Literacy Beyond Text Comprehension aims to systematically investigate how readers interpret reading tasks within a situation, and how that interpretation influences reading behavior and comprehension. Presenting a new model of REading as problem SOLVing (RESOLV), the authors describe reading comprehension in terms of how a reader adopts goals within a particular situation that then guide what is read, when, and how. By applying the RESOLV model to a range of reading situations, this book provides evidence to suggest that there is no unitary understanding of a task, because individuals bring their own goals and characteristics to the situation; as such, it demonstrates the importance of understanding how a reader (e.g., student, test-taker, employee completing a work task) represents the context and the specific assignment. Written by internationally recognized learning sciences scholars, Literacy Beyond Text Comprehension advances the state of the art in reading research, but also seeks to inform a broader range of audiences, including those interested in the teaching and the assessment of reading.
M. Anne Britt is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northern Illinois University, USA.Jean-François Rouet is Director of Research at the French National Center for Scientific Research, France.Amanda M. Durik is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northern Illinois University, USA.
ContentsList of TablesList of FiguresForewordAcknowledgementsIntroduction 1. The nature of contemporary reading2. Audiences 2.1. Researchers examining discourse comprehension and academic motivation research2.2. Educators and instructional scientists helping to improve reading skills and learning from reading2.3. Designers and interpreters of assessments of reading3. Overview of the chapters Chapter 1. What is reading? A review of current constructs and theories 1. Reading processes and structures2. Broadening the construct of reading comprehension: recent frameworks2.1. Goal Focusing model2.2. TRACE and MD-TRACE3. Summary and conclusionsChapter 2. Reading as a purposeful activity 1. Goals in discourse processing approaches1.1. Reading from a perspective1.2. Reading for general purposes1.3. Task-oriented reading1.4. Reading to complete inquiry tasks2. Goals in self-regulated learning from text2.1. Goals and standards of coherence2.2. Goals and self-regulated learning3. From reading goals to reading as problem solving3.1. Reading involves the formation of non-trivial goals3.2. Reading generally allows for more problem solving than does listening3.3. Reading involves a series of internal states and condition-action rules4. Summary and conclusionsChapter 3. A framework for reading as problem solving1. RESOLV Processing Assumptions 1.1. Adaptive reading behavior assumption. 1.2. Limited processing resources assumption.1.3. Feeling of knowing evaluation (FOKE) assumption. 1.4. Benefit-Cost analysis assumption.1.5. Decision thresholds assumption 2. The RESOLV Framework2.1. Overview2.2. External and internal resources for solving reading problems2.2.1. External resources2.2.1.1. Time and location. 2.2.1.2. Requester, Others. 2.2.1.3. Request. 2.2.1.4. Materials, Objects. 2.2.2. Internal resources2.2.2.1. Reading self-concept and reader dispositions toward reading. 2.2.2.2. Task schemata and the construction of a Task Model. 2.2.2.3. Reading skill, vocabulary and knowledge of text organizers. 2.3. Internal representations constructed during reading2.3.1. The Context Model 2.3.2. The Task Model 2.3.2.1. Elements of a Task Model. 2.3.2.2. Task and product schemata. 2.3.3. The Documents Model 2.4. Reading as decision making3. SummaryChapter 4. Reader Resources: Motivation and Cognition1. Motivation in reading1.1. Achievement1.1.1. Intrapersonal achievement goals1.1.2. Interpersonal achievement goals1.1.3. Demonstrate ability goals1.2. Task Values1.2.1. Attainment value1.2.2. Utility value1.2.3. Intrinsic value1.3. Interest1.3.1. Individual Interest1.3.2. Situational Interest1.4. Self-concept of ability1.5. Cost1.6 Personality factors and global self-esteem2. Cognitive and system factors2.1. Knowledge 2.2. Skills2.3. Beliefs 2.4. System capabilities or constraints 3. Summary and conclusionsChapter 5. Readers' mental models of reading contexts and tasks1. Context Models: Representing reading situations1.1. Representing the request1.2. Representing the requester 1.3. Representing the audience 1.4. Representing supports and obstacles 1.5. Representing the self1.6. Summary2. Constructing a Task Model from one's Context Model2.1. Going beyond classifying tasks2.2. Task Model elements3. Cases illustrating Context Models affecting initial construction of Task Models3.1. Situation 2. "What is a carbon store?"3.1.1. Case 1: Reader missing main constraint3.1.2. Case 2: Constraint interpreted3.2. Situation 3. Scientific explanation from multiple documents3.2.1. Case 1. Reader misses the criteria and hint resulting in misinterpretation of task3.2.2. Case 2. Reader misses the criteria resulting in partially complete task3.2.3. Case 3. Reader correctly interprets the request4. Evidence for readers' representation of Context Model and the Task Model elements5. Summary and conclusionsChapter 6. RESOLV processing decisions1. Overview 2. Routine Decisions2.1 Assumptions underlying routine decisions2.2 Decision Types2.2.1. Do I need external information? 2.2.1.1. When it happens. 2.2.1.2. A "Yes" decision will be more likely. 2.2.1.3. A "No" decision will be more likely. 2.2.2. Is current information goal-relevant? 2.2.2.1. When it happens.2.2.2.2. A "Yes" decision will be more likely. 2.2.2.3. A "No" decision will be more likely. 2.2.3. Is the goal satisfied? 2.2.3.1. When it happens.2.2.3.2. A "Yes" decision will be more likely. 2.2.3.3. A "No" decision will be more likely. 3. Non-routine Decisions3.1. Decisions related to actions 3.1.1. Get action3.1.2. Change action3.1.3. Select action3.2. Decisions related to goals 3.2.1. Get goal3.2.2. Change goal3.2.3. Select goal4. An example of routine and non-routine processing decisions in a simple reading task5. Summary and conclusionsChapter 7. Family of Hypotheses derived from RESOLV 1. Parsing the context hypothesis1.1. What it is and its effects on reading1.2. Predictions1.3. Implications2. Task model guidance hypothesis2.1. What it is and its effects on reading2.2. Predictions2.3. Implications3. Goal-structures hypothesis3.1. What it is and its effects on reading3.2. Predictions3.3. Implications4. Minimal task-elaboration hypothesis4.1. What it is and its effects on reading4.2. Predictions4.3. Implications5. Personal-goal hypothesis5.1. What it is and its effects on reading5.2. Predictions5.3. Implications6. Summary and conclusionsChapter 8 - Fostering effective reading strategies1. RESOLV implications for reading as a skill1.1. When do readers really start reading? 1.2. What guides readers through a text? 1.3. What do readers need to know in order to make good reading decisions?1.4. How is all this specific to reading?2. Perspectives for curriculum development and instructional intervention2.1. Teaching advanced reading skills throughout the curriculum2.2. Teaching young readers about reading contexts and purposes2.3. Training readers to read for relevance3. General conclusions