Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal method for instructing college-level readers how to use a self-explanation strategy when comprehending multiple texts, which is a difficult task even for advanced readers. Self-explanation has been well documented to enhance single text comprehension. Three experimental conditions tested the degree of explicitness necessary for pre-reading instructions to make an impact: a control condition where readers were instructed to comprehend texts well; a definition only condition where readers were given a definition of a self-explanation strategy and urged to use it during reading; and a definition plus modeling condition where readers were given the self-explanation definition and then a researcher modeled how to use it during reading. The results showed that college-level readers performed better on reading comprehension and written essay tasks when in the definition only condition compared to the control condition. It is concluded that college-level readers need instructions to self-explain to enhance multiple text comprehension but instructions do not need to be overly explicit in terms of how to implement the strategy during reading.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| State | Published - Jul 18 2014 |
| Event | Society for the Scientific Studies of Reading Conference (SSSR) - Santa Fe, NM Duration: Jul 18 2014 → … |
Conference
| Conference | Society for the Scientific Studies of Reading Conference (SSSR) |
|---|---|
| Period | 07/18/14 → … |
Keywords
- Learning
- Multiple Text Comprehension
- Reading comprehension
- Reading instruction
DC Disciplines
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Curriculum and Social Inquiry