Latest Research from TextProject

Unpacking Automaticity: Scaffolded Texts and Comprehension

Automaticity in recognizing the words in a text is fundamental to comprehension. If the number of words readers need to stop and decode exceeds their ability to retain their understanding of a narrative’s plot or an expository text’s description, their comprehension suffers. The conventional intervention for students who lack the automaticity to adequately comprehend text has been to repeatedly read texts orally. The current review first addresses evidence for this conventional treatment, concluding that students have not shown substantial increases in silent reading comprehension. Next, this review presents evidence underlying an alternative perspective for automaticity support where texts are selected to support students in increasing their automaticity with the words they will encounter consistently—the 2500 morphological families that have been shown to account for at least 90% of most school texts. Finally, guidelines for teachers are provided that address the talk, tasks, and time of instruction, as well as texts, for automaticity.

“CATERing” to Readers’ Needs with AI: Innovation in Text Design and Instruction

In this article, the authors describe an innovation that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create texts tailored to the interests, strengths, and learning needs of individual readers.

What the Quasi-Regular Orthography of English Means for Bringing Students to Proficient Reading

English orthography, described as quasi-regular, exhibits variability in the correspondences between letters and sounds, particularly with vowels. Proficiency in reading demands automaticity in connecting letters and sounds, necessitating systematic phonics instruction. However, the complexity of English orthography and its morphology means that becoming proficient in reading takes time and requires substantial exposure to text. Success inreading English requires a set for variability, where readers apply phonetic knowledge flexibly to decode unfamiliar words. While evidence supports instruction in letter-sound correspondences, questions persist regarding the extent of content coverage and the efficacy of decodable texts.

Enhancing Opportunities for Decoding and Knowledge Building through Beginning Texts

Learn how existing texts can be reorganized to give beginning readers opportunities to apply and extend their developing knowledge of letter–sound correspondences and of physical and social worlds.