 3 Parser Meaning and Form Selection Word Identification Inferences NonLinguistic (conceptual) knowledge 4

36. A simplified process framework of reading comprehension Word Identification Proposition Extraction Meaning Selection Situation Model Building IES Research Conference 2009

37. A Simplified Knowledge Framework of Reading Comprehension Linguistic Knowledge Word knowledge Conceptual knowledge

38. The Simplified Knowledge Framework of Reading Comprehension Linguistic Knowledge Word knowledge Attention Conceptual knowledge

39. The Simplified Knowledge Framework of Reading Comprehension text Linguistic Knowledge Word knowledge Attention Conceptual knowledge

40. The Simplified Knowledge Framework of Reading Comprehension text Linguistic Knowledge Text knowledge Word knowledge Attention Conceptual knowledge

41. What about spoken language? • Correlations of spoken and written language increase with educational levels approaching .9 in adult sample • Spoken language is the source of much of the relevant knowledge IES Research Conference 2009

42. What about Comprehension Strategies? • They are implicit in the framework: Attention and control processes are about strategies. • The central strategy is active engagement with a text with the intention of understanding. • This can include comprehension monitoring, question asking, question answering, summarization, and others IES Research Conference 2009

43. Engagement vs Mindless reading • Engagement: The reader is motivated to understand the text and seeks to do so. • High Standard for Coherence (van den Broek et al, 1995) IES Research Conference 2009

44. Mindless reading: evidence that cognition is altered • Cognitive processes partially control eye-movements • Reichle & Schooler research • Adult readers; Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. 50 chapters, 7-17 pages per chapter up to 25 lines per page. Self Paced reading. Trained to hit the Z key when they caught themselves thinking about something else • In 12-15 hours of reading, readers caught zone outs 8-36 times (ave 23) • Highly accurate in self-catching: Experimenter controlled Probes produced average of 9% additional zone out reports IES Research Conference 2009

45. Mindless reading results IES Research Conference 2009

46. Attention • So the framework needs attention and control; otherwise the cognitive part doesn’t work • Comprehension monitoring is the central strategy for controlling attention IES Research Conference 2009

47. Limitations: What complexities are needed? • Knowledge must not be inert. • Support for using knowledge • Complex text environments • Multiple texts • Using texts for arguments and problem solving IES Research Conference 2009

48. 4. Implications of Simplification: • The basics of comprehension • Word knowledge Form and meaning • Language knowledge • Conceptual knowledge • Text knowledge • A “habits of mind” High standards for coherence and engagement IES Research Conference 2009

49. Implications of Simplification • Focus on fewer problems • But must understand the underlying complexities • Hypothesize privileged pressure points • Word meaning and conceptual knowledge • Engagement • Others • May encourage research that leads to educational improvement IES Research Conference 2009

50. Variability in word episodes: Evidence for a pressure point • Hart, B., & Risley, R. T. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes. IES Research Conference 2009