Journal of Research in Reading provides an international forum for researchers into literacy. It is a refereed journal, principally devoted to reports of empirical studies in reading and related fields, and to informed reviews of relevant literature. The journal welcomes papers researching issues related to the learning, teaching and use of literacy in a variety of contexts; papers on the history and development of literacy; papers about policy and strategy for literacy as related to children and adults. Journal of Research in Reading encourages papers within any research paradigm and from researchers in any relevant field such as anthropology, cultural studies, education, history of education, language and linguistics, philosophy, psychology and sociology.

The Journal of Research in Reading provides an international forum for researchers in literacy. It is a peer-reviewed journal primarily dedicated to reports of empirical studies in reading and related fields, as well as informed reviews of relevant literature. The journal welcomes papers that explore issues related to the learning, teaching, and use of literacy in various contexts; papers on the history and development of literacy; and papers concerning policies and strategies for literacy as they relate to children and adults. The Journal of Research in Reading encourages submissions from any research paradigm and from researchers in relevant fields such as anthropology, cultural studies, education, history of education, language and linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology.

《Journal of Research in Reading》是一个国际性论坛，专注于识字研究。该期刊经过同行评审，主要致力于阅读及相关领域的实证研究报告，以及相关文献的深入评审。期刊欢迎研究与识字学习、教学和使用相关的各种问题的论文；关于识字历史和发展的论文；以及与儿童和成人相关的识字政策和战略的论文。《Journal of Research in Reading》鼓励来自任何研究范式的论文，欢迎来自人类学、文化研究、教育、教育史、语言与语言学、哲学、心理学和社会学等相关领域的研究者投稿。

Journal of Research in Reading

We examined whether interword spacing would facilitate acquisition of new vocabulary for second language learners of Chinese. Participants' eye movements were measured as they read new vocabulary embedded in sentences during a learning session and a test session. In the learning session, participants read sentences in traditional unspaced format and half‐read sentences with interword spacing. In the test session, all participants read unspaced sentences. Participants in the spaced learning group read the target words more quickly than those in the unspaced learning group. This benefit was maintained at test, indicating that the manipulation enhanced learning of the novel words and was not a transient effect limited to occasions when interword spacing was present in the printed text. The insertion of interword spaces may allow readers to form a more fully specified representation of the novel word, or to strengthen connections between representations of the constituent characters and the multi‐character word.

Xuejun Bai

Feifei Liang

Hazel I. Blythe

Chuanli Zang

Guoli Yan

Simon P. Liversedge

Interword spacing effects on the acquisition of new vocabulary for readers of Chinese as a second language

Background The study describes preschoolers' digital home environment, focusing on parent–child writing interactions using a smartphone and exploring its contribution to children's early literacy. Methods Participants were 65 Israeli preschoolers ( M = 62.37 months) from middle SES and one of their parents. Parents responded to questionnaires assessing the digital home environment (prevalence of digital devices, parental involvement in selecting digital content, children's independent digital activities and screen time). Parents were video recorded while assisting their children in writing a shopping list of three products using a smartphone (keyboard). We analysed how parents helped children segment words into their respective sounds (grapho‐phonemic mediation) and type letters independently (printing mediation) and their reference to the orthography. Children's literacy skills (letter knowledge, phonological awareness and early writing) were assessed individually. Results Findings showed that the homes are rich with technology and children are engaged daily with various digital devices. The level of parental involvement in selecting their children's digital content and the quality of their writing support positively related to children's early literacy skills. Children's independent digital activities were negatively related to their literacy skills. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the nature of parental writing support predicted children's early literacy beyond parental involvement in selecting digital content and children's independent digital activities. Conclusions The study reveals the benefits of parental involvement in their children's digital world and highlights the strength of parental writing support and the potential of parent–child digital activities in promoting children's early literacy. Highlights What is already known about this topic Children's digital home environment has become a meaningful learning place and contributes to school readiness (Bus et al., 2015). Letter knowledge and phonological awareness are major predictors of reading and writing acquisition (Robins et al., 2014). Parent–child writing interactions using digital means support children's early literacy skills (Aram &amp; Chorowicz‐Bar‐Am, 2016). What this paper adds The study emphasises the potential of preschoolers' digital literacy home environment, focusing on the nature of parents' writing support via a smartphone. Parental involvement in selecting digital content for their children is related to children's higher literacy skills while encouraging independent use of digital devices is related to children's lower literacy skills. The study underscores the crucial role of parents in children's digital literacy. Specifically, parents' digital writing support using a smartphone is shown to be a significant factor in children's higher literacy skills, even beyond the children's age and the digital home environment. Implications for theory, policy or practice Parents experience a conflict between the need to expose their children to forms of technology and the need to control and supervise this engagement with digital technologies (Edwards et al., 2017). Our study suggests that the solution to this conflict is to enable children's use of digital means and also carefully select the content to which children are exposed. The study may assist parents in mediating the writing world, using the smartphone to support children's readiness for school.

Galia Meoded Karabanov

Dorit Aram

‘Let's write a shopping list on the phone together’: Parents' digital literacy activities with their preschoolers and the children's early literacy skills

“让我们一起在手机上写购物清单”：家长与学龄前儿童的数字素养活动及其早期读写能力

Studies have begun to focus on what skills contribute to the development of phonological awareness, an important predictor of reading attainment. One of these skills is the perception of prosody, which is the rhythm, tempo and stress of a language. To examine whether prosodic perception contributes to phonological awareness prior to reading tuition, we assessed 49 prereaders. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we found that measures of prosodic perception and phonological awareness loaded onto separate factors. Our regression analyses revealed that prosodic perception accounted for significant variance after partialling out definitional vocabulary and memory for digits, but not after accounting for receptive vocabulary. Based on the independence of prosodic perception from definitional vocabulary, we concluded that prosodic perception contributes to the development of phonological awareness indirectly through receptive vocabulary, by improving speech‐processing skills, but independently of semantic knowledge. Further studies should examine the role of prosody in children at risk of later reading difficulties.

Rachel L. Beattie

Franklin R. Manis

Journal Research in Reading

The relationship between prosodic perception, phonological awareness and vocabulary in emergent literacy

语音感知、语音意识与词汇在早期读写能力中的关系

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the effect(s) of syntactic knowledge and syntactic awareness on adolescents' reading comprehension. Method One hundred and seventy‐nine, 9th and 10th grade students' syntactic awareness, syntactic knowledge and reading comprehension skills were assessed. In addition, other known contributors to reading comprehension were assessed including word level reading, short‐term memory and vocabulary knowledge skills. Results Path analysis was used to analyse the direct and indirect effects of syntactic awareness and syntactic knowledge on reading comprehension. Students' syntactic knowledge directly accounted for significant variance in reading comprehension. Syntactic awareness indirectly accounted for significant variance in reading comprehension through syntactic knowledge. Conclusions This study confirmed the significant effects of syntactic knowledge and syntactic awareness on reading comprehension among adolescent students. This is one of the very few studies to examine both knowledge and awareness of syntax simultaneously and to determine that syntactic knowledge mediates the contribution of syntactic awareness to adolescent students' reading comprehension.

Danielle Brimo

Kenn Apel

Treeva Fountain

Examining the contributions of syntactic awareness and syntactic knowledge to reading comprehension

考察句法意识和句法知识对阅读理解的影响

Background We examined the influence of text and reader characteristics on sixth graders' inference generation. Methods Eleven‐ to 12‐year‐old US monolingual English speakers ( N = 71) and Spanish‐English bilinguals ( N = 81) read narrative and informational expository texts requiring an inference and answered an inference‐tapping question after each text. We examined the influence of language status, word reading ability, knowledge (background knowledge and vocabulary), and reading strategy awareness and use on question accuracy, question‐answering times and sentence reading times. Results Linear mixed effects models predicting response accuracy indicated an advantage for narrative texts, in general, and for participants with higher knowledge. When examining variation across the whole sample, rather than contrasting language groups, faster question‐answering and sentence processing times were associated with higher knowledge. Conclusions Adolescent readers are better able to generate inferences from narrative than informational expository texts, and knowledge has a critical influence on both the process and product of inference generation and may explain reading comprehension performance differences between monolingual and bilingual students.

Kate Cain

Nicola K. Currie

Gillian Francey

Robert Davies

Shelley Gray

Mindy S. Bridges

M. Adelaida Restrepo

Marilyn S. Thompson

Margeaux F. Ciraolo

The influence of reader and text characteristics on sixth graders' inference making

读者和文本特征对六年级学生推理能力的影响

Background Internet documents are characterised by their non‐linear hyperlink structure, which allows for more flexible reading, at the cost of higher cognitive loads. Linear text reading comprehension skills contribute to hypertext comprehension (either directly or through its impact on navigation behaviours) but cannot fully account for its complexity. There is also evidence that hypertext reading engages executive functions, but few studies have addressed the core executive function processes simultaneously. This study examined hypertext comprehension and navigation skills and their association with linear text reading comprehension and executive functions in adolescents. Methods One hundred thirty‐six third‐year students (61% boys; age: M = 14.03, SD = 0.44 years) participated in the study. Students were assessed with a paper‐and‐pencil expository text comprehension test, a computerised neuropsychological battery to measure executive functioning (perceptual and response inhibition, shifting and working memory [WM]) and a hypertext comprehension task. Results We found direct contributions of shifting, linear text comprehension and navigation efficiency to hypertext comprehension. Linear text comprehension was associated with shifting, while navigation efficiency increased with WM and linear text comprehension skills. In addition, navigation partially mediated the effects of linear text comprehension and fully mediated those of WM on hypertext comprehension. Conclusions We found direct and indirect contributions of executive function to hypertext comprehension, mediated by linear text comprehension and navigation efficiency. This suggests that finding and integrating information from hypertexts engages shifting beyond its contribution to linear text reading. The role of WM was explained by its contribution to navigation efficiency (providing a workspace to keep track of navigation paths, reading goals and inferential processing). These findings underline the relevance of high‐level cognitive abilities for Internet reading in adolescents, as well as the importance of teaching boosting navigation strategies in middle school, given their impact on hypertext comprehension.

Ángel Javier Tabullo

Gastón Ignacio Saux

María Rufina Pearson

The role of executive functions in adolescents' hypertext comprehension

青少年超文本理解中执行功能的作用

Background Although most prevalent in childhood, the acquisition of new words in oral vocabulary takes place right across the lifespan. Of the many factors that influence oral vocabulary learning, one extrinsic factor is the listening environment. The current study aimed to examine whether the presence of noise impacts oral vocabulary learning in adult native speakers of English and, if so, whether this can be alleviated by the incidental presence of orthography when introducing new words. Methods Sixty 18–35‐year‐old native speakers of English were divided into two groups: orthography present and orthography absent and were taught novel picture–word pairs either in quiet or in noise. Word learning was assessed using picture naming and picture–word‐matching tasks. Results The results revealed that the presence of orthography during training reduced the negative impact of noise and supported word learning and retention in adults. Conclusion These results are promising for vocabulary instruction practices in less‐than‐ideal listening environments where structural modifications are not a feasible option.

Andrea Salins

Linda Cupples

Greg Leigh

Anne Castles

Using orthographic support to reduce the impact of noise on oral vocabulary learning in adults

利用正字法支持减少噪音对成人口语词汇学习的影响

Background In the last two decades, a number of empirical studies investigated the impact of UK‐based interventions for struggling readers in later primary years (called Key Stage 2 or KS2 in the UK). However, to date, there are no reviews that look at the extent and nature of the existing UK‐based literature. This scoping review explores the extent of the available literature focusing on struggling readers in KS2 and aims to summarise the findings of available research. Methods A scoping review methodology was used, and six databases were searched from 2000 to 2022. The initial search yielded 1236 studies, of which 24 met the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Results Most of the included studies (21 out of 24) demonstrated positive outcomes, and the support provided led to improvement in the reading skills of struggling readers in KS2. The available intervention programmes included a wide range of intensity, varied group sizes and targeted different reading skills. There is currently insufficient evidence to suggest the relative efficacy of one intervention over another. Conclusions The review confirmed the need for more robust research in this area and highlighted the importance of learning lessons from the international evidence base.

Meryem S. Üstün‐Yavuz

Rose Brooks

Silke Fricke

Jenny Thomson

Evidence‐based support provided to struggling readers in later primary years in the UK: A scoping review

英国小学高年级阅读困难学生基于证据的支持：范围综述

Background This study examined how children's ability to understand what they read on screens is impacted by two specific digital features: hovering hyperlinks and scrolling. Methods The participants were 75 English‐speaking children ( M = 9.90 years, SD = 0.90 years) in Grades 3 to 5 who participated in an online research study. Using a within‐participants design, children read standardised passages from the Gates–MacGinitie Reading Tests (MacGinitie et al., 2000) and answered multiple‐choice comprehension questions. In one condition, passages were presented without digital features referred to as the clicking condition; in another, children had to scroll to navigate through the passages, in a third, there were hyperlinks that provided a word definition when a participant hovered their cursor over a blue and underlined word, and a final condition included both scrolling and hyperlinks. Results As expected, there was a significant main effect of grade on children's ability to understand what they read, with better performance for children in Grade 5 than 3. Critically, there was a significant main effect of condition on children's performance on the reading comprehension questions, with higher scores for the condition with no digital features compared with the conditions with hovering hyperlinks and both scrolling and hovering hyperlinks. Performance was similar between the clicking and scrolling conditions. There was no significant interaction between grade and condition, showing consistency in effects across the upper elementary school years. Conclusions These findings could inform the optimal design of digital texts by identifying digital features that do and do not interfere with reading comprehension, with hyperlinks providing word level information interfering and scrolling having no negative impacts.

Klaudia Krenca

Emily Taylor

S. Hélène Deacon

Scrolling and hyperlinks: The effects of two prevalent digital features on children's digital reading comprehension

滚动与超链接：两种普遍的数字特征对儿童数字阅读理解的影响

Abbreviation	J Research in Reading
Journal Impact	2.18
Quartiles(Global)	PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATIONAL(Q3)

ISSN	0141-0423, 1467-9817
h-index	61

Publication Information	Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd，Publishing cycle: ，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 1978，Proportion of original research papers: 93.94%，Self Citation Rate:0.00%， Gold OA Rate: 28.09%

Journal of Research in Reading

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Interword spacing effects on the acquisition of new vocabulary for readers of Chinese as a second language

‘Let's write a shopping list on the phone together’: Parents' digital literacy activities with their preschoolers and the children's early literacy skills

The relationship between prosodic perception, phonological awareness and vocabulary in emergent literacy

Examining the contributions of syntactic awareness and syntactic knowledge to reading comprehension

The influence of reader and text characteristics on sixth graders' inference making

The influence of reader and text characteristics on sixth graders' inference making

The role of executive functions in adolescents' hypertext comprehension

Using orthographic support to reduce the impact of noise on oral vocabulary learning in adults

Evidence‐based support provided to struggling readers in later primary years in the UK: A scoping review

Scrolling and hyperlinks: The effects of two prevalent digital features on children's digital reading comprehension