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Abstract
Repeated reading is an intervention where in each session a passage is read aloud several times, leading to increased fluency on trained passages and eventually modest transfer to unrelated passages. The origin and nature of the improvement remain unknown. Here we investigate the effects of a 24-session intervention on reading efficiency. We tracked eye movements and recorded vocal responses by 91 Norwegian 5th graders as they read a near-transfer (NT) and a far-transfer (FT) passage for 1 minute each before and after intervention. Gaze and voice onset and offset per word were aligned to calculate latencies and eye-voice span. Preliminary analyses indicate significant effects of intervention on onset latency, articulation duration (greater for NT passages), and go-past time; but not on first or single fixation duration or spatial onset and offset eye-voice span. Effects on gaze may have been more pronounced for challenging words encountered during intervention (present in NT passages). In sum, results suggest that the immediate effect of a brief repeated reading intervention is mediated by experience with reading specific words, primarily affecting late processing stages; the role of sentence context and the eye-voice span remains unclear.
About the speaker
Athanasios (Thanassi) Protopapas is a Professor at the Department of Special Needs Education and CREATE - center for research on equality in education at UiO. He received Master's degrees in Cognitive Science and in Engineering and a PhD in Cognitive Science from Brown University. He has worked in the USA as a research scientist for companies developing computer-based language skills training for children and older adults, then in a research institute in Athens, Greece, developing psycholinguistic resources and computerized assessment batteries for learning difficulties, then as an Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of Athens, where he directed the master's program in cognitive science. He joined UiO in 2016 where he contributes to special education training for reading difficulties. His current research focuses on understanding the development and cognitive mechanisms of reading fluency combining methods and approaches from cognitive and educational psychology.
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